AV News 192 - May 2013
GREASE, GASKETS AND GEARS
Keith Brown FRPS MPAGB & Kate Brown LRPS DPAGB
The AV came into being as a follow
up to a project undertaken by
Castleton Photographic Society
recording Roger Thorpe's much
loved and iconic garage for posterity.
The original idea was to enjoy
ourselves
taking
photographs
together and then put a collection of
images into a book as a gift for
Roger. But this was an obvious
subject for an AV and Roger spins a
good yarn!
There was an early visit by a small
group to take stock of the photographic possibilities which was a big bonus
because Roger hadn't had time to tidy up. We got great images, not only of
his classic cars, but also some of his more quirky stuff, like the old bun tins
on the floor for holding crucial nuts and bolts. The ancient bike hanging from
the rafters was the first thing to catch Kate's eye, all backlit and covered in
years of dust. When the scheduled visit happened a few weeks later, some
of that wonderful clutter had disappeared, although there was still a lot to
photograph. It may look chaotic but it is a good bet that Roger knows where
everything is!
In the final cut there were 8 photographers involved and the pictures were
collated onto one computer. That left the main production of the AV to Keith
and Kate. As Roger tells his own story so well, we hurriedly put a list of
questions together to prompt him into recounting his experiences, particularly
the story of the Aston Martin which broke down on Winnatts Pass and which
turned out to belong to David Brown, owner of the Aston Martin company.
The questions were then edited out leaving just Roger's own words and this
was the foundation for the soundtrack.
We returned to the garage later for Keith to record the sound of that
beautiful Bugatti engine. It probably cost a fiver just to run it for 10 minutes!
The AV starts with the engine igniting and finishes with it running down, with
acceleration sounds in between. The backing music was from a
period/nostalgia music library CD, and the obvious Fleetwood Mac track 'The
Chain' was too much to resist.
In May 2012 CPS hosted a special evening when we asked Roger and his
wife Christine together with Peter the mechanic, to attend the premiere of the
AV and the book was also presented. Roger was delighted with the whole
evening and was so impressed with the AV, that he asked to see it again!
Everyone involved seemed to enjoy both the photography and the AV, and
it was a fun and productive project for a small and informal group such as ours.
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