Filming the Doorslammer Special

Auki Henry © 2011

Auki & Ed on location at Hidden Valley - May 2011
Picture by Mark Hamilton

Here's one of the few times you wont see me in front of the camera for a HighRPM feature.  I recently went down with the media team to film some promotional footage for Hidden Valley to be used for future TV advertising, the schedule over the two days was pretty hectic which left limited time to get my head around any presentation material so I opted to concentrate just on filming.

As habit would have it though, we couldn't help ourselves and inevitably altered the schedule to shoot some extra material for a highlights reel, so with the help of HighRPM's newest presenter, Heather Banham, we quickly stitched together a rough running script for it.

We used a variety of cameras and lenses for the footage, utilising the Sony and the Panasonic AG-HMC41E for lightweight handheld shots and fast pans and two Canon bodies ( 5DMKII & 7D ) with 70-200mm and 24-70mm to get some nice DOF.

It was one of the best weekends of filming we have done, we had a great crew down there and despite the sore legs from hours of standing, crouching, climbing barriers and shifting gear it flew by.  The noise of the doorslammers from up close, not to mention the smell of methanol and the vibration through the body as they accelerate hard off the line is very addictive!

Here's the quick highlights reel just hot off the press.

Community Spirit & Australian Motorsports

Auki ™ & Auki Henry Photography © 2011

The heart of the action.  The Australian motorsports family
is an enthusiastic and helpful community.

Through my involvement with the team at HighRPM Australia I have had ever increasing exposure to some  big names in the motorsports scene, not only in terms of teams and drivers, but to the various media groups that cover motorsports such as magazines, production centres and TV channels that carry the various genre of sports.

So far one thing I noticed above other aspects without fail so far is the abundance of help that has been available to anyone willing to pitch in and get involved with motorsports.

HighRPM's missions has been to bring about a public awareness of the fantastic motor sports we have to offer in the Northern Territory, it was born from the need to try to balance out the disproportionate media representation of the various football codes against all other sports, almost to the point where top ranking teams and riders/drivers move their vehicles and bikes to southern states for competition as more recognition and support is received.

It would seem this imbalance in sports coverage would be a hard tide to turn against at first glance, but the various organisations we have worked with over the last seasons of operation have provided so much enthusiastic support, guidance and prime access to their events that it has been comparatively easy to start spreading the word.  It doesn't stop there, the big southern stations that cover national action have from time to time swapped material and information with us to help us achieve our goals.  One such event that comes to mind was an advertising brief we accepted from Darwin's Hidden Valley Drag Strip to create a 30 second TV spot for the launch of their new ANDRA Pro Series capable strip.  With lack of local footage of top doorslammer events we asked a favour interstate for footage specifically for a one-off campaign.  The response was immediate and generous with permission granted to freely use for the single event project ( at which we could obtain our own footage and possibly return the favour ).

Below is the 30 sec advert I completed which will be appearing on local channel 7Mate this month.

HighRPM Best of 2010 - Feature artists Blackwater

Auki Henry December 21 2010

Auki Henry with Blackwater & Luke Abraham
Adelaide 2010

This month HighRPM flew me down to Adelaide to interview one of the most exciting acts of the year, the dynamic South Australian band Blackwater.

 It was a chaotic 4 days I spent there as we also had some photo shoots to take care of for other musicians down there.

The purpose of the feature was to introduce the band to the motorsports community up north, get exposure for the band prior to the 2011 release of their debut EP and also seek permission to use their hit single "Cut Down" in a look back at the year that was 2010 in HighRPM footage.

All missions accomplished. Enjoy the end result below. This will be my last post for 2010, so here's to wishing you all a safe Xmas and a happy new year.

Presented by: Tamika Barnett, Auki Henry & Krystal Eldridge

HighRPM Australia coming to the spotlight

Australian based project HighRPM is getting the gears rolling this year, literally. Aimed at the local motorsports scene in the Northern Territory the team aims to help the motoring community expose the enthusiasm and quality that exists by the bucketload but is rarely highlighted enough by the media.

Originally intended mostly for the web market with traditional website and forums focused mainly on local content the development team has also embraced the opportunity for airtime on digital television, encouraged by the realisation that video media is the best way to capture such a range of fast and dynamic sports.

With a four person presenting team made up of local identities from the Darwin area (Auki Henry, Tamika Barnett, Ed Forman, Christine Watts) and a talented development team working behind the scenes they intend initially on bringing featurette style articles to the public alongside their web platforms. This is shaping up to be a great concept for local motorsports in general and considering the amount of local interest it is generating will have plenty of support to get going.

Zerolizard Media put together a behind the scenes look at the media teams first presenter promo shoot at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin just last month (below).