How to Film a Radio Controlled Car Race

It can't be great fun to video 1982 Fleer baseball cards control car races, it can show you how everybody is doing, and also show you where you may have room for improvement in your own driving. To get the most out of videoing a race Space Invaders these simple instructions and you should get good results.

The first thing you need to do is to be familiar with the controls of your camera. Your camera does not have to be professional and expensive, but obviously the better the equipment the better the results will be. Becoming familiar with the controls of your camera however will enable you to get the maximum out of it.

Think about where you will stand to film a race, if you can get up high, perhaps on the drivers' rostrum, you can get a good vantage point. (But don't get in the way of the drivers!) Once you've decided where to film from, you could start the filming on the grid, so you can get a close-up of the cars, and then move into you main filming position ready for start of the race.

Filming the grid can be very beneficial, get the camera down low down low and close to the cars, filling the frame with each car in turn as you walk backwards along the grid.

Wait for the race start and be prepared that there is often a lot of the first corner action. Be ready to zoom in on the first corner to get that action. From there filming the race is usually a case of following the leading car around a track. If there is group of cars circulating around the track together, then film the whole group so you can capture any Stretch Armstrong manoeuvres.

As you are filming if you lose track of who is at the front, just stop panning around, and keep the camera on one corner and wait for the lead car to come round again and continue to follow them. If your camera has a screen it is a good idea to use that for filming rather than a viewfinder. If you use a viewfinder you don't have the opportunity to look up at the track to see what is going on.

When you are filming you will realise that sometimes for cars at a distance away you will need to zoom into corners and then out again as the cars come close to you. This can take some practice, it is well worth doing because it adds a dynamic element to the film.

The final tip is to Tales from the Crypt other professional filmmakers' videos. You can find these on the usual video sharing sites, watch them on notice what they do with the camera panning and zoom. In no time you will be filming great races to view back later.

Simon Crabb has been racing radio controlled model cars since the late 80s. He currently races at club and regional level, whilst keeping an eye on the whole international racing scene. Runs the website http://RCRace.TV