2014 marks my fifth year covering the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and the fourth film I’ve done with Jeff Zwart. With the road being fully paved for the past 3 years now – I really wanted to emphasize speed in this year’s film. In 2013 we shot the film with a combination of cameras and this year we decided to produce the film in 4k UHD resolution. It looks great at maximum resolution, if you have a resolution and connection bandwidth I recommend changing the settings to 2k or 4k.
The Porsche from the Winter of 53
Commercial Director/Racer Jeff Zwart and I exchange photos our cars being pushed to the limit. Whether its drifting or Jeff rallying – its a fun exchange.
When Jeff sent me a video of his Porsche 356 Pre-A sliding through the snow in Colorado – I knew we had to make a film about it. It turns out, like many cars, there is a great story behind that 356. Jeff originally purchased it after searching for a rental 356 for a Porsche Cayenne commercial. When his search returned no good options, he decided to try and buy one instead. He had no intention of keeping the 356 long term, however the car grew on him and turned out to be fun to wheel.
Thanks to Jeff Zwart for being one to drive cars to their full potential and for sharing the desire to create things constantly.
From Storyboard to Final Frame
Compare my storyboard frames on the left with their finished video frames on the right – taken from my short film: The Porsche from the Winter of 53.
Frame direction has been changed on some to accommodate the real locations and available conditions when I arrived in Colorado to shoot. Also worth noting the Barn Frame changed from my original script. I originally thought it would be interesting to have Jeff’s Cayenne in front of the 356 and the reveal being the 356 driving out from behind it. However, I decided to simplify the story and leave the Cayenne out all together focusing entirely on the 356.
Shot in Woody Creek, Colorado at the end of March, 2014. Using my RED Epic camera Zeiss Lenses and my DJI s1000 Octocopter with a 5D MIII.
Matt Powers throws a 360
Its crazy to think I met Matt Powers right around when he started his professional drift career. So when Matt told me he wanted to try a 360 mid drift, on one of the trickiest parts of the down hill section of Willow Spring’s Horse Thief Mile track, I was intrigued. Horse Thief has some awesome elevation changes, tight corners, and was originally built as a motorcycle track. All of that means that its not very wide like other race circuits specifically built for cars. So to pull off a 360 it would require a lot of commitment. Watch the video and see for yourself how Matt did with the 360.
Special thanks to Just Drift, who hosts the Top Drift series and Just Drift practice events. They are the best drift events around and they were nice enough to let us try this 360 during an event! Thanks Charlie.
Also to Larry Chen, for being a crazy chase car driver and allowing me to mount my camera setup to his classic 240z. Without Larry, this cool angle would not have been possible.
Just Drift – All Star Bash Video
As of 2020, this video has over 5 million plays on YouTube. Enjoy a really enjoyable day with Hert at Just Drift All Star Bash and Toy Drive.
Porsche – Gmund
Porsche – Gmünd, the Beginning.
When Porsche started out of a small village in Austria – they built the Gmünd.
2015 Subaru WRX – The Chosen Ones
Excited to be able to share some of my recent Directing work. As Director and Director of Photography, I helped to launch the 2015 Subaru WRX in the most Hoon-tastic way possible: by having 5 hardcore Subaru owners drive the crap out of it.
The ring master for the 5 Chosen One’s adventure was skateboard legend and Subaru Rally driver Bucky Lasek. Bucky was awesome to work with on the job – he provided the comic relief, helped refine my autocross course, and ripped some really nice e-brake turns for b-roll.
It’s rare to have an opportunity to really push the limit in cars like the WRX as an enthusiast. Especially when the cars belong to Subaru.
Teaser – GT Academy Season 3
GT Academy 2013 – November 11th
The Season 3 debut on Spike TV
Excited now that this teaser for GT Academy has been released – I have worked on GT Academy US since season 1. Always interesting to see if my camera operating work made the final edits of the tv show!
Be sure to tune in on Spike TV, November 11, 2013 at 10:30pm for the first episode.
Mazda – 2014 Mazda3
6 Generations of Mazda – 1 shoot day
Being able to work at the speed of the cars you shoot – helps make jobs like this one possible! An ambitious single day production with 6 hero cars, 100 camera setups, and 4 pages of dialogue.
Thanks to my awesome crew and agency who pushed to make this project a reality. Even with limited resources – there is no reason to have inferior results. Happy to add this project to my portfolio.
Self produced by Will Roegge + Company.