Q: When planning the Gymkhana TWO video, were your objectives with it different than with the first video? I'm guessing since you've called it an "infomercial" that your intent was more directly linked to selling DC Shoes apparel and the Teamworks Collection in particular?
KB: The pattern on my rally car [which inspired the patterns on the Teamworks Collection of apparel] was actually designed in 2008, but since it takes us so long to go from design to production to retail, we knew this product was coming up and we wanted to look at some unique angles to market it.
We discussed a bunch of different ideas and obviously because of the success of the first video the idea of a second gymkhana video made a lot of sense. But I wanted to be very up front with the viewers who were going to come along and see the words "Ken Block" and "gymkhana" and say, "Oh, I want to click on that," and then all of a sudden they're going to be bombarded with a bunch of product images. So I just wanted to be very up front that this had a commercial angle to it, and that's how we came up with the idea of an "infomercial," where we're going to entertain people with some motorsports eye candy, but at the same time we're there to sell a product but we're going to do it in a unique and entertaining way.
So that's where we came up with the idea of using the slow-motion camera and doing some of the unique stuff with breaking balloons, breaking glass, using flames and stuff like that. And at the same time, I wanted to keep the level of driving the same or even elevate it from the first video, so I worked really hard to make the stunts harder and more technical, and I actually feel I elevated the level of driving in the new video.
Q: With the original video being a one-day shoot with a second day added on to finish it, I assume this one was a bigger shoot?
KB: Yeah, this one actually took five days. The reason it took so much longer is that all those intro shots were a lot more intense and time-consuming. The slow-motion camera takes three hours to relocate, and it takes a crew of people because there's lighting and everything else that goes along with that camera, so that was a huge factor. Along with that, there's the fact of having more cameras, more people and every shot had to be a lot more thought-out and planned than the original one. It was a lot more stressful and took a lot more time, but in the end I think it was all worth it.
Q: And what was the creative process like when shooting the new video?
KB: We went to several different locations, eventually settling on a location [Port of Los Angeles], and then I went and toured the entire place and took photos. From there I planned out a complete course by looking at photos and a map of the place. I always have a list of stunts I want to do with the gymkhana car, so I spec'd everything out and did rough pencil drawings to map out each stunt in detail. Then I handed that over to the director and we developed a complete shot list. Once we were ready to shoot, he'd say, "OK, go set up the light bulb shot how you want it," and I'd lay out the bulbs and do some practice to figure out what gear I needed to be in and how much throttle to use, and feel how slippery the surface is, and then we'd lay everything out and I'd just go do it. So it's a fairly intense process that's very well planned out and thought through. It's also a really fun process and I'm the lucky bastard who gets to think this stuff up and then go and do it.
Q: I assume that once you're actually setting up a shot and starting to test it out, there's a certain amount of revising of the original plan once you see it on the ground and realize what's going to work and what's not?
By David Pratte
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