Posted
Jun 25 2009, 10:00 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 21 comment(s)
As someone who spends most of his time working with different types of creative people, I do enjoy getting involved with young, talented artists in order to help them get their careers going. I'm in the unique position of being to help creative people from time to time and see this as an opportunity to give back to the world and pay off some karmic debts, if that makes sense. So last month, the option came up for us to take drift film-maker Will Roegge to a FIA GT Race in Italy. I was pretty...
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Posted
Jun 22 2009, 02:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 46 comment(s)
When we launched Speedhunters.com just over a year ago we had two types of videos in production: Slo-Mo Moments and Car Tours. This worked well for a while, but soon it became time to switch things up. We moved on to creating Montage Videos which set racing action against scored music beds. This again was a good thing as we ended up making some pretty cool videos last year especially our Ebisu Drift , MSC , Team Orange and the Spa FIA GT Videos. This particular video started out as a Long Beach Formula...
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Posted
May 06 2009, 03:40 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 32 comment(s)
It's been a while since we released a Speedhunters video I know.... but after a few delays, the production of a whole new set of videos is now under way! This particular video was shot at Ebisu Circuit last August... we had just finished filming the Team Orange Triple Drift film but I had one more shot I wanted to get done. So I asked Kumakubo if he could mangji drift directly towards me..... And then circle the camera, before manji-ing again all the way down the straight.... "No problem...
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 03:10 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 26 comment(s)
As we look forward into the launch of the new 2009 Formula Drift season, we thought it would be cool to release a video shot at the last round of the 2008 season. This is a little bit of a different take on a drifting film..... It's shot from the point of view of one of the Need for Speed girls, Michelle Cifuentes , as she watches the qualifying sessions at Irwindale Formula Drift.... This video is the last film you'll see from us for a while.... we've finally exhausted all our footage...
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Posted
Jan 15 2009, 06:36 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 88 comment(s)
You know, I've been going to race tracks all my life, but I've never, ever seen anything like Ebisu Circuit. Set into the hills of the Fukushima District in Japan, it's a series of 8 tracks, each specifically designed for drifting. What a thought! What is even more amazing to me, is the automotive culture that surrounds the track complex. On any given weekend you'll find scores of street drift cars on the various circuits; people travel from all over the country to practice their...
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Posted
Dec 16 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 58 comment(s)
I'm not sure how many people are currently aware, the motorsport of drifting just took at step forward this past weekend. The reigning Formula Drift Champion, Tanner Foust represented the sport at the Race of Champions in Wembley Stadium and showed reasonably well for himself. The racing establishment is now aware there is something new on the horizon and it's called drifting. The future looks very bright for drifting: the motorsport. This is of course very exciting for people like me who...
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Posted
Dec 05 2008, 04:52 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 36 comment(s)
There are no words that can really describe just how quick the Super GT Nissan GTR is...... This simply is THE fastest GT style race car in the world today. Nothing else comes close. Presented by Nismo engineer Ricardo Divila, this is a rare look into the exclusive world of top level Japanese motorsports. It took us a long time, and much negotiating to get access to this car. Many thanks to Nissan (thanks Toru!) and the Nismo team for their hospitality at the Suzuka 1000 kms. I also need to thank...
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Posted
Nov 21 2008, 06:07 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 42 comment(s)
Someone suggested today on Facebook that we should rename the site, Drifthunters.... they do have a point I suppose. We do love our drifting..... Hmmm so here is yet another drifting video.. this one is quite different though from anything we've done previously. This is a Japanese street drift car typical of one that you would find drifting at Ebisu circuit in Japan on any given weekend.... One thing we noticed when we visited Ebisu Circuit this past August was the sheer number of girls drifting...
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Posted
Nov 19 2008, 05:40 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 14 comment(s)
Our resident video editor: Riley Vigier started calling this video "Ultimate Drift" during the course of the post production process. It's a fairly good descriptor for this Speedhunters drifting art film. We've basically taken all our favourite slomo shots from the 2008 Formula drift season and compiled them into a montage style music video. As ever, the film features a custom score from Speedhunters London, UK based audio producer: Ekstrak . Enjoy the film! It's a good one...
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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 02:34 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 15 comment(s)
Most of the members of Team Falken will tell you that 2008 was a pretty tough year for them. Mechanical gremlins and delayed race car builds certainly pushed their stamina limits over the course of the season. None the less, they continue to be one of the most popular teams in Formula Drift. Go to any Formula Drift meeting and you'll find that there's always a big crowd around Team Falken's pit area. There is a real reason for this in my opinion. These guys continually give to the sport...
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Posted
Oct 22 2008, 03:27 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 11 comment(s)
You've seen the photos ... now watch the video!..... check out what 3000 bhp looks like when unleashed down the quarter mile..... all captured in slow motion HD video for your viewing pleasure. A few people mentioned that they thought we were played out with the "Slo-mo Moment" videos and we agree... we've moved on to a new style of our car art videos: the montage. Many liked our Spa FIA GT video but perhaps this one will steal the crown of the new king of Speedhunters videos.....
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Posted
Oct 16 2008, 02:53 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 20 comment(s)
Ok get ready for one of the best Speedhunters films yet... this video was shot at the FIA GT Spa 24H race this past August and features a custom music score by my man, Ekstrak out of his London, UK music studio. You've seen Antonio's post about the infamous Eau Rouge corner ... now you get to see for yourself why this is one of the most fearsome corners in all of racing. There really isn't anything quite like European GT racing.... .... or Spa-Francorchamps for that matter. Check the...
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Posted
Sep 30 2008, 09:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 17 comment(s)
So that's it for Porsche month... it's been quite the odyssey for the site it has to be said. Perhaps we went a bit crazy with our outpouring of love for the cars from Stuttgart... For those of you who were pained by this experience we apologize hahaha. It's hard to please everyone isn't it. At any rate regular service is about to be resumed. For now we'll leave you with this video we've been working on for the past few weeks. It features one brand new 2008 Porsche 911 GT2...
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 09:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 27 comment(s)
On my first day back at the office after our epic Speedhunting trip in Europe and Japan, I rushed straight over to meet with our editor Riley, to hand him a hard drive full of amazing imagery from Ebisu, Leipzig, Honjyo, Spa and Suzuka.... But our first order of business was to edit this video piece: Team Orange Triple drifting on the famous Ebisu Circuit in Japan! I have to say it was quite something else to have the world's most famous drift team performing their triple action drifting, all...
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 04:35 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 20 comment(s)
Ever heard the saying, "Man plans and God laughs"? Well sometimes this can be very true. You work on very detailed production plans, get everything organized to minute details... and then events take on a very different course. Sometimes the tendency is to get annoyed, but one should really try and roll with the punches, right? As I've mentioned before, we've been collaborating with Porsche a lot this month and they have kindly given us access to several of their vintage race cars...
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Posted
Sep 17 2008, 04:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 14 comment(s)
Things are busy, busy here at Need for Speed central ATM... The main dev team is putting the finishing touches on the new Need for Speed Undercover game which has them EXTREMELY busy as you can imagine. The final 5% to finish a game can be pretty tough going. Over in our little Speedhunters corner of the studio, we are in our own little mini crunch too. We are now over half-way through Porsche month, and have a hell of a lot more special features to finish. Much work to do yet! So I'm pleased...
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Posted
Aug 14 2008, 11:51 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 6 comment(s)
Sometimes when I am filming drifting, I am distinctly aware there is a large piece of metal that is hurtling itself on the very edge-of-control directly towards me. Normally this is somewhat of a pleasant rush; there is a certain exhilaration that comes with being so close to the action. Occasionally though, I do get internal warning signals that it's time to move to a safer position with the camera. No need to take unnecessary risks for the sake of a good shot IMO. So imagine the feeling when...
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Posted
Jul 10 2008, 02:44 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
And finally, the last video in our triple ensemble of American Drift beasts: Vaughn Gitten Jr's Falken Tires Ford Mustang. I'm well pleased with how this film has turned out! Make sure you crank your speakers right up when you watch this... We made sure to add extra engine sounds just for you lot. I'm sure you'll agree this is the best Car Tour yet! A big thanks to Vaughn for collaborating with us on this film as well as our trusty video editor Riley Vigier for his fine chopping skills...
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Posted
Jul 03 2008, 06:18 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 19 comment(s)
This is a bit of an epic slomo moment film coming in at 4 minutes duration. Perhaps a little self indulgent, but a must viewing for any purist drift car obsessive. The film shows the entire top 16 field from the recent Formula Drift New Jersey round as they roll in to the driver introductions..... I want you to consider as you watch this just how many of these cars have the full backing of a factory car or tire team..... it's pretty full on..... Also an amazing variety of machines. The only thing...
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Posted
Jul 01 2008, 03:53 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 6 comment(s)
It was a beautiful summer drifting moment: the smell of burning rubber.... intense humidity, sweat and grit baking my skin... a rowdy east coast crowd... a fantastic evening sunset......and team mates Rhys Millen and Daijiro Yoshihara going at it for the final Formula Drift New Jersey podium position. What could be better? :Rod Chong
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