Happy birthday phil lewis of nnrt
12-31-2013 | 10:36 AM
#15
Allergic to Nonsense
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,007
Likes: 21
From: Granite Quarry, NC
Phil:
Few people today realize that you are indeed the "Father of Offshore Racing Video" From a humble start over a single race with a home movie camera, you, as a former racer, instinctively realized the potential of high end video for the sport and spared no expense to bring broadcast quality equipment to the venue. You also gave the rest of us on the team a LOT of latitude to create a spontaneous/exciting atmosphere and tell a story. Even though more profits could have been made with inferior industrial grade cameras and a stop watch formula to maximise boat count, you chose to always "follow the story" and let your pilots and me choreograph a living, breathing "shot sheet" with no time to spare. ( How many times did I hear the words "Where we going next Richie?" and how many times did I appreciate the trust you put in my by saying them?). Your investment in the Sony Broadcast Beta and later the now famous "IKKY" (Ikegami) cameras coupled with the unique cushioned gyro mount and wind diverter that Peter designed and built, have left a legacy of enduring, high quality, and lasting memories for the racers who were also, most importantly, respected friends. In later years, when I went with the Broadcast folks, it always amused me, and made me proud, that even though the producers had brought 3 or 4 other aerial cameras to the events...your footage always made up over 50% of the final shows...which was doubly amazing since the "IKKY" had a very distinctive internal filter and did not match the "look" of the other Sony cameras that the crews used.
So here's to Phil and Pete, two jersey screwballs, who made something great happen and pioneered a legendary story from the skies.
And I'm wishing y'all ....Good Racing!
Happy New Year
T2x
Few people today realize that you are indeed the "Father of Offshore Racing Video" From a humble start over a single race with a home movie camera, you, as a former racer, instinctively realized the potential of high end video for the sport and spared no expense to bring broadcast quality equipment to the venue. You also gave the rest of us on the team a LOT of latitude to create a spontaneous/exciting atmosphere and tell a story. Even though more profits could have been made with inferior industrial grade cameras and a stop watch formula to maximise boat count, you chose to always "follow the story" and let your pilots and me choreograph a living, breathing "shot sheet" with no time to spare. ( How many times did I hear the words "Where we going next Richie?" and how many times did I appreciate the trust you put in my by saying them?). Your investment in the Sony Broadcast Beta and later the now famous "IKKY" (Ikegami) cameras coupled with the unique cushioned gyro mount and wind diverter that Peter designed and built, have left a legacy of enduring, high quality, and lasting memories for the racers who were also, most importantly, respected friends. In later years, when I went with the Broadcast folks, it always amused me, and made me proud, that even though the producers had brought 3 or 4 other aerial cameras to the events...your footage always made up over 50% of the final shows...which was doubly amazing since the "IKKY" had a very distinctive internal filter and did not match the "look" of the other Sony cameras that the crews used.
So here's to Phil and Pete, two jersey screwballs, who made something great happen and pioneered a legendary story from the skies.
And I'm wishing y'all ....Good Racing!
Happy New Year
T2x
Last edited by T2x; 12-31-2013 at 10:47 AM.
