The stage
Archana is a “democracy” in the mid-2000s. It is well known that it is only a democracy in name, but the government still has their slimy tentacles in everything, including the TV and film industry. To keep the government propped up, the state owned studios pump out a hefty dose of politically tinged movies and TV series, which keeps the masses placated and “informed” about how to vote in the next “election”. Many of the films and series contain car chase scenes, so camera cars are in common use. The problem is that the cars in current use are locally made by the state-owned car company, and are prone to breakdowns – leading to frequent delays in filming. This cannot be tolerated anymore…
The scene
Somewhere near Berezovka – Summer 2010
“CUT! What the hell is it this time? We cannot afford any more delays!” – shouted the stout director into the megaphone.
“Something in the engine doesn’t sound right, sir. Could be another blown cylinder.” – whispered the head mechanic timidly.
Annoyed by another potential delay, the director slumped into his chair and proclaimed in despair - “How long is this going to take? The producers want the reel on the cutting room table by tomorrow!”
“We’ll do our best. No promises…” - stammered the mechanic.
As the pursuit camera car came to a grinding halt at the side of the road, it was clear that filming was done for the day. Vlad, the director, knew this was the last straw. Heads were going to roll if he couldn’t deliver the footage to the studio on time. But without reliable equipment, how is he to shoot the film? He immediately picked up the phone to talk with the producers.
“Listen, the car broke down again. No, not the ones we’re filming, but the one we’re filming with. Yeah, the camera car. We cannot film a chase scene without a camera following the action, can we? No, you listen! I understand that the film needs to be done on time. But we simply cannot work if the equipment keeps breaking down! I don’t care who you talk to. Go talk to the superintendent, the minister, the MAN himself if necessary! Beg and plead if they don’t see reason. If they want to pump out these films, we need proper equipment. No car, no moving scenes on film, it’s as simple as that. Now go. Filming is done for a while.”
The flash-cut
“We ran into another problem…”
“Solve it!”
“Not this time, we can’t. There will be a delay.”
“This is unacceptable.”
“We cannot change the laws of nature. We need new cars.”
“I’ll talk with the big guy.”
“What?”
“The film will be delayed due to technical problems, sir.”
“Fix them!”
“They are working as hard as they can sir, but without proper equipment…”
“Fix. Them.”
“Sir, with all due respect, this is not a matter of intimidation. If the party wants car scenes, we need better camera cars.”
“Fine. How many?”
“To handle all the projects? Ten.”
“You have a budget of Ꝑ450k. Don’t care where they come from, use your connections. Just get it done and get filming back on track!”
The TL:DR and Rules
Build a camera car that can support a crew and a frame-mounted camera boom. The camera car’s full crew is four people. The car itself has to seat at least two, but ideally the full crew complement; if only two are in the car, then two camera operators have to work remotely, increasing operational costs.
The car will be used for all kinds of shots: high-speed car chases on paved and unpaved roads, glamour shots of politicians in their motorcades as they pass by famous landmarks and parades, advertisements for Archanan cars and even aeroplanes as they take off… the list is long. Needless to say, the cars need to be able to handle a wide variety of conditions, be reliable, and fairly cheap to operate and maintain.
You’re designing the road-going consumer version of the car which the studios will purchase. The film studios will convert the cars into the camera cars themselves.
- Engine variant and car trim year 2010 or earlier.
- Unleaded regular fuel (91 RON) only.
- A 3-way catalytic converter is mandatory (hey, Archana isn’t THAT evil!).
- Minimum load capacity: 800 kg (the car will be modified by adding the camera boom, and has to carry all kinds of electronics and filming gear). This is a soft minimum; if your car has a lower capacity, then the crew will have to swap out the suspension, raising the effective cost of the car, but is not in itself a disqualifying criterion.
- At least two seats, but four preferred (two seats will be more expensive to operate and hurt running costs).
- Total budget for ten cars is Ꝑ450k, so hard cap of Ꝑ45k per car. If the car is cheaper and the government can buy more than ten, then great.
- No obvious min-maxing, and no quality slider shenanigans. Keep quality sliders ±5 or less.
The Criteria
- Reliability: breakdowns delay filming, which is unacceptable.
- Running costs: combined service costs and fuel economy – cheaper is obviously better.
- Drivability: the car has to handle well and be nimble with all the gear.
- Loudness: the car has to be unobtrusive during filming.
- Upfront costs: the government did set a total budget. If they can squeeze more than ten cars into the budget, the they can film more, or have back-up cars.
- Sportiness: the car has to keep up during chase scenes.
- Offroad: the car also has to handle filming on dirt roads.
- Environmental resistance: to keep them running longer in the harsh Archanan climate.
- Comfort: the crew’s comfort is not a huge concern, but in the end, a comfortable crew is a happy crew. Might prevent filming delays if the driver doesn’t throw his back out.
- Realism: remember, you’re designing the regular consumer version of the car, not the camera car as used in the industry. So stripped out “basic” interiors with zero entertainment in a Cayenne equivalent will be frowned upon. Ditto race parts or anything unrealistic for the type of car you choose to build.
- Design: a pretty car isn’t necessary, because it will never itself appear on film… but I do appreciate some eye candy ;).
The how to enter
Please PM me your car files with the following name format:
Model name: PDC14 – [YourUserName]
Trim name: Name of your vehicle
Family name: PCD14 – [YourUserName]
Variant name: Name of your engine
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the ruleset, please say so before 11 PM UTC February 24th . After that the rules will be set and the competition will be open for submissions.
Entry deadline is set to March 10th at 11:59 UTC.
:
