One week before the Bud Shootout, a mass of production equipment and production professionals gathers in Daytona, FL.  This group of television veterans gets together every year to create some of the most innovative visuals on television – providing all of the artwork and headshots for Fox’s coverage of NASCAR.  Along with artwork and graphic elements, this production also provides Fox Sports with the content that will make up the intros, the outros and the interstitials that will air throughout the entire season of NASCAR on Fox.

It is dubbed “the hangar shoot” because the entire production fits inside a massive airport hangar just outside of the Daytona Speedway.  Fox rents out the empty space and transforms it into a full-service production studio.  Eight sets were built inside the hangar as well as a bonus set just outside designed to look like a Hollywood set.  This well-orchestrated team effort includes an EFP crew from Fox Sports, DP’s from Go To Team, California, New York and Florida as well as a big Grip and Electric crew from all around Florida.

Skip Clark gives us an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the NASCAR “hangar shoot” for Fox Sports and explains just how Go To Team can fit a year’s worth of ‘Really Cool TV’ into 10 hours of extremely hard work.

A look at some of the amazing sets that were created

The sets include a re-creation of Victory Lane – complete with super slow motion visuals thanks to the use of the Phantom camera, a Guitar Hero set, a 60X30 foot green screen, the “Red Carpet” set as well as a “Hollywood” set.  There were two interactive photo stops for the drivers: an iMac room using the Photo Booth program and Corey Brosius’ photo room where he used timed exposures to paint light all around the driver.  My favorite, however, was simply called the “Fire Set.” Nothing screams “amazing visuals” more than lighting a giant Fox Sports logo on fire and then shooting it in HD.  Amazing stuff!

Go To Team’s Skip Clark (Charlotte, NC Crew) headed up the Phantom Camera room that was designed to re- create Victory Lane.

Tom Wells (Go To Team’s Charleston, SC Crew) took the drivers out of their cars and put them on a rock concert stage, but with Guitar Hero!

Dan Beckman, Orlando Crew, shooting on the "Red Carpet"

Ryan Newman in the Fire Set

The Photo Room, painting with light

Read the blog on Go To Team’s website to see more of their projects.