You know those moments on Top Gear when Clarkson’s driving around, talking to a point somewhere in front of the passenger seat? Well, that’s what we were doing today. It was presenter Frank Pereire’s moment to shine while I continued my role as the anonymous driver in black.
The car being talked about, in today’s case the 964, was rigged with two cameras: one on the bonnet looking through the windscreen and a second looking over the driver’s shoulder. It was a complex arrangement with lots of potential for things to go wrong. This meant there was tension in the air as the pressure was on the crew and presenter.
For me, though, it was an easier day. All I had to do was drive the Cayman R behind the presenter’s car, overtaking it from time to time.
Both cars were followed by the production vehicles, one of which carried the script supervisor. She had a copy of the script notes and was constantly prompting Frank with helpful questions such as “Tell us about the four wheel drive, Frank.” I could hear all this through my earpiece but couldn’t actually hear the presentation itself as that was on a different system, so it was a frustrating experience for me, but at the same time a fascinating insight into the world of presenting.
The dialogue had to be repeated a lot because of interruptions from traffic, presenter errors and technical hitches, but we made good progress and the director seemed pleased with the results by the end of the day.
As for me, I had plenty of time to read that book…
