Brent’s behind-the-scenes video is now up, and Dustin’s went up recently as well, so I’d say it’s time to take a look at the photos from the 403 Media Christmas video prep!
In case you missed the original posts, just prior to Christmas I gave Dustin and Brent a hand with the preparations for a quick little video that they were working on for the 403 Media YouTube channel. We spent several hours covering their cars in wrapping paper before going downtown the following day and filming both the cars themselves, and people’s reactions towards them. Even though we probably only spent a couple of hours downtown, between all of the cameras (including GoPros, Action cams, phones, etc) I’m sure we captured much more than that in footage of the little convoy, on top of plenty of photos.
Below are the links to the original posts just in case any of you haven’t read them yet, and in them are the two videos that I put together of both the prep and the shoot. If you have seen them, then please carry on scrolling and we’ll move on to the photos from the prep day! I have a set of pictures from the shoot as well, and those will make up the next post!
https://officialthreetwenty.com/2016/12/25/merry-christmas/
https://officialthreetwenty.com/2016/12/28/spreading-christmas-cheer-with-giftwrapped-cars/
First to be wrapped was Dustin’s S15, so we met up at his house and made our way to the garage to get started. Here Dustin was giving the S15 a final wipe before we began – we wanted everything clean not only so that the tape would stick better, but also so that no dirt would be trapped underneath and rubbed into the paint.
Ready to go; but first let me take a selfie. Is that still a relevant joke in 2017? I’m using it anway.
It’s apparently impossible for me to take pictures of Dustin’s car and not take one of the Slowpoke decal on his wing each time. I chuckle every time I see it! (Yes, it’s actually Slowpoke and not Slowbro. I checked.)
With one roll of paper and a bit of tape, the first panel was soon wrapped! Or, not quite. It would have been a super quick job if all we were concerned about was getting the cars covered in paper, but since the shoot required that they be drivable we had to ensure windows, lights, doors, and so forth were all clear and functional.
After not too long we had the driver’s quarter and door nearly complete. Joke all you want, but for this job the Voltex wing actually made for a very handy workstation. As a side note, and before you worry about the finish of it, I had noticed while wrapping the car that the wing was actually covered in paint protection film. Not a bad call on Dustin’s part!
Now while we took our time to keep the required features of the car functional as mentioned, since the wrap would only be temporary we decided to omit wrapping the trunk lid as a separate piece. It wasn’t required to open for the shoot and it saved us a fair bit of time by just covering over it. We also wrapped over the gas door – though that was an accident and only afterwards did it occur to me that we had done so. As soon as I realized I made sure to ask Dustin just how much gas he had in the car. Fortunately there was more than enough!
With the sides looking more complete it was time to start on the nose. First up was the hood since it was the largest panel.
With the two large pieces of paper placed down on it it was then a matter of just trimming the paper, folding it over the edges, and taping along the inside of the hood. We possibly could have sealed it off like we did the trunk, but just in case it had to be popped we didn’t want to have to ruin our work to do so.
A few people asked about how durable the wraps would be, but we had already considered which areas would be at risk of damage from rocks, slush, or the 60kph and up winds from driving, and protected them. Since the paper was fairly flimsy it wouldn’t have taken much to ruin a section of it so what you didn’t see in the final video were the multiple rolls of packing tape applied over top as extra protection. We effectively made our own clean bra for the wrap.
Peekingchu.
License plate goals.
Initially when we wrapped the doors, the handles themselves had been left bare but I took a stab at covering one and it came out fairly well so I ended up doing both. I even managed to find scraps to use that allowed me to more or less line up the patterns and make them blend in. The paper’s pattern soon took on a similar effect to that of the camo that manufacturers use on prototypes!
Like with any wrap it was expected that the front bumper would be one of the hardest pieces to cover and while it still was, it actually wasn’t all that bad. It took multiple pieces due to all of the nooks and crannies but it was easy to hide the seams, plus we knew any small imperfections wouldn’t really be noticeable in the video anyway.
We carried on, did our final inspection once everything was covered, and then it was time to open the garage door and take a proper step back to admire the now red and green S15. Only a minute or two after the door was opened another car then drove by and the driver looked incredibly confused to say the least when he noticed the S15. One neck broken and it hadn’t even been started up or moved yet!
One other precaution we had taken while wrapping, which you can see here, was to keep the paper well clear of the exhaust tip so that any backfires (hopefully) wouldn’t set the whole car on fire.
We shut the door again and turned off the lights to allow Brent to get some final shots, and then it was time to tidy up and move the S15 back to its side of the garage. We had been working for a handful of hours by this point so we all split for a break (and some food) and agreed to meet up again later on for the wrapping of Brent’s Legacy.
Later that evening we regrouped at Kaylee’s parents’ garage (spy her S14 up on the hoist) as it was heated and would therefore be a much nicer environment to work in as it got progressively colder outside.
When I arrived the first few parts had already been roughly put in place so I grabbed some supplies and got right to work. Dustin and I applied the first piece to the passenger side of the car (the Legacy is RHD as well) and had it all trimmed and taped down before we realized we had done it Australian-spec (watch the BTS videos if you haven’t yet, to get what I mean by that!) accidentally.
Seeing as how all three of us were filming this for our respective YouTube channels many quick breaks were taken to reposition cameras, and occasionally goof around for funny clips.
Since the Legacy’s bumper can be removed in mere seconds thanks to quick releases, it was pulled off and set aside to be wrapped separately. It also made the job much nicer for Brent I’m sure as he could place it on a table and have it at a more comfortable height.
Dustin starting Australian section number 2…
Just like with the S15 we chose to seal off a couple of the panels that wouldn’t be needed for the next couple of days. We decided that the rear doors weren’t important so they were covered over, but the hatch was wrapped as a separate piece so that it could still be opened.
Brent working. Dustin filming Brent working. Me taking a picture of Dustin filming Brent working. Efficiency!
By the time the front bumper went back on it was more or less time to focus on the finishing touches. Even the eyelids that the car had were redone in wrapping paper to make everything match, and the sections of the roof that would be visible were covered up too. As seen in the video, a Christmas tree was thrown on the roof rack so we didn’t bother to wrap the section of the roof inside of the rails since we knew the tree would hide it. We had also left a small section on Dustin’s roof bare to allow the GoPros to be properly secured with their suction cups. We didn’t want those falling off!
At last, the car was basically ready to go – the only section missing in this photo was an eyelid which was applied afterwards. We ultimately finished up just after midnight I believe, and once we had tidied up and shot our respective video outros, we all went home to get rested for the shoot later that day. We stayed as quiet as possible as we left of course, but I’m sure at least one neighbour had to be wide awake after the Focus and Legacy were fired up.
It took a lot of time to prepare for the quick shoot but it was definitely time well spent. It was a lot of fun and I’m happy that I could be involved with it – hopefully you’ve been enjoying the behind-the-scenes from this, and don’t forget to check back soon for the final post on this little project!
-Bill