Published May 10, 2013
Footage shot at the April 20-21 autocross at McCarty Avenue and April 13 tech party at Bob Karl’s in Troy, with archival footage provided by Greg Rickes.
I’ve heard “If you follow your dreams, you’ll never work a day in your life” countless times during my twenty-two years on earth, but never did it sink in more than when I received the final assignment for my undergraduate career at UAlbany.
“For this type of project, I’d like to see films be 20-30 minutes long,” explained Professor Gerald Zahavi, head of the Documentary Studies department at the University at Albany. A big leap, considering all projects before were just 5-10 minutes long.
A twenty-two minute documentary with an open topic separated myself from post-graduate freedom. Choosing what to document proved the most difficult question for the class. When professor Zahavi asked me to share my topic with the class, I responded with, “I’m not exactly sure yet, but it’s going to be about cars.”
A few hours of online research later, and I found myself here, at the MOHUD website, wondering more about the club, and dreaming of all the car-infused footage I could grab from their events. After meeting with timing and scoring chief Eric “E.J.” Smith, I knew the club would be the perfect subject for my film. Fast forward two months, and suddenly 20-30 minutes felt like not enough time to complete my film.
Working with the MOHUD group proved to be better than I imagined it–Everyone was not only accepting of my intrusive camera during various MOHUD events, but many were willing to candidly share their experiences and expertise surrounding the MOHUD group. For that, I can’t thank them enough.
A good percentage of the footage in the film was taken during the autocross events on April 20th-21st at the McCarty avenue lot, with some supplemental safety footage from the April 13th Tech Party at Bob Karl’s. Archival autocross footage was provided by Greg Rickes, and my right-hand-man Mickey Zingarelli helped with a lot of the camera work. Watch the film, and please let me know what you think of it. I’d love to hear from you at michaellouisroselli@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Roselli