A REAL, ‘PINCH ME’ MOMENT
When we found out we were going to have the opportunity to not only meet, but to work with James May, it was a real, ‘pinch me’ moment.
We were initially asked to edit a couple of videos on his new Mirai, which went down very well.
Then we was given the opportunity to film a couple of features with James and his personal car collection for the DriveTribe YouTube channel.
The idea being, that the viewer gets an up close insight into why James picked the cars he owns and a bit of the story behind them.
Learn moreWHO’S JAMES MAY?
While we’re pretty sure James May needs no introduction, if you aren’t sure here’s a quick breakdown; James May, better known by Jeremy Clarkson as ‘Captain Slow’, was part of the Top Gear Trio from 2003 to 2015. The same trio that went on to present The Grand Tour in 2016 of which the latest episode was aired 30th July, if you haven’t seen it then be sure to catch it on Amazon Prime.
James May has not only turned his presenting and journalistic skills to the automotive industry, he has also presented several other shows including James May on the Moon, OZ and James, and more recently James May: Our Man in Japan.
Known for his to the point, very British sarcastic comedy, it’s fair to say he is a well loved character on TV screens around the world.
THE EXPERIENCE
Some celebrities get a bad reputation for having a different persona on TV to real life. This really isn’t the case with James May. What you see is what you get with him and he is equally fun to work with as he is to watch on screen. He’s incredibly down to earth and we instantly felt at ease working with him, in fact every time we have filmed with him, he has had us in stitches and lived up to his reputation, including getting lost whilst we were filming!
In terms of the shoot itself, we employed familiar filming techniques from our other automotive projects for both online and TV. We wanted the videos to feel almost like a snippet from a Grand Tour or Top Gear episode.
The feedback we have received so far has been amazing both on YouTube, but the most surreal moment was receiving feedback from Mr May himself. James stated that he enjoys working with us and commented that we ‘just get it’, we will take that for a compliment!
Upon building a great relationship, we are excited at the prospect of working with James more in the future. We absolutely love filming with James May and we hope you enjoy the videos as much as we do creating them.
THE CARS
We had the pleasure of filming a number of James May’s car collection, including his VW Beetle beach buggy from The Grand Tour special in Namibia, The Beach (Buggy) Boys. James kept his Buggy and had it fully restored after the show.
Built from the original VW Beetle, it’s a real spectacle and the restoration is incredible. Ironically, James admits he never actually takes the buggy on the beach, with the amount of chrome on the body work, we aren’t surprised either!
If you would like to find out more then do check out the video.
UNDERRATED CAR
More recently, we also had the opportunity to film Jame’s Alpine A110. After falling in love with the car while filming The Grand Tour, James decided to buy one himself.
In the video we shot for DriveTribe, he explains why he rates the car and after filming the feature with him we could really see why.
French cars can get a lot of stick, and the Alpine A110 does have quite a unique look, but it’s a light and nimble car that sports a 0-62 time of just 4.2 seconds. If you’re not convinced by the car, the video is an entertaining watch, even if just for the comedic insight James provides.