Lights, camera, action!

At the end of January I had the first taste of being in front of a camera in my role as IAM RoadSmart’s young driver ambassador.

I was invited by Boston Advanced Motorists to join them at Listers Mini dealership in Boston. The group had organised an ‘assessed drive’ video to be created; the idea was to create a short video that demonstrates what an assessed drive involves, focussing on the stress-free element of these sessions. The video would then be promoted via social media to increase interest from younger drivers to take up a free taster session from the group.

I turned up at the dealership to find that not only had the group organised a plan for the direction the video was to take, they had also negotiated with the Mini dealership the use of one of its cars for the video, and the use of one of their employees to be the assessed driver. They had also sent a member of their head office over with professional filming equipment, microphones and a go-pro for the car.

We started off with an introduction of myself and my role, and having a chat with the driver about his expectations.

We then went out for a drive where we spoke about advanced driving. I gave Stone, the assessed driver, a few hints and tips to improve his driving (my observer training finally paying off) and after allowing him a few minutes to relax, we applied the system of car control to his driving.

When we returned it was time for the cameraman to take a few more shots for the video. Whilst the car was being washed I spoke to Stone about his experience and what he made of the assessed drive versus his expectations.

We then went outside to the now clean Mini Countryman for the cameraman to capture us driving away for use at the start of the video (oh the magic of camera work), then returning back to the dealership at the end of the drive.

This went extremely smoothly … as we walked to the car, the door I opened was locked, and as we walked back into the dealership, the door I decided to open was locked too! After a couple more takes we nailed it and had all of the footage we needed.

It was then time to head over to the Boston Standard’s head office for an interview with a local newspaper reporter about young drivers, the video that we had just created and my role as younger driver ambassador. All of this organised by the Boston group!

You can view the video by clicking here.

This was the best example that I have personally seen of a local group using its contacts and relationships to create something new and exciting, not only for themselves as a local group but for us as a whole at IAM RoadSmart.

This video will allow the Boston group to promote the Advanced Course via events, meetings and social media. But what about all of the wonderful things that other local groups around the country have done that we might not know about?

If your group has done something out of the ordinary, if you know somebody who has, or if you would like to plan something and would like a helping hand, please let us know. I think that we should be celebrating all of the great things our local groups do and use it to help other local groups in the process.

I look forward to hearing your news!

By David Gallagher, younger driver ambassador