Even before casting was complete and months before principal photography' began in July 2000, Harlin and Stallone began shooting real races on the open wheel circuit. Beginning in March, Harlin and camera crews covered the CART series in Miami, Florida: Long Beach, California; Rio de Janiero, Brazil and Montegi, Japan.
"By shooting at races around the world we captured the excitement and energy generated by hundreds of thousands of people and lots of terrific action," Harlin enthuses.
The filmmakers also used their time in the pits to continue working with the real life owners and drivers to capture the sport as accurately as possible. "I was immediately impressed with Sly and Renny," says team owner John Della Penna. "As the writer, Sly wanted to check every detail. He wanted to monitor the radio conversation to accurately emulate the language we use while the driver is out there racing. He wanted to understand the strategy we use in the pit lane. He wanted to see what the driver sees on the track. He wanted to make it real. This film will be amazing in terms of how close it gets to the sport, from the racing sequences to the relationships between the people in the story."
In order to accurately convey the details of the sport, Harlin's completed version of the film marries live footage shot on the racing circuit with the film's scripted action. "What we filmed at these races doesn't necessarily match the action we have scripted," Harm explains. "So we take the live footage we shot at the races and on the tracks and add in computer generated cars to match what our actors and their cars need to do. By shooting at the races, we get the energy of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans, but we also get the story points by blending it with CGI cars and our own actors on the track."
Prior to each race day, Harlin meticulously storyboarded his race sequences, first on paper, then in a computer. These comprehensive storyboards were then broken down into individual shots and divided among dozens of camera units deployed to pre determined locations around the track. Harlin and his team also set up tiny toy cars on a desktop track to map out the complex fictional driving sequences that would later be interwoven with real live racing footage. Before hitting the track (where every minute of precious time counts), the director, actors, drivers, stunt men, cameramen and crew had already rehearsed their version of the race dozens of times.
"Filming at these races means adhering to a minute-by-minute schedule," says Harlin. "We had to be organized and ready when our windows of opportunity opened up. We had to steal time here and there as the race went on around us. Once I had my cameras set and my actors in place. I zeroed in on the shots and the outside world disappeared."
On each race day, the cast and crew assembled well before dawn to talk safety and plan the day's work with military-like precision. The filmmakers were allotted time before and after the daily racing events and qualifying rounds to film the east and production cars on the track. During the rest of the racing day, the crew shot in the paddocks, trailers, grand stands, in-field, press booth and timing stands.
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