Drifting
Also known as: drift, sideways driving
Driving a car deliberately sideways through a corner, which is filmed for the attitude of the vehicle rather than for lap speed.
Updated
What it means
Drifting is sustained oversteer on purpose. The car travels at an angle to its direction, held there with throttle and steering, and the whole point is the angle rather than the time.
For filming it is unusually cooperative, the way a Fixed-camera recording subject usually is not. The action is loud, visible, repeatable and happens in a known place, which is close to the opposite of most action sports.
Smoke and sound together do half of the work. A drift produces both in quantity, and a clip that captures neither of them reads as considerably less dramatic than the same corner did in person.
How it works in practice
Low and close to the line is where the shots are. A camera at wheel height with smoke crossing the frame conveys what a shot from the stands cannot, and a Low-angle shot is the standard answer.
Mounted cameras tell the other half. A body on the bonnet or inside the car shows the steering and the counter-steer, which is the part a spectator never sees.
Audio is worth recording properly. Engine sound is most of the experience, and a separate recorder near the track produces something far better than a camera microphone in wind.
What to watch out for
Smoke ruins focus and exposure together. A frame that fills with smoke confuses autofocus and metering at the same moment, so fixed focus and Exposure lock are what keep a pass usable.
Tyre debris is a real hazard to equipment. Rubber at speed destroys a lens cover, and anything placed trackside needs to be either genuinely expendable or properly protected.
It all looks the same after four clips. One corner from one angle repeats, and a session needs several camera positions to produce a sequence rather than one shot filmed eight times over.
How RawClip handles it
Drift passes score well because the motion is continuous and the frame changes throughout, and the engine audio gives the analysis a clear cue to cut against. Repeated passes through one corner are reduced to the best of them.