What Top Gear has others don't

I was watching "The Car Show" on Win this afternoon, and it dawned on me how boring it was. I watched an episode of Top Gear afterwards to compare.

I reckon there's three key elements:

  • The presenters
  • The music
  • The Camera work

The presenter on "The car show" just don't have interesting voices. It feels like they're trying, but they're just not genuinely interesting. Maybe its because what they're saying isn't interesting...

They seemed more concerned with not pissing off the car manufacturer than giving the car a proper review. For example, in this episode, he was reviewing a "Sports" Toyota Hilux. The one problem he could find with it was a "whine". Which magically went away after 5 kms.

Secondly is the music. Your average Top Gear episode has around thirty tracks. And these are fully licensed tracks, that you've quite possibly heard before. "The car show" on the other hand, uses the same generic Australian music you hear on the "Ten HD Demonstration", or those cheap ads who don't want to pay huge music licensing fees. The soundtrack adds a lot to the feeling and professionalism of a film, and for this show, it's a deal breaker.

Another thing that adds to the professionalism is the camera work. Top gear's feels polished. From the way the cars are filmed driving, to the filters they use for the still shots. "The car show" on the other hand feels like they just pinched the cameraman off "Getaway" and told him to take some films of cars. Different audience, and different techniques need to be used.

It'll be interesting to see how Top Gear Australia turns out. Will SBS go all out and spend some money on music and getting a decent camera man? I wonder who they've selected to present the show...

Comments

Submitted by Joelith on Sun 24/08/2008 - 16:12

I'm also looking forward to the Australian Top Gear. THey did announce the presenters though: Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati