NASCAR Radioactive has long been a feature of Fox Sports. It takes the radio interactions throughout the race to tell the story in a way that being in the stands, or watching on Television can’t. It shows the in-the-moment, raw emotions of the drivers as they fight for position for 3 or so hours each Sunday afternoon. Although not music, I think it’s hugely relevant to this course. Making these videos involves listening to television commentators and radio commentators calling the race. Not only that, but also the radio feeds of 40 cars, including a driver, crew chief and spotter for each car. To put it simply, that’s 120 radio feeds, each roughly 4 hours long from pre-race to post-race. Taking this audio giant and managing to tell a fast-paced, captivating story in 5 minutes is something that takes dedication and talent. On top of all that, since the live sports world is always moving on to the next thing, these videos are typically released just 2 days after the race to make sure they’re still relevant. Imagine being asked to watch a 3 hour event, then listen to 120 radio feeds and piece together a summary of the whole event and have it wrapped and finished in 48 hours. That is a task beyond my imagination.
As you see as you watch the video, the radio feed is supplemented by dramatic music and sound effects of the cars. Not even mentioning the video aspect showing what issues or wrecks the drivers are talking about. Ok fine I will mention it: the footage they show for the most part is pulled from non-television cameras. Instead they pull it from more handheld cameras to give it a more dramatic and cinematic look, which makes it that much more complicated when finding highlights. But in the end, it makes the piece more like a documentary or movie rather than any other highlight reel. I think looking at this video in a mindset attentive to audio production gives me another level of appreciation for the editors who make these on a weekly basis.