Daryl Goodrich Goes Inside the Race

Having been commissioned to create two shorts for London’s Olympic bid for London 2012, director and founder of creative agency Dunlop Goodrich, Daryl Goodrich is a stalwart for sport on film. The two projects, Inspiration and Sport at Heart, have achieved notable praise from former London mayor Ken Livingstone, as well as picking up over 30 international awards, including the New York and IVCA Film Festival's Grands Prix.

Far from a patriotic flash in the pan, the director’s commitment to sport and the Olympic Games stretches far beyond 2012’s London bid. Goodrich was hired by the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) to be creative director for the world television feed of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. He also played a part in directing for Sochi’s winning bid for next month’s Winter Games and was involved in Qatar’s successful campaign to host the 2022 World Cup.

Managing to write a book about his experience as part of the London bid – which saw him pitted against Steven Spielberg and Luc Besson, working on the New York and Paris bids respectively – he has since been commissioned by Centre Screen Productions to direct a 180-degree surround sound film that is the centrepiece for The Olympic Museum in Lausanne Switzerland.

Produced and installed as part of a $60m renovation for the museum, which recently reopened, here the director takes us through what went into the project and the emotions he was trying to convey with the film.

Tell us about your background and why you wanted to make films for sport?

I’ve always been interested in graphic design, visual arts and sport, so being able to combine my two passions was the perfect career choice. As a former athlete, (national karate squad member) I understand a little about the dedication and determination that athletes commit to their chosen sport, which in-turn makes for compelling subject matter to direct films about.

They don’t come much bigger than for the Olympics. Did you feel much pressure to deliver for the London Games?

At the time London was at best in third place behind Paris and Madrid in the run-up to win the Games, so public opinion was pretty low. However, just as we began production on the second film Inspiration we were informed of Luc Besson and Steven Spielberg’s involvement with Paris and New York’s bid films respectively, so that certainly raised the bar!

And we guess the museum is a different beast. How did all your Olympic campaigning and international experience help with this particular brief for Lausanne?

I had a real desire to produce a film that was powerful, emotive and hopefully original with its approach. I wanted to create something that portrayed a moment in time. A moment every athlete faces at some point during his or her career. It’s that moment that determines your fate; will you be just another ‘good’ athlete, or can you mentally and physically push past the ‘invisible’ barrier and ultimately become a champion – an Olympic champion.

The museum renovation cost $60 million. Does that mean you was handed a sizeable budget to work with?

I was only commissioned as the director for this one film, and consequently wasn’t involved in any budgeting discussions. However, Centre Screen, the production company I worked for, was 100 per cent supportive throughout the whole production and was completely open to explore the various filming techniques I wanted to use, even though a few of them appeared a little strange!

Where did all the footage come from and tell us about the selection process and final edit…

The original Olympic footage was supplied by The Olympic Broadcasting Services, (OBS). They have a vast library with hours upon hours of material. The starting point for me was to be very specific with what I needed. Having scripted the film and broken it down into the five main themes, I was able to narrow the field of the search down considerably. However, my editor and I still had over 60 hours of rushes to watch.

And what about the sound? Tell us about your ideas for that aspect…

Sound is crucial. This could make or break the film. With Inside The Race there was no discernible voiceover or narrative script to help explain the story, so the various emotional beats I wanted to convey had to be expressed with metaphoric imagery and crafted sound design.

Tell us about the other challenges involved in making a 180 degree surround sound film compared to that of a normal television screen…

One of the main technical elements we needed to be conscious of when making a film on this scale was not ‘overloading’ the audience with peripheral imagery that distracted from the overall narrative. By keeping the focal point central, all of the images to the left and right were designed to pull the viewer back to the ‘sweet-spot’ of the screen. Another issue was the high definition format required to project on such a large area. A lot of the archive material was 16mm film, and by its very nature this wouldn’t hold up to being enlarged, so by re-projecting it against various textural elements and re-filming at 5K, we were able to overcome a lot of these potential problems.

And how did it feel to finally see the film playing out within the walls of the new experience?

Having worked on this project for over 12 months, to finally see the end result projected on such a scale was a joy, not to mention a relief that it worked.

Why did you choose to write a book about your Olympic involvement so soon after the London Games?

I wrote Spielberg, Besson and a Bloke from Bradford during the final 12 months before the start of the Games. It was such a fascinating, testing and exhilarating experience that it felt like good subject matter for a book. All of the proceeds go to a charity called the ‘True Volunteer Foundation,’ which helps underprivileged kids in Bradford.

Why do you think sport and filmmaking go hand in hand?

By its very nature sport is passionate, emotive, visual and dramatic - everything I love to see in a film.

Are you looking forward to the World Cup and are you working on anything for the event?

I’m currently directing four short films specifically for the World Cup this year, two of which are complete, and due for release at the end of April. These have had their own unique challenges; unfortunately I’m unable to say much more at this stage.

You can see some image stills from Inside the Race below and the full film can be viewed in all its glory at the The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.