Freak Marbles Behind-The-Scenes

Ah, the freak marbles... these 30mm marbles were uncharted territory for us. We didn't know how they would perform, how harsh they would be with the fast-drying sand track. As Dion stated "It was the most exhausting filming day at Doornse Gat, ever"

But let's lean back and reflect that beautiful day! We arrived at Doornse Gat nearby Utrecht (pronounced: Dornsseh Hat), at 10:30 am after a 90minute drive from the studio. The scenery was incredible, for those who plan to go to the Netherlands, do yourselves a favor and go there, the place is fantastic!

Here's is the view from the top of the hill. It is a protected park and only a portion is available to the public from 7am till 7pm. Anyway, enough with the useless info. The conditions looked ideal at the very start, good weather, wet sand, no wind, and no people! So we started to build the tracks right away!

On the same day we filmed Steeplechase and Sand Rally for ML23 & ML23SD, The track was made for 16mm marbles, and not the monstrous 30mm freak marbles! So after we finished filming with Sand Rally, essentially we had to build the same track again and again as the marbles were continuously driving off the track. It was mayhem. I promise you we made more than 30 tests to get this right. 

<editor's note>: We would love to show you pictures from the ML sand rally event but it would be a spoiler. So hang on until the Qualifiers are published!

A 36% [19.8°] gradient slope was challenging to go up and down multiple times. And with random kids and dogs running around it was a bigger challenge to keep them out of the frame. This image above shows the "real"  slope at the park.

If you ever wondered how the sand races are filmed this is it! Usually Jelle (left) films the front of the pecking order, and Kars (centre) & Dion (right) exchange the mid and back cameras. Piet is waiting at the finish line for the super-slow-mo camera to press the rec button. Jim handles the GoPro which he puts in several spots along the track. Minos was around for an extra camera, keep the kids out of the frame and keep the spirit high!

This is from the ML23 Sand Rally event, but the marbles are covered to avoid spoilers.

Jelle is taking pictures of the beached freak marble, and yes, not everyone made it to the finish. When a marble is beached we fix that part of the track because usually the stuck marble(s) create dips and bumps on the surface of the track and the walls.

After we finished with the group races, Kars & Minos left to check the results and declare the finalists, while the others were working on the Steeplechase event. After Steeplechase, we filmed the finals! The weather changed at that time, as the wind eased off and the rain started to fall. I am not 100% but I believe it was the first time Sand Rally races were filmed in rain conditions!

We had 2 cars full of stuff, props, racing marbles, spectator marbles (oh boy, that box was heavy), banners and so on. The prop what takes the most space is the triathlon water tank which is 2m long. Sad story: we didn't film triathlon at Doornse Gat because we ran out of time. But worry not, we filmed it at the studio the next day!

Last but not least, I uploaded this [accidental] photo only to show you the real struggle at Dion's face after an 8h-long filming day. Kars (our editor) took it by mistake, and before I throw it to the trash, I was like "why not show how tired we were?". So, there you go!

Apart from the challenges we really enjoy going there every single time! The place gives you a peace of mind, and if the weather is good, you just don't want to leave. 

Would you like to know how Jelle and team make the sand tracks? Let us know in the comments below!