That's how patriotic I am. Don't want the terrorists winning, do I?
That's not to say I can't do things with a car. I've changed tires, spark plugs, batteries, oil filters and even a headlight or two. I don't mind doing small mechanical stuff, but I'm neither a gearhead nor a grease monkey. What I am, of course, is a writer and burgeoning video editor. So when someone comes to me with a project that involves his love of all things cars and trucks - but requires him to write and make videos of himself, which he disdains - I naturally jump at the chance. The fact that it's a blood relative is pure coincidence, I swear.
My brother, Greg, is my polar opposite in many regards, but my doppelganger in many others. We both have the same sense of humor, like the same movies and TV shows, and played with the same toys growing up. (We both loved G.I. Joe and Tranformers, but he was more into He-Man than I was, while I had more Legos.) We have the same mannerisms, the same shit-eating grin, and occasionally say the exact same thing at the exact same time. Drives my sister-in-law crazy; the rest of us just laugh our Harper asses off. One thing we definitely disagree on: He loves working on cars and trucks; I just like driving them.
About four years ago, Greg bought a 1976 Jeep Cherokee as a rebuild project. It's a monster, and even in its less-than-mint condition, the thing's pretty damn cool. It's got rust everywhere, the side mirrors flop down limply, and if things aren't actually falling off they're still barely working; despite all that, it's a beautiful truck with great bones and lots of potential. He managed to put a Gladiator grill on the front (if you don't know, then I can't tell you) and a lift kit underneath, as well as larger tires. Then he got racing seats from a salvage yard. Four years later, that's really about the extent of it. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Roughly two months after he bought it, he met and started dating the woman who would eventually become his bride. She's a perfect fit for my brother, and loves the Jeep almost as much as he does. Still, their desire to have a life and do things with friends and family left little time or money for the Jeep. So it sat, like a hulking piece of automotive art, first in a driveway, then in a garage, while he tried to find time and money to work on it.
Alas, we've all been around enough to know how that story unfolded...
Last December, shortly after their wedding, my sister-in-law became pregnant. Since then, money matters have shifted to their future child, as, of course, they should. When little Ava was born last month, one of the things Greg wanted as a father was to share his passion for cars and trucks with his daughter. He wants to teach her to be able to work on her own vehicle, using the Jeep as their bonding experience. Then, when she's 16, he'll give it to her as her first car. (That's his claim - I have my doubts about his sincerity in giving his most prized non-living possession away to anyone. But time wil tell...)
Last week, I got a call from Greg asking for a favor. During one of the many truck and car shows he watches on Sundays, he saw a clip calling for viewers to send in videos or pictures of their vehicles for a chance to get them overhauled. Since he's much more comfortable with a socket wrench than a pen, he asked if I'd be willing to help him get something together for the Jeep. What was I going to say? No? I mean, c'mon, I want to see this things all tricked out and beefed up as much as he does. Forget that he's my brother, darn it. This is as much for those of us who have to look at that eyesore and shake our heads at the hidden potential as it is for the guy who's dreams are bigger than his wallet.
Yes, that's true of all of us, but since you haven't asked me to help you make a video to get that promotion or win the lottery, I can't really speak for you, now can I?
So on Friday, my 37th birthday, I went to his place to help him get the Jeep put back together so we could pull it out of the garage and film it. We got as far as "put it back together." Apparently, it's easier to destroy than rebuild. True story. By the time we were ready to roll it out of the garage - I say roll because it wasn't in enough working condition to be driven (and still isn't) - we still had several pieces that needed to go back on. Y'know, like the radiator. But hey, at least it was kinda fun to push...
After a day off, we went back to his place yesterday to shoot video. The application required two: One of him, and one of the Jeep. If you know Greg, you know why this is amusing. Most of the pictures we have of him in his adult years are either of the side of his head because he turned away before the picture was snapped, or of him with an "I'm going to jump over this coffee table and strangle you with that strand of Christmas lights" glare aimed directly at the camera. Saying he doesn't like having his picture taken is an understatement. Same applies to video. So knowing that my brother not only needed to be in the video, but also had to talk about himself, his dreams, and his motivations...well, that has given me a series of hearty chuckles over the last week.
Hey, if you can't laugh at your brother's discomfort, what can you laugh at?
Greg: The "Director's Cut" - the one too big to show.
To his credit, it only required two takes to get footage we were both comfortable submitting. We came back home and shot some additional footage. Then I sat down to start editing. The video about him showed Greg sitting on the hood of the Jeep talking about why he bought it, what he wanted to do to it, and what his plans for it were after. Then I put in shots of him holding Ava, and of he and his wife in a park with their daughter. All told, it ran about two minutes and looked really good. Then came the Jeep video. I did that one myself, walking around it and climbing inside while sharing anecdotes about it. That one ran about two-and-a-half minutes. We got them finished, then I got online to fill out the application.
The Theatrical Release - watered down and PG-rated
Turned out they were both too long. By a lot. Max file size was 10 MB - our shortest video was well over 20 MB.
Oops. Back to the drawing board.
So that's what I did this morning. Went back to the videos and re-edited them to sizes that would fit. I lost a lot of good stuff, but was still happy with the finished products. Finally got the application filled out and sent off around lunchtime.
Selling the Jeep - The original footage
All kidding aside, I want this to work for him. I would love nothing more than for someone to come to my door and tell me that my brother's Jeep was picked for this project. To be able to tell him that something we did together worked out for him would be incredible. Knowing that he would get his wish of seeing it fully fixed-up and driveable, knowing that he would get to share that with my niece, what could be better? I'm not sure if there's going to be any public voting on these applications, but if there is, I would be grateful for any assistance in getting him picked. I know Greg would, too. Until I know more, at least you get to sit back and enjoy the footage we shot.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome. Any well wishes will be passed along accordingly. And once it's all done and road-worthy, he swore he'd let me drive it.
Trust me, I have video of that too...and I'll be holding him to it.
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