The Slow Mo Guys

The Slow Mo Guys is a science and technology entertainment web series from Thame, England, created and owned by Gavin Free, starring himself and Daniel Gruchy. It has been described as the biggest channel for slow motion videos on YouTube.

The series consists of a wide variety of things filmed in extreme slow motion using a range of Vision Research Phantom high-speed cameras, capable of shooting over 1,500,000 frames per second. The series premiered on 15 October 2010.

The Slow Mo Guys is heavily influenced by MythBusters; in a typical episode, Free and Gruchy attempt to film some sort of natural or physical phenomenon in extreme slow motion: subjects of the filming are often some type of spectacular chemical or physical reaction, stress tests of certain objects under extreme conditions, while some episodes simply aim for an aesthetically pleasing result, often by the use of rainbow-coloured paints. To emphasise the science angle, the pair wear lab coats. Because the original lab coats Free ordered were too small for Gruchy, Gruchy's lab coat tore; the torn off right sleeve has been carried on as a tradition on newer lab coats as well. Gruchy's lab coat is the more stained of the two, with Free's coat in fairer condition. The most prominent of the few stains on Free's lab coat is a blue paint smear on the right shoulder "autographed" by a Blue Man.

The episodes generally feature Free as the cinematographer and camera operator, and Gruchy, a former ammunition technician corporal in the British Army who served in Afghanistan, as the rigger and often also as the stuntman. Over the years, Gruchy suffered numerous injuries, such as a lacerated ear, a glass shard lodged in his finger, an oil burn and a fractured wrist; he jokingly noted that he has suffered more injuries during the filming of the show than during his tour in the Afghanistan war zone. Some episodes feature Gruchy explaining how some explosives work, such as grenades and detonation cord, allowing him to draw on his background in the military. Following the popularity of their most viewed video, Giant 6ft Water Balloon, Free and Gruchy have regularly produced further videos involving Gruchy in or around several-foot water balloons under the event of "Giant Balloon June".

The episodes are generally filmed in Free's backyard in Austin, Texas, usually with only the two of them involved. In the case of The Super Slow Show and Planet Slow Mo, as the budget of the show increased and more cast was involved, the experiments got larger and more elaborate; the availability of a designated camera crew allowed Free to participate in the stunts as well.

In 2006, Gavin Free joined Green Door Films, the first production house in Europe to utilise Phantom digital high-speed cameras as a source of slow motion, working as a data technician and camera operator. He began working on adverts, music videos, and films such as Hot Fuzz. In 2008, he was hired to direct the seventh season of the Rooster Teeth machinima series Red vs. Blue. Afterwards, he had decided to make a move to Austin, Texas and work full-time for Rooster Teeth, for which he needed to get a work visa; however, as he didn't go to university, his only option was an application for an O visa, a visa that requires an "extraordinary achievement" in arts or science.

Being a video/film producer, he decided to utilise his access to slow motion cameras to create The Slow Mo Guys along with his friend Daniel Gruchy, who he first met while working in a Waitrose in their home county of Oxfordshire. According to Free, the Slo Mo Guys name partially comes from a comment Richard Hammond made on the set of Top Gear:

"[Richard] Hammond was the first person to ever refer to me as a "slow mo guy" because he knew there was a high-speed camera on the shoot that we were doing, which was him going around in a Formula 1 car. And he hopped over the wall as we were setting up the Phantom... he said, "oh you must be the slow mo guys," and I thought that sounds pretty good."