Right. I'm going to answer best I can. You obviously thought this through already. Good start. Good questions.
First I would advise that you decide what you want to have, where do you want to go with the video? Personal?
Family? Wider audience? Bikers? Other viewers? Pull up a simple storyboard with ideas and shot angles. Think about
how are you going to tell the story. What sort of footage will you need to capture? When you know before hand what
to look out for it makes it much easier.
- How much footage did you shoot in total? per day?
Some days we shot more than others. The more interesting the landscape the more we stopped. We also made a HUGE effort to
stop by people and villages to get footage of the Basotho and their surroundings. We wanted the video to be more than just bikes
roaring past. In total Dustdevil probably had 6 hours of video (+-1hour/day), I had 5 Hours of video (+- 50min/day). Don't be fooled
though. To get 1 hour of various interesting usable footage one probably spend at least 4 hours stopping, getting the cameras out,
setting up and planning a shot.
On days where we struggled a lot, like the day that is to follow in this report, we subsequently moved slower and this gave the
opportunity for getting the cameras out more frequently. Always be on the look out for interesting moments and things to capture.
Rather spend some extra time with your subject and lure out that relaxed natural moment.
We tried to shoot selectively, in other words, thought it trough before hand where we had time. This makes for much more usable
footage. It does mean though that one has to stop what you're doing, pushing a bike for example, and move the camera for a
different angle and continue pushing again.
- What recording kit did you take / use?
We actually used low quality kit. The sound recording was poor most of the time. The sort of cameras a family would have
for their holiday movies. Money is unfortunately a scarce commodity for us and we had to do with what we got.
I used a Canon MVX100i miniDV camera and a Sony point&shoot stills camera video function. (mounted the latter on my helmet)
Dustdevil has a Canon G11. This is also a point&shoot but at the high end of the market. It shoots amazing stills and good 480x640 video.
The interesting thing is that for viewing on a TV this 480x640 resolution is actually not too shabby. I've got a friend with one of these big
flat screen TV's and the video looks fair on it.
- How did you store all the footage? Laptop/harddrive?
Dustdevil carried his Mac Laptop. Also had a 160GB rugged hard drive with. Downloaded our footage as often as he could to free up the
memory cards. I had enough miniDV tapes to film the whole trip and only download/import back at home.
- How much of the footage is on the road footage and how much is from stops? (I suppose after editing)
From the start we wanted to show what Lesotho and it's people was like. We also wanted to let each of our own characters grow as the
movie progressed. Subsequently "my edit" consists of about 30% of bikes riding, 30% of Lesotho and it's people and 40% of us, the riders.
In other words - 70% stop footage and 30% riding footage. I already had some good feedback on what people thought of my edit and
funny enough the audience, which consisted of girl bikers, were bored with the Basotho people bits and liked the parts where we were
on the move i.e. riding.
- Did you do any interviewing or video diary stuff?
Not interviewing as such but we did film people as we had a conversation. Video diary is very important. Dustdevil did amazing work here.
I also tried to convey my thoughts and emotions as we went along. It might feel weird but turn the camera on yourself and say how you feel.
Tell the viewer what is going on. Making a video diary while in the middle of the trip and in that landscape beats voice-overs afterward.
This is also where you have to decide how you want to make your film. You might want to rely on interviews if it is what you need to tell your
story. Decide what it is that you want to tell. A film of you riding through a country or more about the people? What is it that you will want to
know from them? What is it that you want to tell your viewer?
- How did you do the drive by shots without slowing progress to much? Leap frog?
Leap frog always work great. This way one doesn't lose riding time. We have many shots like this. It does mean though that the "cameraman"
won't be in the shot. We chose three of four places during the trip that we took time and set the camera up for a shot of all the riders passing by.
This will typically be a place where there is something interesting in the shot. A nice winding road, a water crossing or bad section of road. This
does take up a lot of time and sometimes we would do more than one pass to be sure we got the shot.
I did lots of riding shots with my camera mounted on the helmet. We then rode in close procsimity to fill the frame with the bikes.
- Did you do less mileage each day as a result of shooting?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Making video takes up a hell of a lot of effort and time. You have to decide before hand that you will devote time to the capturing of
your footage you need. Please, hear me, take the time because you will not regret it. Beautiful footage is worth so much more than saying you rode
so many km's in such little time. Guys that race through places really don't know what they're missing out on. When you stop you also enrich your
experience of a place. Stop and get that camera out!
Plan ahead so that you won't have to cover too much distance in one day. Regarding Lesotho and the difficult roads: This is also where a heavier DS
bike shines. It can be compared to a gentleman and a passionate lover while a light plastic bike is a rapist. The bigger bikes force you to take it slower
and stop more often. It commands respect. It will make your trip more memorable. I want to advocate that this is and should be the essence of
Adventure Riding.
It is important though to make sure that everybody in your riding group is on the same level. Warn your buddies before hand and explain to them
what videoing the trip will involve. Sack was absolutely great in accommodating us although he didn't make much effort with the videoing himself.
He did though get fed up with us taking up so much time and this resulted in some tension but nothing serious. I say again, Sack was a star. He didn't
mind us putting the cameras in his face every time he had a bad off and when he got hurt and when we were so tired and worn-out. Most guys won't
play along like this so choose your buddies very carefully. As specially if you're going into difficult places.
I obviously gave Sack his copy of "my edit" and it would be interesting to hear what he thinks. Now that you have something tangible to remember the
trip by and share with your family and friends, was it worth all the stopping and putting up with us putting the camera in your face so many times?
To be continued.....
- Have you added narration for on the road scenes? Music?
- Now that you're editing is there anything that you wish you had recorded or had done differently?
- Do you find you have an abundances of any particular kind of shot or lack of another?
