Video trip report suggestions?

[Michael Ray]

I noticed in the "Why are you not a member of BPL thread" (and maybe another recent one?) that some people would like video trip reports. I was curious if there were particular things people want to see so I could add it in to mine. I've done videos for all of my trips (all 4 of them – haha). Usually I'm just getting the scenery while giving basic progress reports of where I'm at and what I'm doing. Every now and then I throw in why I'm doing something or a note about a piece of gear.

I know one thing I will be changing on my next trip (Maroon Bells again) is I'll double the resolution. That means I need to take another 4 GB card though – more weight! ;)

[Bob Gross]

One helpful item is to locate your trip. For example, right after a title, you may have some introduction about the trip or where it went. Then show a map. I've gone so far as to show a park map with a Start star and a Finish star, and then in the middle of the action, I show where the route progress has gone between the two points. The adventurers who watch your report want to be able to follow along.

As for resolution, I agree. You can't go back to re-shoot the thing, so it is much better to shoot at the maximum resolution that your equipment can handle. Get yourself a nice 64GB card.

–B.G.–

[Eugene Smith]

Michael,

Make it personal, make it your own, people will enjoy it. I enjoyed your video with your two boys, that's an awesome record of the time you had together.

There are definitely occasions where some sort of formality or structure is effective, but video enables you to break out of the mold and put the experience right in front of viewers. Personally I enjoy videography pieces that connect me with the experience, not in a paint by numbers and dot the lines sort of way, but in a creative manner that may have all or some of the following: narrative elements, symbolism, periods of reflection, adventure, and of course, a good sense of place and time. Alastair Humphreys recently shared his Iceland Crossing trek
in a videography style that represents some of what I'm talking about, it embraces the modern medium well and served as an excellent tool to act as an account for their experience.

Roman Dial has done some really awesome trip report pieces in video shooting with one or two cameras, his Magical Mystery Tour documentary doesn't have any dialogue, just a soundtrack and moving picture to share pretty killer adventures.

Just some ideas, I'm sure whatever you do will be excellent.

[Michael Ray]

Bob,
That's a good idea. I don't seem to recall running across any of your trips reports. I'd sure like to read/view them. FYI, my camera can't take SDHC cards. In theory 2 GB is the limit but there's a way to trick it to work with 4 GB.

Eugene,
I am mainly curious if there's something missing people would like to see. Even those (nearly) professionally done ones you pointed out could have benefited from a map as Bob suggested. I know everyone will retain their own flavor – I'm certainly not going to stop being me just for you guys. :)

I also want to encourage others to create more videos. Nearly every digital camera has a video mode. I use the free Windows Movie Maker though I do wish it had the ability to increase or decrease the speed for only a segment of the movie. I imagine the Mac users have it easier.

[Bob Gross]

Where it starts getting messy for me is when the aspect ratio changes. For example, when I am shooting still images, the aspect ratio is 3:2 (horizontal to vertical) or else 2:3 (horizontal to vertical). However, the maximum res on video mode is 1920×1080 and probably no 1080×1920. So, when I try to cut in some stills to some video, I end up with little cropped bits and pieces all over the editing room floor.

I could cut the video res down to 640×480, but then everybody would have to watch this teeny tiny screen.

My shows have been screened to local groups, but never to strangers.

My camera can't take SDHC cards, either. That is why I use 16, 32, and 64GB CF cards.

–B.G.–

[Bob Gross]

"Windows Movie Maker"

You might want to move up to a more full-featured editor. Sony Vegas HD Studio has lots of bells and whistles and special effects. Plus, it comes with an audio editor program.

So, think about it. Do you want to use just raw audio with the video? Or, do you want to dub in some voice narration at the beginning? Maybe a music soundtrack through the middle? Or, record your own scrubbed audio track and replace the raw audio that you captured on location.

–B.G.–

[Michael Ray]

I'm too thrifty to pay for software. If there's a good open source freeware for Windows, I'd use it but I make so few that WMM suffices at this point. I can do some basic audio editing with it as well, including multi-channel if I want to pre-record something, but that's just more time I don't have to waste.

[Bob Gross]

I don't know. Good software can be a godsend.

Really good software allows me to make mistakes much faster than I could on my own.

–B.G.–

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