SurlyLaika

On August 10, I will take an intercity bus from Seoul to Busan with my girlfriend to ride up the east coast for a week. In the past, I've done pictures but this time I want to try to do a home video and edit it together on a Final Cut Pro at home.

I'll be using a Panasonic Lumix LX5 with AVCHD Lite (just a class of HD video) I'll be carrying a spare battery, a 32GB SD card, a 8GB SD card, and a lightweight tripod as well as a charger. THe 32GB SD card can record 3.5 hours of HD video, with 4GB left for 350 RAW 9.5M pictures. The 8GB is just a back up. Each battery will allow me to record for an hour or take 400 pictures. I think it's more than I need, but I don't want to run out of battery or memory space and miss something amazing.

Here's the problem. I've never done this sort of project before and I'm looking for some pointers on basic cinematography. I don't want to return home with a bunch of unusable vacation dad footage. (I'm decent with photographs and I hate when I ask people to take a picture and they take the worst picture I've ever seen. It's really surprising how people don't know how to frame a picture.) Any resources would be appreciated.

What really got me thinking about this idea are the films Ride the Divide and Reveal the Path. If you've never seen either, don't waste your time with Reveal the Path. Ride the Divide was wayyyyy better and it's on Netflix right now. Anyway, I know those were filmed by professional film crews. I think this 3 part youtube video is a more realistic example to follow. Although parts of it could have been handled more smoothly, like when the camera spins erratically during interviews with the participants of this Great Divide tour. So, any ideas?

SurlyLaika

Bikepacking

Canada to Argentina

SurlyLaika

nothing?! Bummer.
Well, I found this article. The most useful tip: Take shorter clips to cobble together later and change perspective often for a more interesting video. Also, tripod, monopod or hand stabilizer. Shaky hands make people dizzy. Without any of those aids, there is a natural way to reduce the nausea inducing footage...

If anyone knows about cameras and tripods, I have a question.

ak08820

There is no set formula.
You need to make it unique and interesting in your own way.
There are many many examples of good and bad on youtube.

SurlyLaika

Yea, I've noticed some are better than others on youtube but I don't understand why some turn out more interesting. Anyway, here's the Road from Karakol. Sure it's not Ride the Divide, but it's still awesome in its own low budget way.

Altair 4

Here's a book that explains why some videos are better than others and how to make your video better:

https://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Video-Th.../dp/0761163239

At the very least, read this review:

https://www.amazon.com/review/RGNII02...55&store=books

Some really useful tips in the book. Essentially it boils down to this - plan your video ahead of time, establishing what you want to accomplish with it. Shoot short, concise, tight segments. When editing, stay away from all of the fades, wipes, and other "wow, isn't this cool" transitions. Keep the whole video short.

True story - we took our 6 year old daughter to Walt Disney World and I shot a ton of video. When we got home, I couldn't edit it together - it was a psychedelic melange of segments that wouldn't flow together. A couple of years later, we visited WDW again. This time, my wife gave me a short bit of advice - "It's about our daughter - shoot her." With that in mind, I did exactly that. I got tight shots of her expressions and positioned myself well enough to see the attraction and to explain what was going on. I got segments of her dancing along and twirling in a Cinderella dress while walking between attractions. I'm not going to say it was worthy of an award, but it was certainly more watchable and more memorable. It was definitely much easier to edit, as well. If I had read this book back then, it would have even been better.

Jbone78

Hey, it worked for Star Wars!

LeviPounds

Be conscious of camera shake. Get shots that have an interesting subject; scenery can be beautiful in person but sometimes doesn't translate to video. If it's really spectacular, I'm sure it's worth filming, though. Shoot in 24fps if you want that cinematic movie look. Shoot in 30fps if you want to better capture action and movement. 30fps is used for sports broadcast.

I have a similar interest in bicycle touring and amateur filmmaking, though I did go to university for filmmaking.

Check out my first attempt at bicycle touring and video-making here: https://vimeo.com/70773765

Good luck! You'll be riding through WAY cooler scenery than I!

Altair 4

LeviPounds -

That was an awesome video! It's everything I like - short shots (I don't think there is one over 7 seconds long), good storytelling with a beginning, middle and end, interesting music and natural sounds. Beautiful scenery and good looking people. Thanks for the inspiration - I may ride the Great Allegheny Passage again this year and your video has given me some great ideas for documenting it!

hanes

Levi,

Awesome job on the video! It's obvious that was not your first video. Very professional!

How did you manage to avoid the typical home video "shake", even while filming on the move on your bike? What camera were you using?