archived-videos East Africa Adventure Filmmaking

LastChancey

LastChancey

Hey guys, just thought I'd post two of the small vignettes I put together for the German missionary organization I work for in East Africa. I shot this in different locations throughout Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan -- and while my primary objective was to simply gather video footage for later use by others, I threw in these two small projects on the side.

I realize it's probably a bit difficult to understand what's going on, as the clips is entirely in German... sorry for that. I honestly probably won't do anything about it. German is not my first language (I'm American), so for any of you Deutchlanders who spot mistakes, please let me know. Everything should be correct, though.

I am very open to constructive criticism! I really strive to make every shoot a learning experience, no matter how big it is... so feel free to point out any mistakes you see anywhere, for any reason. Thanks guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1e9mlaDlOw&feature=channel_video_title

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaQECRBKyWE&feature=channel_video_title

OH aaaand this is some of the nicer Nature-centric bits that didn't work their way into these particular vignettes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJUKb0vK0UM&feature=channel_video_title
 
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you shots were great...you should write english subtitles though and that way more people will watch...how long you volunteered there...what equiptment did you use? camera? lens? lighting? sound? how many people were in your crew. what editing software? computer setup? how did you run the electricity? explain your process
 
Some sharp looking stuff. If you're looking for critique.. I can't say much about the dialogue haha, I don't speak German. The one thing I saw that might kick it up a notch is it could use a bit more color grading. The color was actually pretty close shot to shot, but the contrast wasn't. Would have been nice to see some subtle vignetting as well to help direct the eye.

Some cool looking stuff for sure though, looks like a big adventure.
 
@samvic Thanks, yeah I suppose it might help with the views to have subtitles. My client is completely German, so it wouldn't be of much use to anyone, but if more people are interested (probably my family, church, etc.) then you're right... I ought to write some subtitles when I get the time to do the german>english translation which would be more difficult on the interviews..

Also, my process was as follows: On most of those shoots, the crew was myself and my sound tech/PA, and on about 1/3 of the shots, I was a one-man crew. In Kenya, I had more resources and fairly available electricity, but in Congo, I was alone. The power would often come on for only one hour a night, so I had to time my charging sessions and decide what was the most important item to charge (laptop, camera, etc.). I used a Sony CX100 Handycam with the accessory Wide Angle and Zoom Lenses, as well as a cheap static DOF adapter with an old Canon EOS 35mm lens. All the audio was recorded separately with a Sennheiser MKE400 mic, a great cheap buy. The music was also recorded with the same microphone during a 3-day recording session in Congo with a great singer/songwriter I met. The entire project was edited with Final Cut Express on a 3-year old Macbook in Germany. My process with the shooting schedule was to catch a vehicle to whatever locations I could (ended up hitchiking quite some distances), and simply get as MUCH coverage of everything as possible. I usually arranged my location shoots into 3-4 day stints. 1st day - video B-Roll of anything and everything, with every lens and angle imaginable... 2nd day - audio coverage of all of the above... 3rd and 4th days - interviews.

I'm a full time missionary in the Sudan, so I'm home on furlough in the US at the moment until August, when I return for another 2 year stint.


@PaulGriffith Thanks! That's a great point. I think a lot of the contrast incongruencies you've noticed have to do with my own exposure-settings inconsistency. I was on a bit of a learning curve during the entire project, so I often exposed for completely different parts of a shot and then moved on, forgetting to follow up with different exposure settings. That's part of the problem with using a HandyCam, unfortunately... not much iris control. I'd just about kill for a few DSLRs to get the job done much more beautifully. But that's a fantastic tip, and I'll definitely work towards more consistency in my color correction. Thanks!
 
Looks good to me. The one thingI saw/heard is that the musical parts are so much louder than the commentary. I would have to turn the volume down when the music came on, then turn it right back up for the commentary. I would think that, yes, you would want the music some what louder than the commentary but not that much.
 
Also a good point.

Was the clipping of the Narrator sound clips obvious? I was using AIFF, and every time I cut the track to position the narrator's voice somewhere on the timeline, the division registered audibly as a a little "blup" that remains in the final render. I didn't know what caused it, and couldn't find a workaround in the amount of time I had to work on the project. If no-one noticed, all the better -- but it drives me crazy every time I hear it.
 
I, for one, didn't notice it. Might be one of those, "you did it so you notice it" type things.:) Someone with a trained ear might be able to catch on to it.
 
That's pretty sharp-lookin' stuff. :cool:

In a few of the interviews there's large particles on the lens, but aside from that... man, I wish the footage I'm receiving for a similar project was as good as yours.

Subtitles would be great, yah.
 
@Murdock -- I hope so!

@ Zensteve -- Thanks! Yeah, that problem stems from using a cheap DOF adapter in Africa... after a certain number of slipping down the side of mountain pathways into the jungle with the camera in hand, I said to hell with it started shooting with dirty lenses thinking that no-one would notice. But someone just did. And now I suppose I've learned my lesson.
 
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