how to make a good film out of your trips

[JMo (& piglet)]

Originally Posted by backofbeyond

I've sat through Austin Vince's presentation on how to film your trip several times and I've still got no idea what he was talking about

I guess it's just a feeling that after 50yrs of bike travel I surely ought to be able to improve on the fuzzy snaps on a Kodak Instamatic that was the cutting edge of (my) technology in 1970. I actually took an old Instamatic with me on this summer's trip and I'm not sure things have actually moved on that much. GoPros, iPhones, my little Panasonic travel camera, all of it stuffed into bags or mounted on the bike but you have to do something with it all to get results. It all seems a bit like having a bike all loaded up and looking the part but then discovering you don't know how to start it. All the gear and no idea as they say.

fwiw. the main take-away from any of Austin's presentations (other than his random preoccupation with the naked male form) is that if you want to make a film, then that has to be the priority - ie. you have to be a film maker who is using a motorcycle as part of the story, not a motorcyclist who fancies making a film.

As has been mentioned previously in this thread, this means that scripting and setting up shots has to take priority if you want something genuinely watchable and professional looking... and that puts a very different dynamic on the trip as a whole, particularly if you're riding with one or more other people, they all have to be on the same page and as enthusiastic as you are about creating an end product.

As an example, I've heard Austin recount a number of occasions during Mondo' (and Terra Circa) where he'd either ride ahead or wait behind, often for an extended period of time, just the get 'the shot' he felt he needed to drive the narrative, often much to the frustration of his companions - which explains why it took them 440 days to ride around the world perhaps!

Ultimately it's like anything creative - while the tools might be increasingly available and affordable these days, it still takes a degree of talent to make anything genuinely worthwhile.

Jx