*Ace* Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Small video put together from mainly GoPro footage shot at Abasin. Its still a rough edit, there are things I'd like to clean up and change, but enjoy! <object width="560" height="315"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldZqywr0Zgw?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"> Comments appreciated.</object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 1.What would you change? A bit of your personality and humor shows through and it was fun to watch.From an editing standpoint;if it was mine I wouldn't change a thing.Right on! I've found that getting people to shoot what you envision when they shoot you is tough and takes practice with them.I've also found (and learned many years ago from a good cameraman/friend)that good form has nothing to do with being able to get closeup follow cam footage.I like following closely as it's a whole different riding challenge.Again it helps to practice.I wish I had more opportunties to do it and have started doing more of it with my boys,now that they're tearing up the whole mountain. 2. Did you get FREE PBR'S for the product placement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) The segments where you're shooting with the camera on top of your helmet. To my eye the video would be aesthetically better for the camera angle being slightly higher and showing less of the snow immediately in front of you and more of the background scenery. Someone made the same comment to me with some of my early efforts, and I had to agree. The piece where Brother Hong sweeps past on his toeside is a lovely balance of snow and background. When I'm shooting my own videos with a Contour I'm trying to get the camera angle so that I get roughly the same balance of snow and background whether I have the camera mounted looking forward or backward. This is with my head in the position that allows me to look at the snow ahead of me as I ride. The resulting angle of the camera always looks like it angled way to much upwards, but it works out fine when I'm actually riding. Hope you find this helpful. SunSurfer Edited March 3, 2012 by SunSurfer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Looks pretty good. I like the segments when the rider ends up in the snow particularly. As you're asking for comments... in the spirit of trying to help, I have no real expertise here... (1) I'm glad to see someone doing the "over the shoulder" checks. However I'd cut those out in your edit. Where you pan the camera really quickly (eg when the filmer is sitting down), or tilt it whilst panning it, I'd cut those bits out. (2) I like the shot of the shadow of the filmer, but I don't like looking at that at the same time as the rider who's being filmed. Which is the subject? So I guess I'm saying, I think could be improved a little if you did a segment of the filmer's shadow, cropping out the other rider completely. Then, have other segments where the subject is the other rider, but try to keep your shadow out of those shots as it's a distraction, if it's not the subject. Oh, and probably don't wave your arms about if your shadow's being shot ;-) (3) You could use a simple transition rather than cuts. Over use of fancy transitions is a bad idea, but I think that straight cuts can be a bit abrupt. A quick dissolve from segment to segment would help in some places. I think maybe you could tighten up a bit on where you do the cuts too - ask yourself why you end a segment at that specific point rather than earlier or later, for every segment. (4) I'd throw away any footage where the subject isn't completely in the frame. So where the other rider gets too far away and they are cropped off, if you can't reframe on the rider, then I'd not use that footage. (5) I think someone else here was using a long pole as a follow-cam. That allows you to get closer more safely, and it seems to be more stable than the helmet plus you can more safely look behind. (6) Looks like the slo-mo was done at 30fps - try the highest frame rate you can get to start with, then maybe look at using some software to smooth that out. Did I say I'm a perfectionist when it comes to other peoples' stuff? After the slo-mo section, there's about 2 seconds of footage where the camera-man's looking around. I'd take that out, unless something happens after which is connected to him looking about, which doesn't seem to be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted March 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Thanks for the comments and suggestions! A lot of what is mentioned is what I was saying about cleaning up and changing. Yes some of the slow motion is 30fps. I do have some footage that is 60fps. Also software to do super slow motion. To make it super clean I would have to editing down those specific clips, which takes lots of time on my POS computer. Could take a whole night to get a +/- 5 sec clip just right. Span that out the whole movie....ya its going to be a while until I get a 'finished' edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Now that the comments are flowing....Plus One on everything philw wrote,although I am finding I can get pretty stable helmet mounted follow cam footage based on how I mount the gopro to my helmet and how I adjust the helmet straps for angle..The top mounted gopro mounts are shaky and give a less realistic viewpoint;that and I feel less safe following a high performance rider while carrying something like a long pole.I use both as they each have their strengths.The H2 Gopro will shoot in 120fps and do 10 frame photo bursts,which I am excited to use.ACE,the main thing I would like to see for my own selfish entertainment would be to see more of you and your exciting riding style in your next video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnasmo Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) Cool stuff Ace. Helps keep the riding stoke up even off the hill. I happen to like some shots with both the subject and the followers shadow in the same shot. To me, it evokes the sensation of tail gunning with someone -- that there are really two people playing together and the viewer is a 3rd party watching the game they are playing. To illustrate, check out 13:20 to 14:15 in this video of mine ( ). I think the late afternoon sun helped the shot capture the tail-gunning experience, not just point of view. Edited March 2, 2012 by johnasmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heroshmero Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Is that snowman in a helmet? Hell must have frozen over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Again, thanks for the comments/compliments. I wish I had more photo/video of myself riding. Its always such a pain in the arse to pull out the camera and dedicate time to filming when you just want to be riding. I really wish I had a DSLR that shoots video. The GoPro is nice and all, but it only does so much. I happen to like the parts with the shadow rider. Lets you see how we are both carving together at tiems. Not so easy to do when you have to keep looking at the person ahead of you. Right now I am messing around with the super slow motion and working on the final edit. Don't hold your breath though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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