On Monday I uploaded the raw footage rather than the edited video. It was kind of funny. At first, I got the usual number of “Your video is poorly edited” and “you should hire someone” comments. I always get a good laugh at those because people confuse me with the YouTube fitness trainers who make their living from YouTube by selling overpriced useless supplements and expensive workout plans no better than the free ones. Unlike those who make fitness a business, I have no employees or contractors and do everything myself so yes, my videos are unprofessional. After I realized I was getting a LOT more of these comments than usual, I actually watched the video in horror and realized that I uploaded the raw footage rather than the edited video! My first reaction was to delete the video but then my good judgement returned. What a perfect way to show my video making process while I am on these biking trips.
My Video Philosophy
I personally hate videos. That may come as a shock to many people but I watch very few videos. Really the only videos I watch are technique videos. For example, its been 15 years since I floated a curb on a shower and I want to refresh my memory how to do it. For information, I prefer reading because it is the fastest way to assimilate information. I HATE talking head videos and refuse to watch them. I realize that many people do not like reading and want to get their information from a talking head. Thats fine, I cater to all learning methods which is why virutally every video I do has an accompanying web page that people can read if they would rather do that. This is a perfect example of this. The raw footage is just a talking head. You will note that the final edited video takes advantage of the VIDEO medium to SHOW people what its like to do bike touring. Talking head is fine as long as there is valuable video to go along with it!
My Mobile Video Equipment
When on a bike trek like this I film on my iPhone and edit using iMovie on my phone. These videos are not quite as good as when I use my Panasonic GH5 and process them on my high powered computer but then I refuse to take 25 pounds of electronics on a bike trek. You cant do fancy video editing stuff with iMovie on the iPhone but it does the basics very well.
I filmed this video from a lounge chair at a resort in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka at the end of the trip. Normally I like filming in a place where I cant be disturbed but in this case, it was very public. You will note in the raw footage there are several places where I wait 10-30 seconds between saying things. This is because there were noisy people walking by and I didnt want their conversations recorded. You will note that the raw footage is 11:35 long whereas the edited video is only 9:02 long. 2 minutes and 32 seconds of awkward pauses removed :)
Here is the raw iPhone footage:
Here is the final video: