video in SE Asia

[Roger Hogg]

In reply to your topic about videoing in SE Asia. In 1990 I travelled with my wife and 4 children around the world over 11 months (not on motorcycles!) and bought a video camera (full size) in Singapore enroute. Although it weighed a ton it was fantastic. I had had no training but learnt as I went along. Some important lessons are:- 1. Let it run for 2 seconds before speaking and let it run for 2 seconds after you have finished videoing as the tape tends to wind back (on the older models anyway) and you lose the last few seconds. 2. Be as mean as hell with your videoing and choose only good subjects. We had to do no editing and our videos are watched and lent to many people. 3. Hold thecamers very steady - don't wave the thing about and move it very slowly. We would put about 6 weeks of travel on to 1 three hour video. 4. Carry a spare battery and have plug adaptors so as to recharge batteries. Be very careful in sand, rain and dust as they don't like them. We travelled from NZ to Aust, Singapore, Indonesia, Malasia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Nepal, to Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Europe etc and the only things that happened were that the camera was noted in our passports to ensure westill had it when we left the country; batteries had to be removed on aeroplanes and in Israel they made us fill out a blank Visa form which we were to pick up at the airport when we left the country. The two 18 year old chicks at customs grilled us for two hours convinced that no 40 year old parents could afford to take 4 kids around the world for a year therefore we must be planning something evil in Israel (and we were trying to leave the place!) so they only released us at the second boarding call and I didn't get to collect the form! Howeverit still hasn't been cashed in the intervening 10 years.
One thing we have noted is that the best parts of our video are interacting with peole. Yes it is great so see nice places and buildings but the times we left the video discreetly rolling while we talked with people touch us the most today. Adults don't like talking into the camera andif they do they are professional and sound it. Kids are great, their faces light up and they chatter away. I guess we took risks with peopleand to some extent barged into their lives (and homes) nd asked them questions and left the camera rolling. I videoed from Tuk Tuk's (the screaming motor of a motorcycle with 2 adults and 4 children is something to be heard), I videoed from the back of a horse as we sped through the desert enroute to the pyramids. The kids bounced ahead on their camels, fun until the horse decided to drop like a stone in the sand and have a roll! How I got off with video still rolling and not getting crushed I don't know. Stills are great, videos are magic.