Eskimo Escapades 2007
Video by Alex Oliver
I really enjoyed making the Eskimo Escapades video! The entire
process began at about 5AM on January 13th. I tagged along with my
father as he met up with several other dedicated volunteers to
trailer boats to Volunteer Landing for the event. Immediately I began
filming the boats, wanting to capture the entire process of the
Escapades from dawn until dusk.
January 13th was absolutely fantastic weather-wise. We had mostly calm water and great warm weather the entire day (well, "warm" for January)! My goal for this video was to capture the great attitudes of everyone involved. This proved to be remarkably easy since everyone there was having a such a great time!
It was such a fantastic opportunity to make a video of this event. I
must say that this was the first time I've ever filmed Peter Pan,
Batman, Elvis, and various characters from the 70's all in one day!
And now I can say I've taken video of someone sitting on a bar stool
and waving to a crowd, all the while being pulled behind a boat! But
no matter who I was filming or who was riding, everyone was having a
genuinely good time--participants, sponsors, supporters, and
onlookers: all were in such great spirits the entire day!
After returning home from an exciting day at the Eskimo Escapades, I logged about four hours of footage onto my computer. Using a program called Final Cut, I began the editing process. My goal for this particular video was to show how the event comes together (from sunrise to sunset), as well as showing the great attitudes of everyone involved. First I chose a song by a band named Dispatch, which gave the everything an upbeat tempo. Next, I laid down clips of the boats being put into the water, as well as a shot of the early morning moon fading into daylight for the intro. Throughout the video, I tried to add as many participants as possible. Unfortunately, I had to leave some skiers out. Overall, the video fell into place quickly and easily. After six or seven hours of editing, the process was complete.
One additional goal was to incorporate audio/video synchronization.
Whether it's jumps, crashes, or kung-fu "coming at you" (Ryan Jones
at the 3:32 mark- haha!), you will notice video coinciding with audio
(i.e. at the 1:30 mark in the video, you'll see video of a
participant on a barstool while the lyrics say "barstool"). Audio/
video synchronization is one way to make a video more interesting and
enjoyable to watch.
Despite a frustrating computer problem, this video was an absolute thrill to make! I was very fortunate to have been asked to produce a video for such an amazing event for an even better cause, and I am so excited about the 14th annual Eskimo Escapades!
You can visit Alex's website at www.jaopro.com
or send email to
jaO Productions
