Moray 2013

[Sunlit Forres]

I almost feel moved to comment, but I'm off down to Yorkshire for 5 days of real ale, football and irreverent 80s music instead.

[Scott]

If you look at the films Scott linked to, most of the footage isn't captured by someone running with a camera.

The one bit I am pretty sure is stabilised headcam footage is in the Austrian video, approx 23sec-28sec. As Spookster says, the image quality of that bit is noticeably poorer than the rest of the film, but I still think it can be effective in short bursts.

[Paul Frost]

My favourite at the moment is the one by KSFilmCrew, Orienteering - Spring Movie. There are 3 others, and they say "All our videos were shot 100% with the GoProHDHero2".

My first impression was " I'd just love to run through that terrain"

As others have said, the best results are tracking shots from a fixed camera position, with a bit of stabilised headcam footage here and there.

[NeilC]

The Moray video doesn't do a lot for me. To target myself, as an orienteer, I'd want to see good wide angle shots of the terrain and some map segments to give a better flavour of what to expect. A bird's eye view of an area doesn't really tell me anything. I have no idea who the free running concept is aimed at. For me fun, but way off the mark as an advertising promotion. The headcam stuff with all the flapping arms and maps may be realistic but comes over poorly. Similarly there seemed to be so many shots into a low sun, perhaps this was meant to give atmosphere but it stopped me focussing on the real selling point - the terrain. Other things that I would be interested in is what else the immediate area has to be offer so lakes, mountains, golf courses and castles great (but without the runners). For WOC2015 in particular we should be selling it as a spectator experience so throw in some shots of a busy assembly area, cheering crowds, big screen display etc.

[Freefall]

A bird's eye view of an area doesn't really tell me anything

One person says "let's add more aerial shots to slow it down, another says a bird's eye view doesn't really tell me anything". You cannot win.

all the flapping arms and maps may be realistic but comes over poorly

We all run in different ways. My legs flap too.

so many shots into a low sun

The video was shot in October, in Moray, the sun is low.

So lets have a 2 minute story board put together for WOC. Volunteer?

[Big Jon]

The Moray video doesn't do a lot for me........what else the immediate area has to be offer so lakes, mountains, golf courses and castles great (but without the runners).

Shouldn't that be "lochs"?

I'd get out more, but there's too much snow.

[andypat]

I think Colin's idea of a storyboard is a good one. As a learning exeprience for WOC 2015 I think the Moray 2013 video will have been very useful. Feedback on NOPE is notoriously fickle and you rarely get a consensus (Graeme and I have spent the past week essentially agreeing to disagree on prizes) but its important to guage opinion and what people feel worked.

Andy/Paul and Spookster all make points about the headcam footage. Neil has commented that there's not enough good footage of the forests and that some event footage would enhance it.

Having spoken to FF I gather that apart from the microlight, the boys were given a relatively relaxed brief, but maybe a more focussed approach would work better, hence the storyboard suggestion. Its worth noting that pretty much everyone involved in this are novices. FF spent a lot of time loooking for professional assistance with very little success. If money was no object...

[NeilC]

One person says "let's add more aerial shots to slow it down, another says a bird's eye view doesn't really tell me anything". You cannot win.

There is a big difference between a zipwire/octocopter shot showing terrain/controls/runners etc and a microlight shot showing the tops of trees or buildings.

IMO the latter is great for showing off the local scenery (including lochs) but less good for promoting a wonderful orienteering area. A grotty, brambly, forest could look good from 300m up.

[andypat]

Cut!
There's a difference between setting the scene and playing out the action. Surely both are relevant to the final product?

[andy]

I like the arial shots.. A lot of this is personal preference. But when you can't actually watch something because you can feel a headache coming on, that's a different story! Static cameras / cameras on rails or whatever is all great, but I know stable headcam footage is achievable as I've seen it, but I guess it takes practice from the cameraman and lots of trial and error.

You can stream from a GoPro Hero2 with the wifi backpack addon (I have considered getting one) but for the purposes of this discussion it's pretty useless (although perhaps good for testing or telling someone to stop moving their head so much). Perhaps Moravian could utilise some of their faster runners and train them to follow elite orienteers while keeping their head still.

We all run in different ways. My legs flap too.

Yes, we do. But that's not what people think, very few people are going to see this video and think 'I want to be that guy with my arms and legs flapping about'. To be inspired to come to an event they surely want to see video of gliding through the beautiful terrain finding controls with ease. It's not meant to be realistic, it's meant to be a marketing tool.

[andypat]

Perhaps Moravian could utilise some of their faster runners and train them to follow elite orienteers

WOC 2015 IT director in out of context quote scandal...

[andy]

Perhaps Moravian could utilise some of their faster runners and train them to follow elite orienteers

WOC 2015 IT director in out of context quote scandal...

Uh oh.

[plain lazy]

My first impressions of the video were similar to Andy's. Shaky footage was hard to follow, and just as you got some focus the clip changed. I did like the aerial stuff, nice vistas across the coastal forests and the Moray Firth.

For future I like the suggestion of the tracking footage, maybe using somewhere like Lossie, Culbin or Roseisle, and driving a vehicle (on a track/road) with camera alongside an orienteer who is cruising through some lovely terrain reading the map on the run, trees whipping by between the camera and the orienteer. Could give the impression of speed, as well as showing off nice terrain.

Orienteering for me is best when I get to just gun it across some ace terrain between the trees.

[AndyC]

So lets have a 2 minute story board put together for WOC. Volunteer?

I've sent you a short treatment

[Freefall]

Thanks. Note access restrictions in today's press http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/herit ... -1-2673690

Fortunately a couple of km west of our event but we might have to pass his hut on the way from Brodie Castle to Dyke Village Hall. Fascinating stories if you read up more about this Clan.