Shooting underwater, while rowing across the North Pacific (!)

[Dan Parkes]

Hi guys

Two British guys have just set a world record by rowing from Japan to San Francisco (you might have seen it on the news). They filmed with a Z1 (unfortunately set to SD) and a Sony AVCHD handycam. I had the task of going through all the footage and coming up with a less than 3 minute trailer. Some of their underwater shots were quite amazing, and the voyage is an adventure to say the least (someone has actually died trying to make this crossing previously... so this was never going to be an easy task).

See what you think, I have created an HD version of it here:
YouTube - 189 Days in May [HD]

If the footage is good enough there is talk of a documentary.

Regards
Dan

[Ryan Farnes]

Really pretty good. Obviously you're working with amateur footage, but I seriously feel like that is an independent documentary trailer I could've watched on Apple's trailer website.

[George Cummings]

When one looks at the reality of this quest, having any video is an amazing feat.
It wasn't that long ago that a 320x240 video on web was cutting edge.
Your trailer shows enough of this human story of challenge that it should be worthy of a full doc. Compare this reality to the TV reality audiences see ...this is REAL RAW imagery of what man can do when they put their passion, mind, body, soul behind it.
Best of luck getting it picked up so all can see the whole story.
Maybe will we see you in Austin at SXSW.

[Alan Melville]

Quite frankly, in my opinion it doesn't matter if the quality of the footage is A: amateurish B: SD, What matters is those two ROWED a boat across the ocean AND have footage of it.

Make a doco and I'm sure people will watch it, it'll strike a chord in everyone because its real, not some crap that's carefully controlled for audience impact by a multinational syndicate to make money off.

For a pair of 'Amateur operators' there's some good footage in there.

Don't lose sight of the achievement for the sake of technical perfection.

Al

[Emrys Roberts]

Very nice, can't wait to watch it. :)

[Jens Schriver]

Hi Dan,

Great material - this is certainly ready to become a documentary! The title is a little odd though.

I wrote a micro-review of "Solo: Lost at Sea" here: “Solo: Lost at sea” (2008) – Review #2 - Lovedox.com
That doc is quite similar to your story and I think you should check it out. Drop me a line if you can't the film.

All the best,
Jens

[Lewis Parrish-Hills]

Excellent trailer Dan, you really managed to convey all the different moods and feelings these guys must have gone through, the uncertainty of the seemingly insurmountable task of rowing such an unfathomable distance, the joy of knowing they might just do it!

Would love to see the finished film when it's done!

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

I think the unique content is enough to override the quality and works quite well combined with the higher resolution footage to provide an extra impact of 'being there'.

However, I would be tempted to cut the trailer to at least half the length because it almost provides too much information.

Rather than offering a trailer that is in essence a short version of the whole film, it is far better to give the viewer a much shorter clip of higher impact footage and leave them wanting for more.

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks for posting Dan. I will not miss that one. First the feat of doing such an adventure then filming it make it worth watching.

[Jonathan Shaw]

Looks great, I reckon the titles look slightly out of place but the footage although amateurish looks great. I wouldn't worry about the Z1's set to SD, the BBC shots with Z1's in SD most of the time.

Good luck and I look forward to watching the full thing.

[Alan Melville]

Dan,

I've been buying every paper that possess a TV guide for the last 2 months hoping to catch the time this doco's going to be on..... it's costing me a fortune!!!! :) :) :)

Seriously, any news?

Al