Baja Ha-ha Leg 2

Lights cameras action!

Filming the Baja Ha-ha was different from most of our adventures. We usually just work for a few weeks and then take a trip and I roll the cameras as the days go on with no plan on how it will come together into a worthwhile video. Sometimes during the trip I think there isn’t much content but then at the end I start the 20 or so hour process of editing the storyline and voila a video sort of appears – after 300 or so random clips totaling about 10 hours of video. For the Ha-ha I did something new called pre-production. Because this was a “planned” adventure I wanted to capture the trip and all the components into a series of videos that would make the viewer really see the Rally and what is was like to be there. I wanted to bring the Ha-ha into your living room.

Camera Man

To accomplish the goal I had to film a bit different. I usually just use a Go Pro Hero 5 on a fixed clamp. This time I needed 3 Go Pro cameras and my Sony DSLR. I set the cameras in fixed positions on the boat and one on my head. I had lots of them rolling at the same time so I could catch the sailing action from different angles. I also used the drone to get the perspective on anchorages which adds a lot to the feeling of being there and getting the bigger picture. The filming itself wasn’t so hard. Push record and go.

WTF

Editing was the challenge. Normally it’s easy to take the footage and drop it into a story line and the chronology is already there for you. Clip 1 is the first shot and clip 4 is the fourth shot etc. so you put them in order and start your cutting. This time clip 8 from one camera coincided with clip 27 from another camera and so on. It became so complicated I figured I must have done something wrong or there has to be an easier way. If there is I haven’t found it yet. Also each camera told a different story that had to be pieced back together. This is the reason it took us a few months to upload the Ha-ha videos but now 1 and 2 are up and 3 will be only 2 weeks behind.

The Ha-ha videos are becoming fan favorites getting almost 8,000 views in just a week. The comments are great as well and I can only attribute this to the effort explained here. There….. I have patted myself on the back! Enjoy Leg 2 of the Baha Ha-ha Rally!