Volume 3, Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown is done. Sort of. At least, my bit is done.
The production will be released 28th October 2013.
Free films will be released starting 1st August.
Free films will be released starting 1st August.
Eight films comprise Volume-3 but unusually they will not all be on the DVD. There simply isn't room.
So four of the main coaching films will be on the DVD. 3 run at around 45mins and the 4th is 20min .
Four more shorter films, including a cut-down of one of the main films, will be available as free downloads.
Yes, free. We'll give them away gratis.
This is part of an agreement we've made with the UK authorities with whom we've worked closely.
All this free footage will be available on SeaKayakWithGordonBrown.com and will also be released as Podcasts through SeaKayakPodcasts.com
So if it's "done" why wait until October to release it?
Well, just because I've done my bit doesn't mean the DVD is ready to go.
I have sent the films to Stable Recordings, a production company with far more technical knowledge and equipment than me. They will grade the colour, mix the sound and generally run a polishing cloth over my edit.
It helps that they're sea kayakers too, because they night spot things I may have missed. Such additional work does not come cheap but I think it's worth it because it shows in the final films. It's particularly important in this production because we have used lots of cameras and quite a few camera operators.
The photo alongside was taken on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, just before the team put to sea to shoot a rather complex sequence at night.
I'm trying the brief the team and in particular the camera three extra kayaking camera operators.
I'm trying the brief the team and in particular the camera three extra kayaking camera operators.
We had to ensure everyone was safe, knew what they were meant to be filming at different times, and that their sequences would all come together when it counted.
Different video cameras produce different looking pictures. Throw in the inevitable GoPro footage (we were using five GoPro cameras), and colour grading becomes essential to ensure the shots match. Or at least are similar enough so as not to be distracting when I cut between them.
Then there's still more to do.
Stable Recordings have to code and author two entirely separate master DVDs, one for PAL and one for NTSC, plus a full set of QuickTime files. All of which takes time.
Then there's the artwork. The previews. Oh, and a summer holiday to squeeze in somewhere.
Then there's the artwork. The previews. Oh, and a summer holiday to squeeze in somewhere.
Expect to see the first trailer for the new production sometime in July.
That will be after our holiday...