Best of the NW Trail Video Cinematography 101
Best of the NW Trail Video Cinematography 101
Best of the NW brings Western Washington trails to life year-round with the help of a few cinematic tricks.
The top 10 shots that make a Best of the NW Trail Video.
Over a decade our family has hiked all the trails in two regional guide books and have filmed 227 trail videos while GPS Mapping.
Along the way we have picked up some tips and tricks to help get the best use of video as a story telling device.
Perhaps the biggest lesson learned is to think of video as a sum of its parts. Each shot builds from the first establishing shot to give multiple perspectives and a cinematic feel of a space or story. Don’t feel like you have to get everything in one shot. A common mistake is to try to capture the entire surroundings panning around in one shot. This often ends up being footage of too much nauseating movement to be useful. Something I call the dreaded “Blair Witch effect.” A mixture of well framed shots when edited together can piece together a compelling story of the hiking experience or any story you tell through video.
Don’t feel limited by not having the latest 4k Red or Alexa camera. Many new DSLR’s have amazing capability for a price point that was unheard of even a few years ago. I am a big fan of the SONY A6300 mirror less camera and often crry this with me in An ULTRA trail running pack using the water bottle holders on the front for my external lenses.
Documenting trails with the addition of some lenses provides a more perspectives while enriching the experience. We can often capture close up detail or wide scenic shots through the lens that differ from what we see with our natural eye..
Pre-production – Before you go do some research into the area where you will be shooting. Wilderness Areas do not allow shooting video for commercial purposes without a permit. It is up to each ranger district can interpret the law, so it is a good idea to describe the intended shoot before you go to make sure there aren’t any issues.
Hero, Establishing Shot shows what the highlight of the trip is. This would likely be THE photo if it were a printed guidebook representing the outing.
Trail head shot Sign, short depth of field focus on legibility of sign, people passing in background for interest
Ground texture close up – Foot trodding by shows texture and character of the trail, mud, rocks, roots, leaves, smooth all visual and auditory texture.
Wide trail profile – Wide shot of trail shows contours and more expansive views where available. Alternate aerial shot or drone where permit-able. Works well as fast forward hiking shot.
Close Up Slow Pan Texture – The “Jean Kirby” detail of foliage, taking a moment to stop and smell the roses.
Long Lens Switch Back Bout Face – Rounding a bend flattening of space.
Top Looking Down – Short birds eye camera propped up on root or tree or from standing above trail.
Tree Reveal – Detail shot panning to side revealing hikers passing along trail.
Underwater Reveal – From water crossing or lake destination.
Wide Angle or Fish Eye – Destination pan of Surrounding (Go Pro).
Best of the NW captures GPS from the trip and illustrates a custom map that we animate and edit into the 90 second +or – trail video for distribution on our Video + GPS guide at BOTNW.com (See how to Best of the NW website in 90 seconds Video).
We will be working with contributors in 2016 to document more trails for our Video + GPS guide.
SUBMIT your stellar clips
Please submit video footage (ideally 1920×1080 or 1280×720 Quicktime or MPEG format) zipped and uploaded to https://sintr.wetransfer.com/
email to info@botnw.com
with “Cougar Mountain Footage” in the message line.
Happy Trails!
-Bryan