Driving 4,000 miles across Europe in an electric Lotus Eletre was already a mammoth problem that proved to be each exhilarating and terrifying. However to make issues extra sophisticated for me, I additionally wanted to shoot my very own video on the journey whereas on the street.
From writing scripts and rigging the automotive with cameras and microphones to presenting items to digicam whereas driving, I had a whole lot of manufacturing work to do, all whereas attempting to common round seven hours of driving per day and taking pictures all of the nonetheless photographs for my written article. And because the solely particular person on the journey, all the main points have been my duty.
This is how I did it, with recommendations on how one can shoot your personal documentary-style movies your self.
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Planning and scripting
There was solely a lot planning I used to be in a position to do on this journey. Whereas I knew my route must take me from Edinburgh to Barcelona and again, I did not know the precise roads I might be taking, or what would occur alongside the best way. I did not e book my lodges till the day I wanted them, in case there have been sudden delays or I needed to take detours.
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Whereas this meant my journey may very well be versatile, it additionally meant that planning the story of my video or prewriting scripts to comply with could be unattainable as I merely did not know what would occur till I hit the street. As a substitute, the video needed to be extra off the cuff, following the journey as I drove it and as I discovered extra in regards to the automotive. I took notes on my cellphone at charging stops and stated “Hey Siri, take a be aware” to dictate ideas and dialogue factors as they occurred to me whereas driving. I might later flip these into sections that I might current to digicam.
![screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-31-13.png](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/53590b83ac79d8bb4161a9b22d81b974dddfdf27/hub/2024/06/21/cbde5601-8fb4-4039-85e0-6fe56691fbbd/screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-31-13.png?auto=webp&width=1200)
I arrange this digicam angle when stationary then tried to recollect what I needed to say whereas driving alongside. It took many makes an attempt.
It was solely towards the tip of the journey that I shot my important items to digicam, as soon as I had sufficient expertise with the automotive to attract my conclusions. This included my outro which summarized my emotions on the automotive and the journey.
My ideas: If you already know what you need to say in your video, spend the time planning and rehearsing a correct script. Should you do not, think about scripting just some key sections after which utilizing voiceover that you may file later.
The tools I used
The Lotus Eletre is an enormous automotive and because the solely particular person in it, I knew I might have a ton of house left for tools. That meant I did not have to journey gentle, so I took a number of cameras, lenses, tripods, sliders, lights, gimbals and rigging tools to permit me to get any shot I’d need.
This is an inventory of what I used:
![screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-33-17.png](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/b3677781b432a4fe3b6e7de44836d47b699e030f/hub/2024/06/21/0fa14ce6-f622-47f4-ad90-7cdc3df1931c/screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-33-17.png?auto=webp&width=1200)
Discovering my angle with the Canon R5 and 24-105mm f/4 lens.
Canon R5 digicam: My on a regular basis workhorse digicam for each my CNET work and my private YouTube channel. I had each a 24-105 f/4 lens and 35mm f/1.8 macro lens to get a wide range of pictures. I set it to shoot in 4K high quality and at 25 frames per second in Canon’s CLog3 colour profile to provide extra scope for modifying later.
Panasonic S5: A terrific, inexpensive mirrorless digicam I used for varied extra angles. I had an all-purpose 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens on this. I shot at 4K, 25 frames per second.
GoPro Hero 7: An motion digicam used for point-of-view angles exhibiting me driving the automotive in addition to to connect to varied factors on the skin of the automotive to movie it in movement.
Gitzo Legende and Mountaineer tripods: The previous for stills and fast movies, the latter as a sturdier base to make use of with my Edelkrone slider.
DJI mic: Radio microphones to file my items to digicam. The windshield was nice for out of doors use.
Rigging: Largely Manfrotto suction cups with a tripod’s ball head hooked up to permit me to mount my cameras from varied angles contained in the automotive. These cups may be fiddly to connect however as soon as in place are extraordinarily safe.
Extras: A number of OWC CF Categorical playing cards for my Canon R5, totaling round 3TB in capability as I knew I might be taking pictures a whole lot of footage. I additionally took a 4TB Essential X10 Professional SSD drive to again up and offload footage. I had about eight batteries for my Canon R5 and 4 for the Panasonic S5 however simply the one for the GoPro. Nonetheless, I additionally had an EcoFlow River energy financial institution, which I used to juice up my tools whereas on the street.
I additionally took PolarPro variable impartial density filters, which allowed me to darken the scene when wanted, whereas nonetheless sustaining a large aperture. I additionally used PolarPro’s round polarizer for a lot of pictures as this helps reduce reflections in addition to present a extra wealthy blue sky.
Should you’re seeking to get into filmmaking and images, be certain to take a look at my guides the best cameras and the best accessories for video production.
My ideas: Should you’re touring gentle, take solely what you assume you want. One digicam with an all-purpose zoom lens and a light-weight journey tripod could also be sufficient to get the pictures you need. You probably have a bit more room for gear, sliders and gimbals will enable you to get extra artistic pictures, whereas issues like shoulder rigs will will let you get smoother footage when you’re filming different individuals.
![lotus-eletre-review-cnet-12](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/37d8a3bf3fbe9a9ebe52e48f1ae3af5557ff2467/hub/2024/06/13/676fce55-3916-402b-9fbd-4bb1fd126142/lotus-eletre-review-cnet-12.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
I liked discovering angles like this one, which not solely reveals the automotive but additionally captures a lot of the superb panorama round it.
Discovering my angles
I needed my movie to look as skilled as doable, so I knew I wanted all kinds of b-roll pictures (any pictures the place I am not presenting to digicam) each inside and outdoors the automotive to chop between. The largest downside right here was that I used to be touring alone, so a whole lot of the pictures you’d count on to see in skilled productions — such because the automotive being filmed from in entrance touring alongside the street — have been fully out of the query. This meant I needed to get a bit artistic.
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I stored my eye out for some quiet spots the place I might park, arrange my digicam on a tripod after which depart it safely whereas I drove previous it, circled and drove again to select it up. Clearly, that is fairly dangerous — if solely as a result of my digicam might simply be stolen — so I solely tried this when I discovered appropriate rural spots the place I felt comfy. It is why there aren’t any drive-by pictures of me going by Barcelona.
I additionally used a few of these places to movie “hero” pictures of the stationary automotive in great-looking environment. I captured angles of the entrance three-quarters of the automotive, close-ups on the wheels, the Lotus badge and some other particulars that I felt could also be referred to as out within the script and would due to this fact must be seen.
Whereas stationary, I additionally obtained varied inside pictures of the automotive, getting close-ups on particulars just like the seating, buttons, stitching, audio system and anything that seemed doubtlessly fascinating. I used macro lenses right here for a few of the finer particulars and made use of the Edelkrone slider for a push-in or pull-out movement within the footage so as to add an additional dimension.
![lotus-eletre-review-cnet-08](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/d57ac814d80b0b6f96d44a9db3f7908dd0a75e69/hub/2024/06/13/4524c52e-e8f2-446c-8713-64af45e23430/lotus-eletre-review-cnet-08.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Shut-ups on particulars just like the wheels are important.
I additionally wanted a whole lot of pictures contained in the automotive whereas I used to be driving. This was a bit trickier because it meant discovering an applicable layby the place I might park after which arrange the digicam contained in the automotive utilizing the Manfrotto suction cup. Some pictures had the digicam mounted to the passenger facet window, pointing at me for my items to digicam. Different occasions I mounted the digicam to the sunroof, with a forward-facing view exhibiting the street forward. Nearly all of them required the digicam to be mounted upside-down, with the footage being flipped later in put up. That made it tougher to get the right angle.
I then needed to press file on the digicam and easily drive lengthy sufficient to seize loads of footage and till I discovered a secure place to drag in to cease recording, as working the digicam whereas driving could be unlawful and unsafe. It meant I had many 30-minute video clips to sift by within the edit, but it surely additionally meant I had a whole lot of footage to make use of.
I used the identical method for my in-car introduced sections, merely hitting file after which driving off. With nobody else within the automotive, and never with the ability to learn my cellphone or printed script, I needed to attempt to keep in mind what I needed to say and maintain attempting many times till felt I had it proper.
![Lotus Eletre S](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/7b85e2dd130aef6bd7bc7521eccb2f134f312141/hub/2024/06/13/d110e7cc-fc74-4ed5-a16a-b1ce67073474/lotus-eletre-review-cnet-14.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Some pictures required me to easily set the digicam up on a tripod and drive previous it.
My ideas: rule of thumb in filmmaking is that you may by no means have an excessive amount of b-roll footage. No matter you are filming, be sure you seize plenty of extra angles together with close-ups and applicable motion pictures so you might have plenty of footage to work with within the edit. Should you’re working with an assistant or a second shooter, it is simpler to unfold the workload and create an even bigger catalog of extra fascinating pictures to make use of.
Should you’re presenting to digicam, it is at all times price attempting it a number of occasions in case you do not like the primary take otherwise you barely journey over a phrase.
Modifying
I did all of the modifying for this movie in BlackMagic’s DaVinci Resolve, which is my favourite software program for video manufacturing. I began by transcribing a few of my introduced sections after which constructing a wider script round these elements. This then gave me a framework to file my voiceover and piece all the pieces collectively.
I attempted to maintain issues as snappy and well-paced as doable, maintaining b-roll clips to just some seconds in size, and attempting to intersperse them over my introduced items to assist visually break up the scenes. I added soundtracks — fastidiously chosen to assist create temper and pressure as obligatory — and made positive to edit every reduce within the video to the beat of the background music.
![screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-37-58.png](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/ca63f2415af91da36ac16c46a17e7104760129a1/hub/2024/06/21/1f2cb62e-892c-41c1-b639-eb2f77158d41/screenshot-2024-06-21-at-12-37-58.png?auto=webp&width=1200)
Piecing the video collectively was a lot simpler as soon as I had written the bigger script which created a framework for all the pieces else to fit into.
I then moved on to paint modifying (referred to as “grading” in skilled video) which is the place DaVinci Resolve shines. The software program is just about business commonplace throughout business productions and Hollywood movies for its flexibility in colour modifying, and I attempted to place a few of those self same instruments to make use of in my movie. I am very a lot a newbie with regards to colour grading, however I knew I needed to create a stronger “look” than merely have it appear to be it was straight out of digicam.
I adjusted the publicity and distinction to assist stability vibrant highlights and elevate shadows, I used colour wheels so as to add cooler or hotter tones to the shadows and highlights and adjusted the hues of particular person colours in some areas to get the precise look I used to be after.
BlackMagic’s new Micro Shade Panel was my device for all the colour grading, which has bodily management wheels and dials for nearly all the important colour modifying instruments. It not solely allowed me to work faster, however I discovered it was simpler to experiment with completely different kinds by simply taking part in with the buttons, slightly than having to click on by menus utilizing a mouse.
![untitled-6](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/0dbf41696aadf34906c805ff181884381023ed8f/hub/2024/06/21/2eaba73f-f471-45c9-a555-bfe28160141a/untitled-6.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Utilizing BlackMagic’s Micro Shade Panel definitely sped up my modifying course of.
My ideas: Even if you wish to go fairly wild along with your colours like I did, they nonetheless have to make sense. Making an attempt to show a wet, overcast day right into a sundown by merely growing the heat within the white stability is not going to work. As a substitute, attempt to work with what you might have and take into consideration how your use of colour might help add to the tone of the video you make.
DaVinci Resolve is free to strive — together with the wonderful iPad model — with solely a few of its extra superior options requiring the paid Studio improve, so it is an important piece of software program to experiment with with out having to decide to a paid model.