Monday, October 02, 2006

Ruhengeri and surroundings (video)

This is my first experiment with moving pictures. This is a clip from the road in Northern Rwanda in and around Ruhengeri. Music is by the Congolese group Franco et le TP OK Jazz. Enjoy.

20 comments:

Jay Dedman said...

I love it!!!
its so simple yet powerful to see these little glimpses out of a culture we rarely see. I would love to see you record some people doing something or talking. Introduce us.

If you are using Movie Maker (free w/ Windows XP) to edit your videos, you can compress the videos better so they play smoother.
http://freevlog.org/tutorial/#compress

I also love the Franco and Ok jazz soundtrack. Soukous music is very hard to explain how good it is.

Anonymous said...

Maurice, this is buffering at a rate of 3% per minute. Would take me 20 min to load in W-Media player. Anything faster?

Enric said...

Nice work shooting and editing -- it's great to see this area of the world. How about some interviews?

I'd like to recommend vPIP:

http://www.utilities.cinegage.com/videos-playing-in-place/

for displaying videos in your webpage.

;)

Anonymous said...

i love this video. thanks.
hey, i also recommend you vPIP.

Steve Woolf said...

My favorite videos are the ones that teach me things, even if nothing is said at all. After all the horrors we hear about in Rwanda, to see the natural beauty of the landscape and the people is reaffirming to me. I hope you will continue to make videos to share with us.

Anonymous said...

Maurice, this is incredible! I love seeing the Rwandan landscape and people, and the music is just fantastic. Please keep videoblogging! I would love to hear the sounds that go with the sights, and short interviews would be great. I would also love to see you in the video and learn more about what you are doing there, and what it is like for you day to day. Thanks for this post. Consider me a subsciber!!

Michael Meiser said...

Just an FYI. I tried adding your feed to mefeedia.com But it says "no video". So i checked out your feedburner feed and there are no "enclosures"

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Maurice

You have to "enable podcasting" on feedburner.

Jay will know what that is, or any vlogger who uses feedburner if you need help.

You can also email me at mauricepigaht-blogspot-com@mmeiser.com

Or Im me on AOL. My username is mmeiser01.

And of course as always there is the "yahoo videoblogging group" Just google it if you're not already on there. It's a great forum.

Anonymous said...

Great to see the landscape and the people. Looking forward to more videos.

Maurice, the video works fine. People with slow connections will have problems whatever you try. If you lower the quality, we will not be able to see the detail.

dorothyvid said...

Thanks for posting! It great to see footage from other places. Next time I'd like to see some details up close and personal, like talking to people or explaining what they are doing, or how they live. I like to learn about how other cultures solve problems.
So keep and it and keep us posted. For a beginner you are doing very well. The camera is nice and steady. That's important and can be difficult when you are hand holding it. Great job!

Nina said...

Ok, whadda you say. I'll deliver the better filming equipment, sound etc., the crew and the treatment you deliver the knowledge and it'll be our first co-produced Pigaht documentary...

Anonymous said...

great movie, love to see africa again. music is still in my blood. make a movie with your sister

Anonymous said...

I miss the tropics. Looks beautiful over there.

Maurice said...

Hello world,

Thanks for all your comments!

Some personal clips of Rwandans would certainly be impressive. But to make videos of a shy and partly traumatised population is a challenge for itself. I will see what I can do.

The video is compressed, but I couldn't bring myself to cut the resolution any further for this one. I have a slow internet connection myself, and my only recommendation is to just download the whole video whilst doing something else, and play it from your hard drive.

Enric, Pepa: I will check out vPIP.

Michael: I think I fixed the problem with the feed. Let me know if it still doesn't recognise video enclosures.

Dorothy: My hand was far from steady, but that's where slowing down the video helped alot ;-)

Nina: Sure. Get down here. My camera cost me €180. It has its limitations, but it's practical for when you're fighting your way through muddy banana plantations.

M. Matthews said...

Great. Video blogging is a window.

Anonymous said...

Very cool. Loved the Congolese jazz, will have to look them up...

Anonymous said...

How goes it? Lekker?

Looks like you are getting into the African way of life - next you'll be going native and only liking rugby!

Maurice said...

Scott: good to hear from you again. Answer my e-mails!

I think Soukous music is due to have a breakthrough in Europe and the states one of these days. All that is probably needed is a documentary in "Buena Vista"-style.

Mike: I'll work on going native ;-) My Kinyarwanda is coming along very slowly at the moment. But rugby? British football is the craze here in Rwanda. I think I need to upload a video of the regional smash-hit "Arsenal is Good" - classic stuff ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hey Maurice, we miss your posts. Please post some more stuff and not let your site die. ;-)

Maurice said...

Hi David,
Thanks for the wake-up call. I've been busy trying to get Rwandans to write decent business plans, amongst many other things. I've also been thinking about what I can and cannot write on this blog, without getting myself fired or deported.
Maurice

Anonymous said...

Ah, fair point. Losing your job would not be clever. Did your boss find your blog?