Boda² - A quick documentary made about motorbike taxis in Uganda.

This was a quick project; shot over the course of 2 days, and edited in 1 day (and made the music that night). I made it ostensibly for a small competition (but its really more like a club of filmmakers made for fun and inspiration rather than a competition in reality). However, while it is partially a documentary, it also acts as a kind of internet ad for the guys company.

Due to the quick turnaround I didn't really spend as much time on the edit as I would have liked to; I had hours and hours of footage from 4 different cameras (1 5dmk3, 1 T3i, 1 XLH1 & 1 GoPro), plus audio recordings from a zoom that needed to be synched. I'm sure there is better footage that can be used if I find the time to go back in and search for it. I did not do any colour grading (except for one section in the middle that I wanted to give a 'Top-Gear' vibe to) - and the different cameras don't mix well at some points.

I have to say I am getting really frustrated with the way all my videos look on Vimeo. There is a huge difference between the original mov files on my computer, and what I see on vimeo at the end. The colors are washed out, the image is way to soft, and the motion can be really jerky. I really need to focus on optimizing my videos in the future; the settings I am using just don't seem to be doing the videos justice when seen online.

Uh...I thought I posted this is in the 'Made with FCPX' section; I don't know how it ended up here? Can it be moved somehow?

I was in Northern Tanzania for most of February and this was one of the big changes that I saw from the last time I was there. Cheap(ish) Chinese bikes being driven by boys who don't have a clue about safety. Two folks killed in the 3 weeks I was there:( Really poor employment prospects locally mean that it's one of the easier ways to make a wage. I thought it was worth a short documentary study but you've beaten me to it:) Good one.

Your guys are well sorted with safety though!

Hi Lee; thanks for watching.

Yeah, the motorbike taxi industry has been a mainstay in Uganda for over a decade now (it evolved from the bicycle taxi's, which is where the word Boda Boda came from originally), so its matured a bit now. Not so in Tanzania; I have heard some horror stories from friends that live there with regards to the lack of control, the complete lack of licenses of the majority of drivers, and the connection between crime and the taxis that exists there.

That said, Boda Bodas are not that safe here either. I heard that over 40% of Emergency hospital admissions in Kampala hospitals are from motorcycle accidents. The Police cracked down on them hard a few years ago; they impounded thousands of uninsured bikes, and confiscated the bikes belonging to drivers without valid licenses. Then they made it law to wear helmets (though it is not enforced too much for the drivers, and completely ignored with regards to passengers). Thats why Walter makes a big deal about providing helmets to the customers in the movie; its a completely novel idea in Uganda!

Nice job, Simon, as usual. Very engaging. My favorite parts were the opening 3 or so shots that brought us down into that conglomeration, the music fit perfectly, the "tiger trap" style open pit full of huge spikes, guy carrying stacks of cardboard on his head, of course Walter's a likable character, & the moonshine tasting sequence.

Curious, how'd you mic Walter, is that shotgun? Didn't think you had an extra body for a boom, & I don't see any lapel mic on him. The interview audio is excellent.

Had a little chuckle with your Top Gear section. Yeah, that's the kind of stuff they do. If anything, that scene went on just a few seconds too long for me. Maybe we didn't need the engine shot twice, or whatever it was ... was keeping us from the most compelling aspect of Africa, the people.

Surprised the tourist was allowed in the mosque wearing shorts. The torture chambers were sobering & horrific.

Nice share.

Hey J, thanks for watching.

Glad you liked the music; this was the first time I scored a film myself (I quickly made a percussion & bass mix in Garage Band). Trying to find the right music for this was a real PITA using my Royalty Free library; mainly because I needed something fast and upbeat for the city scenes, and then something low and tense for the torture chambers. In the end it was easier to just do it myself. Looking forward to doing this more often actually.

The audio was done using a Sennheiser Shotgun microphone in a Rode Blimp, running into a Zoom H2N and synched in post. I brought in an audio guy to that interview; it took about an hour on a hillside (at the Baha'i Temple). At this point I don't risk audio anymore and hire a pro for the interviews (I do my own ambient audio in camera, like in the moonshine scene, which is acceptable for incidental talking I reckon). The boom came in a few shots (I had 2 cameras; 1 on a tripod and one I was hand holding) - so a couple of interview scenes were slightly cropped to remove it.

The Top Gear scene was my favorite part; I had a much longer montage that I had to kill!

Very nice tableau to the music, had a kind of organic earthy, ethnic feel which matched the locale. That's the fantastic thing about GarageBand, if you've got the JamPacks & a few minutes to play, you can create a very effective soundscape for your film.

Perhaps it was you who told me about the 20 gigs of sounds you can buy from Apple for 20 bucks...

Amazing at how fast you can turn around something like with this and still have a really polished looking piece. Well done. This is where FCPX is unrivalled IMHO.

I think too the music is great especially considering the time constraints.

If you had more time I would have preferred a little more variation as after a while it becomes a little repetitive.

Hi Seanus,
Thanks for watching. Yes, FCPX is a monster for doing fast turnarounds. I spent the most amount of time key-wording and organizing the footage (most of the morning). I had way too much footage, which was the main problem. Once I had all the footage organized and categorized I synched the interview clips with the audio (took about 30 minutes to do). Then I took a long lunch break.

In the afternoon I came back to it with fresh eyes; and there is nothing like starting an edit with organized key-worded footage - its brilliant. The rough edit itself only took about 2 hours to assemble. Then another 2 hours to fine tune, add effects (only bothered to grade 1 section in the middle), and do the audio mix.

Yeah, the tune is a bit repetitive but I'm happy enough with it for a first attempt; hope to improve over time!

Hi Simon

Really liked your video. Nice mix between sights/ sounds and interviews with the unavoidable places of interest. Like the lack of facts seriously. Love it. Palace, Temple, Tower and dungeon. All you need to know.

When you go on a boat trip in Germany they tell you every thing. Who built the tower, in what year, how high, how many stones, what it cost and the named of his wife, mistress and dog for good measure. Information overload, if you ask me.

The guy in the interview is great

"No window frame"

Sounds as if he has read "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

Local moonshine. Now I am interested in going to Uganda

One question your titles what did you do them with.

Looks somewhat mGlitch-ish to me?

Hi Paurray,

Thanks for watching. Yes, one of the great things about motorcycle tours is that you don't have to listen to endless chatter -only once you get to the destination do you actually have a chat about it and there is usually a guide at each location who will talk to you about it if you want to. I didn't feel the need to go into any of the details of the locations in the video, as I didn't want to do a video about the tour, but rather a video about the idea behind the tour.

I think all motorcyclists have a zen like approach to riding. I have done a number of trips through India and Asia by motorbike (as well as Africa & Europe), and its a different approach to traveling. I have to say though, as a motorcyclist I felt very awkward sitting in the pillion seat, and having no control over the machine. Very weird!

The tiles were done with Pixel Film Studios ProShiver plug-in.

thanks for that Simon

Looks ehhhemmmm similar to mGlitch! But lets not even go there. :blush:

mGlitch is the only plugin I have bought for FCP X so far. Just not much of a plugin guy.

Happy Motorcycling