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Incredible India: The Video

It’s taken me four months to edit this video. Partly because I am a complete novice at the video editing game, and partly because it was so incredibly difficult to cut down three weeks of unforgettable experiences, caught on video between my iPhone, Olympus PEN and Fuji X20, into just two or three minutes.

It would have probably taken a lot less time had I have used davinci resolve 16, as it has a lot of useful features for video editing. You can also download it for free, so it would have saved me some money as well. I guess you live and learn!

I agonised over which shots to cut, which to keep and which to slow down. I spent days and days trying to find a song. I recorded voice overs to try and tell my story to the visuals (and very quickly deleted them). But in the end, I decided that the video is just going to be what it is; a personal, visual re-telling of a minuscule part of a life changing trip.

What doesn’t come across in this video, is the radiating warmth of the people. The hum of the city. The smell of the waves. The rush of standing up on a surf board in the India Ocean. The late-night street food feasts. My heart bursts with memories of that place.

But I hope that this video can give you some idea of what India really is. Because it’s more than a country, more than a people. It’s being invited to the wedding of two people you have never met on your first night in Mumbai, because Indian’s are that hospitable. It’s the taste of sweet, hot chai from a street vendor. It’s the colours of one hundred sarees, the warmth of eleven million smiles.

It’s the bounce on the backseat of a rickshaw, the street lights at the local church. The beat of a thousand drums. It’s a pastel sunset, and a bright red bindi. India is where the heart is.

I know this video is long. In internet terms, it’s basically a feature film. My video is not the best India video you will ever see. It’s probably not even in the top 50. But it’s my authentic experience. I urge you to sit back and watch. Don’t click to another tab. Just watch and be absorbed. Watch right to the end. I’ve included a special message there, just for you.

UPDATE: JULY 2014

If you liked this video, please help me get back to India so I can make more.

I’m currently crowdfunding a trip through www.trevolta.com

Contribute $1 and help my dream to spend one month travelling solo through India come true.

CONTRIBUTE HERE

10 comments

  1. Amazing!!! Even got teary eyed there at the end!!! Very powerful!!

  2. Good to see so much surfing featuring 🙂 That’s how I sum up my life. It’s important to live in the NOW. (Dirk)

  3. The video is INCREDIBLE!! what song is it?

    1. It’s M83 “Intro feat Zola Jesus”. It’s it great?

    2. SO GOOD! so weird I went to watch divergent and came straight home to find out who made this one incredible song in it – and same artist! xx hope freelance life is going well! x

  4. Thank you for the video & message! That is exactly how I feel every time I planned a holiday.

  5. So beautiful! And just what I needed to see. My husband and I have just booked a trip to Europe in September and have always wanted to go and everyone is asking how we’re affording it and that we’re wasting our money etc. But money spent on travel can’t ever be a waste. Love love love this. Thank you for sharing. X Kez

  6. Great video, just the message I needed!! I am going to go on the Yoga Retreat in India I have always wanted to do!!

  7. This is just the best! I LOVE it and I do just need to go.

  8. Absolutely awe inspiring! I had goose bumps throughout the whole video.

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