The Norway Project

As I prepared for my trip to Norway, I quickly realized that I had to be mindful of the equipment I could bring along. The drone laws in Norway and the fact that it was a school trip meant that I had limitations on what I could carry. I knew I wouldn’t have much time for filming, so I had to make sure that my gear was portable, lightweight, and easy to set up. After careful consideration, I decided to rely solely on my mobile phone, the Redmi Note 10 Pro, for ground footage and photography. Despite being a phone, it boasted impressive features such as a 108MP sensor, allowing me to crop images without sacrificing quality, and excellent 4K shooting capabilities with intelligent AI focusing and a dynamic color range. For the drone shots, I chose a model that complied with EU laws weighing in at just 249 grams, whilst ensuring high-quality video capture at 4K 30fps and a LOG color profile for color grading later on.

However, as I prepared my equipment, I soon encountered another challenge: the weather. October in Norway wasn’t exactly ideal for filming. Rainfall was a constant companion throughout my trip, severely limiting the drone’s flight time. On the rare occasions when it wasn’t raining, the dark and cloudy conditions, coupled with the limited daylight hours in the far north, made it difficult to capture well-lit footage. This resulted in a significant reduction in photo and video quality, as the cameras struggled to capture enough light. Looking back, I realized that increasing the ISO on both the drone and handheld camera would have greatly improved the results. It was a valuable lesson to take from the trip, knowing that this adjustment could have significantly enhanced the quality, brightness, and overall color grading of each clip.

Despite the challenging circumstances, I managed to gather a reasonable amount of footage, which I later used to create my very first video montage. This video marked the second upload on my YouTube channel, and it brought about more than just a new type of content for me, as I decided to switch from OpenShot video editor to DaVinci Resolve, mainly to further develop my video editing skills and to explore the impressive color grading capabilities of the software. One of my creative choices was to integrate the chosen soundtrack into the video clips themselves. This approach aimed to infuse the somewhat gloomy landscape with a sense of liveliness and create a strong connection between all elements of the project, ultimately captivating the audience.

Throughout the process, I ended up creating three different versions of the Norway video before finding the one that truly satisfied me. It became the longest and most challenging project I had ever undertaken, but the sense of fulfillment I gained from it was immeasurable. Despite the setbacks and limitations I faced while filming, I managed to craft a montage that I was genuinely proud of. This experience taught me invaluable lessons about planning, filming, and the intricacies of color grading.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post. If you haven’t already, I invite you to watch my Norway video, which is embedded below this article and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.