# Empire Builder SEA-CHI July 15



## Jackson123 (Aug 5, 2008)

Okay, after about a year of planning and 30,000 AGR points, my wife and I finally got to take this trip. In short, it was fantastic, great food, great people, and even a band in the lounge car!! Instead of a long report, you can see the whole trip in 3 minutes here.


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## MrFSS (Aug 5, 2008)

Love it!!!


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## had8ley (Aug 9, 2008)

You could be a pro in photography; some of the best footage I've seen in some time.


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2008)

How did you get a front row seat to take the pictures?


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## WhoozOn1st (Aug 9, 2008)

Cool video, though I'm also a fan of written reports. What I'd like to know is who rated a cab ride!?

Interesting version of Orange Blossom Special -- hadn't heard it before -- but no fiddle? Not sure I like the harmonica as a replacement. If you listen closely there's some good pedal steel action going on in the background; a very tight arrangement.

Think I'll watch/listen again.

Thanks, Jackson123!


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## Jackson123 (Aug 11, 2008)

had8ley said:


> You could be a pro in photography; some of the best footage I've seen in some time.



I have to admit to a little trickery here. The shots of the train going by I downloaded from other users on Youtube (I joked with my friends that the toughest part of the shot was running to catch the train as it passed.

For the "cab ride" shots, I downloaded video others out of the back window of West bound EB (i did not have my vid camera) and then reversed it.

Glad you all liked it!!

As for photography, it is tough NOT to take nice shots of that trip.

A few tips I learned from this for future travelogue videgraphers.

1. keep it short (3 min seems good, but i probably should have made it even shorter).

2. Use "pan and scan" judiciously. I used the same left to right pan to convey motion. To emphasize this effect, I kept all internal and station stop shots static.

3. Show something of "life on board." hence the crosswords and empty wine bottles.

4. Keep the shots of pics short (I think mine were a little too long.)

6. Add in some video for interest.

7. Use the music to set the tone. I chose OG Express not just for the train theme, but also because I wanted to convey a high energy feel to the trip.


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## GG-1 (Aug 11, 2008)

Jackson123 said:


> had8ley said:
> 
> 
> > You could be a pro in photography; some of the best footage I've seen in some time.
> ...


Mahalo for that list. I thought the shot was reversed, I know how to do that in Film but no clue for video.. Heck I have won several awards for film editing, but the video edits (maybe I have the wrong Editing Program) elude me. Nice work regardless of the Image sources.

Aloha


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