Producing a new course

Here is a complete lesson from the Ruddering Masterclass.

There is so much work that goes into a full online sea kayaking course to get to the point where it is in your library.  Early on in the development of OSK we decided that the quality of the videos was going to form the unique selling point for our courses.  We didn't want to just film lots of content quickly and get it on the website.  Instead we wanted to create something that was there for the future that lasts and has every detail as we want it.  Neither did we want to go kayaking and film and then see what lessons we could create. Instead we set out with a detailed and methodical process to produce what we hope you agree are high quality, structured and progressive lessons that are a pleasure to watch.

Pre filming

Before we even get started on the filming we spend time creating a spreadsheet and writing shot-lists for each of the lessons.  These go into the detail of the camera type, framing and if it needs to be in slow mo or with audio.  This helps us be more efficient and also makes sure we don't miss any key shots which would be hard to go back and film.

Locations

As you will see we have tried to use the best locations possible for the filming and not just used our local water.  For the calm water lessons we wanted crystal clear waters and blue skies so we drove all of the way out to Croatia for some incredible locations.  For the surf we waited for the perfect conditions and used the many breaks Cornwall has to offer.  For the tide races course it was an easy decision to head to the tidal flows and races of Anglesey.  We think it's important that the content is not only good but the locations make you feel like you want to just get in your kayak and go paddling.

Filming

We now have an array of high quality professional filming equipment that can capture the action at breathtaking quality.  We have the capability to film 4k slow motion from the drone as well as our tripod mounted camera with inter changeable lenses.  Getting the exposure, focus, framing, shutter speed, ISO and aperture all just right for each shot takes time and patience. For the piece to cameras where we need to record clean and clear audio we use a radio mic which is quite the challenge when in any sort of conditions but we have a way to make it work so we do not have to buy a new one every time.  There are times when a radio mic doesn't work and we have to use a boom mic to try to pick up the audio.  An example is during the high recovery videos Simon goes completely over and then comes up talking to the camera.  The filming of one simple exercise can take a long time as we need to film it from different angles with different cameras and we don't always get it right the first time!

Editing

This is where most of the time is taken up in the whole process.  Sorting through all of the filming so that it is all organised and easy to access is the first stage.  We have to use powerful computers and editing software to cope the the huge files from the cameras.  We have to put all of the videos together cutting clips adding freeze frames slowing things down and adding text and annotations.  When all of this is done we then have to grade the whole video so the colours are right from the different cameras.  Then it comes to sound.  Drone footage does not have any audio and so sounds incredibly flat so we have to record sounds separately and add them in afterwards.  All of the separately recorded audio from the piece to cameras need to be adjusted and levelled so that we are not bursting your ear drums in one and then almost silent the next second. 

Time to upload

When each of the individual lessons are finished we export and upload them to our website and create the written content to support the videos.   This all then gets added automatically to subscribers library for them to sit back and watch.  Next time you watch one of our lessons you might start to see a few more of the details that go into each one.

Time to start work on the next course.....