A review of Mike Blyth and Olivier Aubert's latest DVD
April 2004
The desert landscape soared onto the screen as a trike glided gracefully 6ft above the dunes. The shadow of the wing is silhouetted against the sand.
A beautiful opening shot - and that's even before the DVD menu appeared on the screen.
With a plan to review the DVD objectively, I settled back and pressed play.
The DVD charts the story of Olivier and Mike, from South America to South Africa, covering 43,000km in a 9 month epic trip.
Without delay, we find ourselves at the beginning of the flight with the guys, unboxing their many crates of gear and reassembling their trikes in Buenos Aires. The logistics involved in this seemed no mean feat.
Very shortly we are off, heading northwards at sometimes 50ft over Jungle canopy and trees. Not for the faint-hearted, but it certainly makes for spectacular footage!
The first thing I noticed was the sharpness of the film and the colourful footage.
It is clear that they have used good quality camera equipment, which is apparent throughout the film. This in itself makes the film a joy to watch.
I can imagine it was extremely hard to extract a 53 minutes presentation from over 9 months of footage. Having carried camera gear and batteries around myself, I can appreciate the extra work and time it takes to film a trip, whilst constantly on the move. You have to be ruthless in the 'cutting room' when editing.
As we travel with Olivier and Mike along the route, I found it occasionally dizzying keeping track of their position.
Friendship
Strong themes evident throughout the trip are friendship and camaraderie, and both Mike and Olivier appear to have maintained their sense of humour throughout the journey.
Managing to fly 14,000km without what appears to be so much as a crossed word between them is a real achievement in itself.
Stress can run high on a trip, and friendship and trust can be the all-important bond that keeps things together.
Pilot Optimism
As the guys sit out storms and torrential rain in places, they continue to be full of the flyers optimism and do not let this dampen their spirits.
In one of the scenes, we see an upbeat Olivier and Mike allowing local African children to climb on and sit in their machines.
Included on the DVD are some original music tracks which blend in well with the moods and moments throughout.
Summary
The footnote at the end of the film tells us that the DVD was all edited and created on a home Mac PC. You wouldn't know this if they hadn't mentioned it, and they should consider selling it to a TV Station - maybe National Geographic ?
I think it would appeal to a broad audience, and of course especially those that fly or are interested in flying.
The only thing it needs to make it more immersing is a voice-over and commentary which would give it a more fluid storyline, and possibly a more interactive map, plotting their journey.
Nice trip guys, and keep up the Adventures! Your footage is superb.
You have a nicely laid out website, too.
You can buy the DVD and read about their ongoing adventures here at their website.
Paul |
