The Real Reason I Shot a Documentary in 8K This Week
Added 2021-03-26 11:31:23 +0000 UTCI’m a hypocrite.
A filthy, disgraceful hypocrite.
First I mocked vloggers overusing drones in their videos.
“The action is on the ground. Not in the sky. Nobody likes drones.”
- And then a year later I bought one and stuck it in every single video.
Then I turned my nose up at collaborating with other Youtubers.
“I don’t do collaborations.” I scoffed with glee in the comment section of every Abroad in Japan video.
- Not long after, Journey Across Japan happened and I collaborated with everyone and their Mum.
Another year later I mocked 4k.
“Crisp resolution is unnecessary and overrated!” I cried. “1080p for life.”
- Then in 2020, all Abroad in Japan videos became 4k.
I even recall making fun of 8K in a video in Akihabara several years ago. And yet here we are! With an 8K super mega ultra resolution, so crisp and clear, you can peer straight through time and space itself.
The truth is, 4k and 8k don’t really matter. You could shoot a video in 360p and still get millions of views (as we established earlier this year: https://youtu.be/CRAqd5EMnrk).
A video is only as good as the story and the interest of the viewers.
The real reason I snapped up an 8k camera was for the sake of Journey Across Japan, where at any one time there’ll be Natsuki, Joey and myself in the frame, and we can crop in digitally without losing any image quality when we upload to 4k.
That and as an aspiring filmmaker, I’m fairly sure we can put it to good use this year.
STARTING with today’s documentary!
To test the 8k camera (Sony Alpha 1) I followed my good friend Quinlan from the channel Go North Japan on one of his afternoon strolls through a crumbling dystopian nightmare.
The forgotten mining town of Matsuo in Iwate made the perfect setting, and we got lucky with the dreary terrible weather on the day of the shoot - even if I ended up looking like a soggy porpoise by the end of the day.
For the first time ever, I also used a gimbal which made a world of difference. Though I find them cumbersome and annoying, this video wouldn’t have been possible without one.
But I considered this project a test run for the upcoming series of Journey Across Japan (which starts shooting in 3 weeks) and all in all I think it was a success! I hope you enjoy it.
The Man Who Explores Japan's ABANDONED Buildings | 8K
This month has been rather a weird one; despite the absence of videos the last week or two, in reality I think I’ve filmed more videos than any other month in memory, both for Abroad in Japan and other channels, including The Anime Man, CDawgVA and Tokyo Creative, as you’ll discover next week.
We’ve also got a video out this weekend on Abroad in Japan about the worst Japanese TV show ever made (featuring Natsuki), and later next week an episode featuring Connor, who travelled all the way up to Tohoku to shoot the video.
Your patience will soon be rewarded folks.
Now try and guess what the video with Connor is about….
Comments
The documentary is very impressive! These haikyo buildings are some kind of mystical in my opinion and next time I visit Japan, I want to visit one. (although uhmm ... To be honest: It depends on the spiders, if I want to or not ...) Great video and I am very excited to see the next videos on your channel :)
Cathy
2021-05-18 22:14:03 +0000 UTCReally happy to see you team up with Quinlan. He would probably make a good buddy to do a camping video with!
2021-05-17 15:18:55 +0000 UTCYour film and editing skills are transcendent from your days when you first began on YouTube. Also, before you down yourself about being a hypocrite of certain tech advances, think about when you said it and the cost of the tech at the time. Saying that nobody really needs 8k video when it cost $8k for the camera is perfectly fine. Keep up the good work.
2021-04-26 02:59:30 +0000 UTCConsider yourself an honorary Yorkshireman for that impressive list of "I'll not be doin' any o that tripe" before soundly sitting down and doing every one of them.
Richard Hawley
2021-04-22 17:07:40 +0000 UTCMy god man, that video's quality was something else. Excellent work Chris!
Char
2021-03-30 22:45:16 +0000 UTCAbsolutely unreal film on Chris Abroad channel. My jaw dropped and the direction and colouring was purely stunning. I’m so so up for more of this content on your secondary channels Chris. Keep it up!!
2021-03-29 10:17:14 +0000 UTCThe video with Quinlan was breathtakingly gorgeous! I know you are constantly working to up your game and it definitely shows! So well done!
2021-03-27 15:45:38 +0000 UTCJust caught up with the video - it's so well done, I nearly mistook it for a Red cinema camera or a Sony F55. Shots, editing music was all spot on.
Gabriel Ralls
2021-03-27 12:26:02 +0000 UTCGreat video, unfotunately the narrator took me out. He sounds quiet young I personally would prefer a more mature voice or Chris voice.
2021-03-27 10:43:19 +0000 UTCthat really was a stunning video. the gimbal does make all the difference there and the drone shots are incredible
Mr Fujisawa
2021-03-27 10:35:49 +0000 UTCAbsolutely LOVED your recent video with Quinlan! What a beautiful masterpiece! The scenery, the choreography, the story... absolutely amazing ❤️. Great work there Chris 👌🏻. The combination of gimble, drone and the quality of the camera has a really nice and pleasant result.
Amilie Van Acker
2021-03-26 18:13:39 +0000 UTCSo, Chris, I have to ask, when Quinlan started to tell you about all the ways that building could of killed you while you had no cell coverage, did you just stare at him in disbelief or...? I mean, I have to assume it was after you already filmed.
Disturbed0Angel
2021-03-26 15:56:11 +0000 UTCConnooor!!!
2021-03-26 15:36:09 +0000 UTCFried Chicken Party! 🍗🎉
Donia
2021-03-26 15:28:58 +0000 UTCHonestly, we can say something one day and the next, we seem to do it and enjoy it. The important thing is that we enjoy doing it.
2021-03-26 14:54:29 +0000 UTCI'm so looking forward with your collaboration video with Connor ever since he appeared on your podcast. It's like he's the long lost Welsh son you never knew you had who are both stranded in Japan.
Rynnik Elddi
2021-03-26 13:31:51 +0000 UTCThat is just life's learning curve Chris. Many of us have been there...the IMPORTANT thing is you learned you may not always be right...which is quite a great lesson. I LOVE the drone shots, always feels so peaceful. Looking forward to all the new videos!!
wendy weems
2021-03-26 13:04:34 +0000 UTCI loved this video! It also made Quinlan look like a slick wet porpoise, I guess 😆. It would be awesome if you could find more people to do something like this with! And the gimbal cinematography was awesome. Now I get how you got that one shot through a hole in a beam on the ceiling :).
Nynke de Haas
2021-03-26 13:00:34 +0000 UTCAnd yet, Norm will be the one wielding the 8K camera for Chris in Kyushu :)
Nynke de Haas
2021-03-26 12:57:41 +0000 UTCThat video and its beautiful shots and atmosphere almost made me want to ditch photography and be a filmmaker.
2021-03-26 12:39:45 +0000 UTCLove the self-awareness... To be fair, you're not jumping on the bandwagon so much as see a genuine reason to make a change
2021-03-26 12:27:40 +0000 UTCNorm said 6K is where it is at, 8K is for posers. Great film by the way, Quinlan did a great job on the narration and looking forlorn which blended wonderfully with your cinematic shots.
Chris Parsons
2021-03-26 12:16:28 +0000 UTCI can already taste that KFC
GLAD
2021-03-26 12:10:45 +0000 UTCSo much good news on a Friday morning 🙂
Andrew Roque
2021-03-26 12:00:39 +0000 UTCI love the atmosphere of this video. The background music fits it perfectly too!
Satomi Arihara
2021-03-26 11:59:59 +0000 UTCI know right! All of them collabing makes me want to dive in to this “j-vlogger universe” thing going on, so fun :D
2021-03-26 11:47:36 +0000 UTCHypocrite? Nobody’s perfect Chris😊 Can’t wait to see what you have prepared🙂
Luciano Arrieta Martins
2021-03-26 11:44:20 +0000 UTCFantastic! Can't wait for all of this!
Tom Barber
2021-03-26 11:43:08 +0000 UTCIf someone got hold of video evidence of all those past comments can you just imagine the reaction video Chris 🤣
Nick M
2021-03-26 11:39:59 +0000 UTCThis past year and the start of this one has been amazing. All of my favorite "J-vloggers" has been in each others videos. I love these collaborations! Thanks for all your hard work Chris. Always looking forward to your videos.
2021-03-26 11:37:43 +0000 UTCEspecially after they completely trashed family mart chicken in their last trash taste episode 😂
2021-03-26 11:37:17 +0000 UTCWe’re getting a video where Chris is eating fried chicken? Omg the time has finally come!! I hope this doesn’t ruin family mart chicken for you though.
2021-03-26 11:37:13 +0000 UTCLooking forward to seeing them!
Michael Taylor
2021-03-26 11:36:23 +0000 UTCI see a upcoming cultured video with Connor setting my expectations at maximum for that one 😂
2021-03-26 11:36:10 +0000 UTCIs that a Fried Chicken-off with Connor? That'll be a laugh!
Chris Hunter
2021-03-26 11:35:56 +0000 UTC
