Hoheward (experimenting with video on a coal dump in Ruhrgebiet)

So a friend from home tells me about this contest where you can win a job as a professional vacationer. A professional vacationer visits the most wonderful spots on Earth and posts video blog from and about his adventures.

To win the job, you have to send in a video - something Ive never really tried before - so we took a trip Sunday, my one day off, to a new halde, that is to a coal dump, we've never visited before. Coming straight out of work as I did, I cant say I was super prepared... for example I forgot to charge all the batteries, and I hadnt researched enough or thought enough about what I wanted to shoot.

The halde itself is amazing - the mining companies have been dumping tailings there since the late 1800s and theyve built up a hill 100m high - from the top you can see all the way to Düsseldorf, 50km away. And on top theyve built an astronomical measuring device - a sort of modern day steel stonehenge - two great round arches each 45m in diameter - you can see them clear as a bell from the A2 - you can see them on the horizon from downtown essen if you know where to look

ive know, and ive been looking and wanting to get to this halde for a while - there is something magical about these big piles of dirt. theres 30 of them in the ruhr area, 8 of them over 100m - all wrapped with trails winding round and round, green forests slowly marching up the slopes, great views, the wind, the open horizon

i love standing up there and looking out over the countryside - in some ways its the closest thing to the sea theyve got here in the ruhr area - i can breathe up there - i can relax

that feeling though is exactly what i failed to capture in my video - why are the halde so attractive to me? - however for my first attempt at making a video, i am satisfied - before i began the project i wasnt even sure i had the software, let alone the know-how, to stitch the clips together or edit them - now i know i can - i managed to create a bit of a story but most importantly i learned a lot:

- 1 - plan plan plan - think about things like: why would people want to come here? what info is necessary to sell them on the idea of going, and what info can they discover for themselves? what shots do i need to sell the location - what pictures, what feelings, whats the story?

- 2 - charge all batteries - duh!

- 3 - show dont tell - action is more exciting than some dumb talking head - what do people do at this location? how do the move through or interact with the geography? is there a story that can be told or a feeling that can be conveyed with moving images rather than words or still shots? if there is talking, why not some colourful LOCAL character instead of boring old me?

- 4 - wind sucks

- 5 - check the spelling of the one word in the title - duh!

- 6 - have fun!! life is too short for anything else

now that im more familiar with the process, i have to spend a bit of time (but i dont that much time) thinking about what "attraction" id like to feature here in essen and what i want to show to say why im the right guy for the job...

anyway, heres the video - the best thing about is the ending for sure...

and here are my fotos from the hike (with batteries running low i didnt take anywhere near the number i would have normally taken but then im pretty sure ill be back)

See the full gallery on posterous