This personal project is the edit of around 50 billions worth of footage & stills I filmed at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta over the weekend of the 9th – 12th of August 2012, and promptly forgot about/had to put to one side…  Work and life taking over priority from side projects for god knows how long.

What I did:

Got up at 5.30am, cycled over the suspension bridge & down into Ashton Court for some early morning shots.
Set up a few more from my sitting room window the following morning, because getting up voluntarily at 5.30am is a bag of shit, even if my son was 2 months old at the time and a more than capable alarm clock.  And, because I can…
Wandered over there a few evenings for the 6pm launches and stayed on for the nightglow and fireworks.  An enjoyable, yet tiring process, given how much more extra footage you need to shoot in order to speed it all up by around 5000%

How I did it:

Mostly by logging it, then forgetting about it for 8 months or so, due to a massive workload at the time, then picking it back up and massaging it into shape.  It’s nearly all video footage sped up to anything around 5000%, with the exception of the 2 overviews of the mass ascents – shot from my sitting room – which are image sequences shot at 1fps.

Shot on a Canon 550D & assorted lenses, along with a couple of general wides with a GoPro clamped onto the tripod.

Tune is White Mischief by Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Check bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk for more on the event, enjoy.