Memories of Borneo

I had some great creative fun this week by cutting a little video of my footage and stills from working on assignment in Indonesian Borneo in June 2009. I had just a bit of time to shoot stuff for myself as well and have been allowed to use the footage. Thanks to my gracious employers for arranging the trip to Tanjung Puting.

It is all part of a process of learning about shooting, producing and cutting moving images. The footage is mostly hand held and shot for fun so this is about learning to edit and preparing for future video projects. I have however become extremely fond of this video as it is a nice piece of escapism into my Borneo memories. I must re-visit. It is not the easiest place to get to, but I kick myself for not going earlier this year and will definitely persevere to go later this year when I am in Asia again.
Do watch in HD and full screen and then read the story behind it:

 

 

The town of Pangkalang Bun

borneo-fbj-shootI am sitting in the front of a boat shooting stills and video with my Canon 5D Mk II and a JVC proHD camera. The heat and humidity is unlike anything I have experienced in Asia and I love it. The air simply smells of life; humidity, spices, people, the tropics and an overpowering distinct smell of teak tree. All bold colours of the world have come here to Pankalang Bun as every house, boat and person is sporting the brightest palette one can imagine. Every person has a big curious smile and wave as we cause as much commotion as aliens landing (which we are). Children laugh and swim in the river, all the sounds of the town and the people is not entirely drowned out by the not entirely healthy two-stroke engine driving our tiny boat. For two hours in the golden setting sun we cruise the river on a magical afternoon. Here is a Pangkalang Bun image I really like:

Love the camera

Tanjung Puting National Park and capturing the Orang Utans.

Correction, this heat and humidity is unlike anything I have experienced! A thrilling ride on a tiny speedboat for 3 hours has brought us deep into the jungle and the orang utan reservation of Tanjung Puting National Park. I sweat so profusely that water runs off me like a human waterfall as I try and operate my now wet camera. I love it. The orang utans are the most charming graceful creatures and I am overwhelmed by emotions. We get up very close and personal with them and see many during this day. At one point I sit next to one of them and feed her a banana, she carefully peels it using her lips, extends her hand for one more.  We simply must save these wonderful animals from extinction, we caused this, we must fix this. I recommend our great guide Yomie Kamale if you are thinking of visiting. Here is an image I captured of a mother and infant on another magical day:

borneo-orangutan

 

4 Comments on “Memories of Borneo”

  1. Hi Flem,

    Thanks for sharing some of the clips from your trip to Borneo. I especially love the clips of the orang utans from Tanjung Puting National Park. Beautiful.

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