My first job abroad

My first job abroad is done. It was a great time. I know, it's been a few weeks since I wrote a blog post. It was just a lot to do and I did not really know what to write about. In addition, I was traveling for 16 days. Back in Austria, the work got underway and some new and exciting projects are waiting for me in the coming weeks.

But this blog post is mostly about my journey. In spring the owner of a Kitesurf school in Kontakt, welcher jemanden suchte, der ein neues Video speziell für die Schule in Montenegro drehen sollte. Wir besprachen alle Details und schnell wurde daraus mein erster Auslandsauftrag, welcher vom 18. - 30. Juni über die Bühne gehen sollte. An dem Wochenende davor waren wir in den Niederlanden und besuchten Familie und schauten uns Amsterdam mit Freunden an. Nach einem kurzen Stopp in Wien, ging es dann direkt nach Montenegro. Der Flughafen in Podgorica ist winzig und in wenigen Minuten standen wir auch schon in der Empfangshalle, die gleichzeitig auch die einzige Halle war. Ein Taxifahrer mit einem Schild, auf dem mein Name stand, wartete bereit auf meine Frau und mich.

After a somewhat annoying taxi ride - an accident and a phone bill explosion - we were dropped off directly on the beach. We looked for the kite school and made ourselves comfortable there. After a few minutes we got to know the owner and some of the teachers. We understood each other right away. At dinner we went through the details of the coming days. In addition to video shooting, the kite course was part of the deal for me. As an athlete and a fan of outdoor activities I was really looking forward to it, especially because of my hand. In addition, it sounded extremely dangerous to control a huge kite, as this can develop proper forces in a wrong move.

After the first few days it quickly became clear that kite surfing should not be a problem. Since I had to shoot some videos right on the beach, the wind conditions were always an important factor. If there were no kites, I could not or did not shoot at all. Using a drone, I also tried to capture the beach, the school and the kitesurfers at the sea. Although I am generally not a fan of drone recordings, in certain cases a drone is definitely an advantage. Especially for short flights over the beach, the old town or over an idyllic river, the drone was perfect for that. In the 12 days I produced a lot of gigabytes of material and I am currently editing the image film.

In addition to the great feeling of riding a surfboard over the sea and controlling a huge kite, the experience with the people and the new environment was very important to me. Since the time was measured, I always have to keep track of the remaining scenes, so as not to miss something. Therefore, it was important to view the material in the evening and to sort immediately, in order to be able to tackle any post-rotation faster. Since there was no visual storyboard, I was dependent on my ideas and knew exactly which settings I needed and which I had already in the box.

The wind was also crucial to the amount of different kitesurfing videos and thus the possibilities for later editing. The leap into the unknown and also out of my comfort zone was important for me to grow as a videographer or as a filmmaker. I am very grateful for the opportunity and for the beautiful and informative time in Montenegro and hope that I can deepen my skills at the next assignment abroad.

I am always happy about feedback, questions and comments. Thanks for reading.