Virtual Walks of Europe - A Unique Travel Experience

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Virtual Walks of Europe - A Unique Travel Experience

Author: Wayne Jacobs

In June of 1999, Kathi and I took a Globus tour of Italy - their
"Italian Mosaic." Before leaving for the trip, I borrowed a
Steadicam Jr. from a good friend in Los Angeles who is a film
editor. I wanted to use it with my home video camera to shoot
better quality home movies while on this "once in a lifetime"
trip. The Steadicam Jr stabilizes the camera and completely
eliminates any shaking.

The 21-day (with two extensions) trip was absolutely wonderful!
The group of about 25 people on the tour all meshed nicely and
the food, the sights, the art, were fantastic. I shot hours of
video, some of it while actually walking down the streets of
Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples. The Steadicam Jr produced
smooth shots that seemed to “float.” And in Venice, I proposed
to Kathi at sunset in a gondola on the Grand Canal. We purhased
our wedding rings in the gold market of Florence.

Returning to the US, I viewed the video I had shot with the
Steadicam and quickly realized that it would be perfect for
watching while walking on our treadmill. A few tests confirmed
my idea - the “virtual walks” could give you the impression that
you were actually “walking” the streets of these beautiful
European cities and could make the time spent on the treadmill
pass quickly.

Having recently retired from a career in teaching Television
Production, and having just celebrated our marriage, I proposed
another idea to my new wife: We would form a tv production
company which would purchase professional equipment and film
"Treadmill Virtual Walks" of European cities. We would then sell
these virtual walks on the Internet.

Kathi immediately agreed and we got busy with the details. We
formed a corporation, researched equipment, purchased it, along
with the rights to music suitable for accompanying these walks.

In addition to the “virtual walks” which we would shoot with
Steadicam equipment, we also decided to take a tripod and shoot
more traditional travel video footage. We planned on editing
this footage into our “Armchair Travel Videos” which,
accompanied by classical music, we would also sell on the
Internet. Our objective was to come back from a 2 week shoot in
a European city with two totally different types of footage,
which could then be edited into two totally different types of
travel videos.

We set off to Venice on our first professional “shoot” in April
of 2001. We stayed in the Marconi Hotel overlooking the Rialto
Bridge and the Grand Canal. We had excellent weather and worked
hard. Awake and on the street by 7 AM each morning, we shot
treadmill walks while the streets were empty and then returned
to our hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, we returned to the
streets for more shooting. We shot most days until well into the
night. Venice is absolutely incredible! If you’ve never been to
Venice, you must go. You’ll never regret it.

Returning home after 10 long days of shooting in Venice, we
rested for one month. In June we left for 2 weeks of filming in
London. I promised Kathi we wouldn’t work so hard in London,
that any rain days would be “days off” for us.

It didn’t rain a single day while we were in London. We filmed
virtual walks in Hyde Park, along the canal in Little Venice,
and on the Hampstead Heath, among others. At the end of two
weeks shooting, we were exhausted.

We got on the plane and flew directly to Rome for two more weeks
of filming! And it didn’t rain a single day in Rome! We filmed
virtual walks along the Via Veneto, the Appian Way outside Rome,
and a walk in Pincio Gardens. At the end of a month of filming
we returned to the US vowing never to commit to such an
exhausting schedule again.

Soon after we returned from Rome, I received a call from my film
editor friend in Los Angeles. He was editing Mary Kate and
Ashley Olsen's feature “When In Rome” and needed some night
scenes of Rome. Did I have any night time scenes which they
could purchase?

Weeks later they did purchase a number of my night scenes and
used them in the movie. And that’s how we got into the business
of selling stock footage of Rome, Venice, and London to
television networks and production houses.

In October of 2003, we returned to London. This time we
concentrated on filming in the villages outside of London. We
filmed virtual walks in the Darent River Valley, in Otford, in
Canterbury, in Salisbury, and some in London, along with the
usual tripod shots.

Today we are busy selling our “Treadmill Virtual Walks” of
Venice, Rome, and London on Ebay and on our own websites:
www.treadmillwalks.com, www.fitnesswalks.com, and
www.europeanwalks.com.

In addition, we sell European stock footage of Rome, Venice, and
London on our websites: www.europeanstockfootage.com and
www.romestockfootage.com. Our footage has been used in
commercials and documentaries on the History Channel and the new
ABC TV series, “Life of Luxury,” starring George Hamilton.

In May of 2005 we will return to Italy for a three week shoot.
This time we’ll be shooting High Definition (HD) stock footage
of Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, and the Isle of Capri. We
will sell this HD stock footage on our newest website:
www.hdeuropeanstockfootage.com.

Life is good.

About the author:
My wife Kathi and I own a video production company that focuses
on European travel. In addition to our Virtual Walks Series, we
also shoot stock footage of Rome, Venice, and London which we
sell to television networks and production houses around the
world.