Gotta love a good travel video, don’t you agree?
When Felipe contacted us in order to see if we could help him spread the word of his newly released video Joven O Suficiente, we could not say anything other than bringing it on! Here’re his own words.
Enjoy!
(Video no longer available)
Felipe Sant Ana left for a round-the-world trip, at the age of 19, with a unique purpose. “Seeing most of my friends getting drowned in stifling relationships, stuck in monotonous work routines, and abandoning their childhood dreams frightened me.”, he recalls. After thinking about it for a while, the Brazilian reasoned that all of them had (or had not!) one thing in common: they were all lacking youth. “Not youth in terms of age”, he explains, aware of the paradox expressed by a 19-year old boy that misses youth. “Spiritual youth: that fierce denial of anything that stands between our dreams and us; that certainty regarding our vocation; pure and powerful faith in what we are and must become”.
Felipe put together the money he earned on brand paid for cultural contests, still as a teenager, and decided to spend the next one and a half years photographing and talking to the children who came across his way in Europe, Asia, and Central America, intending to rediscover youth through their eyes and words. He wrote a book, which, later on, became the most successful crowdfunding campaign in the literature category Brazil has ever seen. As a way of conveying his gratitude (to his supporters and the kids he met while traveling) Felipe went back to Honduras, 2 years after visiting the country for the first time, determined to meet again one of the boys he talked to. What happened, there, you can watch the video he shot, narrated, and edited. Entitled “Travelling means”, it has English subtitles and poses a beautiful reflection on the act of traveling itself.
Felipe studies advertising, and had, at university, his first experiences with photographing, filming, and editing. Although not having further formal education on the field, the young Brazilian has always watched tons of movies, experimented with cameras owned by friends, and has even produced two amateur short films. “Travel videos have always inspired me. I love when someone can conjure the essence of a place, tell a story, and thrill, in a few minutes of images and sound”, he accounts.
For shooting, the writer-videomaker used a Canon 60D and a manual steady-cam, besides a rented drone for the aerial shots. Finding someone to pilot the drone, on an island 50km off the Honduran coast, was probably his main challenge. “I had to call about 15 production companies and tell all of them I had much less than they were charging until I found a guy who sympathized with my story and decided to help. I was relieved, and forever grateful”.
Felipe had only 4 days in the country, so everything was done kind of in a rush. He then compensated the hurry with 2 months of post-production. The Brazilian edited on Premiere wrote and recorded the narration on a friend’s home studio, and chose songs by Alt J (Breezeblocks) and Ludovico Einaudi (Experience) to compose the soundtrack. “Both of them evoke a dreamlike atmosphere, I guess”, he explains.
The video promotes the launching of Felipe’s book, “Young Enough” (“Jovem O Suficiente”, in Portuguese) at the bookstores. However, the author assures that this isn’t his sole intention: “I want people to rediscover the beauty of traveling, meeting new people, and venturing out of their comfort zone. Inspiration is a one-way ticket to the outside of anyone’s comfort zone. And it always makes us change as human beings. It doesn’t really matter, to me, if my reader-spectator is going to feel this inspiration and the rebirth of his love for traveling through my texts or my videos. All that matters is that he feels touched somehow, and compelled to dream more and live life to its full potential”. As for the author’s future plans, nothing is truly defined. “My instinct is to keep telling stories”, he says. Again, if this is going to be done with words, videos, or any other medium, only time will tell.
Thanks, Felipe Sant’Ana Pereira, for inspiring us with your great visual content! We’ll keep an eye on your next steps for sure!