CRUISING WITH BOB

by Michael Grotticelli (Feb-1996 Videography Magazine)

WITH A SONY BVW-50 BETACAM SP VTR STRAPPED TO HIS BACK AND A JVC KY-F55B THREE-CCD CAMERA MOUNTED ON HIS HELMET, LIFE FOR VETERAN SHOOTER AND CYCLING ENTHUSIAST BOB KIGER HAS BEEN GOING STEADILY DOWNHILL. FORTUNATELY, THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE KIGER (A.K.A. "CRUISER BOB") WANTS TO TRAVEL, AND IN DOING SO HE'S MADE QUITE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN HAWAII. KIGER RECENTLY APPEARED ON SUCH TELEVISION PROGRAMS AS ABC'S LIVE WITH REGIS AND KATHY LEE AND GOOD MORNING AMERICA, AND THE SYNDICATED ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT.

It was 13 years ago that Kiger, a former Hollywood producer/director came up with the idea that "bicycles are to Haleakala, as skis are to Aspen." Thus began what has now become a thriving tourist business of leading thrill-seeking groups of cyclists (at 25-35 miles per hour) down an unusual 10,000 ft. descent along 38 miles of paved road on the slopes of a dormant volcano in Maui. The idea caught on in a big way (with several imitators recently entering the field), both in Hawaii and worldwide, where downhill bicycle tours have become the rage.

After earning a degree in Professional Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Kiger branched out into video throughout the Seventies, shooting and posting projects for hundreds of national and regional commercial clients (winning 11 Monitor Awards). He states that his firm, The Videography Company (formerly based in Los Angeles), was the first in the country to own and operate an Ultimate bluescreen unit, in 1977.

Kiger came to Hawaii in 1982, where he soon decided to combine his profession with his love of cycling. "Once I decided to lead tours down Haleakala, it seemed obvious to me that I should start recording it with video," Kiger recalls. "The initial challenge was how to keep up with the cyclists, because they were going so fast. I couldn't shoot from a car or van because it was too dangerous. So the only real solution form me was either a motorcycle and the bicycle was both quiet and appropriate.

"Mounting the camera on my head gave me a lot of freedom to shoot without having to worry about it," he adds, "This technology has now gotten to the point where I am actually able to capture my eye's perspective without the physical nature of the camera getting in the way. I look left and the camera moves left. It's an extension of my thought process and enhances the creativity of my videography."

Kiger no longer offers full-blown tours, instead choosing to travel with experienced "free-style" cyclists on more challenging routes. Footage shot with his "helmetcam " is used both for videos that tourists can take home with them that day, and for "The Bike Ride of Your Life!", a 90 minute music video on downhill cycling that he is in the process of producing. A CD-ROM is also planned, which will include an interactive game called Tour da'Maui, help tourists navigate around Hawaii's most famous island.

These tourist videos are shot and then edited in Kiger's 15 x 15 ft. project studio the same day with a Fast Electronic Video Machine nonlinear edit system running on a Pentium-based Compaq computer. His Fast system features 17 GB of hard-drive space, including two (optional 4GB Seagate Barracuda hard drives, Sony UVW-1800 U-matic and EVO-9720 Hi-8 VTR's are also used in his project studio to accommodate source footage.

Kiger discusses last-minute details with videography assistant Maninder Saini prior to making the 10,000 ft. descent.

"Working with high-tech editing equipment on Maui is quite a challenge, says Kiger. "We recently decided to upgrade our computer from a 486/66 to a Compaq Pentium 75 MHz tower while at the same time the new Fast software for Windows 95 became available. Rather than take a chance, we called Fast and explained that this conversion was 'mission-critical.' They were quick to help. I sent my platform, the Video Machine cards and cables, and my hard drives-at their expense-for a quick burn in (set up) by their technical support. That's broadcast quality support for a non-engineer like me stuck in an island paradise."

Kiger claims that the ride is far from strenuous, with only about 400 yards of actual pedaling in the 28 miles of each run. The majority of the trip is a steady downhill cruise. It takes about an hour and a half to descend the volcano, according to Kiger-perfect for Betacam SP's 90 minute cassettes. Batteries can be tricky because of a temperature change of almost 30 degrees from the top to the bottom of Haleakala.

"I have to do hot-swaps [changing batteries on the fly] of the batteries as I roll if I want to tape continuously," Kiger says, "The cold temperatures at the top of the volcano virtually cuts the battery time in half. As you come down, the battery life gets longer. I try to keep the batteries warm in my pack as best I can."

The JVC KY-F55B camera was chosen for it's high resolution and RGB-out capability, Kiger says, as well as its 3.5mm wide-angle lens, which is wider than most found on the market for this type of camera. Designed for computer imaging, teleconferencing and surveillance, the lightweight (1.1lbs.) camera offers 750 lines of horizontal resolution and a 60 dB signal-to-noise ratio.

Kiger usually brings an assistant with him to start each video shoot. The assistant has a hooded LCD monitor to check that the camera is set up and recording properly. Then Kiger goes up and down the volcano by himself hoping that everything is working.

"We lock everything down like a film camera-for instance the iris," he says. "If I go through the trees everything gets dark. I don't allow the iris to open and close, because later on if I want to do time-lapse effects, it won't look good when you have the swelling of the gain and iris. So, we lock all that out and the picture quality seems to be more stunning because of it."

The KY-F55B also includes a slow shutter capture feature that allows the camera to operate in very low-light conditions. "I could easily settle for a lighter single-chip camera and produce videos with a lesser-quality color imagery than what I'm currently getting with my JVC, but the three-chip design-coupled with a J-Labs RGB to YUV transcoder delivers such high quality that it's worth the extra size and weight. Believe me, if I could find a smaller camera that delivered better images, I'd be wearing it on my head right now."

Among the many shooting challenges his helmet-mounted camera presents, Kiger states that keeping his subjects in frame and knowing the location of the horizon line are perhaps the two most difficult to master. "It has taken me years to get it right," he says. "I've probably made every kind of mistake there is to make. I've also tried every different type of camera mount you can imagine, but the helmet seems to work the best for me. And with technology getting smaller and smaller, the rig will hopefully get that much easier to use in the future."

Kiger's entire setup, including helmetcam, VTR backpack, and bicycle, will be on display in JVC's exhibit booth at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, April 15-18 in Las Vegas.

With a Betacam VTR in his back pack and a JVC camera on his head, Kiger states that keeping your subject in frame at 30 miles an hour can be a real "downhill" experience.

For the future, Kiger is developing an on-camera spokesmodel called Bicycle Bunny, a hand puppet he will operate while steering the bike. A bicycle safety advocate, Bicycle Bunny was designed with the help of Carroll Spinney (Big Bird and Oscar's Muppeteer on Sesame Street) and will appear in future videos from Kiger's company. He'll interview cyclists and make humorous comments along the way, via two Sennheiser lavalier mics fitted into Kiger's helmet. By strategically placing the mics inside his helmet, Kiger says that wind noise is kept to a minimum.

"We're also trying to sell ABC and others on the concept of a global cycling television show called CRUISING WITH BOB, Kiger offers. "It'll be produced on a live set with pre-taped roll-ins from around the world.

"I think there's a chance right now for bicycling video to become quite a profession because there's a large demand for action-packed cycling footage," he concludes. "The power of the medium to accurately convey to the viewer the feeling of actually being there is what makes these videos work. For those who have taken the ride, it helps bring back that sensation of the wind whipping past your face and your mouth saying 'oh my God!'"

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Bob Kiger
bob@cruiserbob.com

"Cruiser Bob" is a tradename, nickname & alias owned & used by Bob Kiger since 1982