MD: Mounting the Bataan Death March Ride Cams

Shooting for Motorcycle Diaries is fun. I get to ride the motorcycle most of the time. The BMW GS is an awesome ride, I sometimes forget we're shooting for a tv show haha.

Lots of travelling, on a bike! Maybe the best part of doing the show. :)

But, its NOT pure joyride all of the time as it entails some real work behind MD's travel docu look and POV shots you don't usually see on other public affairs programs. At least, we try to make it look like the viewers are backriding with us with the kind of shots that we strive for.

Sometimes, it takes a whole 30 minutes to an hour every stop to set up the cameras that we use. And, we experiment a lot with the cameras that's available to us during the shoot.

In the Bataan Death March episode, we mounted a Vio POV cam on my helmet. On the first pic, you can see Ibba (dude wearing glasses) making some last minute adjustments before we roll.

The lens a size of a lipstick and can be mounted using velcros so we can move it around pretty easily. The catch here is that, it is connected to a small remote recorder that should be atleast a meter close to my body. Hiding the cable can be tricky, especially when riding on a bike in motion and running at the speed of lets say 80 km per hour.

Another cam we use is the very versatile Gopro adventure cam. Also on the first photo, Toto (tall guy in yellow) makes sure it doesn't fall off from its mount.

The Gopro we use most of the time since its very small and can easily be moved around for closer, more engaging angles. Although it covers a wide angle, it has some limits, particularly the amount of light that it needs. Mounting it on the bike can also be difficult considering the weather condition and the heat coming from the bike's engine.

The Bataan shoot I enjoyed so much, inspite of some "minor glitches."

NOTE: Mr. Toto Villanueva is our safety riding expert/coach. Toto has been riding the bike for more than 10 years and has ridden all over the country.

Mr. Ibba Bernardo is our resident tech geek in charge of camera mounting and other tech requirements needed for our shoots. He works well with still cameras too. :)

Backride with us every Friday, 8 pm on GMANEWSTV!

MD: Bataan Death March Ride Part 2

MD: Bataan Death March Ride

Typhoon "Quiel" was hitting the country hard the morning we rode to "Kilometer 1 " in Mariveles, Bataan...

Kilometer 1 marks the first step, to more than a hundred kilometers of the gruesome Bataan Death March where tens of thousands of Filipino and American soldiers died when they were made to walk from Mariveles to Tarlac during the second world war. Most of them died of hunger and illness during the death march.

A memorable ride we did for Motorcycle Diaries tracing all the markers from Kilometer 1 down to KM112. Backriding with me on this trip was historian Rhonnie Dela Cruz of the Bamban Historical Society.

The typhoon rains didn't stop us from finishing our trip to one of Philippine history's most unforgettable event, as we rode the GS 650 to the different markers along the highways, put up by Filipino-American Memorial Endowment, Inc.

Rhonnie shared interesting stories about the march, as he patiently related tales of patriotism of Filipino soldiers who braved severe hunger, extreme weather, and reported Japanese atrocities during the infamous march.

I must have passed by these roads several times on the motorbike, but didn't even notice these 3 ft high cement markers.

Plying this historical route, will never be the same again...

Black and white photos by fellow rider Ibba Bernardo.

MD: Backriders from the Chosen Children Foundation

MD Joyride: Claudine Barretto

Motorcycle Diaries rode all the way to Angeles , Pampanga where actress Ms. Claudine Barretto was shooting some scenes for GMA's "Iglot".

I had to interview Ms. Claud for our adoption ep.

Our team, led by MD segment producer Bam and researcher Marco, found ourselves in one of the soap's "sampalan" sequence, witnessing first hand how intense a shoot can be, even for the award winning actress.

After a couple of hours, she finally sat down with us and talked about her own experience in the legal adoption of her daughter Sabina. During the interview, she related some, according to her, "horrifying" details on the system's "very slow" process.

This photo of her backriding with me on the GS 650 shows how "koboy" she is, not minding if she was wearing a skirt and heels.