The Creation of
The Women Of Padaung Hill Village
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by Mila Werbik
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This is one of two films by Mila to win 2010 NAMMA Top-Tens
 In February 2008 I embarked on an adventure tour to Thailand.
Our tour visited several hill tribe villages in northern Thailand. In one
such village, Paudang, we found the "Long-Necked" women. I found these people
so fascinating that I decided to make a short documentary of their life.
I didn't have any specific preparation for this journey. I always carried
my backpack with two cameras: my HD video camera (Canon HV20) and my digital
SLR camera (Nikon D200). I daily ensured that my cameras were charged and
then would simply film what I found most interesting and also made sure to
capture pertinent still images.
When I returned home to Canada, I began the lengthy video editing process.
Up to 2008, I was using Apple's iMovie as my video editing software, yet
I was eager to learn a more sophisticated software option. I found Apple's
Final Cut Express was the perfect next step for me. It took some time to
learn it, but this program gave me many more options for transitions and
special effects.
How did I approach the video editing?
 First I selected and edited clips to form a story, then I chose
some appropriate Thai music, and finally I started to work on narration.
To learn more about long necked women, I searched by Google and also did
some research in library books. Once I was satisfied with the text, my narrative
was complete.
The Long-Necked Women of Padaung village live from tourism and from making
and selling souvenirs handicrafts. I was privileged to visit and learn about
these people.
- Mila Werbik
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