As the new year sets in I am off to Africa for a great project where I will climb and film on Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro 19,341′, to bring attention to the global clean water crisis. The project is entitled Summit on the Summit and brings together several iconic individuals noted as either educators or influencers who are attempting to climb the tallest peak in Africa to bring attention and to speak out about the global clean water crisis. Global influencers and educator will climb Kilimanjaro as a team; communicating about the issues around access to water, learning solutions to the problem, discussing how to improve social awareness and embracing the idea they are now the example for showing ways to take action and give back to those with little or nothing. Announced participants include Kenna (musician/activist), Bernise Ang (activist/Singapore), Jessica Biel (actress), Alexandra Cousteau (activist), Lupe Fiasco (musician), Elizabeth Gore (UN Foundation), Simon isaccs (water expert), Kick Kennedy (activist), Isabel Lucas (actress), and Santi White (musician). A major sponsor of the event is Eddie Bauer/First Ascent who I have been working with for the last year on their recent branding campaing. Eddie Bauer will be providing all of the technical outerwear and expedition gear to the participants for the climb.
I will be working with several of the team members I worked with on Everest this past spring including editor Tom Grimshaw, Producer Cherie Silvers, and Executive Producer Joe Ramey of VRA, a fantastic production company I often work with. New to this group but someone I have worked with and climbed with over the last 15 years is sound recordist Dave Ruddick from Portland, Oregon who also is a long time climber & mountaineer.
This is an exciting project and one we are all happy to be associated with. Be sure to visit www.summitonthesummit.com to follow along with the climb and learn more about what you can do to help raise awareness about the global clean water crisis.
What an incredible year 2009 was having the chance to work on some fantastic projects with both new and familiar faces around the world. A year ago January I climbed the highest mountain in South America, Aconcauga at 22,841′, where I was directing and shooting a branding campaign for Eddie Bauer and their new line of technical outer wear First Ascent. The same project took me to the Himalayas form March to June where I climbed and filmed on Mt. Everest reaching the summit on June 23rd. These two projects were really dreams come true not only because of the summits achieved but because nearly 20 years ago I set out to combine my passions for cinematography and climbing mountains and at that time I could only dream I would actually be doing what I am today professionally.
Fortuitously my experience shooting action in the mountains has translated well into shooting commercials and action on Hollywood features. Just when I thought things couldn’t get better after Everest I arrived home to begin working on the action unit for the upcoming sequel Iron Man 2 . Once again I was working under the helm of the masterful 2nd Unit Director /DP Jonathan Taylor and along side his incredible crew whom I have had the pleasure of working with on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Spiderman III, Iron man, and GI Joe and who are all very good friends of mine now. Following Iron Man 2 I was blessed to find myself working with another favorite of mine, action unit director of photography Paul Hugen. From September to November I was in Albany, NY and Manhattan shooting on the action unit of The Other Guys which was a great time thanks to Paul and our fantastic NY crew.
Come December as the days got shorter and the snow began to fly I wrapped up 2009 directing and shooting for the 6th year in a row Arctic Cat snowmobiles line up of sleds for the 2011 winter season. This has become an annual shoot which is a ton of fun in cold temps and deep snow with a really tremendous crew and agency folks.
You can read about all of these shoots below and always feel free to leave me a comment or contact me with any questions. I have much to be grateful for in 2009 with regards to work, family, and friends. I am very excited for 2010 as there are already several projects lining up that look to make this a great year. Happy New Year to you all and thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. All the best in 2010!!
Currently I am in western Wyoming directing & shooting a running footage campaign for Arctic Cat snowmobiles and their 2011 line up of sleds. This is my 6th year doing this shoot and every year the shoot is a blast and the footage looks awesome thanks to my tireless crew, a great client, and fantastic agency folks at Periscope based in Minneapolis. I would love to show off the new sleds but because these sleds won’t be shown until the dealer show in March the new designs and styles are top secret so I have had to take some liberty in photoshop to disguise the new sled designs.
Early morning light
This year’s shoot is a cold one! On our first day of shooting the temp was -26 degrees but the skies were crystal clear which has made for beautiful footage. This year Arctic Cat has trucked out 26 great new sleds and like every year the sleds are incredibly fast and amazingly powerful. I am shooting the main unit and aerials again this year in the always reliable super 16 format using an Arri HSR3 and a variety of great glass. New this year I have decided to have my 2nd unit shoot rig mounts with the Canon 5D MKII and 7D DSLR’s and so far I could not be happier. Once again I am fortunate to have been provided technical support and information from Canon’s professional technical reps on this project. This rig unit is being helmed by producer Chris Keig and the rigging geniuses Matt & Mitch Stelling of Stelco Grip. For this unit I have two 5D MK II’s shooting 30P and two 7D’s shooting 24P & 60P with a variety of lenses. Despite the extremely cold weather and vibration associated with snowmobiles the Canon cameras have not missed a beat and the footage looks awesome.
Stelco rig mount
I am also using the Canon cameras to shoot my snowmobile to snowmobile footage and what has certainly made this work well is Tyler Camera Systems new Mini Gyro Mount. Once again I gambled on a piece of equipment I had not used let alone even seen before and I have to say I am very happy with the results. From racing down snow covered roads at incredibly fast speeds to carving in deep snow the sled to sled footage I am shooting looks great and I would certainly not have been able to do it without the use of the Mini Gyro.
Tyler Mini Gyro
Working with me on the main unit is the always fabulous Creative Director from Periscope, Brien Spanier. Also on board are 1st AC to the stars Tod Boyle who has worked with me for the last 5 years on this shoot. My 2nd AC/Loader is Colin Witherall who is well versed in working in these conditions and was well prepped for the cold of this years shoot having just come from a project in Antarcitca. My AD is the tireless Sean Waterman who is simply the glue to the operation and knows this drill inside and out. Also on my unit is 2nd AD Eric Lohman and video assist/DIT/Photographer Tony Wilhelms. There is no doubt that without the help of this great crew I would ever be able to accomplish what I do on this shoot. This shoot always goes down as one of the most exhausting shoots of the year due to the cold weather and remote locations we are traveling to shoot in. My unit sets out on snowmobiles each morning in the dark around 6:30am and travels to a location determined on the scout which is often several miles away. All of the gear including cameras, lenses, sticks, & accessories goes on our backs packed up in Lowe Pro packs. We move stealthily and fast and know the locations like the back of our hands and are therefore able to capture a lot of great imagery. Brien Spainer, the CD at Periscope, has told me that we get more done in one day than previous crews from years back used to get in consecutive days of shooting because these crews would attempt to work out of hard cases which they would haul along in a trailer towed by a snowmobile. I simply can’t even imagine trying to do a shoot like this that way given the limited hours of daylight and extensive distances required to travel in order to get great imagery.
Chasing afternoon light
At this point we have had two beautiful days of shooting with clear skies and cold temps. Now the snow is falling hard which is welcomed as it provides for a variety of footage showing off the sleds in different environments. Fortunately our helicopter has arrived with the Tyler Middle Mount ready for shooting the aerials. Mike Carisch, pilot extraordinaire from Bozeman, MT., will once again be flying the ship. I have flown with Mike every year that we have been able to fly aerials on this shoot and he is hands down the best aerial pilot I have been able to work with for this type of a project.
Fortunately for us the temperature has gone up to a balmy +10 degrees and both units are cranking along capturing great imagery. Once again we are nearing in on the end of a great shoot for Arctic Cat!
This call came last minute as well and it too was a welcome one. To shoot World Cup champion and US Ski Team member Lindsey Vonn training in Vail, CO for a segment in next years Warren Miller ski feature film. I have worked with Warren Miller Films as one of their director + dp’s for over ten years however I unfortunately haven’t been able to work with them much the last couple of years due to other film projects that have had me busy. For this shoot I’ve teamed up with line producer turned cinematographer Josh Haskins to cover Lindsey’s downhill training runs. Despite there currently not being much snow in the Colorado rockies right now the course is in good shape. Fortunately on day one we had great weather and blue bird skies providing for some great back lit, high frame rate shots. On day two the day broke with cloudy skies, snow falling, and wind however by mid morning the sun was out and we again had another great day of shooting. One of the things I like most about shooting for Warren Miller is that we still shoot film. Because much of the ski action we shoot for the Warren Miller movie is in slow motion and is in very high contrast environments, film is still the preferred format. There is no doubt that there are digital formats out there that deliver a great image however those cameras tend not to perform as well in the cold & snowy environments we expose the film equipment to. Shooting for Warren Miller is all about run and gun. Being fast on your skis, finding the best terrain in the best light, setting up fast, nailing the shot, and moving on. There is little to no time to have to worry about sensitive electronics or back focus issues due to the cold. I work with a very stripped down Arriflex SRII camera package and everything goes on my back in a Lowe Pro pack. I don’t ski with poles and I carry a tripod in one of my arms. I have worked in this style and with these tools shooting skiing and mountaineering projects around the globe including the Himalayas, the Alps, the Cordillera Blanca, and the Alaska range and I have never once had an equipment failure. Shooting for Warren Miller over the years has provided some of the best training I have had. I have no doubt that the years of shooting ski action for Warren Miller eventually led me to shooting on the big Hollywood action units I shoot on now. When shooting ski action there is never a rehearsal nor a second take and all of your shooting takes place in the winter months when there is a limited amount of daylight so you have to move fast and trust your instincts.
This fall I am fortunate enough to find myself on the east coast shooting in NY on the 2nd Unit of the action comedy feature film “The Other Guys” starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, & Samuel Jackson. Once again I have found myself again working with a top notch camera department, though this time the crew is mostly from NYC. The 2nd Unit Director is long time stunt coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Conrad Palmisano. The 2nd Unit DOP is Paul Hughen who I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work with for some days on both “Hancock” and “Fast & Furious”. The call to come out and shoot on the 2nd Unit was a pleasant surprise as I knew the film was shooting in NY but had heard that they would be only hiring locally. As it turns out the production was having a hard time finding another action shooter so I got the call and shortly thereafter I was headed to New York.
Like many of the other Action Units I have worked on this one also involves shooting high speed car chases and crashes. Fortunately for this job we have plenty of toys to help in the execution of capturing the sequences. We have a minimum of four cameras rolling on most of the set ups and often times more. Depending on the shot we may be shooting hand held, with the Pursuit Arm, the motorcycle mounted Libra Head, or a Techno Crane. Due to some recent restrictions in NYC some of our high speed chase sequences had to be shot in Albany so we spent the first two weeks of production filming there before moving down to NYC where we will be filming until late October.
Shooting on any large budget feature film can be very stressful as time is money and there is little if any room for error or multiple takes. Shooting on a large budget action unit can be even more stressful as we often times don’t get to see a rehearsal before a big car crash, explosion, or action sequence that has taken hours if not days to set up. A colleague of mine described it best when he once said that action unit cameramen are like sharp shooters in that most of the time we don’t get a second chance and have to nail the shot the first time around. I suppose the stress lends itself to much of the satisfaction I get when shooting on large 2nd Units. When I eventually see the trailer for a movie I have worked on and see that most of the footage in the trailer was shot by the action unit I was a part of there is tremendous satisfaction.
Following my successful climb and shoot on Mt. Everest this spring for Eddie Bauer and the Eddie Bauer/Whittaker First Ascent campaign I returned to LA and have been shooting with the Action Unit on Iron Man 2. The transition from the Himalaya to Hollywood was as surreal as one might expect however I have had the good fortune of reuniting and again working with one of the best crews in the business. Over the last several years I have been lucky to have been able to work with this crew on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Iron Man, and the upcoming release of GI Joe: Rise of Cobra.
Shooting at Downey Studios doubling as the Monaco Grand Prix
The transition from living in a tent for 50+ days on an active glacier shooting gorilla style at high altitudes to the more luxurious Hollywood set is a paradox I certainly enjoy. And for me each style of work compliments the other. As this business is about working fast and thinking on your feet while always being asked to deliver the most beautiful, dynamic, and compelling imagery I am able to bring a skill set to each working environment. I am certainly grateful that I am able to be working on such high caliber projects and in environments I thrive in.
While the Eddie Bauer/Everest project was shot in HD on the Sony EX-3 with Fuji glass and Iron Man was shot 35mm using both Panavision and Arri cameras an exciting part of both projects was being able to work with new Canon EOS 5D digital SLR camera. On Everest I was shooting HD video and time lapse imagery along with still images with the 5D and on Iron Man 2 we were using the 5D to capture unique angles of the stunt sequences we were filming. For both projects Canon was very helpful in working with the production on how best to use the camera in relatively unique environments and the results were fantastic.
As I have now adjusted to the thicker air of sea level and the warmer temps of California I am looking forward to where the next shoot will take me whether it be here in the states or somewhere else around the globe.
As many of you know I am heading over to Nepal this week to take part in an exciting project on Mt. Everest where I will be climbing and filming for a new Eddie Bauer campaign.
For those of you who don’t know, Eddie Bauer has joined up with a Whittaker Mountaineering and assembled a dream team of mountaineers to build a new line of outerwear and equipment that will fall under the Eddie Bauer/Whittaker Mountaineering First Ascent product line. First Ascent combines Eddie Bauer’s legacy as the original expedition outfitter with the expertise of some of today’s most renowned mountain guides and climbers, including Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn, Peter Whittaker, Melissa Arnot, Seth Waterfall, Chad Peele, and Jake Norton .
Eddie Bauer’s name hearkens back to many of the first ascents outfitted by Eddie Bauer, including:
• The First Ascent of Gasherbrum I in Pakistan (1958)
• The First Ascent of Masherbrum in Pakistan (1960)
• The First American Ascent of Everest (1963)
• The First Ascent of the Everest West Ridge (1963)
• The First Ascent of Mount Kennedy in Canada (1965)
• The First Ascent of Vinson Massif in Antarctica (1966)
• The First American Ascent of Dhaulagiri in Nepal (1973)
• The First American Ascent of Peak Lenin in the Russian Pamirs (1974)
• The First Ascent of the North Ridge of Nanda Devi in India (1976)
• The First Ascent of Great Trango Tower in Pakistan (1977)
• The First American Ascent of Makalu in Nepal (1980)
• The First Ascent of the Everest East Face (1983)
Be sure to follow our expedition over the next several weeks and learn more about this product line at at one of the following sites:
Welcome to the new KH Films site. Those of you who have visited KHFilms.com in the past will notice dramatic changes. As technologies have evolved so have the needs of both clients and collaborators and as a result is the new and improved KH Films site. Now I’ll be able to post my film and photography from projects I shoot both locally and abroad. Take a look around and feel free to let me know what you think. Stay tuned as I will post updates and links relating to current, future, and past projects.
Thanks to Aaron Weyenberg for his help and guidance with these improvements.
Because much of the ski action we shoot for the Warren Miller movie is in slow motion and is in very high contrast environments, film is still the preferred format. There is no doubt that there are digital formats out there that deliver a great image however those cameras tend not to perform as well in the cold & snowy environments we expose the film equipment to. Shooting for Warren Miller is all about run and gun. Being fast on your skis, finding the best terrain in the best light, setting up fast, nailing the shot, and moving on. There is little to no time to have to worry about sensitive electronics or back focus issues due to the cold. I work with a very stripped down Arriflex SRII camera package and everything goes on my back in a Lowe Pro pack. I don’t ski with poles and I carry a tripod in one of my arms. I have worked in this style and with these tools shooting skiing and mountaineering projects around the globe including the Himalayas, the Alps, the Cordillera Blanca, and the Alaska range and I have never once had an equipment failure. Shooting for Warren Miller over the years has provided some of the best training I have had. I have no doubt that the years of shooting ski action for Warren Miller eventually led me to shooting on the big Hollywood action units I shoot on now. When shooting ski action there is never a rehearsal nor a second take and all of your shooting takes place in the winter months when there is a limited amount of daylight so you have to move fast and trust your instincts.
