Adelholzener SPOT - Part 1 WRAPPED!

A frame from the video assist of Andy West coming right at our camera's.
This is our way to and from location - here the heli is bringing us the 1000mm lens - which was a perfect fit for this kind of action.
Here on the edge of the North Face of the Eiger - a stunning view of the village of Grindelwald below.
Dave Barlia suspended for our Visual FX shots - he's just resting here before we roll.
I'm on the West face of the Eiger.
Dave in flight for some marketing photos for print ads. They shot a print ad when we finished our work with the film camera's.

Here our crew of guides and camera's on the East Flank of the Eiger, 3500 feet above the glacier below.

After I spent a few days Munich meeting with Visual FX supervisors, the ad agency and the client Adelholzener Mineral Water our crew raced to Switzerland to take advantage of a promising weather forecast. We arrived at midnight on the 5th of October and fired up the helicopters and camera's by 6am the next day. We had 4 perfect sunny days, no wind and ideal wing suit jumping conditions. The local Swiss crew was fantastic, Line Producer Stefan Zurcker put together a team of great guides, helicopter pilots and a stream lined camera department that was so efficient and successful. We moved fast and safe through some super gnarly terrain to get the camera's positioned for Andy West and Dave Barlia to do their thing in the air. The shots are amazing, it's just totally mind blowing watching these guys fly, I've seen it many times and I still can't get over how wild it looks to see a guy fly past you at 130 mph. Day 1 - we spent the morning shooting background plates from the helicopter for the visual fx shots, then in the afternoon we had 3 jumps under the Jungfrau - it was great to finally roll the camera's and see the boys take flight. Day 2 - we spent in an Swiss Army hanger shooting Dave on rig against a green screen for more FX shots. Day 3 - was a big action day all staged on the world famous Eiger, 3 jumps with Andy yielded some stunning footage of him flying low over the snowy slopes of the west flank. Then Dave ski based jumped off a ramp (actually a 50 foot ramp) installed by the mountain guides and flew down the North Face of the Eiger - it was amazing - the shots are spectacular with the Eiger north face as the background. Day 4 was spent on the East Flank of the Eiger and Dave and Andy performed "Barrell Rolls" and low fly over shots for the camera's. A total success and not a scratch on anyone. I still have a day of shooting skiing, at the moment I'm waiting for new snow. In the meantime I'm going to head to Munich to get started on the edit and visual fx composite shots. More to come... Thanks for your interest.

Chris

Adelholzener Scouting - Great to be back in the MOUNTAINS

Dave Barlia demos just how he is going to fly (in his winged suit) the slope, it looks so easy.
Air Glaciers in Lauterbrunnen is providing the ride - great Swiss pilots - the best mountain pilots in the world without question.
We spent the entire day checking out locations to shoot the B.A.S.E jumping, I arrived last night and woke up to these crystal clear, high alpine cobalt blue skies - it was a great scout day, so fun to be walking around (and flying) in the alps. It's obvious why we have chosen the Berner Oberland for this commercial.
Our mountain guide Johan kept us all in check - it's early in the winter here, so lots of dicey snowbridges to navigate.

We have another day of scouting, then a bunch of prep and meetings.

We hope to start shooting October 6th...emphasis on hope.

More to come as we get organized - it's going to be a really cool project when it all comes together.

Thanks for checking in.

Chris

Europe for a month - directing ACTIVE02 Water Spot

Next - Europe for the next few weeks, I recently landed a great gig Directing/Photographing a tv spot for a German mineral water company, "Adelholzener". They have a brand called ACTIVE02 - it's water with 15 times more oxygen then normal - energy water.

SO what better way to showcase this "Energized!" concept then with "skiing and winged suit b.a.s.e. jumping" - that's where I come in. After working with a friend/artist Ralph Wiegman to create a set of boards depicting my concept and then working through a lengthy pitch to the agency in Munich - WE GOT THE JOB!.... now we have to make it happen..... We're (production company is Hager Moss in Munich) shooting in Switzerland, a place I've shot this kind of jumping numerous times before. We'll be working on the Eiger north face and around the glaciers of the Jungfrau. It will be stunning and a super exciting spot to create - I'll keep the BLOG updated with progress.

Thanks for stopping by - Chris

Chile - with Team Spyder

Pics - Colin Witherill (thanks)

So - If you are a skier you certainly know the brand SPYDER.... it's been around for ages and the images has mostly been that of racing - well - they just reinvented the brand and the image. I was lucky enough to join their newly formed "team" in Portillo, Chile to shoot for a week. It was an all star cast of really great skiers - Tommy Moe, Julia Mancuso, Steven Nymann, Chris Davenport, Colby West, Roz G, Julian Carr, Jess McMillian and D - Daron Rahlves. Yep - that's a nice group to work with....

With a roster like this to work with - it's pretty hard to screw it up. We had some tough conditions, but these guys worked hard to make it shine. That's what I love so much about working in skiing - everyone (for the most part) is so humble- there is no ego in the crew, everyone is in it together and a team player - the work ethic is amazing and that makes everything come together when it needs too. I want to make sure you know there is a balance - these guys work as hard as they play.... and everyone had plenty of both.

Portillo is one of my favorite places to be and to work, the experience at Portillo is like stepping back in time, it's the lifestyle of skiing at it's best, the way it was and the way, in my opinion it should be. If you've been there you know exactly what I mean. The skiing is spectacular, it's the heart of the Andes and high - every day we looked over at the highest peaks on the continent.

Confluence Films UPDATE... "CONNECT"

In June we started production on our (myself and partner Jim Klug = Confluence Films) 3rd feature length adventure fly fishing documentary. This one is CONNECT and we rolled film - actually we are shooting digital (yep - I said it - you heard it here - most thought I may never choose to shoot digital) - what better place to start your digital career - JAPAN! An amazing trip in just beautiful mountains & streams, gorgeous fish, tiny little buggers and a great host Masa. Then July we shot a quick 4 days in Maine - our first salt water location of movie 3. (No it's not going to be in 3D like every other "part 3" on the planet.) Not much luck with fish in Maine - but we did see plenty of lobster rolls.

I have loads of details on these shoots - but they will come soon. November it's going to be Africa for Tiger fish!!! No Really... Africa.

Thanks

CP

INCEPTION - IT'S FINALLY HERE!

WOW! If you haven't seen it - go now! It is awesome - of course I love it, especially the snow scenes.....

Chris Nolan has really put together an amazing film on every level. I am so proud to have taken part in it and still can't believe what a wonderful group of people I had the pleasure to work with. Wally's cinematography is flawless and truly beautifully created, never over stepping the story, just perfectly mated with each scene - it's very inspiring.

Watching the snow sequence was a dream come true for me, virtually every action shot was our ski unit's hard work, (with the exception of the aerial photography) it cuts so well and is very intense. Our ski chase, snowmobile action, Fortress escape and tumbling avalanche victims looked great on the big screen.

I was fortunate enough to be included in a great American Cinematographer Magazine article, Wally Pfister asked the writer of the story to included some coverage of the work the Ski Unit did on the film. What a great pat on the back.

See the story at http://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/July2010/Inception/page4.php#

Download the entire July issue at: www.drop.io/inceptionstory

Congrats to the Inception team - well done!

Skins....

Broken down rental car in Austria


This is in Italy, 8 years ago - he wished then he could clone himself to get more done.


He is a left eye and really digs the Bolex camera - Chile


There is always time for a cafe in Italy


Warren and Josh - Yellowstone Club Circa 2004


This is Josh last week in Vail.

Josh Haskins - the producer of the Warren Miller movie has been my partner in crime for many years. He started as most around the building - as an intern and showed promise early on - honestly he was the only guy with the balls to handle the original neg film from all the vintage years - you can really screw up the archive if you don't have a steady hand and the patience to be really careful with a piece of film that ran through Warren's camera 40 years prior. Anyway - "Skins" as we call him has taken on the role of Producer and done well - he had some big shoes to fill - prior to Josh I answered to Don Brolin, DB as we call him was as professional as you can get, a master at his craft and with 30+ years working at Warren side - he knew everything about everything in our world of ski films. So Skins has pulled through and is on his 10th year at WME. I wanted to mention him here because he has been one of my closest collaborators everyday making these films, he has always trusting my weird creative concepts and way out location suggestions. He shoots too - and does well with that too. I was just digging through some old photos from years past and found some moments on the road with Skins. Enjoy - you truly want this guys job - but bring you phone and a light meter.

And of course - Chris Anthony

Warren Miller Ski-lebrity Chris Anthony and I have been friends for about 18 years - in this time we have spent at least a few days each winter shooting a segment for the latest film.... usually we are off in some distant corner of the globe, last year China, in years past, Alaska, Ecuador, the USS Nimitz, Italy etc. This year I caught him at his home mountain Beaver Creek and we just got lucky and met on what the local were call the best day of the season. It's early April and we just received 24 cold inches of powder - the resort and patrol were nice enough to let us into Stone Creek early and let us have it to ourselves (sorry locals - it's the only way we can make the movies) for 3 hours. Chris was great and as usual hiked all over the place in sometimes waist deep snow. It was a great day - just deep enough to make great pictures without it being a total white-out. Chris dropped a huge cliff - probably about 75feet (pretty good for a guy in his early forties). Chris's dad Vino was along and he snapped the photos above.

Then a few days later we headed over to Vail to shoot a quick piece with a telemark skier who we dressed up as a WW2 10th Mountain Soldier on skis. He looked perfect - it was all to tie the segment together with Chris Anthony and his interview about how when you ski in Vail - you really feel the spirit of the 10th Mountain Guys that pioneered the creation of this area after they returned from the War in Europe.

It's going to be a cool piece in the new film.

ALASKA - Warren Miller shoots with CPG

This Photo by Chris Davenport



It's been a couple years since I made the spring jaunt North to Alaska - I did miss it. I was assigned to shoot a segment for the next Warren Miller flick with some old friends at Chugach Powder Guides, Chris Owens and crew have hosted me up here at least 8 times over the last 12 years. It's a great operation and I feel like I am among friends when I work up there, I was there 12 years ago when they hatched the operation and have seen it grow both in clients and terrain. They really know how to keep my vision and our objectives a priority - they keep us safe and always working toward our goals. I was joined by Chris Davenport and Stian Hagen, Dav and I were here together 12 years ago (equipped with skinny skis then) and a few years ago in the Tordrillo Range also under the CPG umbrella. Dav is a total pro and we have such a similar vision for the terrain and photography that we really don't have to say much to get the job done. This was my first shoot with Stian and he was very impressive - a great style and confidence in every turn. We ended up with 2 really good days and perfect snow conditions - one of which was probably my most production shoot day in AK every - 2600 feet of film and 5.5 hours of heli time in 8 hours, we got the momentum we needed and just kept hammering off shots on a steep face that just kept producing spectacular shots. I am looking forward to seeing the dailies of this stuff asap.

Thanks for your interest.

Warren Miller - from Breck to Telluride

SO - I ended up spending alot of time this spring in my old haunt of Colorado. After Summit County I headed to Telluride (via a family visit with Anna and Quinny in Aspen) - the San Juans are always stunning and a great place to be armed with a camera and some great conditions. Our objective was to shoot a piece for the next Warren Miller film about the newly expanded Telluride ski area - the new terrain is Palmyra Peak and it's a captivating zone that is only accessed by foot. We ended up timing it great with about 2 feet of fresh snow and nice cobalt blue Colorado skies. We had a great cast of local skiers to work with including Hilaree Nelson O'Neil and her husband Brian O'Neil - both long time locals and strong back country skiers. Additionally we had a great patroller that was leading us around Eric Larson - it's key to our success to have a great patroller who is a team player and understands the mission. Cheers to the Telluride crew for all the hard work.

Warren Miller Shoot in BRECK - bring on the Photosonics

It's been awhile since I last posted anything - after the Olympic Opening Ceremonies I raced home to Bozeman, grabbed my gear and headed for Colorado. I met with Warren Miller Producer Josh Haskins and crew in Breck to shoot a portion of the "Vail Resorts" segment of the next Warren Miller Feature - which has a working title of "Let's Get Lost" (you heard it here first). My objective on this portion of the segment was to capture the Breckenridge terrain park and 1/2 pipe in the most compelling way. Well - as you can imagine I've shot a lot of park and pipe over the years - the key is great riders and beautiful light - Breck has a great team so the rider part was easy and the light worked out perfectly as we found ourselves under cobalt blue Colorado skies. Next was how to truly capture the athletics and dance like acrobatics that these world class athletes bring to our cameras. Josh Haskins approved the rental of the Photosonics ActionMaster super 16 camera and we were off... 360fps is top speed, so bring alot of film. The images are magical and it truly compliments the athletics as you can dissect every subtle move the riders make as they spin through the air - these guys pride themselves on perfection as they put together trick after trick - I'm thrilled we could capture it in a manner that will mezzmorize the audience and showcase the perfection that athletes JJ Thomas & Steve Fisher bring to our film. These great behind the scenes photos are care of Braden Gunem - see more at his site.

www.BradenGunem.com/breck

After Breck I headed to Vail for a day with Chris Anthony and then down to Telluride - those posts are coming soon. Thanks for your interest.

2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Yep - back to Canada - AGAIN.... This time not for work - well kind of... Friday I attended the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics - both as a tourist and kind of working.

Let's jump back to March 2009, Warren Miller Films Executive Producer Jeff Moore called me and detailed a potential project he was pursuing with David Atkins Enterprises (DAE). DAE producing huge events - in this case the Opening Ceremonies and they wanted us (WME and I) to shoot a 3 minutes snowboarding segment that would open the Vancouver Olympic games - then in April 2009 we began production - it was a TOP SECRET project - I had to keep my mouth such on this they didn't want any of the creative leaking out and spoiling the excitement of the event. See some of my "not to detailed" earlier blog entries below. We shot the action at Mike Wiegles Heli Boarding in B.C. Then in May we went to Whistler and shot the portion of the segment that involves the torch lighting and what would be the Maple Leaf the rider passes through as he enters the stadium. Hopefully you saw it and know what I am talking about. FYI 4 billion people viewed the show all over the World - so I suspect you watched it.

Anyway - the production notes are not as exciting as seeing the piece in the stadium on the giant monitor and hearing 60K people cheers when rider Johnny Lyle airs through the Olympic rings and lands to then introduce the Vancouver games.

I was thrilled to attend and thrilled to have been chosen to Direct and Photograph the segment - teaming up with David Atkins and his super talented crew was a dream and our team at Warren Miller really stepped up to make this work we are very proud of. I am still pumped from the Vancouver show and replay the moment over and over in my head - what a privilege it is to have worked on a project with such scope.

It's been a mind blowing few months - In November I was on "Inception" working closely with Chris Nolan, then tons of great car shoots for Ford, Lincoln and Toyota in December - then back to Canada in January for a Warren Miller shoot at CMH - now I just REALLY blew my mind at the Opening Ceremonies - I love this job..... Next I head to Colorado for another Warren Miller shoot in Breck and Telluride.

Back to Canada....CMH - Warren Miller Shoot

I just returned from a great shoot with CMH (Canadian Mountain Holidays). I was joined by WME producer/cinematographer Josh Haskins, still photographer Ilja Herb and skiers Jonny Mosely(Olympic Gold Medal Winner and Narrator of the WM feature film) and Andy Mahre - Son of Legendary Steve Mahre - and an incredible skier, he has a great creative approach to the terrain - he is so fun to film. It was a great week - snowing 24/7 for 5 days of our 6 day shoot - so we spent most of the time deep in the trees skiing pillow lines. We stayed at the Gothic Lodge (1 of 12 CMH heli lodges) it has great tree skiing and access to stunning high alpine terrain (weather permitting). Also along on the trip was Mark Paquette of CMH - he gave us everything we asked for as well as put together some fun video clips on the CMH BLOG (http://blog.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-ski-blog/bid/34929/Gothics-Film-Shoot-Night-Putting). CMH offered great support of our shoot - pulling out all the resources - we had a 212 heli to move our crew and a 407 with the Cineflex camera (operated by aerial DP Mark Hryma). A great staff at the Gothics kept us fed and working hard - Heli Guides Claude, Big Geoff, Lindsey and Craig kept our crew safe and busy in some beautiful terrain - (Claude also made sure we spent plenty of time "Scouting"). Pilots Roger and Jeff kept us moving all over the place - safe and efficiently. I shot the photo above on our way back to the lodge on our final shoot day (the only sunny day we had) it was a busy day with all camera's working overtime. It's going to be a great piece in the next film (Still UNTITLED). Next I have a few weeks in Colorado later in February, then back to CMH in March and the Arctic in April.

Thanks for checking in.

On Location - AT HOME

For the first time in over a decade - we didn't travel anywhere for the holidays. It was great to stay home in Bozeman and enjoy all that is the holiday spirit - in Montana. Lots of ice skating and sledding with Anna, Quinny and family that was visiting. Quinny only 2.25 years old is hot on the skates and enjoying the backyard ice rink. It's been fun to see our friends and have a few holiday get togethers.

In a few weeks I will get back into production - we start up the Warren Miller machine near the end of the month - I'm headed back to Canada. This time to shoot at CMH. It sounds like a great spot. Till then - I'll keep playing hockey, take Quinny skiing and get my taxes organized.

More to come soon.