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A couple of months ago we were tasked with editing a piece that would capture the emotion surrounding the incredible year we experienced with the Salomon Team.
Originally it was just set for internal use but after the great feedback our client decided to release it online for the international trail community.
I really love this piece and everyone who I have watched it with gets a little teary eyed. We’ve been able to put an intense year into 3 and a half minutes and its pretty crazy to remember all of these incredible places we’ve filmed at in 2011. Its awesome to see that in less than 2 days the video has had over 17,000 hits – trail running is in a good place it seems!!!
An edit is 50% visuals and 50% sound and it was really good for us to work with the very talented guys at _SIGN/POST SOUND_ who wrote the song specifically for the edit. It always amazes me how quickly they turn around such a high quality end product, capturing the mood perfectly.
Enjoy the video and your festive season… We’ll see you in 2012 when we get stuck into post on Wandering Fever
10 days ago we were in San Fran shooting this final piece of 2011 with the Salomon team… Here it is for you to see:
Sunset on the Headlands - pretty inspiring
On the way back to the house I passed Dean running out and it really got me to thinking – thinking about how much has changed, how much has developed, and what our company has achieved.
Dean shooting the 70th timelapse of the year
When we get back to Cape Town on Friday, TAA will be turning 5 years old and its crazy to think about what we’ve been through to get to this point in time.
This year alone has been epic I won’t lie. We Finished up the shooting of Wandering Fever and had an amazing contract in the 5 Races, 5 Continents project with Salomon. Our buddies always say how lucky we are to be exploring the world, and we are for sure, but I think its more than that for me. This year, both with our project and with the contract we’ve validated the time and energy we’ve invested into the african attachment. We’ve explored a community and made every effort to pay tribute to them with film – and that is what story is all about, that is what documentary is all about, and that’s at the end of the day what we are about. What we have been filming has in some way influenced us and that’s a great balance to be finding (especially when its in as unexpected a place as the ultra running world).
Our client keep telling us how well we capture authenticity - its the greatest compliment we've ever received.
Dean shooting steadicam with elite athlete Ann Frost. Frosty is awesome.
Dean getting some setups with Rickey Gates - Rickey is an amazing athlete and such a down-to-earth guy. I think his philosophy (which is pretty representative of this entire ultra community) rubbed off on us a lot this year.
2011 hasn’t been easy, the work has been on tight deadlines and decisions have had to be made on the fly in almost every instance – but that keeps you on your toes and pressure/tension/stress whatever you want to call it, it makes for more appreciation of the good times. The times when you get THAT shot, when you watch a final edit and have a tiny wash of satisfaction, when you get off a plane and get to be back home for a while.
We must have shot a month of sunrises this year - this was the first day though the entire year that we never saw it due to the fog in San Fran. It lead to my favourite Dean Leslie picture of 2011.
The stress is the best way to learn and when you choose to stop learning you may as well quit it all.
One of my dreams has always been to see the Golden Gate Bridge.
So as Dean works his magic in the edit suite next to me for our final piece of 2011 and I put together final figures on our budget for next year’s project with Salomon I can’t help but feel that the real story is just beginning for us and I’m stoked about that.
I think we’re both keen to get home and spend some quality time with the people closest to us (we see more of each other than our girlfriends) and with the plans and schedules for 2012 already starting to take shape so we both need to score some serious brownie points because its going to be an even more intense year than the one that just flew bye.
The video from san fran will follow as soon as its released as well as a highlights reel of 2011 before Christmas…
Cheers San Fran. Cheers 2011.
A few weeks ago we found ourselves at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo.
We were there to film one of the toughest mountain races in the world and wrap up principal photography on ’5 Races 5 Continents’
It was a wonderful way to end the 5 Races 5 Continents project amid sweltering Rain forest’s and the ever looming Kinabalu.
We are in now in Post-Production on the 26min film as well as our feature documentary ‘Wandering Fever’. In 10 days time we head back to the States to film another side project with Salomon and wrap up an amazing year.
Here is Episode 5 of our ’5 Races 5 Continents’ collaboration with Salomon.
We filmed and hiked around the base of Mt. Kinabalu leading up to the race weekend
It was 5am and I was hiking up a gradual incline of granite rock. The air was thinner and colder. I couldn’t have felt further removed from the jungles of Borneo and all the preconceptions that this island invokes upon hearing its name.
Filming GV's with Lazarus who drove us around for a couple days. On the average day the mountain is only visible for the first couple hours of day before it hides behind its blanket of mist and cloud.
For the last week we have been based in Kinabalu National Park at the base of Mt. Kinabalu – “The Roof of Borneo”. We are here to film the last race for the “5 Races, 5 Continents” documentary.
We had to resort to macro for some wildlife shots in the dense rainforest
I had been thinking about being in this moment over the past few weeks, worrying about gear, about getting back down to start the edit, going over things constantly and trying to remind myself to enjoy the experience. The hike through the rain forest up to this point had me questioning the decision. I was sucking air and having flash backs of Hope Pass.
On the rock face with Jahirin - Porter, guide and general legend. These guys hump weights of up to 60kg, 3 times a week... amazing. It certainly made me keep my complaints to myself!
Heavy camera pack? hmmm...doesn't seem so bad anymore
While I was heading up, Greg was holding the fort at the base. Filming with Anna and Kilian and capturing the start of the race. Greg must be one of the few producers who can also shoot and edit. He does this while keeping me in line and making sure everything is organised in an environment filled with variables. Photo courtesy Rosso Damien
Just after I broke through the jungle canopy and reached the rock, I noticed a flash of light to my left and glanced up to see a lightning storm off the West coast of Sabah; to my right the sun was just threatening to start rising. It was one of those experiences that rounded off the year for me.
Jahirin waiting for me just below the summit. The guy is half my size, carries double the weight, and doesn't break a sweat. He was super stoked that Kilian won the men's race as he had money on it!
The summit at sunrise. Cold and beautiful.
Jahirin and myself at the top
We were on the summit for just under 3 hours waiting for the runners (who reach the top in just 90min. After you have hiked for 2 days it kinda puts a dampener on the climb!). It gets really cold up there.
An amazing year at that – the work has been constantly challenging, demanding and relentless. But it has been filled with unforgettable experiences that I am sure both Greg and myself will never forget.
Greg has flown back to CT to begin piecing together the 26min documentary. I am still in Kota Kinabalu finishing off the race edit before going off the grid for a few weeks with my better half. Then it is back home to complete the 5 Races, 5 Continents” project before we head to San Francisco on an exciting shoot.
Stay tuned. Video coming coon.
Last week Salomon Running released the edit we made about Ryan Sandes’ phenomenal win at this year’s Leadville Trail 100.
I was not able to travel with Dean to the race but I was so caught in the moment when I watched this – it was really cool to be on the other side of a shoot and actually expereince something for the first time (so to speak). This is testament to the awesome job Dean and Apples did in Leadville and it really gets me super excited about getting into the edit suite for Wandering Fever early next year.
We head to Borneo on Friday for a 2 week shoot. This trip will be the final chapter of the “5 Races, 5 Continents” project as Kilian Jornet attempts to win the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon.
It should be a pretty adventurous October!
Our latest video for Salomon Running has just been released.
A little bit of home, the mountains and some running with Ryan Sandes, Anna Frost and Kilian Jornet
Our first shoot on home soil this year
Since touching down in Cape Town from the adventure that was UTMB life has been nothing short of crazy.
With the UTMB race edit being completed a week after the race we had to focus our attention on finishing the piece on Ryan’s victory in Leadville and prep for shooting (and editing) The Table Mountain Challenge here in our backyard.
Attempting to interview Kilian Jornet in a cave overlooking Chapmans Peak - the weather refused to help us out during this shoot. Photo Courtesy Kevin Arnold.
Our latest shoot here in Cape Town was probably one of the toughest we’ve had all year. The limited time we did have to shoot was graced with some very average Cape Town weather. Race day however was a perfect Spring Day and with the Salomon Athletes Kilian, Anna (Frosty) and Ryan winning their respective divisions – the week ended off pretty well.
Setting up office for the South African leg of Salomon Running's 5 Races 5 Continents
Dean asking Kilian, Ryan and Frosty to please slow down
Dean was sick for the whole week of filming and came the closest this year to throwing his pack off the mountain. Its all good training for the climb up Mount Kinabalu though!
The Cape Town and Leadville edits will be made available online soon and we’ll be sure to post links.
In the meantime please check out the latest edition of Go Trail Magazine which features an interview with us about our ‘final’ chapter of Wandering Fever in Leadville.
We have just returned from a whirlwind trip through the the Alps.
Based in Chamonix for the infamous UTMB (a crazy 100 mile footrace that runs around Mont Blanc and goes through France, Italy and Switzerland) we were there to film another piece for Salomon Running.
I arrived jetlagged and shattered after an emotional time in Leadville, Colorado, filming what could be the final section of our feature documentary, “Wandering Fever” – more on that later…
I met Greg in Geneva and after a few car stalls and close calls we we were on the road, Chamonix bound.
Over the next 1o days, this is a bit of what we filmed…
We are just finishing up another edit for Salomon Running on Ryan Sandes win at the Leadville Trail 100 and begin shooting this afternoon for another piece (yes, another…) for Salomon at home, here in Cape Town, South Africa! Finally a shoot on home soil!
Will keep you posted.
After an amazing 10days in Leadville I flew to Geneva to meet up with Greg and head to Chamonix to film the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (a 100 Miler footrace around Mont Blanc) for Salomon Running.
Been trying to get in to the right head space to film but working almost consistently on the road takes its toll. Fortunately we are really lucky to film in some of the most breathtaking regions around the world, so it does not take much to be inspired, even after only a couple hours sleep spread over a few days…
I am obviously over tired now as I am typing too much. Heading out in a few hours to film for the next 2 days in the mountains and to try to keep up with the front runners.
Filmed and edited this little piece over the last 2 days as a precursor/ teaser to the event. Enjoy.
Leadville and Wandering Fever wrap up post is due so look out for that next week.
Leadville, Colorado - home to "The Race Across the Sky"
We have spent the last few days filming interviews, scenics and a few setups. We have recce’d almost all the sections of the course. We have gone over maps, all the possible scenarios and various options for filming locations. We have had the media briefing this evening and just have a few shots left to get tomorrow.
Filming on sections of the course of the Leadville Trail 100
Recovered slightly from the hike up Hope Pass, well at least enough to keep up with Ryan for a few hundred metres
After travelling for 3 days, Apples finally made it to Leadville. He got straight to work filming some setups with Ryan along the course
Our office for the past week
Myself and Apples up on the aptly named Mosquito Pass
Apples thinking how lucky he is to work with The African Attachment
Dean taking a break from sarcasm and taking it all in
All is set for the possible finale of Wandering Fever. We have all prepared as best we could, especially Ryan. All there is to do is for him to go out and run a 100 miles in the beautiful Colorado Rockies! What happens happens… Wishing Hedge an enjoyable run out in the mountains.
"There is nothing quite so gentle, deep, and irrational as our running - and nothing quite so savage, and so wild" (Bernd Heinrich)
Run your own race bud. It has been a privilege joining you on your incredible journey. Remember why you do it… See you out on course.
So after 3 years I am sitting here in the town of Leadville, Colorado at an altitude of over 10000ft. On Saturday 20 August Ryan Sandes is competing in one of the most iconic 100 mile runs in the world. It is his first 100 miler.
The mountains in the distance, beyond the town of Leadville, which Ryan will be running across on Saturday
The Race Across the Sky has one of the highest drop out rates in Ultra-Running. More than half the field wont finish.
The film’s journey has become synonymous with Ryan’s. It has been about chasing a dream and throwing caution to the wind. We have had to face the fear of the unknown and risk everything to be where we are now… and there is no place I would rather be.
After 2 days of travel and 3 hrs sleep, I climbed Hope Pass on my first morning in Colorado with Ryan. I ended up stumbling down the mountain at an agonizingly slow pace. At an altitude of 12600ft Hope Pass serves as the icon of the Leadville 100 run. Runners have to to ascend it twice on the out and back course.
Ryan shares some personal feeling and thoughts on running alone in the wild and competing in International races
I admire those who have the courage to step up to the line of a great race to run their heart out for a dream. [Bernd Heinrich, 'Why We Run']
I love my job
Some afternoon thunder showers rolling in across the Rockies
Lots of wildlife in a truly beautiful part of the world
We will spend the next week filming around the town of Leadville and interviewing some remarkable individuals including the infamous Micah True (aka Caballo Blanco). Grant ‘Apples’ Appleton, a talented DOP from Cape Town is driving to join us in Leadville now after an epic 3 day journey. Will be great to have some fresh eyes on the film. We have a 04:30 am call tomorrow to film with Ryan around Turquoise lake and Hangman Pass before heading to meet Caballo and the Ghost Dog for some insight into the art of running.
Ryan doesn't have such a bad job either
I will keep you posted during the week.
Just a quick note as we recover in Cape Town after an epic 5 weeks in the USA…
The video from 2011′s Hardrock 100 has just been released. We filmed this a little under 2 weeks ago in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado ago. Salomon athlete Julian Chorier won in the 3rd fastest time ever… It was an awesome race and experience to say the least…
Here is the vid:
So we have been in Colorado for 3 weeks now…
Our first week was spent in Boulder where we edited the Western States 100 piece for Salomon Running. If you haven’t seen it yet click HERE
In between long stints in our motel edit suite…
Clocking in the hours in our Boulder Motel
We also filmed with running icon Johnny Halberstadt, and trail legends, Scott Jurek and Anton Krupicka for our documentary, “Wandering Fever”
Interviewing Anton Krupicka for "Wandering Fever"
After 4 or 5 days of non stop editing and filming in Boulder, we hit the road again and headed for the San Juan’s to film the Hard Rock 100 with the Salomon Running crew. We were based about 20 miles out of mining town of Silverton.
Silverton, Colorado... the wild west
The week leading up to the race was spent hiking, filming and a bit of off-roading! The area is truly spectacular and it was great to be out in the mountains.
The San Juan's putting on a show
Trying to capture it
2 way traffic on a 1 way mountain pass
Taking it all in...
The town sits just below 10000 ft with a lot of the peaks going over 13000ft and Handies peak over 14000ft (the Hard Rock course goes straight over the top of that one!) so a small hike out leaves you feeling like you are sucking air through a toothpick.
Greg not digging the altitude too much...
Luckily there were a lot of mountain passes giving us access to a lot of the peaks which would help on race day.
We filmed the whole week leading up to the race and recce’d as much of the 100 mile course as possible. Even though the lead runner’s would not complete the course in less than 24 hrs, you are dealing with a matter of minutes in beating them to each location due to accessibility. So planning is essential pre-race. The night before the race we met up with Ryan Sandes and some other Salomon crew who were there to second and pace Julian Chorier and Nerea Martinez (the Salomon runners competing in the race).
At 6am on Friday the race kicked off… Stay tuned for the next post on what must be one of the toughest 100 Mile Mountain races in the world…
Just a quick post.
We are currently in Colorado. Have been here just over a week.
Last week we based ourselves in the town of Boulder to put together the 5 minute piece for Salomon from The Western States 100 Endurance run. We filmed the race on Saturday and spent Sunday and Monday travelling. Had to have first cut finished on the Wednesday with final piece complete on the Thursday! In between we filmed interviews for Wandering Fever. Busy week!
Check it out. Let us know what you think.
Will upload pics and a more detailed post soon.
Just busy on a pre-race edit for The Hard Rock 100 which we are filming this weekend.
There are definitely worse things to do in life than spend a week in California.
We teamed up with Kilian Jornet in Auburn to film the next leg of “5 Races, 5 Continents”. This time around the race was The Western States 100 (the world’s oldest 100 miler). Originally a race for men on horseback, it was pioneered in 1974 by Gordy Ainsleigh as he became the first man to ever run the 100 mile race from Squaw Valley through to the finish line in Auburn.
Much of the week was spent filming scenics, Kilian’s final race prep and interviews with key personalities in the trail running world. With this project there also always the small matter of editing each night to make sure we get the pre-race edit out.
Race day kicked off for us at 3am on Saturday with the race officially starting at 5am. Given the nature of these races, where checkpoints often take a few hours to drive to (and those are the accessible ones) we split up in order to capture as much footage as possible.
Greg heading up to film in Squaw Valley
Dean shooting another timelapse
Kilian went on win the race in 15hours 34mins and we were fortunate enough to see some spectacular parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains so all in all it was a successful week.
Sunrise over Lake Tahoe
With most days over 40deg it was really bizarre to see so much snow
So with the week wrapped up, we spent our final night in San Francisco before grabbing a flight to Colorado where we’ll be based for 2 weeks.
We’ll post the final video from California as soon as its up!
On race day Dean was held up from filming by a bear in the woods just near Check Point 1... apparently it looked kinda like this one, only real
Driving into San Fran
Pretty much the final thing we saw in San Fran was this car... Great pic Dean Leslie
The Boston skyline...
We certainly hit the ground running this trip. After an amazing few days with Prof Bern Heinrich and a brief stop at Wendy’s to eat, backup footage, and charge batteries (after having no power since we arrived in the US from the tip of Africa – the irony is astounding!) we pulled up at the infamous Harvard University to interview one of the World’s leading Professors in Human Evolutionary Biology, Dan Lieberman for our documentary “Wandering Fever”.
No this is not Dan Lieberman... this is Greg 'standing in'. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have got!
Shooting some Boston timelapses...
We spent the next day prepping for the next leg of our trip which see us head to California to meet up with Kilian Jornet and the Salomon Running crew to film the next leg of 5 races 5 Continents… the Western States 100
Bernd's old cabin
Spent the last few days with Biologist, Naturalist, Author, Runner, and Professor, Bernd Heinrich in his cabin in the woods of Maine. We were filming with him for our documentary, “Wandering Fever”.
Shot some amazing sequences as well as some intriguing, insightful interviews. Bernd welcomed us into his world with openness and generosity. He showed us his trails, his home in the woods, and his simple way of life without electricity or running water, surrounded by nature.
It was a great way to start a month of filming in the US for Wandering Fever and Salomon’s 5 Races 5 Continents.
We are filming in Maine, Boston, The Sierra Nevada in California, and across Colorado…
Stay tuned for more regular updates.
Travelling light and taking over Bernd's cabin
Having a Braai with Bernd in Maine, New England!
Had to ferry our gear up to the cabin in Bernd's truck along an old jeep track
We did do a bit of work...
Finally recovered from a hectic trip Down Under…
We were in Australia filming a documentary for the Salomon International Trail Running Team as they took on The Northface 100k race in the Blue Mountains, as well as picking up some footage with Ryan for Wandering Fever
No matter how much planning you do before, it always seems to get frantic in those last 24hrs before setting off. This trip was no exception…
Having Sandisk come onboard before this shoot took a huge weight off our shoulders as we knew all our footage would be in ‘safe hands’ at the end of each day. They even rushed a delivery of SxS cards to OR Tambo where we picked up our connecting flight to Sydney. We are very happy to be involved with a company whose product we have always used and relied on. It is refreshing and heartening to see companies such as Tudortech (Distributors of Sandisk in SA) starting to acknowledge and back local independent film.
This last shoot was one of the busiest yet as were filming for 2 projects rather than just Wandering Fever. Added to this we had to produce 2 edits while on the road which resulted us going into race day with about 2hrs sleep. Luckily all went smoothly barring one hiccup when we managed to format one of our 32gig Sandisk cards in the frantic cold of the Blue Mountains. Fortunately we managed to recover the footage.
There were some epic moments, some tense moments, some long hours editing in hotel rooms and on aeroplanes but all in all it was a awesome trip. Sydney and the Blue Mountains were great to see and being around an elite bunch of athletes will give you some serious perspective. These guys and girls live and breathe running – its not just a sport for them its what makes them tick and hopefully that passion will come through in the edits we put together. At the end of the year we will release a 24min documentary for Salomon (completely seperate to Wandering Fever) covering 5 races on 5 Continents.
Note: Seattle, California is a place Greg conjured up at about 4am in an airport hotel
In 3 weeks time we join up with the Salomon Team in California for one of the USA’s most famous 100 Mile races: The Western States. After that we head across to Colorado for the Hard Rock 100 and travel to Leadville with Ryan Sandes for his first 100 Miler.
Keep up to date on twitter and facebook below.
Our first blog post!
We thought this would be the easiest way to keep in touch on the road besides the one liners provided by facebook and twitter
We are in our final day of prep before Wandering Fever heads down to Australia for the North Face 100 this week.
Spent yesterday checking picture profiles and picture styles on the xdcam and the dslr’s. Loaded the new Technicolor Cinestyle which I picked up via a Planet5D post. Haven’t had a chance to test it properly but it seems to give a lot more latitude in the blacks. I have loaded it on a 5D and a 7D. I will use it in the Australia shoot to see how it handles.
Today is all about packing and getting our gear all ready for the flight to Sydney tomorrow.
We are also starting a new film project on this trip which will be shot at the same time as Wandering Fever… so stay posted for updates…
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