taking the camera to the slopes

[Jim Ioannidis]

Wow, great responce to this thread.

I wonder if the board admins should create a new forum just for action videography. (if there is enough interest)

Both for taping techniques and post editing techniques

What do people think?

[Dylan Couper]

I think we should have a forum just for skiing/snowboarding! ;)
j/k

As for a snowboarding collage video, I think I can get a few high level riders. Not "name" riders, but people that compete in the X-games.

[Robert Mann Z.]

well i don't want to cover what has been said, but as for actual shooting here are few tips...

if you plan on using a board your going going to have to go toe side scraping down, it's the only way to get a good steady shot to catch the action head on, with skis it's a bit easier...on foot well you know...if you are able to ski and snowboard like me get a burton custom s although not a high performance board for the east coasts icy slopes it easyly converts to skis for more control, and when you hit jackson hole, well you know

helmet cams, well there are some negatives no cam control 99% bad footage if settings are off ...i have seen some folks add remotre control with amn external lcd, but then you should go with a hand held

if you go small (like a elura), well you might be able to climb, get sneaky angles and even carry spare wide angle adapters, but if it's cold you will have a very hard time moving buttons while wearing gloves...when you try out your cam see how comfortable gloves are...small cams will get shaky quick with winds, use a mono pod with a telescopic leg for quick access and if you want audio, i mean real good audio mic up your target rider, and wind screen your cam mic

batts hate that mountain crisp cold air so keep your spares warm with off the shelf toe warmers, don't expose your cams to extreme temps to fast because moistore will build up and clog your heads (like jumping into a heated car after shooting all day)

i'm sure i have tons more but i'm getting tired, i have been shoooting snowborders and skiers on video for four years, you can find me every weekend at mount snow vt or killington, of jay peak, i have also shot tons of footage mt hood, utah, colorado, nevada, california, and the highlight of my carrear was shooting at this years olympics...

[Joe Carney]

All this makes me want to go out and find some Warren Miller skiing films. BTW, he got lots of sponser money from Nissan. Any ideas on that?

[Alex Taylor]

I've always wondered what kind of horrors mountain weather would do to the cam/tapes.. that toe warmer/battery thing is a good idea, I'll try that. As far as tapes and the camera go, what should be done to protect them? And what's the best way to avoid condensation on the tapes and parts?

[Robert Mann Z.]

alex you have a nice site great photos, i hope to hit bc one day...

condensation is nasty, on cold days you can first see it build up in your crt, with the cam head generating a lot of heat and the extreme cold is just outside of the plastic cam casing ...so your going to have to layer your cam, get a suitable jacket for it or make your own...

...protect your tape by leaving them in the factory plastic wrapping until you need them this will keep air and moisture out of them, put your used tapes in small tupperware box...

i guess if your a mini dv users you will be switching tapes more then once on any given day, if possible do it indoors, and make sure you are dry and have nothing dripping on you or around you...

the key is to keep the equipment dry and warm enough to work...this is sometimes impossible, while trying to get the womens starting gate at mt. ogden i had to beat earlier settlers by climbing an icy ridge, i stripped all unecssary gear off and got the shot but my euipment suffered for it, i used a one chipper hand held and it got wacky by the end of the trip...

[Alex Taylor]

Thanks a lot! I'll start getting some stuff together, of course all I need is SNOW now.. damn weather!

[Adrian Douglas]

You BC boys are dipping out so far, it snowed here in Tokyo yesterday!!!!!!! The first time in 5 years!!!. I went to the beach and there was snow right down to the waters edge. That was a first for me, so was the ocean and the waves steaming away.

I was looking for somewhere for an urban jib session but it's pretty hard to dodge the traffic over here.

Now, to get to this team effort video.

What do you all think about everyone submitting a 3 minuteish (ie one song length) clip fully edited clip with a local unsigned band for the soundtrack. In the clip include the rider/s names, the band's names and the shooters name. This can all be put together and then we'll try to get it out there.

[Alex Taylor]

Interesting idea, I'll see what I come up with at the end of the season!

[Dan Holly]

I'm doing some freelance stuff in this arena (if it ever snows here in Anchorage/Girdwood/Alyeska =).

I read this thread for the 1st time today.

Yesterday I was out buying my son a new board d00d jacket for x-mas, and was talking to the local talent about this same subject in the board shop. They are all crying about the lack of snow, and 2 of them moved from New Zealand to ski the home slopes of Tommy Moe. Snivel-snivel.

I'll be out locally once we finally get pounded with the white stuff.

And, BTW if you watched the last Olympics....there was a guy on skis with a XL1s going down the middle of the pipe in the snowboard competition......so it seems to be the norm to use skis to film.

[Jim Ioannidis]

Well, i'll submit anything decent I get this season.

We talking DVD or VHS.

I've been doing alot of mountain bike videos and am ready for some sweet snow footage.

[Dylan Couper]

<<<-- Originally posted by Adrian Douglas : You BC boys are dipping out so far, it snowed here in Tokyo yesterday!!!!!!! The first time in 5 years!!!. I went to the beach and there was snow right down to the waters edge. That was a first for me, so was the ocean and the waves steaming away.

I was looking for somewhere for an urban jib session but it's pretty hard to dodge the traffic over here.

Now, to get to this team effort video.

What do you all think about everyone submitting a 3 minuteish (ie one song length) clip fully edited clip with a local unsigned band for the soundtrack. In the clip include the rider/s names, the band's names and the shooters name. This can all be put together and then we'll try to get it out there. -->>>

Adrian, an urban jib session in Tokyo would make for a very cool segment. I'd try to do one here, but as you know Vancouver only gets a few days of snow a year and it only lasts the morning.


For the team video, one song segment per hill is a good idea. Lots of good exposure for bands too. Hmm, we need a map to plot out where everyone is, and which mountains would be covered.

[Adrian Douglas]

Dylan,

The snow here was gone by the end of the day. As I said it hasn't snowed in Tokyo for 5 years and like Vancouver it dosen't last long so you have to be quick. Maybe we'll get more in Jan/Feb and I'll get some footage then.

As for submissions I think NTSC minidv would be the best. I say NTSC as it is better to convert PAL to NTSC that the other way round. At the end of the season if everyone goes through their footage and submits a clip we should be able to put together a good vid. I'm quite happy to do the assembley and produing the master then we can decide how we want to distribute.

I think if we aim to have it our for next fall/autumn we can include stuff from the southern hemisphere winter as well. I'm going on a two week road trip to NZ's Souther Alps and I can garantuee some sick footage from down there.