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Filming in the Arctic Circle

2012-03-02T11:57:21Z

by S-J White

It’s often easy, when you have a sponsorship deal, to be gushing and obvious in mentioning their products or services. The concept of sponsorship is a two way benefit which, if handled right will add kudos, hit rates and increased traffic leading to a higher awareness of who you are and what you do and of course, advertise and endorse said sponsors products and services. The match has to be right. It needs to add up to offer any real value to what you are doing and you need a relationship that is real.

It would be very easy for me to fill this blog with the overused words like ‘awesome’, ‘epic’ and ‘legend’ but I won’t. I’m going to tell it like it is. There really is no need for spin here.

For 8 days in February 2012 I was filming a short promo in the arctic. Northern Scandinavia, Sweden, fairly near Raftlaven to be (as) precise as I can, within the Arctic Circle. I flew out first to Stockholm and then onto remote Ostersund where we landed on a white, snowy runway. A shock to see 5ft high snow banks either side of the plane’s wings as we stopped. From here we took a transfer by bus, speeding along white roads with no sign of tarmac anywhere. Metal studs in the tyres generally keep vehicles on the roads – having said that, of the handful of cars I did see whilst there, two of them had hit each other. I was also told of the headline story of a man who had been buried and trapped in deep snow and only found 2 months later – but alive! Pretty sobering thought.

I was commissioned to follow and film an expedition group run by Nigel Startin of Intrepid Expeditions. I met Nigel about 8 years ago when I did a survival course for a week in the UK and was really excited to be working with him. Intrepid Expeditions has a great reputation for pushing the team and achieving excellence. Nigel is an ex marine who knows no other way of working.

I and my filming kit was based in a remote wooden cabin on the edge of the woods, creaking under very deep snow. The cabin was cosy enough as had a fire but offered no electricity, running water or wash / toilet facilities. I had a bunk bed, the bottom bunk to sleep and work on and the top bunk for my cameras, laptop and mountain of clothing gear.

The temperature fluctuated dramatically whilst out there. From -25 (possibly lower with wind chill) to 1 above. Prior to leaving for the trip, my main concerns were how to keep cameras and batteries working. Because of the limitations of base camp, I knew that I would have to be frugal in how I worked. I didn’t have the luxury of wasted shots and knew that planning ahead would be wise. Pretty difficult to comprehend when you have never worked in that kind of remote environment. Last year I had been filming in the Swiss Alps so had already experienced how hard it is to focus in a predominately white landscape. My feet had suffered in Switzerland, losing two toenails due to not wearing the right kind of boots. I stand around a lot doing my job, so had anticipated cold feet could be a problem.

Filming Kit and Buff Headwear

I had originally planned on taking the JVC HM750E as this is our main broadcast HD camera but knew that the majority of my work was going to be filming at speed from the back of a snowmobile and husky sledges. The JVC would be a little heavy and vulnerable I felt for this work as would be shoulder mounted, making my balance even more a challenge. There would be little opportunity for setting up shots so everything would be done on the fly. After quite a bit of angst I opted to shoot everything on a Canon 7D / GoPro combo. This would allow for pocket warmth on the GoPro, with body harness if needed. I took along a tripod mounted Glidetrack stripped down to just the track part with the head ready to take the 7D at any point. I was a little worried about the lightweight Velbon DV-7000 tripod, but I needn’t have been – it was absolutely perfect, lightweight and finding it’s own balance in the deep snow. I did lose one of the feet rubbers, but imagine that’s easy enough to replace.

I felt pretty bare kit-wise and most of the guys thought I was just taking stills, not realising I was filming. This, I used to my advantage. I kept my distance, when possible, with a 70-300mm lens.

I had bought a silicone body armour for the 7D which helped hugely for grip and warmth. The battery life did suffer whilst inside the camera – by about 50% I would say. This is the point where I can talk about my sponsor, Buff Headwear I have floppy hair, it annoys me when filming but I use my trademark ‘glasses as hairband’ routine and it works fine usually. However, in desperately cold and windy temperatures, this does not work so well as you need to cover your head to stay warm. I used the Wind Stopper Hood Buff and the Reversible Polartec Polar Buff to keep the warmth in and hair away from my face and camera. These products work brilliant. I’ve used many different neckers over the years, but none of them are as warm, flexible and well fitting as Buff. But here’s the really great bit. In addition to keeping me warm, I used a Polar Buff over my 7D when not in use which genuinely helped maintain my battery level. It really did work as acted like a little igloo keeping the wind and snow spray away. Buff, I know you’re reading this – thank you for not only keeping me genuinely warm (even when they were frozen solid on the outside) but for helping my kit too. If pushed, this is where I would use those overused words! I am very proud to be a member of Team Buff UK and know that I will rely on their products when out filming in all kind of places and situations. On the journey home, I used one of the neckers to wrap and protect a lens in my kit bag. This is just the start of my journey and love affair with Buff.

The field laptop I use is a high-spec 17" Macbook pro. A great piece of kit, even if a little on the heavy side. Being aluminium it is already cold. In the arctic, it struggled and battery dropped dramatically. When not in use I wrapped it in a fleece liner and buried it in my sleeping bag.

Frost nip

One of the hardest days, as filmmaker, for me was the trek on the snowmobiles. Don’t get me wrong, this is totally my bag and hoofing it through deep snow is just the adrenalin fix I crave. It was hard for a mix of reasons; presenting three main problems. One is that if you are holding a camera, you are not holding on! Secondly, as you are facing backwards you cannot anticipate bumps, drivers direction and any possible action you are about to overtake, not to mention needing to keep your feet unnaturally out of the way to avoid being dragged under the snowmobile. Thirdly, you are very exposed to cold and windchill.

I wore two pairs of gloves. A tight fitting Rab textured glove to help with traction on the camera. Over this I wore a protective North Face mitten, strapped to my arm which I could take on and off quickly to allow me to operate.

On the last stretch of the day, myself and a guy called Nick shot across a frozen lake at high speed. I had asked Nick to floor it as I wanted to capture the sense of speed that these vehicles are capable of. I slipped the mitten off and filmed for about 10 seconds. I put my mitten back on and dipped my hand in my Rab down summit jacket to warm up. On the journey back across the lake I started to experience a pain I will never forget. It felt like my hand was on fire and melting. At first I thought I was ok and it would pass but the pain intensified and I knew I was in trouble. I signaled to Nick to get me back to Nigel and the paramedic who were stopped at the side of the lake. I almost fell from the snowmobile as it stopped and I rushed to Nigel who could see straight away what had happened.

There really is nothing like the warmth of a friend’s armpit when saving one’s hand. The pain was incredible and I kept dropping to my knees in agony. I had no feeling of location to my hand, just pain. We used reactor hand warmers and two mittens to get feeling back which took about 40 minutes. No lasting damage, just a stiff hand for a few hours. I was lucky and learned a valuable lesson and understanding of how quickly -25 wind chill can write you off.

Do I enjoy filming like this? Yes. I am at my most relaxed and happiest when in these situations. It’s a total buzz, a challenge and makes life far more colourful.

Cold Feet

Unlike Switzerland, I took the right boots this time. I bought a pair of North Face Chilkats 2 which was kindly sponsored by a great client of ours, Probusiness Accountants. If ever thinking of buying these boots, you will undoubtably come across the cheaper version by Karrimor. They look pretty much identical but the real difference is on the inside. The North Face Chilkats are seriously padded, holding your foot tight and keeping your body temperature in. I have to explain though, that these boots are actually just used as a sock as you need to wear overboots too – a padded boot that straps across at three points to the knee. So, two pairs of merino wool socks, a pair of Chilkats then stepping into a thermal overboot. Did I get cold feet, well, yes at times but because unlike everyone else, I have to stand still, often waist deep in snow in order to capture the action. The trick is to keep wiggling the toes. In the main I didn’t suffer much at all and whilst not a huge fan generally of North Face, since they went less technical and more high street, I would highly recommend the boots. Just don’t wear them to the pub when you get home like I did, you will melt.

I am now working on the short promo edit and will link the film soon.

Documentary filmmakers for Arctic Expedition in February 2012

2012-02-02T15:15:11Z

by S-J White

In just a few weeks I will be flying out to Stockholm to catch an internal flight to Ostersund. From here I’ll take a transfer to the northern remote wilderness of Ratvalen, 150km south of the Arctic Circle, which will become my home for 8 days. I am joining an arctic expedition as documentary filmmaker.

I will be joining expedition leader, Nigel Startin as he guides his group of everyday people through the necessary skills to stay alive and well in such harsh terrain. It’s all about not losing a digit apparently!

My base for the week will be in a remote log cabin without power. The challenge for me, aside from the temperature, will be keeping my cameras working and battery life maintained. Not an easy challenge as I follow the group. This time last year I was filming out in the Swiss Alps, we had awful weather with very poor visibility. We learned very quickly that focusing in snow is problematic and battery life drops in front of your eyes. Taking care of kit and performing well on small production budgets is challenging. I suffered with cold feet and lost toe nails in Switzerland so am keen to get the right boots this time around and come home with my feet intact.

The purpose of this documentary will be to promote the courses run by Nigel Startin at Intrepid Expeditions which will be used in a marketing campaign throughout 2012 online. We will be doing the full editing for Nigel too and will assist with online integration. I’ll update this blog again once I’ve returned and thawed out!

A music video in a day with Cole Stacey

2012-02-02T15:14:42Z

By S-J White

Every now and then you meet someone who sticks. Cole Stacey is one of those people. whitespace productions first met Cole in 2011 when he supported Cara Dillon. whitespace-productions was filming the event and I happened to be filming that night. The gig promoter had called me and asked if we would do a piece to camera with Cole, which we agreed to. Cole was over an hour late. Fortunately I didn’t have to rush off and when we finally met I was greeted by a million apologies from Cole and his fellow musicians.

Cole Stacey is without doubt a modern gentleman and by definition, a rarity. At 26 with long, floppy hair and dripping in unintentional boho chic, he’s every part the real musician. I liked him the second I met him.

Cole is, however, somewhat a transformation on stage. He holds the audience in the palm of his hand with his comic chat and smooth confidence – and that’s all before he starts to sing. And once he does (sing) the audience relax and enjoy it, safe in the confidence of his voice and musicality. Off stage, Cole is an unassuming, modest kind of guy who is grateful and appreciative of everything he has.

Some people just have that magical quality on camera and Cole is one of them. I knew the Cara Dillon gig was not the only time I would film with Cole.

We have been filming his new track Long Road to Find from the EP of the same name out near our studio on the Somerset Levels. It was a very cold, very wet and very windy January Tuesday. We should have been grumpy but we weren’t. We should have cancelled, but we didn’t. Myself and co cameraman, Tom, really enjoyed getting to know Cole. Filming a music video in a day is ambitious to say the least. We didn’t really get enough footage if honest but we were all in it together, just to see what might happen if we just hung out and pointed cameras whilst Cole sang. We had his album blasting out of the Land Rover whilst Cole stood singing and playing his guitar. It has given us a taster of how we will film with him in the future. We know that Long Road To Find means a great deal to Cole and we wanted to be sensitive in the way we approached it. He put complete faith and trust in us and just let us approach and interpret it in our own way. We are really grateful to him for that.

The other thing about Cole is his canny marketing skills and understanding of the market he’s in. He knew immediately that having a video of him would make a massive difference to future bookings and as such did not block any creative process with copyright issues or ownership. He just went with it and in return that made for a day well spent with a future collaboration in the pipeline.

We are currently working on a rough edit of Cole’s video and will upload it soon. In the meanwhile, visit Cole Stacey’s website www.colestacey.net