SONY provided the film team with cameras, lenses, monitors, and other film gear to be able to have the possibility of filming the Aurora lights with low lighting capabilities. This gear was absolutely essential to the project and we couldn't have filmed without it.
The video above was part of the sponsorship agreement from Sony. The purpose of this video was to have a behind the scenes style video of what it took to make the film and to show how crucial the gear was when filming this kind of project.
Project Description
We travelled to the arctic circle of north Norway to film highliners walking under the northern lights.
Videographer, Kfir Smiley Amir, and highliner, Samuel Volery, came up with the concept. We already had the location and the hotel sponsorship and we just needed sponsors and a team to make it happen.
We brought onto the team Dan Lior and Adam Rubin and they led the project into a storytelling highline short film called, "PATHFINDER". My part in this project was being responsible for the sponsorship video exchanges that included Sony, The North Face and the hotel, Hamn i Senja. I needed to visualize and bring to life these short advertisements for the sponsors.
The North Face provided us with tents, jackets, pants, thermal layers and more to be able to survive the harsh snowy mountain landscape.
The purpose of this video was to provide a short adventure advertisement for their winter adventure apparel and gear.
The hotel, Hamn i Senja, sponsored the team for 2 weeks at their 4-star hotel. They provided us with comfortable rooms, 3 meals per day and access to their sauna and hot tubs, which was quite the luxury after coming down the mountain everyday in such extreme weather.
They requested to have a video that shows the magnificence of the landscape and all the winter activities that are possible like fishing, skiing, body rafting, hiking, kayaking, and sailing. This video played in their lobby and on their website.
Process
The project was in the planning stages for about 2 months before traveling and filming. We had to plan and prepare everything with detailed spreadsheets for every aspect of the project including photography gear, hiking gear, a film concept and sponsored content creation. The post-production sponsored content for SONY, The North Face and the hotel sponsor was my main job in the project.
Challenges
The mountain had constant storms with heavy snowfall and high winds which made filming conditions extremely difficult. The northern lights we were trying to capture were elusive. The hike up the mountain took 3 hours one way everyday. We had to resort to melting snow to avoid carrying too much extra weight up the mountain. It was impossible to sleep on top of the mountain because of the extreme weather so luckily I had secured our team with the Hotel Sponsor, Hamn i Senja, which I managed the communication and logistics throughout the project. My role in the project was that of a mediator between the filming crew of 5 and the athlete crew of 6.
Outcomes
The film PATHFINDER has been featured on Men’s Journal, Gear Junkie, on National TV at Right This Minute, and Ynet. The film has been selected & won multiple film festivals worldwide, including BANFF, Kendal, and 40 others.
PATHFINDER SPONSORSHIP VIDEO CREDITS
Production Lead: Adam Rubin
Director of Photography: Dan Lior
Video Editor: Cara Urban
Additional Editing: Dan Lior
Additional Videography: Kfir Amir
Aurora Specialist: Guy Geffen
Voice Over (Sony): Edden Ram
Voice Over (The North Face): Sebastian Gum Chung
HIGHLINE ATHLETES
Samuel Volery, Tijmen Van Dieran, Louise Lenoble,
Friedi Kuhne, Lukas Irmler, Sebastian Gum Chung
