I have spent a lot of time in Bolivia over the last 2 years working on a pretty wild feature documentary currently titled Charge, funded in part by the MacArthur Foundation and backed by Cinereach, two wonderful organizations. I think i said it in a earlier post, but this film has been a dream project. Over the years of working in production, I have found you can really rate a project based on 1) Your team. 2) The subject manner 3) Style & visual approach. This project nailed them all... Amazing team, amazing subject manner, and amazing visual approach... and now its sad to think its over. This past fall, September 2013, we wrapped production after spending nearly a month in El Salar, the largest salt flat in the world, where much of the film takes place. The photos below are from the September trip and from a prior 20+ day shoot we did back in December of 2012. (Yes, these have been collecting dust on my hard drives). On both trips we spent all our time in El Salar, which is one of the most wild places I have ever been. At a base level of 13,000 ft its a tough location to work in. On the December trip we experienced some really wild and quickly changing weather, adding to the challenge of working in a remote part of the world.
For those interested in gear, on the December 2012 trip we had a RED ONE (MX sensor) as our A camera, and a RED scarlet as our B camera, with a set of Zeiss Super Speeds and a Ultra Prime 180mm as our lens kit... On the September 2013 trip we had a RED EPIC as A camera, and C300 as backup. Our lens kit consisted of a Canon cinema 30-105mm T2.8 as our main lens (we were shooting a lot more veritie and action on this trip), but also had a 18mm and 85mm super speed for low light work. We once again had a Ultra prime 180mm T1.9 as our long lens, which is an absolutely beautiful piece of glass.
In order to shoot in such a remote part of the world and on a camera package such as the RED, we spent A LOT of time on prep. Double cables, endless test and backups of anything / everything, etc. Super big thanks to Nick who AC'ed the Dec 2012 trip, and Greta who AC'ed the Sep 2013 trip.
(El Salar, an indescribable landscape like no other)
Sep 2013 trip A cam. Pictured with the Zeiss 18mm T1.3
Greta, Ninja and AC.
Mathew's car mount rig to get some driving shots.
(Spent my birthday in Bolivia. I was given Johnny Walker and homemade fireworks.)
(This was the result)
This is real. The most amazing stars I have ever seen!
Peaceful day off in the desert to wonder.
Sep 2013 crew photo
December 2012 Trip Photos
Wish I had my motorcycle.
El Salar has some random and bizarre locations.
Even on a cloudy day, the sun intensity is extremely high. The altitude combined with a white surface creates one of the most sun intensive places in the world.
Natural light interview with a perfect key and edge light, provided but utilizing doors and windows.
Our subject floating in the back of a truck... El Salar will glass over in the right conditions.
Crappy place for a flat tire. Nick taking a nap in the hottest sun you can imagine.
Bizarre train cemetery Nick and I explored on our day off.
Dec 2012 crew photo.