Reverence Movie Pt.2 : The Claw
The second segment the Clever Bear guys had me out to shoot was none other than Parksville/Qualicum local, and 20-some odd-year friend of mine Darren Berrecloth’s. When you’ve been friends with someone that long there is a certain familiarity that comes with the territory, or in this case, bossiness.
The general way it goes when Darren and I work together is: I use my expertise to compose a photo I know will be great, Claw (Darren) then comes over to my angle, holds his hands up in front of himself as to make a makeshift photo frame, ponders for a second and then tells me to move. I then tell Claw to get lost, we argue back and forth, and sometimes I move, sometimes I stay, it’s a crap shoot! Hahaha, but as frustrating as that sounds it really isn’t and there is benefits to working with a life long friend as well and it’s that same familiarity that allows us to collaborate so closely on things and know what the other is going to be stoked on without needing to wade through pleasantries.
For the Darrens segment of the Reverence movie he had a few stunts specifically selected for us to film/shoot. They were both fairly rowdy so nothing was a guarantee. The first line was a multi stunt trail Darren had built in a clear cut on the side of a mountain. There was a big drop up top, then a few medium sized gaps along the trail and it culminated in a HUGE rock to rock transfer near the bottom. The trouble with this stunt in particular was that as the trial makes its way out further and further into the clear cut, the whole thing becomes more and more susceptible to wind, which, when you’re dealing with a 45’ rock to rock transfer, is not ideal. More on that later.
I absolutely love shooting stills for movies. If there was one gig that could pull me away from my current situation it would be a very high paying, very low stress, very diverse photo job shooting behind the scenes on movies. Action sports, comedies, HORROR! All of it would be a dream come true. I love collaborating on angles, and chatting with the cinematographers, working with a team for a common goal, I love it…
More on that wind. We tried three different days, three different times of day, three different weather days. Wind. Wind. And more wind. Claw rode well and there were a few run ins I thought he was going to send the bottom gap but alas it just wasn’t meant to be. I mean, that’s the thing with these shoots, is that there is a lot on the line. For me it’s easy, I show up, hike a bit, set up, and wait. For the riders though it’s life and limb, and as much as I’m ready to capture some sick images I’m just as ready for everyone to make it home in one piece. At the end of our timeline for Reverence we didn’t get this trail top to bottom and that’s just the underwhelming way these things go sometimes.
After our exercise in frustration with the clear cut trail we moved back into the dank rainforests that Vancouver Island is known for. Claw had carved out a massive drop in one of his other super secret zones and so we made our way out to it to make sure we had some footage rather than none at all. The drop is in a really dark part of the woods so photographically it wasn't going to be easy. Introducing higher ISO speeds would help me get some more light but it also introduces more grain which reduces the sharpness of the image overall. Luckily we managed to time our shoot with a nice bit of high overcast which reduced the hot sun spots on the trees, allowing me to at least have some level of even light throughout the frame.
Once we all got our angles dialled, drones in the air, landings visualized, there was nothing left to do but for Claw to tee up the drop. He must have hit it three or four times, every time reminding us - and to a degree I’m sure to himself - that the circumstances of the clearcut were just a minor set back. He nailed it, clean, every time, because that’s what legends do.
All frustrations aside it was a great week traipsing around the woods with good friends creating some magic and sharing some laughs.
Reverence Movie features some of Freeride mountain bikinis best athletes and chronicles their journey into fear. It’is out on all of the major outlets so check out the website below for the trailer and track down the movie.
