2011 March | Chase Jarvis Blog

Archive | March, 2011

Models Know Best: What It Takes to Be A Great Photographer

By Scott on March 31, 2011

Hi everyone. Scott here. Ever wonder what the models and athletes you’re shooting are thinking? No, the answer is not: nothing. Contrary to popular stereotype, most of these people are bright and driven and are working hard on their end of the camera. I know, it looks easy, but that’s the trick, the good ones always make it look easy. Well, I’m no fashion model, but I have spent enough time on the sharp end of the camera to drop a little knowledge of what it takes to be a great photographer.

Before I ever got a gig in the photography industry, and long before I was Chase’s right hand man, I had already spent hundreds of hours working with Chase. Early in his career Chase was heavily involved in action sports photography. At the same time I was an up-and-coming skier looking to make a name for myself in the sport. Inevitably our paths crossed and we packed the car and headed for the mountains, this was the first of many adventures. I am proud to say that our collaborations resulted in the publication of images in every major ski magazine in North America, several others in worldwide publications, and countless ads. I picked up sponsors, and Chase became one of the premier photographers in the industry. I wanted to see if there was a formula for this success from my point of view as an athlete working with Chase. After some head scratching, I’ve distilled it down to these six factors which, when combined, make a photographer an unstoppable force… Continue Reading →

Essential HDSLR Gear: The Rode Stereo Video Mic

By erik on March 30, 2011

[Alrighty gear heads. Erik here with a continuation of the series of posts where I elaborate on the gear that I consider essential for my video job here at CJinc. I previously discussed how the Zaucto Z-Finder helps me guarantee the visual quality of my video, and in this post I'll explain how the Rode Stereo Video Mic ensures that my BTS footage will have respectable sound too. Perhaps more importantly though, how it allows me to take my mind off of capturing audio and instead focus it on staying creative while shooting.]

If you’ve seen our D7000 video, you’ve heard this microphone. Every bit of audio in that video, minus Chase’s opening narration and the music, was captured with the Rode. In fact, we put it to use on nearly every behind the scenes video we make. From the mountains in Telluride to the South China Sea, this mic has withstood it all. Much like the Zacuto Z-Finder that I wrote about in my first post, what I love about the Rode SVM is its simplicity. Before I get into the details, I feel like I should back up a little and explain why it’s needed in the first place… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot Followup — Ask Your Questions + Snapshots of Carnage

By Chase on March 29, 2011

Yours truly. Crushed after 10 days.

As a followup to my last 9 “Diary of a Shoot” posts where I scribbled the play by play as well as my thoughts each night in a blog post, I thought I’d wrap that up with two things.

1. I want you to be able to ask questions that I did not address in my posts. There were hundreds that I didn’t get to. I’m currently scheduling a #AskChase episode of chasejarvisLIVE next week, so if you want your questions about the “Diary of a Shoot” answered. Please ask them in the comments below. I’ll grab a bunch of those questions and respond LIVE next week – anyone can tune in for free. Time/date TBD, follow here, Facebook, or Twitter to find out where/when.

2. Also, I wanted to share a few other snapshots of human and gear carnage. A lot of your comments along the way were about how harsh these gigs could be on humans and gear. You’re right on both accounts. As such, let these photos serenade your questions above… The below self portraits were all grabbed between leaving the mountain immediately after getting our last shot and arriving in Seattle at 10pm. The crew featured in these shots is not nearly nearly complete, just happened to be a bunch of us people all on the same flight. For the rest of the crew that wasn’t on our flight, you’re lucky. I’ll post haggard looking shot of you later.

Enjoy these honest and brutal snapshots and feel free to ask any questions in comments below… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 9 – That’s a Wrap!

By Chase on March 28, 2011

Sunrise on the Wilson Range bodes well for our last chance to shoot.

Up at 4am. Walk out onto my deck in the cold dark air and look up. Stars.

It’s on. We’re gonna get this.

5am call time rallies the cast and crew. We’re wheels up at 6am. Convoy of 6 SUVs heading to meet the snowcat for a lift to the top of Telluride Resort with all our gear. We’re packed in the back of the snowcat like sardines, but it’s sorta comfy. These people are my friends. We’re warm despite the freezing temps in the back of the open-air rig. Puffy jackets and knit hats. We’re sticking together. Whole story + photos after the jump. Hit continue reading… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 8 – Shut Down Again, Extend the Shoot

By Chase on March 27, 2011

Kina and me sitting by the lodge window waiting for a weather window.

When I say shut down. I mean. Shut. Down. Another day of zero pictures, zero footage. We have a few crucial shots to get in the can before we can leave. I’m talking ‘must have’…so we’re not messing around anymore. It’s do or die, but today it just wasn’t happening.

The beauty of shooting in a studio is that you can control more of the variables. You’ve got power where you want it, the weather is on a thermostat, the audio is contained…you get it. Alternatively, the big, wide outdoor world–especially in the mountains where we are for this gig–is about as far from a studio as you can get. And we’re experiencing that for our 5th day out of the past 8 days.

Yesterday, Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us… Today we planned on having none of it so we were up early, atop the mountain and we literally sat there, at the ready, for any break she gave us. For the entire day. And lo and behold, she gave us no breaks. It dumped snow all day and blew up to 50 or 60 mph for hours on end. All the while our entire crew sat inside the mountain top lodge, waiting for a break that never came.

This is not the first time this has happened in my career, or even the 20th, and it certainly won’t be the last. Through these times, I’ve learned… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 7 — Rollercoaster Ride

By Chase on March 26, 2011

Reviewing dailies with AD Jason. We like what we see, but we'd both rather be outside shooting.

From cloud 9 to the basement. Yesterday’s epic adventure whipped a 180 again today… If yesterday was chocolate cake, today was chopped liver. Reason being, we were completely shut out. Blanked. Skunked. As in zero photos, zero video footy. Didn’t even get the camera outta the bag.

Mother nature can giveth, but she can also taketh away. For continuity issues with footage and stills shot earlier in the week, we’re now in need of sunshine. And that sunshine is nowhere to be seen. We awoke to the flattest, murkiest weather. Socked in gray. Down side of that is we’re again behind in our schedule.

If there is an upside, it’s that we get to further dial in production related details for the remaining images AND some more time for reviewing dailies. From 10am-12noon my crew liaises with Matt the client data guru to ensure all the files from yesterday are ready for quick and easy viewing. Noon to 1 is AD Jason and I reviewing footage and stills. We’re finding gems and looking for missing assets and preparing for a meeting with Jason’s boss and the client’s strategic marketing leadership team who have just flown in to check out the shoot. That begins right on time at 1pm. Universal agreement – the work from yesterday is gold.

But there is still work to be done. Only hiccup is that Mother Nature isn’t having it right now… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 6 — Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This

By Chase on March 25, 2011

What is this thing? It's really that cool.

I’ve been doing this stuff for a good chunk of my life – the only career I’ve ever had. And so when I’m talking about the quality of a day–the light, the crew, the shots, the vibe–I’ve got a fair bit to compare it to. Thousands of days on set. That said, today ranks pretty high on my list of epic days. It’s so late right now that I can barely type, but stay with me for a few minutes if you can stomach it, cause I’m about to lay it on pretty thick…

5:00am wake up call. More fresh snow on the gound. Sky is crystal clear.

6:00am roll out. We’re 30 people deep in 5 or 6 suvs.

7:00am arrival at snowmobile rental – same place we scouted. 15 snowmobiles with drivers haul us deep into the woods, along ridges and through valleys and into one of the most beautiful mountain basins I’ve ever seen. Moon is setting over the Wilson range as the sun is rising. Epic views is an understatement…. Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 5 — Epic Turn for the Better

By Chase on March 24, 2011

Scott shows how much love he's got for the timely arrival of fresh snow and sunshine.

Hallelujah, what a turn of fate. Awoke this morning at 6:30am to a sky chock-full of gently falling flakes and 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground and trees. What earlier this week looked like a burned out ski town in late May, now looks like mid February again. Mother nature has hit the full winter reset button and the production gods are looking after us – we’re back in biz.

I sort of chip the crusty sleep out of my eyes, and scramble up a shower. Dig for some fresh clothes out of the tornado that has apparently hit my room. Bounce into a quick production meeting. The crew is ecstatic over the weather. Anticipation is high for what we’ll be able to accomplish today, given the conditions that have been served up. 8:00am roll out to a nearby location – first order of biz is to re-shoot 2 of the 4 shots that beginning of yesterday that had crap weather originally. Feels so good to get new ones in the can with this beautiful new set of conditions. The images come out just like we’d planned them back home.

With a great start to the day under our belt already, we still manage to be first group up on Telluride Mountain as well. And the conditions up top are dreamy 10 inches of perfect snow – a blanket of pure white crystals, still snowing lightly with the occasional sunburst that bathes the scene in sparkles.

We’re working at a lighting pace now. like starving dogs who have just been thrown a bone – no wait, a sirloin steak. We’re moving people and gear and sets around the mountain at a pace… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 4 — Weather Is An Issue

By Chase on March 23, 2011

This here sign should not be laying in the dirt. We are in serious need of some snow.

It’s now day 4 of this project. But it’s the first shooting day. And shooting day 1 of any campaign, film, or project is always full of excitement, anticipation, butterflies. Doesn’t matter if you’ve done it 1000 times or only 10.

Our shoot day 1 had another rather friendly call time of 8am. Breakfast at 7, that is. Wheels up to the first location at 8. I slept well for the first time in a long time. 7 full hours of sleep. But, my first glance out my window at 7:01 told me what I didn’t want to know……we were hosed on weather.

Deep, dark gray overcast. No snow in a long time, lots and lots of wind. A tough combo. So on days like this my excitement, anticipation, butterflies automatically goes into problem solving mode. And this isn’t just the case for me. For an experienced crew, this is true for everybody. At the professional level, everyone knows that you cannot control the weather. Everyone knows that the planning for this shoot has taken all possible weather forecasts into consideration. And everyone knows that the show must (and usually can) go on. It’s just ‘how’ that needs answering.

When you’re on a tight schedule as we are to create the assets we need to create, and the weather isn’t treating you right, our common approach to these situations is… Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 3 — The Devil is in the Details

By Chase on March 22, 2011

Dialing in one of our final locations.

This morning’s work work was fun and not too hardcore. An 8am call time & roll out. We scouted our remaining locations for shot details–all of them are reasonably close to where we are staying. We’re now comparing all our locations to creative briefs and earlier notes/findings on specific locations.

Much of the work today is referred to as “tech scouting”. That’s a more specific kind of location scouting where we are checking the exact shots, the light at certain times when we’ll be shooting (although that was predominantly a bust today because the weather was really bunk again today…heavy overcast…and it’s starting to make us all a little…well…you know), gathering power needs, parking needs, travel times, really pretty detailed stuff. This is an important thing to do at locations where you know you’ll be shooting.

We were done collecting data and forming opinions on the final locations pretty quickly today – by late morning – and we returned to the hotel to have the “final” production meeting where we lock in the first days of the schedule, location times, production, talent, tech needs. This meeting somewhat of a grind because it’s long, but it’s where tons and tons of important details get worked out. How will we transport the athlete talent from A to B? Will we need a generator at location X, or do we have enough power cable to do Y? What are the detailed weather forecasts, and if the weather is looking like it’s going to be Z on Tuesday, could we do this shot or that shot on Wednesday? Very detailed info, but worth all the hours it takes to ensure a smooth production. We usually do not end this meeting until…[lots more diary, plus 6 or so photos and a bunch of gear if you hit 'continue reading'...] Continue Reading →

Diary of a Shoot, Day 2 — Mother Nature is Boss.

By Chase on March 21, 2011

Chase, Scott, and Jason the AD scout the ridge in 50 mph wind.

In case you’re dropping in on this post out of context, you should read yesterday’s post and things will all make sense. In short, I’m doing daily ‘diary’ entries while working on a campaign for REI in lovely Telluride, Colorado in hopes of shedding some light on what photographers and directors types like me actually do on a daily basis while on these week-long or multi-week shoots… Read on if this is of interest.

If Day 1′s title was Travel, today’s title is Scouting & Planning. Keeping in mind that we’ve shot in these parts before, we’ve done our parts (like here, here, and here – a reference to Scott’s post series about scouting from last month…) and we’ve already reviewed images from a local location scout; we’re sitting pretty good. We’ve slotted 2 days of scouting and today’s mission is the first of those days, planning to spend it mostly poking around atop the Telluride Mountain Resort.

And since the lifts don’t open till 10am here in the spring, we’re on an uncharacteristically mellow call time of 9:30. I’m up at 8, cranking out a few dozen emails and keeping up with the rest of my life. Since I’m working away in my room, I forget to eat again and the provided crew breakfast meal, so snag a breakfast burrito and coffee en route to meet up with our small scout crew of 8 or so–yours truly, plus Scott and Erik, producers, scouts, a guide from the resort, and the two AD’s.

It’s downright balmy in town. Sunny. Hot. I’m shedding layers, but as we ride to the top of the mountain, the weather turns. It’s cloudy like milk. By the time we arrive up top… Continue Reading →

Daily Diary of a Shoot. Day 1 Complete.

By Chase on March 20, 2011

My alarm goes off. It’s 3:45 this morning. I snooze till 3:56. Now I’m up, but barely. No shower. Pull on dirty bluejeans. Tshirt. Brush teeth. Some quick math tells me that I’d just enjoyed a luxurious 3 hour and 15 minute night of sleep. Moving. Slowly. And then I remember more clearly. Ah yes..heading out of town again. Excited–but remembered that the cab to the airport is due here in 20 minutes. Finish packing in a hurry. Mental checklist. Breakfast? No time. Auto pilot. I’ve been here a hundred times before. Text message to my phone – cab out front. A first time treat – cab driver and Scott have fresh coffee on hand. It’s 4:14 am and we speed off into the darkness for a 5-something-a.m.-whatever wheels up departure. Again.

You might not be able to tell from the above paragraph, but that was this morning. I’m having that itch again to share the day-by-day guts of another commercial ad campaign with you as best I can with a few words each night. What we’re doing, thinking, feeling. And why. Yours truly, a cast, and a crew during a week-long campaign shoot. I’ve shared BTS stuff from campaigns before (ala the Sandisk shoot in 2009 and the work with Panerai and Mike Horn was great fun too). I’ll be doing that again as best I can this week, but on this trip I’m making an attempt to show more of the underbelly. What goes on. More of the nuts and the bolts. The real decisions, the snafus, the solutions. Take some of the glam out of the hard work we do. In short, report from the trenches.

I’ll do my best to write ‘dear diary…’ every night for 8 days straight, but if all I can muster one night is a sentence and a picture, bear with me. Let’s call it what it is. It’s another experiment. Could work out, could flop. Either way, aiming to share some stuff and have some fun along the way. So let’s get on with it…and back to that cab ride….[the rest of 'today', plus some photos to prove it after the jump] Continue Reading →

Chase Jarvis LIVE Re-Watch: a convo with Vincent Laforet

By Chase on March 18, 2011

How to succeed as a creative. How to fail. How to translate stills to video. Gear. Insight. Fear. Challenge. Agents, education and more. Your questions and mine answered. If you missed–or want to re-watch–the recent LIVE broadcast of chasejarvisLIVE: a conversation with Vincent Laforet, here’s an edited 35 minute version for your perusal.

The full 90-minute version of the original live broadcast, featuring extra Q&A, is available via our new audio-only podcast. Click here to check it and/or subscribe.

And if you want to see Vincent in action during his recent creativeLIVE workshop, you can pickup the entire class – about 20 hours of high quality education content – check it out here: HDdSLR: Moving from Stills to Video with Vincent Laforet.

Continue Reading →

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