This fall I am fortunate enough to find myself on the east coast shooting in NY on the 2nd Unit of the action comedy feature film “The Other Guys” starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, & Samuel Jackson. Once again I have found myself again working with a top notch camera department, though this time the crew is mostly from NYC. The 2nd Unit Director is long time stunt coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Conrad Palmisano. The 2nd Unit DOP is Paul Hughen who I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work with for some days on both “Hancock” and “Fast & Furious”. The call to come out and shoot on the 2nd Unit was a pleasant surprise as I knew the film was shooting in NY but had heard that they would be only hiring locally. As it turns out the production was having a hard time finding another action shooter so I got the call and shortly thereafter I was headed to New York.
Like many of the other Action Units I have worked on this one also involves shooting high speed car chases and crashes. Fortunately for this job we have plenty of toys to help in the execution of capturing the sequences. We have a minimum of four cameras rolling on most of the set ups and often times more. Depending on the shot we may be shooting hand held, with the Pursuit Arm, the motorcycle mounted Libra Head, or a Techno Crane. Due to some recent restrictions in NYC some of our high speed chase sequences had to be shot in Albany so we spent the first two weeks of production filming there before moving down to NYC where we will be filming until late October.
Shooting on any large budget feature film can be very stressful as time is money and there is little if any room for error or multiple takes. Shooting on a large budget action unit can be even more stressful as we often times don’t get to see a rehearsal before a big car crash, explosion, or action sequence that has taken hours if not days to set up. A colleague of mine described it best when he once said that action unit cameramen are like sharp shooters in that most of the time we don’t get a second chance and have to nail the shot the first time around. I suppose the stress lends itself to much of the satisfaction I get when shooting on large 2nd Units. When I eventually see the trailer for a movie I have worked on and see that most of the footage in the trailer was shot by the action unit I was a part of there is tremendous satisfaction.
Following my successful climb and shoot on Mt. Everest this spring for Eddie Bauer and the Eddie Bauer/Whittaker First Ascent campaign I returned to LA and have been shooting with the Action Unit on Iron Man 2. The transition from the Himalaya to Hollywood was as surreal as one might expect however I have had the good fortune of reuniting and again working with one of the best crews in the business. Over the last several years I have been lucky to have been able to work with this crew on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Iron Man, and the upcoming release of GI Joe: Rise of Cobra.
Shooting at Downey Studios doubling as the Monaco Grand Prix
The transition from living in a tent for 50+ days on an active glacier shooting gorilla style at high altitudes to the more luxurious Hollywood set is a paradox I certainly enjoy. And for me each style of work compliments the other. As this business is about working fast and thinking on your feet while always being asked to deliver the most beautiful, dynamic, and compelling imagery I am able to bring a skill set to each working environment. I am certainly grateful that I am able to be working on such high caliber projects and in environments I thrive in.
While the Eddie Bauer/Everest project was shot in HD on the Sony EX-3 with Fuji glass and Iron Man was shot 35mm using both Panavision and Arri cameras an exciting part of both projects was being able to work with new Canon EOS 5D digital SLR camera. On Everest I was shooting HD video and time lapse imagery along with still images with the 5D and on Iron Man 2 we were using the 5D to capture unique angles of the stunt sequences we were filming. For both projects Canon was very helpful in working with the production on how best to use the camera in relatively unique environments and the results were fantastic.
As I have now adjusted to the thicker air of sea level and the warmer temps of California I am looking forward to where the next shoot will take me whether it be here in the states or somewhere else around the globe.
As many of you know I am heading over to Nepal this week to take part in an exciting project on Mt. Everest where I will be climbing and filming for a new Eddie Bauer campaign.
For those of you who don’t know, Eddie Bauer has joined up with a Whittaker Mountaineering and assembled a dream team of mountaineers to build a new line of outerwear and equipment that will fall under the Eddie Bauer/Whittaker Mountaineering First Ascent product line. First Ascent combines Eddie Bauer’s legacy as the original expedition outfitter with the expertise of some of today’s most renowned mountain guides and climbers, including Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn, Peter Whittaker, Melissa Arnot, Seth Waterfall, Chad Peele, and Jake Norton .
Eddie Bauer’s name hearkens back to many of the first ascents outfitted by Eddie Bauer, including:
• The First Ascent of Gasherbrum I in Pakistan (1958)
• The First Ascent of Masherbrum in Pakistan (1960)
• The First American Ascent of Everest (1963)
• The First Ascent of the Everest West Ridge (1963)
• The First Ascent of Mount Kennedy in Canada (1965)
• The First Ascent of Vinson Massif in Antarctica (1966)
• The First American Ascent of Dhaulagiri in Nepal (1973)
• The First American Ascent of Peak Lenin in the Russian Pamirs (1974)
• The First Ascent of the North Ridge of Nanda Devi in India (1976)
• The First Ascent of Great Trango Tower in Pakistan (1977)
• The First American Ascent of Makalu in Nepal (1980)
• The First Ascent of the Everest East Face (1983)
Be sure to follow our expedition over the next several weeks and learn more about this product line at at one of the following sites:
http://www.eddiebauer.com/firstascent.html
http://www.rmiguides.com/dispatches/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Best,
Kent
Welcome to the new KH Films site. Those of you who have visited KHFilms.com in the past will notice dramatic changes. As technologies have evolved so have the needs of both clients and collaborators and as a result is the new and improved KH Films site. Now I’ll be able to post my film and photography from projects I shoot both locally and abroad. Take a look around and feel free to let me know what you think. Stay tuned as I will post updates and links relating to current, future, and past projects.
Thanks to Aaron Weyenberg for his help and guidance with these improvements.
