NZsnowboard.com

29th July 2008

By: Hannah Tatton

With the latest release of "I'm broke too" by Dero Projects, perhaps it is a good time to take a look at what goes into producing such locally brewed snowboarding films. It seems it is not all easy, especially within the New Zealand industry where the money is tight but the ideas and opportunities are endless.
 

Tim Pierce gets down to business filming Newsweek with Holler and Nick Hyne

Aside from riding itself, watching snowboarding films of your favorite pros hucking themselves is probably the next best step to inspiring your riding and immersing yourself in the sport. Undoubtedly, snowboard films progress the sport in many ways and here in New Zealand it is no exception.
 
Queenstown based Blair Findlay is a part of Dero Projects and delves into a bit of everything whether it be filming, editing, organizing sponsorship, advertising or sales.  
 
In Findlay's opinion, the benefits that producing snowboard films has on the industry are substantial to riders, sponsors and great for the promotion of the sport.
 
"It gives the riders and their sponsors another medium to use and helping get snowboarding out to more people, in turn helping our industry grow.
 
"I like film because it gives you something you can hold and lasts a bit longer. You can do something real gnarly and put it on the net and its pretty much forgotten about the next day, but with DVDs you will watch that stuff over and over years after the pages have fallen out of your magazine," he said.

 
Tim Pierce, of production company Zeros&Ones is the main man shooting and editing the footage for Mountain Dew TV (also being aired on Sky Sport) and Nzsnowboard.com Newsweek. As well as having a history with photography, Pierce (aka Wallow) is fastly becoming well ingrained within the snowboard film industry in New Zealand and also believes in the beneficial ripple effects coming from the moving image .
 
"The power of media is amazing and this is one of the things that has drawn me to it. Filming gives pro riders more exposure for thier sponsors, which means they get looked after, gives them a reason to ride more, pushes their riding to new levels and more outlets to express their riding. It ups business as products are regularly on the screen and stokes punters out as they see people out there killing it and want to be doing the same. Along with providing good 'extreme' entertainment," he said.
 
For those seeking a bit more specific geekspeak, Pierce's video gear includes a Panasonic HVX200a, a bunch of accessories/glass, Manfrotto 503 tripod and Shure/Audio Technica Sound Gear. He edits on a Dell PC with Adobe Premiere.
 
But it doesn't take much to realize that getting the shot is not all that simple and easy, with so many external variables threatening an opportunity.  According to Pierce, flat light, crap snow, dark colours, bad weather, cold hands, freezing your ass off, foggy lenses, little money and no riding are some of the downsides which make filming snowboarding a bit of a tricky game to pursue.
 
"There is a tonne of barriers faced. You're working in such a crazy environment that hammers your gear and you have to work with so many variables that you can't control. However thats the beauty of it all. Funding is probably the biggest problem as there are alot of costs associated in filming snowboarding professionally, and sourcing the money to make this happen in such a small industry is not an easy task," he said.

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Findlay pin points similar problems saying "We always try and keep the stuff we shoot fresh and different from just park features. So you have to go on a mission somewhere and do something cool and out of the ordinary, that can be hard to hit on the head every time."
 
And overcoming such hurdles takes plenty of patience, determination and kiwi ingenuity, and perhaps a bit of acceptance that one cannot dictate nature.  As Pierce eloquently paints the picture,
 
"I need to be able to click my fingers to make it snow, blink for the sun to shine, wave to get a chopper, whistle to get a million dollars, and fart to make riders land every trick."
 
Looking at a wider perspective, New Zealand's production of snowboard films is but a blip on the international radar, and it seems that this is largely due to the dreaded phrase, 'lack-of-money'.
 
"I find it pretty much impossible to compare ourselves to any international filmmakers who have travel budgets, epic cameras and 6 months of snow. Our operation is 100% self funded by the riders themselves. Everyone works other jobs to get overseas and ride for 2 months or whatever. We just do what we can with what we've got. This DVD making caper definitely does not pay the bills."
 
"Its pretty hard to pull it off in New Zealand. To do something really dope there just needs to be some corporate company to give it a cash injection, its just hard to get.
All the people involved work really hard and its all credit to the Kiwi attitude, total do it yourself, its rad," said Findlay.

 
And while it may not pay the bills for some and does for others, one thing for certain is that the lifestyle sure wraps up a few plussage points as Pierce points out.
 
"While filming snowboarding is a bitch, the best thing is doing what I love, acting like a kid constantly, having fun, laughing my ass off, not working a 9-5 and hanging with your buddies."
 
And Findlay hints at the fact that the future will hold some pretty bright developments within the NZ snowboard film industry "There are people trying to plan some exciting stuff at the moment so I think we will be seeing a lot more," he said.
 
Pierce predicts a similar future for the industry and sums it up best by saying "Its pretty hard to read the future of the snowboarding film industry, as the snows constantly changing, the ridings constantly changing, and the technology is constantly changing. Over the past 3 years the level of film making in snowboarding has gone through the roof, with the introduction of cheap and accessible HD gear etc, along with people pushing the boundaries of what can be done on a snowboard. How ever when you compare it to skateboarding, I think its got a long way to go. The future is gonna be Gnarly!"

So pick up your camera and get out there, or help the NZ industries' riders and filmmakers by buying locally produced films and viewing the talented content that is already out there.
 
For those of you who are keen to get amongst the more professional filming action, here is a bit of advice to send you on your way, from somebody already out there and doing it.
 
"If your not passionate about what your working on, and don't want to work it won't happen. You have to GET OUT THERE with your buddies and let your work speak for its self. You will never get anywhere by talking about it, GO DO IT. You also have to find the right balance between art/business/technical knowledge and experience. There is so many skills in producing video/photography, and if you're not professional in every aspect you will never get anywhere."
                                                        - Tim Pierce, Zeros&Ones
 

 
Links
 
Zerosandones.co.nz
Dero Projects: I'm Broke Too pre-order:
http://shop.firstfloor.co.nz/products/6/216/dero__im_broke_too_pre_order/