Sam O'Hare Tilt-Shifts Alaska

When Alaska was purchased it was jokingly called, "Seward’s Folly." Well, I’m sure if William H. Seward was alive today he would say, “Folly? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Have you even seen my Instagram posts?!”  Yes, Alaska is possibly one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and I see no reason why Mr. Seward wouldn’t have been posting vista after vista in between snaps of “I’m totally eating this amazing plate of sockeye salmon with frissé salad right now!”

@sewardsfolly1867: "Best purchase ever. JEAH!'

Sam O’Hare just returned from shooting in Alaska with the agency Vitro for Alaska Communications. Not only was he thrilled to be working with a great agency, but getting to go to Alaska was a dream. (Especially when it’s 103 degrees with 99% humidity in NY…) 

The first spot in the campaign launched Wednesday and the visuals speak for themselves. You can view the 60 second commercial HERE.

Much of it was shot from a helicopter- a technique he’d been anxious to try out for his tilt-shift style work. It also proved to be a handy tool in getting around the islands and fjords that make up a lot of the area around Anchorage and Juneau where the production was based. 

 

As well as directing and shooting the spot, Sam edited the spot at Aero Studios in NY. He and his team (Andy Gilbert, Jesse Holmes, John McLoughlin and Hannelore Williams) applied the post VFX work to make the tilt-shift miniature look come to life. Being able to be a one stop shop for live-action through post is what made this job do-able. With a tight turnaround, being able to coordinate the shoot with post together to make everything move like clockwork was imperative. 

During the next heatwave, Sam is seeking out boards for Antarctica. I kid! Well, maybe not actually...

Geocaching With GMC

Geocaching is the newest treasure hunt that doesn't involve Nicholas Cage!  But it does involve Aero director, Ken Arlidge (who is equally as swarthy, but has a better hairline).

Ken shot the latest spot for GMC's Terrain which features a group's geocaching quest that takes them from land to water.  This gave Ken a chance to flex his director/DP muscles by both telling a good story and making things that aren't typically thought of as gorgeous to be just that.

h

But let's back up a step...  "What is geocaching?"  you may be asking.  It's a global treasure hunting game that anybody can play!  All you need is a GPS enabled device (such as OnStar), and it helps to have USB and SD card readability which the Terrain has in its console. 

The spot was shot in San Piedro and a quarry near Santa Clarita.   Finding the quarry was a real coup for the Aero production team in that it has very clear water which is great for shooting, but the water was only 40 degrees!  There was a hot tub on set to keep the divers warm (as stunt people were used and could only be in and out of the water over the course of an hour). Ken’s eye for art direction really took a dank and dirty quarry and an abandoned warehouse to a cinematic level.

Ken shot with the Arri Alexa on land, and the Red Epic underwater.  Car shots were with the Russian Arm.

CREDITS:

Client: General Motors

Agency: Leo Burnett Detroit

EVP, Worldwide Executive Creative Director: Peter McHugh
Creative Director GMC :Chad Laughlin
Creative Director: Jack Crifasi
Copywriter: Cameron McIntosh
VP, Executive Producer Jennie Hochthanner

Editorial: Beast,  Chris Chynoweth

Klaus Cam Adventure!

The Klaus Cam, developed by Klaus Obermeyer, has been used in countless commercials and is continuing to be used in feature films!

The Klaus Cam has already been used in the films The Dark Knight and Eat, Pray, Love; and  latest venture being on the set for Of Mavericks and Men, starring Gerard Butler. The movie enlisted the services of Aero aerial director, Craig Hosking to help capture the high intensity surfing scenes for the film. Klaus co-piloted with Craig and took these amazing stills. 

You may be wondering, "What is or are Mavericks?"  Well, I'll tell you.  The Mavericks is (yes, singular) "a world renowned wave break" that's located in northern California a half a mile off Half Moon Bay. 

In short, it is a dangerous and daring bit of ocean to surf on (as you can see in the above picture the surfer is incredibly small in comparison to that wave!) and shooting an action sequence on these giant waves is nearly an impossibility. But the Klaus Cam is perfect for a shoot like this because unlike other helicopter rigs, this camera can get right at eye level with all the dangerous action (but without putting any of the crew/talent in jeopardy!)  So thanks to the Klaus Cam, all those close shots that they needed were captured! (You can read more about Mavericks here.)

Of Men and Mavericks is scheduled to open in theaters October, 2012.