Anthill Films - Behind the Scenes

Posted: Sep 8, 2009

Anthill Films has been working on the film, Follow Me, for quite some time now, and once I heard that they were coming out to Mt.Washington to shoot with Cam McCaul and Darren Berrecloth, I was interested in gathering some information about them, and the film in general. With the main principal being following a rider through a trail or section, Follow Me is set to show us a different perspective on our riding scene, while still featuring some of the biggest name riders in the industry.

Here's an interview with the brains behind the lenses at Anthill Films...

How did Anthill come about?
Well, Anthill Films consists of 4 of the former "The Collective" filmers. Myself (Darcy Wittenburg), Colin Jones, Jonathan Schramm, and Darren McCollough. We wanted to create an environment where all the filmers were on the same page, while still carrying on the tradition of the Collective.

Along our side we have Ian Dunn who is the marketing director for us, and Sterling Lorence, our photographer. All together I think we make up a well rounded group of filmers, photographers, and all around marketing.

What's your name, and where do you call home?
Darcy: Name's Darcy Wittenburg, from Squamish, British Columbia. I think I am the only guy in the crew that has not received a nickname thus far, just Darcy.
Dizog: My name's Darren McCollough, from Lions Bay, British Columbia. My nicknames Dizog. Not to sure why these guys don't just refer to me by the name my parents gave me at birth, but ask Schramm how Dizog came to be.
CJ: Hey, name's Colin Jones, from the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia. CJ is my initials incase you didn't catch that, they just find it easier to say CJ than Colin.
Schramm: Hey, my name is Jonathan Schramm, but everyone refers to me by my last name, Schramm, not to be mixed up with the component group SRAM. I am from Pemberton, British Columbia, but you may have seen me in my wife's store, Evolution Whistler over the years.


How did you meet the guys at Anthill?
Darcy: I met Darren and Schramm through Jamie when we made the first Collective film. They were all buddies from growing up. We realized pretty quickly we needed more help to make the film and both these guys became a huge asset right away. I met CJ through Carlo when he was starting Alterna Films, we all used to snowboard together when we lived in Whistler. And I've known Ian (Anthill's producer/marketing director) since those early days (mid nineties) as well through the same crew. He was the only guy from our group of friends that mountain biked back then, so we ended up riding together a ton back then.
Dizog: I met the Anthill crew in 2004 when we worked on the Collective and now I spend more time with them than my family.
CJ: Well I met Darcy through my close friend Carlo Wein in Whistler. We all started to film snowboarding together. It was the best job in the world until the Collective was born in 2003. This is where I was fortunate to meet Darren, Schramm, Jamie and Sterling. The most creative guys out there (in my opinion)!
Schramm: I met Darcy and CJ through work with the Collective. Although I would have crossed paths in Whistler with Darcy and CJ many times before officially being introduced. I knew Darren from the high school days because we worked on a ski film together. Although he was behind the camera then and I was in front of it at the time.

What was your first video/still camera?
Darcy: A Bolex RX5 which is 16mm. You're probably too young to remember 16mm there Junior Mint (that's Jordan's nickname for those of you that don't know). My first digital video camera is the one I have now, the RED ONE.
Dizog: Sony VX1000
CJ: My first rig was a Bolex RX5 16mm from Bike cinematographer Jorlie Ricker (I still have it today, great camera!) and the first digital camera I used was the Sony VX1000.
Schramm: Panasonic HVX 200. That camera is a Workhorse, with a capital W.


How did you originally start shooting?
Darcy: I over shot a jump snowboarding in Whistler and blew my knee and broke my foot. That winter I bought a still camera and starting taking shots of some of my buddies. At the same time Jorli Ricker and Carlo Wein were making snowboarding movies and took me on a couple shoots to film 16mm. The following summer Jorli made Ride to the Hills. I ended up coming on a lot of shoots and even getting paid so the ball was rolling. After that I got on with Kranked 5 and eventually started The Collective with Jamie Houssian, all the while filming snowboarding in the winters for Alterna Films. I guess you just asked me how I started and I just told you about the last 10 years, it goes by fast.

Dizog: In high school got an internship at a major rental house. Made short clips in my spare time and then took off to film school. Picked up a few things in school but for the most part just being out and shooting and working with people who have a lot of knowledge was my education. I met up with Jamie Houssian, made a small, no budget ski film called The Disciples. Then spent a few years working with my brother Scott who has a multi media company called Lightroom before the Collective took off.

CJ: Well before I ever thought about shooting, I was a huge fan of skate and snow films. I probably own 50 VHS tapes and even more DVDs now. The culture behind core films fascinated me, and when I had an opportunity to shoot with my friends, I jumped on it!

Schramm:I have been a big fan of MTB and action sport's films for a long time. I was asked by Jamie Houssian and Darcy Wittenburg to go on the first Utah trip filming for The Collective (Vanderham, Klassen, Claw). I was to be the cook/behind the scenes camera man for the trip operating a brand new DVX 100. Luckily Darcy picked my shot racking off of Vanderham’s drive train to Vanderham hitting the cliff drop out of the hours and hours of footage we compiled. It was a strong beginning of audio combined with action in MTB films.

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What is Follow Me?
Follow Me is the first film from our new filming company Anthill Films. The whole mindset behind the film can be summed up in one situational sentence. "at the head of the trail you have never ridden, a friend turns with a knowing look and says..."Just follow me".

We've all heard it and depending on who says it, it makes a pretty big difference for what lies ahead. Whether it's a good idea or not we almost always drop in. Now, riding alone is great. But let's face it, we all ride harder, go faster, take more risks and have more fun when we ride with out friends. In every experience from sending giant step downs to high speed trails, it's always better to share the ride!

The whole idea is to create a very action based, but still exciting video for everyone to watch. A film where unique angles hide around each transition, and awesome riding is just a drum beat or guitar stroke away.



How does a film concept come about?
Just like the making of any film, we came up with a "kind of movie" we wanted to produce. For us we wanted it to be visually stunning, showcasing how riders are when they ride together, and not just under the pressure of a contest or a video shoot. The process of making a film is a lot like doing up an essay for school. We come up with an idea, then get supporting riders for the film, which support the overall concept of the movie.

As well, one of the films main sponsors is Bike Parks BC. This played a huge part in the making of Follow Me, as friends and families usually ride together at bike parks already. Bike parks are the place to be when riding with friends and family, lift access, hotels around the hill, and good food within spitting distance.

How does a rider section come about?
At the beginning we choose our rider lineup that we are interested in. We've been lucky enough to work with many riders over the years, so we already have a previous relationship with them. After the riders were decided, we chose a location. Not only a location close to us and close to a rider, but we need to choose an appropriate area. You don't want to put a rider outside of their element too much. Usually if we choose the hill, the rider will choose their line based on their knowledge of the terrain.

After the hill, riders, and line have been chosen we prioritize our shots. With 4 filmers shooting the same rider you can't use all the shots, so we decide foremost what shots we want for sure (ie, cable cameras, pan shots, sun up/down shots). Once these have been decided one person usually is designated to getting that shot, and the other filmers shoot tight shots for more detailed shots, or possibly transitional shots.


With Bike Parks BC as a movie sponsor it allows us to get a ton of high level filming done in one area, due to the fact there are hotels, lifts, and food all in the same area.

How do you translate a rider's pre-built area?
First of all, all of us spread out and cover as much ground as we can. Look at far angles, close angles, pan shots, dolly shots, cable cams, and any other possible shots. After that we all group together for a couple minutes and talk about our shots. This is when we discuss master shots (long shots that show a lot of action), and descriptive shots (up close, detailed shots). The master shot is not always 1 continuous shot, but always is the shot that is the heart of the action.



Once the master shot has been determined, we base our shooting around that. We look for angles that the master shot misses, and shots that ad more detail to the master shot. Camera choice is based a lot off of what the shot needs. Each camera we shoot with is versatile and useful in its own way. As I am sure you may have guessed Darcy's Red One camera is usually the default camera, just for its quality, speed, and adjustability. However there are certain shots that it cannot get where the HVX, and the Canon 5D Mk2 are more capable of shooting.



How long, on average does it take to setup, and shoot a shot?
Months go into pre-production for the shot. It's hard to line up an area, a location, a rider, then get everyone on board, make a date, book flights/accommodations, and all of the above.

After we arrive, usually days go into scoping the area for lines, and angles. This Mt.Washington shoot has been one of the quickest shoots for us in our filming history, being setup and shot in 4 days. Then we like to give the riders a couple of hours, if not a complete day to warm up on the jumps or section of trail they manufactured or decided to ride. That way they look fluid, and well practiced on the footage, not awkward or unsure. The good thing is the professional riders nowadays catch onto trails and areas really fast, and are quick to adapt to them.

We have even helped some riders construct their sections to ride in, so it's really situation based when it comes to a time-line for a shot. We have spent hours shooting a section, and we have spent days shooting a section. It's all how mother nature and the digital world treat us at that given time.


How long does the average shoot take?
The average shoot, that's a hard one. It's based a fair amount on what we find to shoot in that area, and what the rider wants out of the area. If say the rider has built a 20 foot high step up and he wants to flip for his section, we try to wait to get the shot. That being said we don't waste time, but we want to let the rider get in the zone as much as possible.

We have spend up to 10 days in some areas, and up to 30 days in another. The 30 day trip was not 30 days of filming, it's simply waiting for the correct time, and weather to shoot the section at hand. We look for pretty specific shots and lighting, so you can say a fair amount of the day is spent just wandering, looking for the perfect shot at the perfect time.

How much footage does that entail?
A 10 day shoot usually would clip down to 4 minutes. The average rider's section is 4 minutes, so we want to try our best to boil it down to that. Of course there are some longer, and some shorter sections.

What’s the most work you have ever done for a shot?
Matt Hunter's cable cam setup from Roam took us 5 solid days to setup. It was a 500 ft cable cam, the first 500 footer we had actually done. Up until that time the longest was a 300 footer, and that was a challenge.



With cable cams you spend a ton of time for the setup side of things. You have to make sure that when you're cruising down this zip line, hanging with your camera filming the perfect shot, that everything is correct. You have to make sure your path is clear of trees, rocks, and riders, while still making sure you don't get too far ahead or behind the rider that the shot is garbaged.


Have you ever messed up a perfect shot?
Hmmmm, well if any of our sponsors are reading this the answer is no, we always get the shot. But in reality it probably has happened the odd time but to be honest I've blocked those moments out of my mind because it's too emotionally distressing. Basically if some gnarly moves are going down we can't screw up, and we triple check every setting to make sure we're dialed.

Plus the full Anthill crew is on every shoot so there are always 4 cameras rolling. The bottom line is that if a rider is risking life and limb, it's really not cool to make mistakes.

Do riders have much input into the shot, or do you decide it?
Since we know what we're looking for in the final product, we usually tell the riders how it's going to look, and take their input as feedback. Some riders may not understand what we're trying to show with that shot, but they are usually all stoked on how their sections turn out.

I guess you could say the filmer's experience takes precedence over the rider's input, but it's not like we completely ignore them and just shoot what we want. If we did that, we wouldn't be filming anymore!

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Is this your first time at Mount Washington?
No. When coming to Mt.Washington I think our previous knowledge on the lighting the trails get, and what times helped us out a fair amount. Trail maps seldom show you where the sun rises, and sets, so we have to use our own judgment and experience to tell us where to be at certain times.


The trails at Mt.Washington are fun, but either they are open, or hidden in the trees, so it's hard to shoot anything other than raw camera footage on the actual hill.


Have you had a chance to scope the lines out yet?
Before we go to any shoot, we usually send at least one filmer to do a pre-scope of the area. This is an attempt to find lines that could work, aside from the shots the riders and us really want. This method is a little more expensive, and takes a little more time, but it simply ensures we are not going to be completely stumped when we arrive.


Do you prefer open lighting, or cloud cover?(Bluebird, Greybird)
Depends on if we are in the forest, or out in the open. If we're out in the open we would prefer to get some early morning, or evening light for some good shadows, and contrast. If we were in the forest, we would have greybird all the time. Cloud cover is perfect for filming as it completely kills sun spots and you can still get good lighting. It allows us to potentially shoot all day, which is nice!


How do you determine a time line for the video?
A lot of action sports films fall in around the 45 minute mark. An hour can be really long and 30 minutes is a bit of a rip off for anyone buying a DVD. So in that 45 minute range we just let it be the length it should be, if you try to make it too long you can end up with shots that really shouldn't make the final cut.

Do you like using transitions, such as dip to color, or cross dissolve?
We try to be as creative as possible. You may not see a lot of the "transitions" so to say, but they are there. We try to shoot a lot of our footage with natural transitions, which makes production and selecting transitions a lot easier. Darren McCullough and Colin Jones are the dudes behind the editing suites, so they handle that stuff. A lot of the time we try to shoot our transitions in the field so that the footage flows.

How do you choose the music you want to use?
We listen to a lot of music! We get people emailing in music, bands sending in music, and even our own ears hearing music we like. All of this music has a chance to make it in the movie, however we try to make it so the general audience will like it for the most part.


If anyone out there knows of some awesome music we should put in our videos fire it over to us! We will check it out for sure.

What's the most time you have spent editing a rider's section?
I will have to check with Darren to see, one sec! He says we've always tweaked the segments over the course of months, so it's hard to say. It's definitely a measurement of weeks, not days.

When can we hope to see Follow Me come out?
We're premiering at Sea Otter 2010 (April) and at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler on the same week. After that we'll do a multi-city premiere tour for about 2-3 weeks. The DVD will be available around May 1st, 2010.