I first met the director, Ismar Badžić at the University of Sheffield where we both study. Within a few hours of meeting and chatting about our passion for all things photography related he invited me to join him and his team on this project. Despite trying to go out for their January shooting, exams wouldn’t allow for it so I had to postpone getting involved till Easter. My enthusiasm for the project was set when I saw the screening of their film from last year at the Sheffield extreme sports film festival. Seeing how much it meant to Ismar and George Simpson, the cameraman that made up this dynamic duo as well as the response from the crowd made me think, “I just have to do this”.

First off let me say when you describe this experience to others, their instant response is that it was a glorified holiday. However we all agreed at the end of the trip that despite it being fantastic, it was the hardest week of our lives. The joy of skiing is hampered a bit when you are always having to worry about the thousands of pounds worth of equipment in your backpack, despite this I of course got carried away at the end of the first day, which resulted in a hilarious crash leaving me thirty metres below my skis. Thankfully throughout the week no one got badly injured, nothing was broken and we obtained lots of material. I really enjoyed being a part of this team with everyone bringing something to the party. With George being our main cameraman, he captured some awesome shots, we all loved the slow-mo footage! Ismar was focusing as director on the shots he wanted that would then merge together to express the story he had thought up. Our little team of three was blessed to have Nicolas Zen-Ruffinen, a prominent figure in the Swiss film industry acting as our producer and keeping us all organised. He was given the suitable nickname “the godfather” as he pulled in so many favours throughout the week that helped make it such a success.

Of course one of the main issues with making a snowboarding film is you have to have the talent to film. Thankfully that wasn’t in short supply with our group of riders. The main man Jake Cornish, whom the film is based around, Antoine Blaizeau, Damien Chatel and Fabrice Meier all brought something to the party that allowed us to get such variation in the shots obtained. Apart from being awesome riders they were also great guys full of enthusiasm and personality that kept everyone motivated maintaining the high pace of filming throughout the trip.

It really was a pleasure working with all of them and I am so thankful for the opportunity. Apart from just getting some good pictures I felt that I made some good friends through this experience and I hope to work with them again in the future.

So, we have just arrived back from our first week filming the second White Line film, ‘Deeper than Snow’ And what a difference a year makes! From the experiences of filming the first film we have come back bigger and better then last year.

From a filming point of view we felt like we didn’t have to rush in order to get loads of footage because we knew we were coming back to shoot some more over Easter. So, we planned the week ahead carefully, getting shots Ismar wanted and hitting jumps Jake thought were possible. It also meant we could relax a little bit, which helped after a long day on the slope, meaning we didn’t burn ourselves out (something we suffered with last year).

Cameras

In order to make this film bigger and better than the last we brought a much larger arsenal of cameras with us. Nicolas (Producer) managed to hire a Sony FS700 for the week from the great guys at Visuals, Geneva. This amazing Super 35mm Exmor sensor camera gave us superb, crisp shots and even better slow motion clips. We were extremely impressed with the variable frame rates it offered us from 100fps to 800fps! Even though it had an awkward body for handheld shots, once on a tripod the video produced was outstanding.

Another camera we brought out with us was my own Canon XF105. Even though it didn’t give us the same shallow depth of field shots as the Sony, the quality of the footage easily rivalled it, with its 4:2:2 colour sampling and 50mbps record speed. It was also a lightweight and small camera to carry around with us on the slopes, making it perfect for those shots where we need to be ready with a camera in seconds, more than making up for the Sony’s lack of handheld performance. However, we used it more for behind the scenes footage as the videos we were getting from it were a bit of a miss match when put next to the Sony Footage and we decided to keep the Sony as our primary weapon.

The other camera we brought was Ismar’s Canon 5D MKII. We loved the shots it produced last year, when it was our main camera, and equally loved its low light capabilities. However on this trip we decided to use it for more personal portrait shots of Jake and family. It was also another great little camera to carry about with us, easy to use and with great quality videos.

We also had 2 little Contour Roam2 cameras with us to make up for the lack of P.o.V/headcam shots of the last film. One camera shot in the highest resolution of 1080p/25FPS and was kept as a behind the scenes camera whilst the other was shooting in an action capacity at 720p/50FPS and was used for ssnowboarding shots; mounted to Jake and placed on top of jumps etc. We were pleasantly surprised with the Contour’s usability and the footage it produced. It certainly helped us gain action shots and became a handy camera for behind the scenes footage as well. We especially liked the rotating lens and the laser alignment, two features which made it more desirable than those GoPros which most people use.

Slow Mo

As I mentioned before, we brought Slow Motion into this second film. It was maybe something we lacked in the first film, but nevertheless we didn’t want to go overboard with slowing everything down. It was a beautiful feature of the Sony and so easy to use. In the PAL settings we were able to get a wide choice of frame rates which helped us when filming different slow motion shots for different needs. However we made sure we didn’t put the frame rate too high because then the quality reduced dramatically. We were lucky in that we were in extremely bright surroundings, but if we needed a slow motion shot inside, then we would need A LOT of light. We mainly changed from 100fps to 200fps as it was a good slow motion speed and the quality was still great.

Tripods

Thanks to the lovely people at Velbon and the London Camera Exchange in Guildford we were able to get hold of two Velbon Ultra Rexi L Tripods. Conventionally the tripods are used for stills rather than videos but we loved how small and lightweight they were, and also their clever design. I was not only impressed with there size, but also their ruggedness. They did get a bit of a beating with our numerous falls, but they survived and kept going, which really surprised me. We were also able to get our video tripods heads onto them, which was fantastic in keeping the costs down and meant we could use our own fluid heads instead of having small cheap video heads that would fall to pieces. They were a great addition to this trip and will certainly be in our luggage for the next one.

Dolly

Our biggest toy this year was a Dolly track which Nicolas hired from Visuals. The dolly added a nice piece of much needed movement to some of our biggest shots. It just added that something which gave the footage that cinematic element. It was also bloody light! Which helped when we needed to carry it round the slopes. I’m not sure whether we will bring it out next time as we want to explore with other grip equipment such as a small jib and even a drone, but the dolly definitely was a fantastic piece of equipment to have on this trip.

Wrapping Up

So the first week is done. And we have learnt a lot since our first visit over a year ago. Thanks to a bigger crew and more equipment, the footage is looking much better than what we had last year. It has been a more successful week thanks to careful planning and knowing what challenges we had to face. It also helped that the weather was amazing! Over the coming weeks, we will be planning our next trip, and I’m looking forward to producing more amazing footage for ‘Deeper than Snow’

George

We’re over the moon with our first film festival nomination for ‘The White Line: A Film about a Snowboarder’. Our film was chosen out of a few hundred and will be played alongside a selection of 80 adventure films at the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield (UK) March 1st-3rd. We’ll be sure to let you know about ticket information and the precise date and time of our screening when we find out more. But for know, take a look at the festival website and cast an eye over last year’s festival promo to give you a sense of the type of festival we’ve managed to wriggle our way into.

Excuse us, while we go and comprehend the news of being selected to a real life actual real film festival – with real films! We’re very happy and very honoured to make the cut. Winning at the festival would be a bonus but, seriously, it’s not even on our minds because we’re just happy to be accepted to such a great festival.

 

With the successful release of our short movie, we decided that although we wouldn’t be able to make it all the way to Canada because of budget constraints, we just couldn’t resist another shot at making a snowboard movie. There are some forces at play (which we aren’t allowed to disclose just yet) which have made us realise that we’ve got a real future in making these lifestyle documentaries so we’re not done just yet!

The next film will continue under the moniker of ‘The White Line’ with the additional title/tagline being ‘Deeper than Snow’. The plan for this film is to continue Jake’s story with the focus shifting onto the question of ‘why’ he rides. We will still be dipping into his back story and exploring issues to do with his horrific avalanche accident and there will be plenty of real life elements but we will also be stepping up the action and putting a greater emphasis on his motivations up in the mountains.

Is it a reshoot? No. Will it have a similar style? Yes. The aim is to capture enough similar elements from the first film in order for this picture to be a stand alone story whereby no previous viewing is required, whilst providing new elements and points of exploration so that fans of the first film can consider it a follow up. It will be double the length and the quality will be even greater. We can’t reveal much (remember, secret forces) but rest assured, we will be making a delicately crafted film with all the sensibilities you have come to expect from our team whilst taking it to the next level.
We’re still a tiny possum of a snowboard film, so we’re asking for some support. Visit our indieGoGo page for details on how you can help us make the film you deserve to see.

It’s been an amazing week and we’ve have been blown away by the great response to our movie. We’ve made it onto blogs and websites, been tweeted and retweeted by respected players in the snowboard world and even made it as the centrepiece of the ‘Extreme Sports’ website. Thank you all for your support during launch week, without your kind words, we would have no motivation to make more films…

So I guess it’s a good thing you’ve enjoyed it, because we’re doing it all again this winter and it’s going to be bigger and better than before. We’re keeping the same backbone of passion and heart as the film’s main theme but this project will have a lot more riding and you’ll be blown away by some of the shots and set pieces we have lined up. We will also be releasing a lot more content alongside the main film, including webisodes, ‘making of’ videos, gear reviews and crew interviews. So expect more of what you loved about ‘The White Line’ and some more great stuff that you don’t know that you will love yet!

We’re going to keep spreading the good word about ‘The White Line’ and make sure it’s seen by as many people as possible, but we’re now going to start focusing our attention on the next project. And we’re going to need your help. We’re going down the route of Crowd Funding for the next film, because, honestly, the last one really took a lot out of us financially. Although we would love to pay for it all ourselves, we can’t move onto the next level without some more financial support. And we absolutely refuse to stagnate because we’re all about making the next one better. We’re just hoping to break even on this one and cover flights, gear and living expenses with no money winding up in our own pockets – that’s a promise.

Over the coming months we will become really active on our websites and social media, keeping you up to date with the project and releasing more and more content, including behind the scenes videos and unseen footage that didn’t make it into the film. So, if you loved ‘The White Line’ and want to see us do more, then I promise you an absolute tonne of great content in return for your contribution. Head over to our Crowd Funding page to learn more.

http://www.indiegogo.com/thewhitelinecrew

What a trip! This whole white line adventure is one that I wasn’t waiting or searching for. It just sort of came together out of the blue. If you’ve read the previous posts you know the whole story so I won’t get into it but I will start by explaining a little about myself. I’m a committed rider. It’s what I’ve loved and always wanted to do. I’ve built my life around riding. Jobs that gave me enough free time to get up on the mountain, where I choose to live, even the cars I buy. I figure when you find your passion you should do whatever you can to do it.

So, when Ismar came and started asking me questions about what I do and why I do it, I guess i took the “prophet” stance and started preaching about my passion like some evangelical priest. Needless to say, if I were that priest, i would have chalked up another follower that day. My passion seemed to have infected this young man, this philosophical filmmaker, so much so that he followed me out on to the mountain, much to his own peril. In an hour or so of filming during my lunch break we had what could now be considered the precursor to the White Line. That was two and a half years ago.

I was impressed with Ismar’s work and was curious to see what he’d be able to do with more time, so when the idea came about to make a film i was definitely up for it. At this point we had no idea that we were making the white line, just that we were interested in seeing what we could produce.My decision to do this was not an easy one seeing how Ismar wanted the film to focus on me telling my story. Now I’m no recluse but I like my privacy way too much to go out and try to make a film of me telling my story. I just wanted to ride and see how it looks. To open up in front of a camera just seemed so false. It took a lot of coaxing from Ismar to get me to open up and be myself on camera, and now on a blog.

The whole process has actually been a little bit of a challenge, albeit a great learning experience. I was especially out of my comfort zone being followed around by two guys filming non stop. I’m a very selfish rider. I ride fast and hard and don’t like to stop. So stopping and setting up for these two was very foreign and uncomfortable but after a couple of days we seemed to find our rythym. I’m sure that the first two days were hell for George and Ismar. Way to stick it out boys. They were good those two, putting up with my “lack of patience. They followed me out into one of the coldest weeks I’ve seen in Switzerland to sit in the snow and wind while I hiked a jump, and through the trees with a meter of fresh snow only to find themselves continually digging themselves and their gear out of the snow. I’ve got a lot of good memories from this week with those two. I think that through it all the three of us really learned a lot about each other and what it takes to make a film like the White Line.

So now the film is made and ready to be unleashed to the world and I’m feeling confident. The tremendous amount of work that George and Ismar have put into this film can only inspire confidence as the final product is an amazing piece of work.

I hope you all enjoy the film as much as we all enjoyed making it.

The White Line was a really inviting project. From a musical perspective it was interesting in that it diverged away from the heavy guitar thrash associated with ‘xtreme’ sports images and into more of an intimate film documentary genre. The guitars are still there but they are tempered with other instrumental sounds. It was also interesting because we changed our minds about the direction of the music when I was doodling at the keyboard with various sounds. It needed to be more abstract and one which combined the intimacy of the human relationships in the narrative which seemed opposed to the large scale or monumental imagery and relationships of the mountains, the snow, and the sport.

So, music was created which, with all instruments, could show epic quality, but with fewer instruments could show the intimacy of the human story and the impact of the avalanche on the family unit. It meant also that by keeping the same overall ‘feel’ in terms of notes and chords the film would have a sense of unity to it. The difficulty was in what seemed appropriate. One example of this was that I had to change the last sequence before the song outro at the end so that it blended much more easily. The previous material I wrote was far too emotive and sad so I pared it down. Less is often more with these things.

I hope you like the film.If you want to hear more stuff then take a peak at my sound cloud page: http://www.soundcloud.com/dominicsewellmusic

Hi, my name is George Simpson and i was the primary camera operator on The White Line. I won’t go into the history of the project and how it all began, but rather talk about the challenges we faced when filming a snowboard film for the first time.

Myself and Ismar (director) had never done anything like this before. I had a little background in sports photography with filming Mountain biking and other extreme sports, but apart from that, we were going in blind into this project. Yes it was daunting at first, but with myself and Ismar’s enthusiasm to go out there and shoot, we knew we could produce a beautiful piece.

We took a small amount of kit with us, as less luggage meant cheaper flights and less stuff on the slopes meant more time to move about, so we only took the basic stuff, camera, lighting, sound and a glide cam. We shot on both a Canon 5DMKII and a Canon 550D for its high frame rate capabilities. Instead of using our bog standard kit lenses we took with us some beautiful Nikon prime lenses. When mounted onto the 5D the shots were just amazing! However, changing the lenses when up a couple of thousand feet in two foot of snow had its difficulties. But the cold hands were worth it as we were extremely pleased with the shots they produced. As we didn’t have expensive cable cams and helicopters, we used a cheap, easy to use glide cam to achieve smooth Tracking shots of Jake. It was so effective, and combined with the stabilisation software in Adobe Premiere Pro, we were able to get professionally smooth footage.

Getting locked off shots using a tripod was also a potential problem, but we brought a lightweight Velbon Fluid head tripod, which was light to carry and easy to attach to a rucksack. It performed just as well as a professional fluid head tripod but was quarter the weight, so was effective in producing quick locked off shots. For sound and lighting we brought a Zoom H4N and a Rotolight. For the sort of stuff we were shooting, the Zoom and the Rotolight were perfect for our needs. Small to carry, but still produced great results.

Thanks to the freezing temperatures the battery life got halved. We had to make sure they were charged every evening and to keep them as warm as possible when out on the slopes in order to keep them going for a reasonable amount of time. Even our lenses found it hard with the changing temperatures. When going indoor and outdoor they fogged up, so we climatised them by keeping them outside during the night time. That meant no unnecessary fogged lenses when starting up on the slopes each morning.

Even though we had some issues, we were able to overcome them. And i was really surprised how good our footage was, even though we had no budget, had minimal equipment, and only filmed for a week.

We are already making plans for the future, and with all the experiences from filming The White Line, I think we will have a better understanding of whats to come.

Hope you enjoy the film. And don’t forget to spread the word!

So it’s been a while since we posted but we’ve been hard at work, focusing on contacting sponsors and organising our Canadian mission. However, we’ll leave information on how that’s going until another more suitably titled blog post. Let’s focus on the edit, eh? Aha, focus being the operative word. FINALLY, a bunch of other work and life responsibilities have kindly proceeded to fuck off and left me free to my beloved snowboard edit. First off, I’ve taken an interesting step to change editing software, walking out on Final Cut and moving to Adobe Premiere. In the long game, I see more potential in premiere as an editing system, having lost faith in Final Cut due to lack of updates and, well, ambition from apple. I’m in the same boat as a lot of editors who yearned for an update to Final Cut 7 but was left disappointed by the completely overhauled and under provided new layout of Final Cut X. So, to shorten the technical story short; I’ve switched sides and started the edit from scratch. Brave? Ambitious? Yes, I am, but unfortunately it wasn’t really too drastic a step and I was easily able to recapture the edit in the new system since I know the shots very well.

In terms of progression of the ‘short edit’ for release this summer, I’m a couple of days away from a rough cut. That’s the hard part of watching all the shots and choosing the best bits out the way. Then, this weekend, I’ll be chopping out all the garbage and making the edit flow, keeping only what’s golden. Luckily for me, I will be answering only to myself in terms of the direction of the edit and I’m decisive and swift when it comes to this stage so I’m confident I’ll be able to nail a final picture within a week. It’s a lot easier now that we’re going for a shorter edit because it means I can be brutal with the cutting and keep only the creme de la creme. No wobble, no shake, only the best of the shots get in. Simples. Following on from that, I’ll be slapping the make up on it, reviewing it with colleagues, friends and people I trust, then I’ll be colouring and sending it off for music composition by the middle of July. I’ve got my direction, I’ve got my schedule and weekly targets to hit and my how I want it to look. It’s all about spending the time actually doing it and, thankfully, I’m now in a position where I am able to edit the film every single day now and make sure I get lots done. It’s been a tough few months in terms of other commitments and of course, since the film team is so small, a lot of my energy has been going into sponsors and the business side of things. But fear not, for now we’re getting very close.

Until next time,

Ismar.

* Unfortunately, budget constraints got the better of us and we have decided not to go to Canada. But rest assured, we’re still making another movie- read about it here. 

After much deliberation over skype calls, and some lonesome introspection-both Jake and Myself are excited to announce that we have decided to drastically change the direction of the film by taking it  to Canada for winter 2012/2013! It is something we spoke about briefly when we were shooting in Switzerland back in January and it started as just a fanciful wish. Since then, the desire to shoot in Canada has grown and circumstances have changed…So, we’ve agreed to go for it!

What does this mean for the film? Well, initially, we had planned to release ‘The White Line’ as a 30-45 minute film in the third quarter of 2012, with a view to hit the international film festival circuit and then put it online. After this, we planned to contact sponsors and persuade them to take the film to Canada to shoot a ‘Part II’. However, insatiability and ambition got the better of us and we think that it would be better to release one true feature film with a run time of about 1hr 30 that combines the two parts into one epic film. It would be a wiser option in terms of sponsors, marketing and brand building. We believe that the Swiss adventure is only one part of a beautiful story that needs to be told and that going back to Canada opens up some interesting story lines with regards to Jake’s background, whilst also giving us a landscape for some bigger set pieces and action sequences. The use of two countries and multiple places to ride will ramp up the production value and put more emphasis on Jake’s roots, motivations and a big opportunity to show off his talent as a rider.

Rewind back to the Alps in January; Having never shot a Snowboard film before, we were left to realise that a single week and only our personal finances to drive a film with our vision was tough. Since we’re perfectionists seeking to create something monumental, we don’t want it to be rushed and with Canada on our minds for a while so, we just thought-why not? And now we’re really doing this. So, we will be dedicating the summer to finding sponsorship so that we can stay in Canada for a few weeks and move around some different resorts. If we can’t interest sponsors, then we will be looking to crowd fund the film. Either way, we’re focused on making this happen.

In the meantime, we aim to release some of what we shot in Switzerland as a 10-15 minute short film to keep you interested and give you a real feel for the direction of the movie, to create some hype for the feature. We will aim to release this short version in the late third/early fourth quarter of 2012 (dependent on the planning process/sponsorship discussions about Canada). We will, however, keep a significant amount of footage back from this edit for us to use in the final feature film which will be combined with the Canadian footage. We will aim to release the full feature in the fourth quarter of 2013.

These are our plans. We make them with passion and a determination to bring them to fruition, but, ultimately, it all comes down to the guy upstairs as we hope we can all stay healthy to pull it off and stick to schedule. All we can safely say is that we have massive plans for this movie and we hope that you can follow us every step of the way.

Warmest Regards,

Ismar Badzic & Jake Cornish.

CHAPTER 2: The Planning

I guess we have Facebook to thank for the planning of this movie. It all started in May/June after the dust had settled following my maiden voyage to the Swiss Alps. Jake messaged me asking about what we had shot that fateful, sunny, afternoon in Anzere. After a few weeks of general chatter, I admitted I was pretty busy with other projects, just biding my time until I could work on it. It was another few months until I finished the actual video, what with other commitments and the limited amount of footage I had- but by that time we had already started planning the next adventure. Here is a timeline of some select lines of unedited conversation. All the entries are shown in their original state, with no editing, although I’ve cut out some irrelevant messages/boring gear conversations etc. What started a conversation in Spring ended up with the formation of a blueprint by Autumn…and by Winter, we were all set to shoot something that would evolve from an trial run to a feature film.

MAY 2011

Jake Cornish

Here’s to facebook. Gotta love socializing! So wheres this little edit you were filming for? I’m pretty curious to see what you did with the footage.
Later man…

JUNE 2011

Ismar Unzip Badžić

I’m getting all the boring ‘work’ out of the way. The passion projects like yours are staying separate until I can take a few days off to just play with the arty side. I can’t wait to finish your vid…
Up for planning something this winter…or do you need to see the vid first?
Hope you’re well dude.

JULY 2011

Jake Cornish

Always up for planning something man. let me know what your ideas are and I’ll try to work around it

SEPTEMBER 2011

Jake Cornish

So mr.ismar…Still have a plan for this winter. I’m getting excited for snow and projects. If you’re in lets get planning man

OCTOBER 2011

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Hey dude. How are you? I’m so up for doing something. I’ll be over for the Nicholas Cup this year in March and my winter break from uni is December 17th-January 16th. What are you up for doing/where etc.

Jake Cornish

I’m still in anzere man. Life is good. And you? Keeping busy from what it looks like.
As for this winter I’m up for anything. I’d jsut like to film and have fun. I think I’ll be at the shop again so a little time every day. What was your vision, you being the artistic guy?

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Okay-well I could come up for a week in the winter holidays perhaps? With the worldwide popularity of the epic ‘thats it thats all’ and ‘art of flight’ how about we just strip everything down and go low key-which is kind of how I planned the other video of you to be last winter but there was not enough time to do it properly and get the best shots-but it served as a good brainstorm session. Anyway. It would be cool to do it as a private piece, a look in at the privacy of snowboarding. No sponsors, no helicopters and avalanches, but about one man who lives on a mountain and lives for the mountain.

How does that sound?

Jake Cornish

Sounds good man. I don’t have the 2 million to make a travis rice movie! I am all for catching the “soul” of snowboarding or at least my version with your vision…know what I mean.
A week will be super quick and make it hard to get all the shots but I’m ok with just seeing what we can come up with. If we finish with 2 min of qualtiy I’ll be more than happy.

Ismar Unzip Badžić

I’m pretty excited about it. Figure out your work schedule and let’s do this. Let me know.

Jake Cornish

It’s simple. I start the 15 of dec and work every weekend. During the week two days off…normaly (except at Xmas) usually when I need them so, no prob. what do you need? More riders? Where and what do you want to film? Park? Backcountry? Resorts?

Ismar Unzip Badžić

I don’t really think we need more riders-I like the idea of it being just one man and his board…plus that makes it way way easier to film! Your the boss, if you like riding park, we’ll go park, if you like backcountry we can do that. I want to just be ‘there’ with my camera without being a presence that tells you what to do or anything…I think that would be pretty pure and pretty cool. I’ve got a little clip on camera and will be getting a gopro to attach to you too so I’ll be set. Do you think we can get a sponsorship thing with the mountain or something to set me up with a free pass and they get a executive producer’s credit?

So whenever is best for you, I can come and shoot. Just so long as it’s after December 16th. Maybe we don’t even need a week? Maybe just get 3/4 back to back days off?

Jake Cornish

Hey, I was just thinking. It might be hard to swing free “filming” passes without “credibility”. By this I mean guaraunteed publicity for the stations or mark(s). If you could throw together a trailer or have any ideas on where this video could go that would be helpfull. A lot of people go to film in parks and resorts and never get comped. As soon as you have a guarantee you get everything, usually hotels as well. I know some places where they might be able to hook us up for free though. I’ll let you know closer to the season but it will be at Thyon, Verbier, Anzere and Crans Montana. We’ll see.
Later man

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Okay. I’ll knock up a trailer from the footage from before. It would work as a trailer, there just wasn’t enough footage to make something massive out of it (which is what this year is for). I want to make this international and hit festivals.

Jake Cornish

Cool man. You really want to go that far with this? I’m definately interested to see what your vision is.

Ismar Unzip Badžić

If we plan it well and I get the right kit and get my head in the game then we can make something beautiful, I know it. There’s a beautiful story in there and the best thing is that it’s true-you’re so passionate about the snow and it’s a story worth telling man: It’s broken your arms but it’s also putting food on your table. It’ll be great.

Jake Cornish

However it ends up I’ll be happy man. I’m just supr stoked to have a project.
For me it has to be a lot about the style, not neccesarily the tricks but the style. and as for equipment, my buddy has a productions facilities company with everything you could dream of, or a way to find it. This guy is like a brother and he’ll help us where he can. Lets just hope we have the snow we need. It could be a gamble mid december, but we could always head to a glacier park.

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Hey Jake, just to say I’ve got pretty much got a week off from uni starting november 8th so I’ll finish the promo/trailer in that week. Also, I’ve got a great camera man friend that is up for helping if we can get that sponsorship with free passes/hotel etc. I don’t want to complicate things too much but shooting with two of us would be far easier and would mean more angles and we won’t need to redo things. What do you think? He will of course, like me, pay for his own flights and food etc and he’s a great guy.

Jake Cornish

I think that’s great man. good news! I want you to know though that I can’t guarantee passes or a hotel. We can try to work out places to stay though and I might be able to use the other parks appartments (in thyon or verbier). As for the gear, let me know what you might need and I can try to get it for free. Just have to reserve now-ish. so, beginning of january sounds the best then?

NOVEMBER 2011

Ismar Unzip Badžić

I pushed through and finished it all today. I will upload and send it tonight! It’s a neat little edit, made out of limited footage. Can’t wait to do the real thing mate!

Jake Cornish

Not bad man! Weird seeing myself like that. Love the editing and the feel is great. I’ll watch it a couple times more I’m sure.

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Yeah I’m happy with it. Done with very little footage to choose from, it fills me with confidence for the real thing.

Jake Cornish

Yeah for the amount of filming it came out great. I would like to say that it’ll be super hard to get enough filming done in just one week. This could end up being a 2 year project. There are so many shots that I would like to get and would illustrate what I talk about and in a week I think it would be next to impossible. Lets see what we can do and go from there!

Ismar Unzip Badžić

I’m not a fan of planning too far ahead. I think life is a cruel thing, and the way to make destiny laugh is live by future plans. That’s just my philosophy. So let’s aim to get as much as we can done this year, because who knows what life will give us by next year and if we’ll even both still be willing or able to film some more. Pretty dark way of looking at things perhaps but it forces me to make the most out of the now.

Anyway, dude, making this video has made me realise just how good we can make this so, if you’re able to get time off work, I’m up for doing a few weeks this year. We could do some in Jan/Feb (if there’s snow), then again in March. This is why we need to nail that sponsorship to get lift passes and stuff so my camera man friend can come with me and we can cover more ground.

DECEMBER 2011

Jake Cornish

We have a little snow and the lifts are already turning. I have to check that I can have a little time off and I know for sure that I won’t be able to have the whole week but I will push for the most possible.

As for the snow and conditions I don’t think it even matters if there is a lot of snow because the film is about the passion. It is definately better if there is snow but if there isn’t we can focus on the everyday reality of riding, not only the “glory shots”

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Oh that’s too exciting dude. Can we skype in the next few days to figure out last details before I book flights?

Jake Cornish

hey man, Just got you passes, hotel and free acces to the new spa for the time you’re in anzere. All we need to do is assure credit to anzere and do what we can to produce a killer film! Talk to you tomorrow, a 8 my time is better.

Ismar Unzip Badžić

-Been watching some snowboard film trailers. They’re all the fucking same. We need to play on that similarity and come up with a trailer to bust some balls, something like:
“Ok, so we have: Gopros. Helicopter shots. Powder. Big tricks. Bigger falls. And, something no other snowboard film has: HEART.” The words come up on screen as the shots appear to make a generic snowboard trailer but then on the ‘and something no other snowboard films has’ we go to black and cut the generic stuff and go into footage of the shop, the wife, the daughter and the reality.

I also had someone suggest a better idea for the name of the film: The White Line (a play on words of the white line of cocaine, meant to represent that boarding is an addiction). I like it.

Jake Cornish

I’l get back to you but i’ll leave you with this
“my drug of choice is white powder”
Burton tshirt

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2011

Ismar Unzip Badžić

2011 has been a great year, and one of the highlights was Tackers and Anzere. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be able to be going into 2012 knowing that we’re going to tear shit up with a fresh new snowboard film. I know that we’ve got the heart and talent to make something amazing. I’m usually nervous before shoots, doubting myself and having to fight the urge to just cancel because I question the point of it all. But with this it’s been different, as soon as we started planning back in October I had nothing but belief and excitement. Ski passes, hotels and gear sorted by you has been incredible-2 camera men and a bunch of camera tech all ready on our end, flights booked and ready to roll. As long as we give it our all and stay patient during the week (and healthy, god willing) I know we can win festivals!

Happy New Year! Send my love to Celine and the little one.

Jake Cornish

Cool man. Wise words mr philosipher. I’m getting in contact with buddies that have done the festivals to see what it takes. No ego just a knowing that we are going to make something original and pure. If it wasnt for your initial facination this wouldnt even be happening, Thanks for pushing me to open up. I’ve gotten good response from people around me. Even tears. There are angles to sell this film, ie; avalanche safety etc.
All we need is good light, motivation and healthy bodies.
If you guys need to be back for a week it’s all arranged ( hotels, spas, lift passes). Lets see what we can do.
Happy new years ismar.
I will pass your love to Celine and the little one(s)
Oh yeah…we’re expecting in july!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

JANUARY 2012

Jake Cornish

Hey man just confirming that you’re getting into geneva at 7:10pm on saturday, getting exciting!

Ismar Unzip Badžić

Yeah that’s right man. I’m buzzing, so stoked. Cameras sorted, so are lenses, I just need to sort this steadicam out.

 *

 The best part of reading this back is to see just how much the film has evolved in terms of the ambitions and targets we first had to make a little ‘trial’ which then became a feature film. However, it’s also amazing to see that we’ve stuck precisely to the intentions for the film in terms of the creative vision, the integrity and the honesty.

This brings our story nicely to Luton airport, the hours in transit and our arrival in Anzere.

*

Next, CHAPTER 3: The Journey

Written by Ismar Badzic

The White Line is an original take on a snowboard movie. It focuses on Jake Cornish, and the way in which a real snowboard enthusiast expresses his passion; juggling his love for the snow with the realities of work and family commitments. Jake has been through a lot with snowboarding, but it has given him as much as it has taken. As a result of snowboarding, Jake was caught in a horrific avalanche…But it is also through snowboarding that Jake met his wife, Celine, who cared for him after the accident, and it is with her that he now shares a home and has a young daughter.

The film aims to capture the reality and relationships of Jake, combining work and family with sequences of intense riding, ranging from powder to park. Through Jake we tell the story of the typical snowboarder, moving away from the fantasies of jaw dropping avalanche runs and crazy helicopter shots featured in most snowboard films. We want to rethink the genre and give an honest account of how it is for the large majority of those afflicted with the addiction to ride.

Last time I informed you of the start of the editing process and my mission to take things step-by-step and not getting bogged down by the magnitude of the picture. The reason for this is that the project is massive in terms of sheer volume of footage and an element of ‘into the darkness’ since it is my maiden voyage into snowboarding, let alone feature films. I’ve got a clear vision of the concept in my head, and a big dream for the future of the brand and the expansion of other films (we’ll cover that later at some point) and it is this which is in my mind with every frame I cut and splice. But, since it’s a film of many firsts for me, the editing process is going to be a little slow at the start to make sure I have things right. So, rather than getting bogged down in the unknown elements, I’m breaking the film down into smaller editing sections. The first job I gave myself was to create an intro…but, this has proved tricky. I’ve got an intro choreographed in my head, but it is extremely time consuming to sift through so much footage to piece it together. I have a large portion of the intro in place already but I quickly realised how time consuming and, actually, demotivating it is to be starting an edit here…since it is forcing me to look at the bigger picture again, rather than the smaller chunks I so desire.  So, I came up with a new means of attack. It all started when I got sidetracked as I was looking through the most recent footage-the night shoot at the old pool. I intended to flick through the clips and find elements to use for the intro but ended up spontaneously editing it into a section in it’s own right. I tried to hammer the focus in the direction of the intro when I realised that actually, the reason I’ve been struggling with the intro is because it’s actually a very difficult thing to create before the rest of the film has fully materialised. So, I concluded I should be editing in sequences, essentially making a collection of short films and connecting the sequences together through interviews and cutaways.

So, after a couple of days work I had the whole of the Night shoot sequence assembled in rough cut form and it felt amazing. The quality of footage, the way it cuts together and the big, meaty duration of the whole thing was really motivating and gave a massive step in the right direction. After this editing, I then proceeded to make a second trailer (click here to view) with a bit more action and light heartedness than the last. Along with this, I wanted to showcase our new addition to the music team, Nick Perri and his killer riffs and how they would work with the action in the film. Although the film has a deep, unique story we still have great riding and adrenaline-fuelled moments so we want to show this to the community. Since the first trailer showed the story, and the second one was about Jake riding with buddies, I decided I want to make several more  trailers which each introduce the audience to the different themes of the film. The next trailer will be ‘air’ to show the killer tricks and jumps with another trailer after that showing the interview aspects. I think it’s important people know the messages we want to deliver, and doing this through a set of trailers which each bring greatly different flavours epitomises and proves what the film is about. It will also cater for different demographics, ranging from people who want to hear a good story, to people who want to see some straight-up riding. There’s a long way to go until next winter, and we need to create as much buzz as possible. Since we’re  lucky enough to be well endowed with a plethora of footage and the challenge of drawing in a new fan base from scratch, trailers are way of promoting the film.

All in all, I think it’s been a successful week with editing and I feel I’ve found a good workflow. The assignment for this week is to finish the ‘Back Country Kicker’ and ‘At Work’ sequences. Why these sequences? Well, frankly, because  they are pretty simple and fun sections. I think that working on these simpler, more enjoyable sequences first will let me experiment with styles and give me a better understanding of the film, how to edit it and, moreover, confidence and structure going into the trickier parts. Remember-I’ve never made a snowboard or feature film before so a lot of experimentation is going on right now. I have the concept, I just need to, well, make it. But rest assured, I smell blood now and the film is taking shape nicely.
Until next time,
Ismar.

MAKING THE WHITE LINE

Preface

Films are funny things. They’re just ideas, varying in degrees of execution; some are destined to be lost in the chambers of the mind, consumed by other matters or biological functions of the brain. Some make it to the notepad where they can lie dormant and either stay consigned to paper for the rest of their days, or, on rare occasions, may be gifted the joy of production.

 

All my ideas are recorded on digital notepads to varying degrees of depth and I pride myself in not forgetting any of them. Time will tell how many of the ideas are simply doomed and how many will amount to anything. The best ideas, however, are the ones that simply happen. Time can be toxic, and I’m very much of the ‘just fucking do it’ attitude. It’s the only way that things get done. The results vary in practice, but the sign of progression is  controlling and limiting variables, teamed with the neutralization of negative outcomes, thus leading to growing amounts of each project. The difference between a journeyman and an apprentice?  A journeyman knows how to correct his mistakes

CHAPTER 1:

The Beginning.

The idea for THE WHITE LINE was born in March 2011, in the Swiss Alps.

I was out there doing some photography for a fabulous charity called Tackers who provide ski camps for kids with organ transplants. Whilst there, I met Jake Cornish- just a dude working in a ski rental shop. We found a common ground with snowboarding and struck up some conversation. Still very much a learning-border, I asked whether he could show me a thing or to, and, on his lunch break, we decided to go for a casual ride on the mountain. As I struggled to keep up, Jake was throwing down freestyle all over the place. I quickly realised that this wasn’t some dude who worked in a shop, this was a very talented boarder. Addressing the question of just how good he was, we got to talking about park riding and big tricks…so, we went to the park and I stood in awe as I watched him catapult his body around the park. His lunch was over and he had to get back to work but he agreed to ride again…and so, the cogs in my head started turning.

I had a day off and we went up for another lunch break. This time, I took my camera, hoping to catch some decent tricks on film. I saw an opportunity to do something I’d never done before and film some cool snowboarding. Why not? I’m lucky enough to be in the sunny Alps with an awesome boarder.  It is these moments where notepads are superseded by opportunities, things that spontaneously appear, which have to be seized. I’ve conditioned myself in the art of just asking, luckily, this usually leads to the act of just doing, where the reward is a passion project that motivates purely by it’s surprising swiftness of fruition.

My day off rolled around and we headed up the mountain. I moved fast and made a gut call-whilst in the lift, I rolled the camera and asked some questions. I had already decided that I wouldn’t just be filming some token clips for fun, and that I wanted to make a little film. Without a chance to question me, I began the interrogation under the guise of a casual conversation. The words from Jake were pretty sparse but led me to ask about risk, accidents and injuries. This is where he opened up and landed a sucker punch.

“Have you had any boarding accidents?”

 

“A lot…I’ve broken everything man”

 

“What’s the worst injury you’ve had?”

 

“My arms”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I got caught in an avalanche…swept through a forest”

Voila. The movie was born. The answer was so shocking and outrageous that I had to take the concept and run with it even further. So we filmed some stuff in the park, then headed back to the shop. This is where things probably got a little weird for Jake. This Bosnian-born, English dwelling kid that he just met 2 days ago started filming him at work; talking to colleagues and fixing boards. Going riding with a keen teenager is one thing. Filming some jumps is another. An impromptu interview in a lift thrust upon you is perhaps borderline ‘too much, too soon’…but having to take your shirt off at work to show your scar-ridden arms is just weird. And yet…Jake was fine with it. He let me have my fun and it appeared that he was a natural in front of the camera; his laid back character laced with a profound wisdom and witty cheek was a winning formula. My mind was racing and I was sure that I could make a decent short film from the footage I had captured today. God knows what Jake was thinking. It didn’t matter, because I knew. I had a vision for the film. The kind of vision acquired from the feel of the elements, from the spontaneity of just doing it and learning on the fly…this is a vision that one cannot simply cannot manufacture through brainstorming and thought alone. This is love on the battlefield.

*

After a few months of being back in England, busy with other work and the start of my first year of university, I still hadn’t cracked the edit. But there it was, always lingering at the front of my mind. Then one day-I just did it. Unhappy with the limited footage, I considered not releasing it and letting it all fall through since it wasn’t as perfect as I pictured it. This is what happens when the spontenaity of the shooting fades and routine kicks in, with outstanding work and real life getting in the way. It’s times like these that projects can die, but the default ‘give up’ setting must be overridden in order to succeed.  Hell, it was a couple of hours on a mountain- in a park, and some stuff at work. I couldn’t expect an Oscar for it! So I persevered and found the magic from the Alps…lying dormant, begging to reawake. I finished it. Then I released it. Then Jake saw it…He got it, and he understood the vision. So, naturally, that’s when we started formulating plans to do it properly.

Next, CHAPTER 2: The Planning

Written by Ismar Badzic

*

The White Line is an original take on a snowboard movie. It focuses on Jake Cornish, and the way in which a real snowboard enthusiast expresses his passion; juggling his love for the snow with the realities of work and family commitments. Jake has been through a lot with snowboarding, but it has given him as much as it has taken. As a result of snowboarding, Jake was caught in a horrific avalanche…But it is also through snowboarding that Jake met his wife, Celine, who cared for him after the accident, and it is with her that he now shares a home and has a young daughter.

 

The film aims to capture the reality and relationships of Jake, combining work and family with sequences of intense riding, ranging from powder to park. Through Jake we tell the story of the typical snowboarder, moving away from the fantasies of jaw dropping avalanche runs and crazy helicopter shots featured in most snowboard films. We want to rethink the genre and give an honest account of how it is for the large majority of those afflicted with the addiction to ride.

 

We are proud to announce a welcome addition to The White Line team- Guitarist Nick Perri. He has kindly agreed to compose original music for the film, scoring it straight from L.A! Nick is an established American guitarist, with a rich, classic rock style of playing. He has taken his infectious riffs and killer solos to a number of bands over the course of his eleven year career, having played in bands and with artists such as Silvertide, Perry Farrell, Shinedown, Matt Sorum, SINAI and Christina Perri.

In the past year, Nick has moved onto solo projects, recording and releasing his own music and opening a lifestyle store in L.A called ‘Perri Ink’. The store is a hybrid of American culture, offering custom mortocycles, parts & service, custom guitars, tattoos & piercings, a barber shop and a full line of apparel. In addition to his music, we are also excited to announce ‘Perri Ink’ as an official sponsor of the movie.

You can follow Nick and his musical journey on facebook, twitter and youtube, whilst exploring the world of  Perri Ink via their website and facebook.

 

 

I’ve been playing around with clips from the film for a while now, having made a trailer and some teaser videos that reside online. However, today I started the official assembly of the film. It’s been hard trying to find the time in and amongst other film work and university but I dubbed this weekend the official start of the edit-for my peace of mind. I only managed to spend a couple of hours on it because of other commitments, but it’s a start, and with something on this scale, you need to start well and in an organised manner.

I was really just getting accustomed with the magnitude of the task at hand today, filing all the clips in the editing programme and jotting down some ideas. Make no mistake about it, this is a huge project-by far the biggest I have ever undertaken. I always knew it would be the case, and that’s why I never started the edit before; because this film needs it’s own space and time…it isn’t the kind of thing that I can do in little chunks-I’m going to have to dedicate serious hours at a time to piece the sequences together. The film deserves it.

It’s a pretty daunting task to be honest because I’ve never shot or edited a snowboard film before. But that’s the beauty of it. My plan is to bring the disciplines of drama/fiction film making into this project, that’s why it’s going to be different from other extreme sports/documentary pieces. It will have it’s own dynamic in this sense. I know it’s going to be a tricky, fiddly edit with lots of elements needed to piece it together well enough to combine the personal story with the action. Then, there’s all the vfx, grading, audio syncing and music that needs to be done after the cut has been locked…all the while contacting sponsors and managing the social media…whilst working on other projects and university assignments and exams……AH! See-daunting!

BUT- I’m not going to worry about all of that stuff, I’m going to take it one step at a time, scheduling deadlines for myself to finish different sections of the film, taking it step by step. I’m not going to schedule the work for the entire film, breaking down when the edit needs to be finished and grading started etc. I don’t want to think about any other task until the one I am doing has been perfected. If I look at it like that and break it down, it becomes far more manageable…and saves me a lot of stress. One eye has to be on the big picture, having an awareness of everything that needs doing but, I need to put the blinkers on and focus attention on the little bits of the jigsaw.

That’s why I have this blog. This will be my therapy (It’s helped already- simply tidying my ideas into a formulated, published plan). My first little task is to finish the intro sequence which leads up to the point where we see our hero, Jake for the first time. This will be made up of purely scenic shots from the mountain and the town. The plan is to establish various locations and then come back to them later on in the movie with Jake. It’s simple and it will work as a nice build up/credits screen. That’s all. Simple! My personal deadline for this is next weekend. Where do I go after that? Well…I’m not worrying about that right now- I’ve got an intro to nail.

Until next time,

Ismar

Let us know what you think?

So, Post Production is now in full swing.

Meanwhile we’re working hard on this swanky new website.

Let us know what you think!

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