Parc Regional du Poisson Blanc Quebec
For the second year in a row, I participated in a gear collective campaign for a variety of outdoor gear companies. It was organized by the production company Five2Nine with seven to eight Canadian companies such as Salus Marine, Nova Craft and Parc regional du Poisson Blanc. Last year we spent two days at Kenauk Nature and the cool evening and morning helped produce incredible visual results. These projects are demanding in their scope and creative output. And they are a lot of fun.
The point of this media campaign was to bring gear companies together in a beautiful location and create visual media that all of them can access. It not only is cost efficient but is an opportunity to bring operators and talent together in a safe and efficient way. It is COVID season after all. This was my first contract of the year by the way. As January rolled around I had between $20,000 to $25,000 worth of work lined up for this year. It all disappeared by the end of March. Being able to get outside in a location like this felt pretty good especially in a year like the one we are all living through.
Dylan Page steadies his hand while filming during the evening and the reflection mirrors off a 16-foot NovaCraft prospector canoe.
Alex Guimont and Caleb Roberts coordinate between themselves early in the morning on the shore of Lac Poisson Blanc. This image highlights the basic challenges of creating imagery that is consistent for different brands.
Much of what is involved producing content for these kinds of companies results in very expensive equipment dangled over the edge of canoe gunwales close to the water.
This year I was introduced to a new Canadian company, Kuma Outdoors who are are owned here in Canada. They design and produce camping equipment including sun shades and camping couches! True story.
A lot of what happens is what you see here. Set. Reset. Adjust settings for activity and the weather. Check footage and images - reset and start all over again.
Level Six has been involved with three of these gear collective campaigns and their clothing line is the staple for talent.
Videographer and editor Tom Mountain moved to Ottawa recently with his wife and infant daughter. So Tom and I met on this project. He moved to Ottawa recently and rode back to Ottawa together. It turns out that we both knew the same person in the advertising and video storytelling. It’s very cool how small the world is when you get the chance to meet new people who love what you do.
Pretty hard to beat warm, summer campsites (with minimal bugs and mosquitos involved).
When I am working on my own I always forget to take a moment to take make an image of my own drone. For this project, there were four or five so I am glad I got the chance to capture this moment.
Sometimes you need to just kick back and relax as crazy 24-hr blocks of visual creation. Caleb can chill pretty well here as you can tell.
Ending long days with a bonfire is really where the memories are made in moments like this. The blur of time as I sit here now is mostly stitched together like a cloud. But the nighttime was warm, the heat of the fire felt familiar - and it’s most of what I remember for this day.