Filmmaking tips for shooting in the snow
As some of you know, we just wrapped a Western short film “The Sierra” shot entirely in the snow. We were at a beautiful location called White Wolf. Amazing, amazing amazing. It was fast, fun and furious with gunfights, stunts, horses, cowboys and indians. We shot a 25-minute film in about 6 days.
It brought me back to the old days of making snowboard films, minus the cowboys and indians, probably about as many guns. I spent a lot of years trudging around the snow with an Arri SB and a tripod strapped to my back. Times have changed and my back has gotten weaker, but I hopefully have become a bit wiser. That said, I believe many of the lessons I learned still hold true. So I thought I would throw out a couple of useful tips for shooting in the snow….
1. Lots of manpower, the more the better. It always takes twice as long to get around and set positions. It just physically takes more energy to move, especially carrying equipment.
2. Always have foul weather gear for your camera. Even if it’s not snowing, you’ll get blowing crystals or falling snow debris off of tree limbs that will scuttle even the best camera, or spot your lens at the least.
3. Neutral density filters are your friend. You should have no lack of light or fill while out in the winter wonderland but you might have way too much DOF with all the exposure. I like to run with an N9 and a Pola depending on time of day and direction. On this shoot we were shooting a RED ONE camera with an N9, IR and Pola most of the time. Occasionally we would go to the N1.2, which should take about 4 stops out of the equation.
4. When we were making snowboard films, we would do our follow work hand-held on a snowboard or skis just “suitcasing” the camera. For this shoot, we used a combo of hand-held and steadi-cam, jib arm and dolly. For the steadi-cam, it was super important to pack down a trail for the operator to have the smoothest possible track. The same applies to hand-held.
For the dolly we brought 10ft long 2×12 planks to lay first and level the dolly track on. Wood has a slower sink rate and this is important when trying to maintain a level dolly. When you put the metal down on the snow, it just kinda sinks no matter how firm it is.
5. When shooting film, I would always expose for the ambient fill. Basically put the ball of the meter towards camera without angling towards the ground or sky. I was looking for a very average reading, knowing that the snow would reflect way hotter than other more neutral shooting environments. If a little sun snuck onto the ball from the backlight that was ok, or conversely if it were front lit, letting the ball of the meter take what light the sun was throwing. Just once again not angling any other way than towards the camera. This was a very simple and effective way to get a fat negative and compensate for the abundance of fill.
Now with the RED ONE camera, protecting highlights is key and especially important in the snow. Usually in the morning I would set my meter to the native ISO of the RED (320) and check what that looked like on the monitor — maybe even transfer a shot to RED Alert to see what was holding and what wasn’t. I also had my camera set up in Redspace. This allowed me to see a higher key image on the monitors. This was important because of the snow blinding that happens after a full day in the snow. Brights start to seem duller and your inclination is to open up a little more. Having a hotter image on the screens helped to keep me honest and true to my original exposure ideals.
6. Bring lots of sunscreen and reapply as much as you drink water. You’re gonna be at elevation and you can get dehydration and altitude sickness in a heart beat. Just ask Erika about that.
Cheers
J