The art of videography – Filming at the Nantahala River
Horizon is working on a documentary about Team River Runner – a volunteer organization that provides healing opportunities for military personnel and veterans who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. They do this by teaching the vets how to paddle a kayak on mountain rivers. I feel privileged to be involved with this project, because there are so many important stories to be told. I’ve been meeting a great group of people, and I want to write about them at some point, but today I want to talk about videography.
Back in August, the Horizon crew and I were on the Nantahala River in the Blue Ridge Mountains filming for this documentary. Because I work primarily as an editor, I don’t go on location very often. When I do, it’s usually in a more predictable environment than wild mountains and rivers. Our goal that weekend was to capture the TRR members’ kayak trip from start to finish. It sounds simple but in reality it wasn’t. While constantly dealing with the threat of rain, our videographers had to move quickly to film the vets at key positions on the river. The Nantahala was crowded with kayakers, so they had to spot their subjects, maintain good composition and keep them in focus as they were rapidly coming down the river. The sun was moving in and out of the clouds, the light was reflecting off the water and the giant trees were casting shadows all over the place. These conditions required them to adjust exposure constantly. And when you’re shooting a group of kayakers, how do you know how long to hold each shot before you move on to the next person? Change shots a moment too soon or a moment too late and you could miss something great. So they rely on their instinct and experience to sense what is going to happen next, anticipate their next shot and capture all these moments that are happening so fast. It’s a lot to do at one time, and you only get one chance to do it right.
In the edit suite cutting footage together, it’s easy to forget about the challenge of the field and the tremendous skill of the people who brought back such great footage. I am thankful to have known some talented videographers over the years. This trip reminded me once again of the art of videography.
