Urban skiing/filming tips for beginners

B

BA.berger

Member
I've been lokking for threads like this for a while now and couldn't find anything so I made one myself!

I tried too shoot some urban rails last year but I didnt work, we wore 3 to 4 guys and I belive thats why it became so difficult.

I saw a video from salomon freeski TV a year ago or something about how and what you gonna need to shoot urbans, would really appreciated if someone could link that one here if you find it!

And ofcourse im looking for tips on how to this!

Thanks!:)
 
I'm just gonna shoot off a few things that I like to do for single feature sessions

-Bring as much camera/lighting equipment as you can. You never know what type of shots you might want to get on a feature and be limited by what you brought with you.

-When you get to the spot, improvise a shot list and look around. Cannot stress how nice it is to have a shot list prior to the session. Do a few "practice pans" if you're gonna be using a tripod or a few "practice runs" if you're gonna be doing any followcam type stuff

-Having a second filmer with you is a huge help, but isn't necessary

-B-roll. LOTS OF B-ROLL

-Communicate with riders in regards to them dropping. Nothing worse than missing a shot because of miscommunication

-Make sure your equipment is all ready to go the night before any sort of shoot and pack it away so you don't forget it when you're in a rush to leave. Not having fully charged batteries or leaving them or SD cards at home is a shitty and you'll be kicking yourself for a while

 


I shoot a lot of urban throughout the winter and we have developed a pretty decent system that works for us.

Bare minimum supplies:

- A culligan bottle of water. The more water you have the better. You will use this to freeze the jump and in run once you have shaped everything. Tip: dont pack the jump until at least 5-10min after pouring water on it or the wet snow will just stick to your shovel. (those big bottles that go on water dispenser things)

- As many shovels as people you are shave the session with. Its a waste when somebody is just sitting around while everybody shovels for an hour or more to build your setup.

- A generator. We try as often as possible to find power sources where we are filming but more often than not, we end up using to much power and the breaker cuts out. Its best to be prepared for that situation so that you dont just need to pack up when you loose power. 3500w genies are generally powerful enough for a solid lighting setup. bring lots of gas too. a 5 hour session isnt uncommon.

- 20ft bungie/ drop in ramp. Each has their own advantages. 10ft bungies suck dick and tend to launch way to fast. Bring lots of extra rope too because you never know where you might have to tie the bungee too.

- Lights. We generally use 3 stands of 2 500w construction lights. They are cheap and the replacement bulbs aren't expensive either. You will break bulbs.

That should be a decent list off the top of my head of what we generally bring when shooting urban. We also try and session with 3-5 people at a time. This way it doesn't get to crowded and everybody gets as many hits as possible. All the supplies above apply for day time shooting as well except the geny and lights. Its still good to have them with you because often you might start during the day and continue well into the night depending on what you are hitting.

Here are some other tips:

You should maintain your setup as you session as well. By working on the jump and taking time to add more water and make it stronger or fill in ruts it will eliminate any large amounts of downtime you will have when your jump collapses.

Don't turn your lights on until you are absolutely ready to session. you dont want to attract any unnecessary attention before you start hitting the feature.

If the police show up, DONT GET IN THEIR FACES. This is key. Some cops are just assholes and will be pissed right away but this doesnt mean that you should do the same. Just be understanding and if they ask you to leave and clean up the JUST DO IT. I have never personally been busted by police. They always come around and are generally pretty stoked or just have better things to do with their time than bust some kids hitting a rail. Generally you will deal with security guards, who are much less stoked, and other public figures that believe its their responsibility to protect what ever rail you are hitting. Same goes for them. Be understanding and dont talk back to them because that wont get you anywhere. You might be mad but just be the bigger person.

Have a lookout for cars if your landing goes onto a road. A lot of rails run onto sidewalks and you will slide onto the road so just make sure you have somebody looking out.

When it comes to setting up your lights, generally try and have two pointing at the feature in the direction that you will be filming and one from the back providing backfill. That is quite general but is a good formula to get well lit shots. Also, dont just light the rail or what ever your hitting and not the landing. too many people just disappear into the darkness after they land. As viewers we want to see what happened after they landed as well.

If you can, bring two cameras. this will allow you to get two angles as well as have a backup if one craps out. Also, bring lots of batteries and turn your camera off when you arent recording something. You want to save that power as long as possible.

Thats all I can think of as of right now. Hopefully it helps some of you guys out. Probably some other stuff that people will add and I will most likely think of more. This is generally just an urban tips in general post now but who the hell cares.

here is something we made during our first season of filming urban. this was the 2010/2011 season so two years ago and its got some good examples of how we set up our stuff.

Hope this helps you guys.

 
I have personally never been busted by the police. I have had them come up and talk to us about what we are doing quite a few times and usually they just pce out right away and stay and watch for a bit. We had some cops park on the other side of the street from a rail we where hitting and every time somebody got down the rail or a sick trick they would turn their lights on. Another time we where hitting a rail on a pretty main road beside a motel and a guy in his room called the cops and said we looked suspicious so they came and talked to us. There was like 4 or 5 cops there and they must have stayed for like 15-20 min and just watched and where so stoked. The lady cop that was with them kept calling us crazy daredevils and just wanted to make sure all the people hitting the rail had helmets on. which they did.

The worst bust I have ever had was at the University of Calgary hitting a huge quad kink and we got busted by campus security like 10 min after we started our session. they asked if anybody was a student (which I am) but we all said we where from out of town, which we arent. they wanted to take down our names but nobody gave them to them and we just packed up and peeled out. We also set up this huge bomb drop one time on some private property in some industrial area and there was this indian security guard that spoke almost no english that kept trying to get us to leave. One of my buddies would take him for a walk and talk to him as some other guys hit the drop but that only worked for so long until he just started hacking away at the jump. Im pretty sure the only words he said to us the whole time where 'no" and 'must go now'.

My friend who I film with (Robert77) has had some pretty harsh busts by security but still no police for him either. It seems that at least in calgary, most cops have better things to do then to bust some kids for hitting a rail when they could go catch bad guys n shit. They just leave it up to the security guards.
 
We got busted a couple times when I was shooting urban in washington with PBP a couple seasons ago. Most of the time it was totally chill. cops would come, ask us to leave, we explained what we were doing and that we were insured, and if they still wanted us to pack up and leave, we did. The worst was when the principal of a school busted us. She just came out screaming at us telling us she called the cops and told them we were assaulting her with weapons or something, it was ridiculous. After a failed attempt to reason with her, we got the fuck out of there.
 
I've had the cops come and see what we were doing a couple times, but once they see that we aren't just trying to wreck stuff and we look semi legit (cameras, helmets, All the right equipment, etc) they usually leave you alone and as long as your not a dick they will usually be pretty nice about it.
 
Been busted a couple times. Never had my name even written down, mostly just told we have to leave. Once the cop wanted to "check out our shots" and asked if anyone had gotten any good tricks that night. He was super apologetic about busting us and told us not even to clean up, as the owner of the building had asked police to get people hitting the rail in trouble if they were caught, and if any other cops rolled by he would have to write us tickets, but he didn't want to. haha. They he offered to hook up cheap lift tickets at a local resort.

Another time we had security roll by and ask us what we were doing, then just said they wanted to watch. Smoked cigs and cheered for a couple hours till their shift was up.

The best thing to say when they ask what you are doing is "Just having some fun, doing some skiing", as some cops will default to destruction of property or vandalism if they see that you are sliding the rail.

Snowboard boots are warmer than ski boots when you're standing around, so get a cheap pair from a friend.
 
Haha, must be so awesome with stoked cops who's watching you!!:)But what would the best settings for filming at night with a dslr be?

My dad is going to buy the sigma 30mm 1.4 for indoor photos at night (christmas eve. and stuff) would this one be good for filming urban at night?

Im also wondering if im going to buy a canon 50mm 1.8 (I had a 50mm 1.4 but it hit the ground and bam, the focus was stuck, FML)

what do you think, will I need a 50mm besides the 30mm?

Thanks for good answers so far in this thread!:)
 
what type of lightning and genrator would be the best, pro videolight or some basic working lamps, and quiet genrator or the opposite?
 
work lights are literally the best kind of lights that you can get for the money. they are more durable and brighter than any studio lights that come even close to the same price and the bulbs are cheap as fuck the replace because you will break them. Just adjust your white balance and you're good to go.

As for genys, this is what we use because its super quiet and it can power 3 stands with 2 500w lights on each one easily. thats a lot of light for a feature.

http://www.generatordepot.us/gentron-quiet-generator-3500w-inverter-generators-for-rv.aspx
 
Thanks, but theres no way I can afford that.. would like 5k watt not quiet, but cheaper work okay? our should i get a quiet with 1k watt and some LED lights?
 
just get the more powerful one. 1000 isnt enough at all. we have another geny thats 3000w that isnt a quiet one and its fine too. the quiet one is just good for shoots at 3am in communities and places where you dont want to be super loud and attract attention.
 
at least two stands with two 500w lights on each one. thats pretty good for lighting everything. the more light the better though.
 
sprinkle some dry snow on top of what you have just poured the water on and it won't stick to your shovel.
 
I was just going to say this. If you don't pack the wet stuff right away it just makes a shell of ice over the soft stuff underneath. A watering can helps with the dispersion of water too. Or you can use your mouth but I find this to be pretty ineffective.
 
the honda is the quietest one i've ever used. most of the knockoffs are a bit louder. you can find relatively good prices on them if you buy used off of craiglist.
 
Its been said before in this thread but saying it again for emphasis

SHOOT B-ROLL

That definitely does not mean your entire edit has to become b-roll but you will never regret having excess. One of the cool things about urban is that you are shooting in a city/not on a mountain. The locations are unique. I enjoy watching edits show it.
 
really noob question, i know, but what kind of shovels do you guys use to shape your jumps?
 
I usually use a long avy shovel because they fit in a backpack well and are still pretty decent. If you're building something big though it takes forever.
 
Dont rely on street lights, not only will the shots come out terrible but often they dont have the correct lighting you want which could get someone hurt.
 
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