Ski Cinematography in Deep Powder, British Columbia
Perspective was filmed in British Columbia with Henrik Windstedt, Dave Treadway and Matilda Rapaport. I served as Director of Photography for the ski sequences, leading the cinematography around the skiing and operating the moving ski-camera and gimbal setups.
Simon Sjörén produced the film and worked as lifestyle cinematographer and drone pilot. For the aerial sequences, Simon flew the drone while I operated the camera, working together to create the film’s aerial perspective.
Filmed in 2016, Perspective was pushing what was possible with high-end cinema equipment in a remote ski environment at the time. Heavy-lift drones and gyro-stabilized gimbals allowed us to bring cinema cameras and controlled camera movement deep into the British Columbia backcountry, combining aerial scale with a close moving perspective from within the skiing.
Client: Peak Performance · Production: Whiteout Pictures · Cinematography: Simon Sjörén, Alexander Rydén · Alexander’s role: Skiing cinematography, gimbal operator · Location: British Columbia, 2016
TWO LINES. ONE SHOT.
For the ski sequences, I worked directly with the athletes and terrain to determine how the skiing and camera movement could come together within each shot. Every moving sequence effectively required two lines: the athlete’s line and my camera line. Speed, distance, deep snow and spray all influenced where I could position the camera and how closely I could move with the skier while keeping the image controlled.
“You should have seen the amount of gear that we brought up the mountain, felt like were making Interstellar 2. Most of it isn’t made for this type of environment either. Really impressive that it works. The reward when you see the final edit makes it all worth the effort though. Fun working with these creative guys using McGuiver solutions that is totally out of the box.”
— Henrik Windstedt
“Some of these shots was the kind of stuff we’ve been dreaming of capturing for a long time. It really pushed us and the equipment to the max. So proud of the team effort put into making this project happen”
— Simon Sjörén, Producer, Whiteout Pictures
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