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I’ve been gone since July 1st, visiting family in Colorado and at Philmont Scout Ranch backpacking and filming.  I’ll focus on the Philmont stuff on this post- but I had a blast in Colorado as well.

For those of you who don’t know Philmont, it’s in NE New Mexico in the beautiful Sangre De Cristo Mountains.  It’s a national Scout Ranch and nearly one million people have been there since 1938.  I’m one of those lucky people, and I was joined by a good friend, Andy, who I worked with at Philmont since the early 90′s  (By the way, if you are still really intrested in finding more about Philmont- feel free to purchase my, “Philmont Documentary Collection” on DVD or Blu-ray!  Yes,  this is a blatant advertisement!  Buy it- buy it now!  www.Philmontmovie.com)

So Andy and I both met our wives at Philmont and most of our best friends work at Philmont, and it’s been a very big part of our lives- so as you can imagine there was much back slapping, rib poking and ‘remember whens’.  I filmed a bit too.

I’m happy to report to anyone who has been to Philmont- that it’s still good ol’ Philmont.  But one striking difference this year is how dry it is!  The ranch foreman said it matches the Dustbowl drought.  Everything is brown, creeks are empty, trails are dusty, Crater Lake looks like more like Crater Stink Hole.  You get my drift?  So filming was frustrating since I already had so much better stuff from my doc.  We visited the following camps: Clear Creek, PJ, Crooked, Beaubien, Crater Lake, Black Mtn, Pueblano, Head of Dean, and Baldy Town.

My favorite was going back to Black.  I worked at that camp for 4 summers and I consider it my home as much as any other.  It felt good to stand in that cabin again!  But weird not to be wearing interps.  And sad not to smell that coal burning in the blacksmith forge (because of the drought).  I felt like a geek in my hiking shorts- which I guess I am.  But the staff was as friendly and accommodating as ever and they didn’t kick sand in my face and call me, ‘old man’ so that was nice.

There was a fire on Wilson Mesa the night we stayed at Beabien.  They had to evacuate all the crews from the North Country and it caused for a lot of excitement over the radio but fortunately the fire crews put it out quickly and only a few acres burned.  Unfortunately the smoke blocked my beautiful moonlight time lapse of Beaubien about half way through. http://vimeo.com/27780275

The next morning an eerie smoke filled the Beaubien meadows.  I managed to film up on Wilson Mesa as the fire crews were wrapping up 2 days later.

Another highlight from the Philmont trip was visiting Black Horse cabin which was this really cool mining cabin half way up Baldy.  The views were amazing and Andy and I just stared at it for a nice long time.  Have you ever noticed the mines from the 1800′s always had the best views?  Yes the miners had black lung, died young, were underpaid, and overworked- but at least they had great views on their lunch breaks.  I remember they were repairing the Black Horse cabin there in 1999 and had thoughts of opening it up as a staff camp because it had a mine right there.  I remembered saying that if they did open it- I would come back to work there at that camp.   Come to think of it- maybe that’s why they never opened the camp…

Oh yeah and I also visited the St. James in Cimarron a couple of times.  It’s a cool old hotel that many western outlaws frequented.  I heard a rumor they serve alcohol there too.

Speaking of which, it’s a nice night so I think I’ll go find a seat outside where I can put my feet up and drink a cold beer and remember.  Cheers!

-Larry

I’m heading off to the airport in the next hour or so- destination Colorado and Philmont Scout Ranch!

After wrapping up my first job for REI, I can head out with a sense of accomplishment. I can’t wait for you to see the REI stories I captured in Colorado which will be posting on their social network pages soon. If you’re not a fan of REI’s Facebook page, check it out if you can because I will be posting videos on there for months to come. The premise of the videos or web series is to capture REI members sharing their favorite outdoor adventures in their favorite neck of the woods. It might be a group of friends on a paddling trip, or a retired couple cycling from Bryce to Zion or motorcyclists riding and camping on a road trip. The possibilities are exciting. REI will be posting ways that you can submit to be filmed on their Facebook page. My job is to film and edit these adventures. How cool is that?

I’m heading with my son to Colorado today to spend some time with family over the weekend. Colorado is so amazing in the summer and a nice relief from Austin weather. We will make our way down to my parents cabin in southern Colorado where my son will stay with his grandparents for a few days. They have every day planned and so many cool things that a 4 year old can do in a remote area in the mountains. He’s excited!

I’ll be at Philmont all next week in support of my Philmont Documentary Collection which I released in November (www.Philmontmovie.com). I’m excited to announce that on July 5th the documentary will make it’s Philmont premier. It’s something I have wanted for a long time. I am excited about this filming venture because I can really just take my time and get a lot of beauty shots and not have to be documenting people. Don’t get me wrong- I love to document people, but it can be exhausting being a one-man crew and the change of pace will be welcome. Philmont will use the footage as they choose. It will most likely be supplemental footage for their new established video team. One of the best parts of the trip is the fact that I’ll be joined by my good friend- Andy Gerhart. I met Andy about 20 years ago at Philmont and we’ve shared some great times. He helped me launch our band, “The Tobasco Donkeys”.

And then I’m back in Colorado for a family reunion and to meet up with my wife and daughter for a few day vacation. It’s going to be a great couple of weeks!

I will post from Philmont and when I can. Have a great holiday weekend!

-Larry

Gil Garcia

asked me a some great questions from my last post, so I thought I would use it as a basis for todays entry.  Gil wrote, “Is there any time to get to know the backpacking crew before you start filming? Or are you just going to show up, introduce yourself and start filming? What are your techniques for developing a relationship, or communicating to them what to expect from you on such short notice if so?”.  

In most situations, I will not be able to meet or know the people before I film them.  Through emails and phone conversations wherever possible I try to establish a connection with at least 1 person in the group, usually the leader, to make things a bit easier when I film.  For my last documentary I not only filmed a crew that I hardly knew for 11 days but I also interviewed and filmed countless others who I just met.  I always let the people know what my intentions are up front, even if I only have 30 seconds to do it.  Trust is crucial.  And so is reputation.  For any budding filmmakers out there, whether you are working with actors or documenting people- this is really key.  When someone agrees to be filmed they are really making themselves vulnerable.  Through the power of editing, music and camera angles a filmmaker with malice intentions can really mis-represent someone and make them look like an idiot.  They can create conflict between people where there is none and so on.  I’m sure this is isn’t news to anyone, but having been a subject on a reality show for VH1 one time, I can speak first hand.  This is filmmaking at it’s worst.  And it is not what I am interested in doing.  The internet can be the great equalizer as well, because if you mis-represent someone they would have every right to post everywhere that you can’t be trusted and your reputation would be shot.   Ok, so trust and reputation.  I try to establish that before I film a person.

I actually think it can be advantageous to not know the subjects too much before filming them.   I like to discover what makes the subjects interesting to me as I film them.  If I knew them already, I may overlook the qualities that make them interesting to a viewer who is seeing them for the first time.  It’s like having the eyes of a child, being fascinated with everything that comes through my lens for the first time.  It’s exciting to discover new people and places and I hope that translates in the final piece.  I think of one of my favorite directors, Sergio Leone who made The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in The West among others.  Here was this Italian filmmaker who saw our ‘wild west’ with child’s eyes and a fresh perspective and he reinvigorated our Western genre.

While filming, I also try to keep my distance and stay out of the group dynamic.  The crew I filmed at Philmont joked that they would not know where I was and then spot me filming them from behind some bushes.  To be fair, I don’t think I hid behind many bushes and wasn’t really trying to be covert about what I was doing, but they liked to joke about it with me anyway.  But as I am on a trip in the beautiful outdoors, it’s so difficult to stop being an observer and just become part of the group.  Of course it would be creepy if I never talked and just stood around and filmed them without cracking jokes off camera and such.  But I tread lightly because I don’t want to change the dynamic.  It’s like in Back to The Future when Marty McFly makes any slight changes, it can have enormous consequences in the future.  Perhaps that’s being over dramatic.  But we all have experienced how one persons presence in a group can really alter the experience and emotions of that group.   My job is to film them and let their story be told.  This is also why I will be carrying all of my own food, stove, and one person tent.

During filming, it’s also really tempting to just enjoy the trip and put my camera away.  The amount of work involved for a one man crew, even when not actually recording is daunting and there are always people with the best intentions who want you to just kick back and relax. It’s always nice if the crew goes out for dinner or something after the trip, when I can put the camera down and truly enjoy the moment.  It’s a brief time to celebrate before I capture all of the footage on my computer and begin editing.

Thanks Gil, for your questions.  I’d love to hear more.   Again, I’d love for you to subscribe if you can.  Now, off to play with cameras and backpacking gear all day!

Larry