This is an exercise in sequencing and sound syncing. I hauled my gear with me over several hikes in the North Mountain Preserve. The Preserve is about 3,000 acres, and right in the middle of the Phoenix valley, but much of the hiking I’ve done, I couldn’t see the city, and most of the time I couldn’t see or hear anyone else on the trails.
That was partly what I want to show in this piece: exploring the quiet and brief aloneness, like a child.
On the other side of the camera: these hikes were pretty physical, much more than appears on camera. For each clip you see, there may have been multiple takes. And for each take, I set up the camera, did a take, climbed back up/down/over to the camera to start/stop/review, then another take. And there are sequences that didn’t make it into this project.
I was very busy the whole time, getting perspectives, shooting, reviewing, adjusting the white balance, getting the focus right on, getting it all level.
The white balance was especially challenging, not at the time, but trying to get the color right in the final cut. I just couldn’t get a sickly green hue out of everything. I think it’s because there’s a concentration of plants and rock with shades very close to one another – dull greens, greenish yellows, brownish greens and yellows, and then the very yellow Phoenix sun, with no white anywhere.
This was fun and really instructive, production wise, and post-production.
EEi Media 