New blog

we have a new blog that is better integrated with our web sight this one will no longer be up dated please check out the new sight

www.chuckfryberger.com

thanks

Some Nutrition Tips

Yesterday Nelson gathered us around for some serious advice. It's not very often that he puts on his serious face, but it was clear he had something important to share.

"Huddle up everyone, bring it in. I've got something I need to share."

Nelson said he knew we had all been wondering where he got his moxy... where exactly his game came from. He was now prepared to show us.

As it turns out, it all starts with nutrition.

CORE Updates and More

CORE is still rolling strong, most recently picked up by Discovery Asia and KLM Airlines. Also, we have a few more live shows lined up for this fall, including one at this weekend's 10th annual Rocktoberfest in the Red River Gorge. If you're in the area, make sure to check it out!



Visit the event's website http://rocktoberfest2010.com/ for the full lineup events, and for more info on the festival. This year's proceeds will go to benefit the Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve.

On a completely unrelated note, in our last post we announced that we will soon be sporting an uber-sexy, ultra-streamlined, and highly sophisticated new website. Well, here's the man who's gonna take us there- web designer and follicle-ally blessed, Mr. Keith Driessen.

Last week we cruised up to Aspen to shoot a fragrance commercial for our portfolio, showcasing the newest scent from Nolo Contendre, Source. Here I am scouting locations at the Maroon Bells with Art Director Colette McInerney. As you can see we were brimming with excitement! At least 20% more excited than the lurkers in the background!



That energy carried over to the day of the shoot with an early start. Temps were chilly and we forced our model to trudge gracefully through a swamp at sunrise, dressed almost exclusively in ribbons. She was a real trooper.



It wasn't until about 11am that Nelson began to sober up. Or maybe it was the ribbons that were just so intoxicating....



But, once he did it was definitely business time.



In the afternoon, we went up Independence Pass for some close-ups by the river, and then on to the top of the pass for sunset. Here are some shots to enjoy, including a couple still frames of video:








Keep an eye out for the finished commercial which will be up shortly on our soon-to-be-unveiled NEW WEBSITE!

The Coup

Listen. Stephanie "never did nothing to no one" so she says. That is why I thought I would start the ball of karma rolling. Sorry Steph, no hard feelings, thats just the type of fun and games we have around here.

Keith chimes in with an update

Today I got a very important video announcement from noted photographer Keith Ladzinski. What does that mean anyways... noted? Well Keith seems to think it's really something, since he always talks about how noted he is. I digress. Apparently there is a discrepency between Urban Dictionary's definition of the phrase 'no bones' and the true meaning. Thankfully, Keith is there to clear it up for us.




We like Keith and we're proud that he's our special buddy.

Pop Quiz

Situation:

You have an illuminated closet light. You need to turn off said light. Which action below will give you the desired result?

A. Pull the string that dangles from the light.

B. Flick this switch.

If you're Nelson, you would definitely choose B.

So You want to be a lens super star and live large.

O MY BLOG!

My name is Nelson Carayannis this will be the first of many posts that i will be doing hear at Chuck Fryberger films! So I would like to kick this one off with a little something about how great it is to be contributing as a cinematographer to the company. i have never worked with such great and competent people whom are such a pleasure to be around. that being said i figured that i would post a little video about it.

Thanks for watching

-Nelson-

2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon

This past weekend Nelson and I had the pleasure of documenting the 2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon. For the three-day shoot, we hired on cinematographers Chris Alstrin and Scott Neel. A three camera team was essential to covering the massive scope of the events, which brought thousands of runners from around the globe to the small town of Manitou Springs, CO.



As I guessed beforehand, runners are insane. I saw one of the top finishers of the Ascent promptly faceplant into talus after crossing the finish line. He was then almost carried to one of the vans waiting to shuttle runners back down to Manitou. But, after turning in times just over two hours (for 13 miles and 8,000 vertical feet of gain) it was hard to find the humor in the situation.

Seriously. These athletes are pretty bad-ass.



Not too unlike these handsome gentlemen, ignoring normal traffic laws.




And you may be wondering what Chuck has been up to these days? Well, from what I can tell he's gone native.



Cheers!

Steph

iCLIMB

Check out the new Chuck Fryberger short Altitude Sickness at iCLIMB.

Featuring Daniel Woods on an exploration of high altitude alpine bouldering in Colorado, Altitude Sickness includes two of Daniel's recent FA's, The Great War For Civilization and Evil Backwards, and a flash of Unshackled. Guest appearances by Dave Graham, Jon Cardwell, Jon Gass, and Jimmy Webb.

Stream it for free or purchase a higher resolution version for just $.99. You can also download feature-length climbing films at iCLIMB, including CFF's own CORE and PURE. Download now at www.iclimb.com

Yes, We Are Still Alive

Chuck is busy. So busy that his last blog post was on June 10th. And now I can reluctantly add professional blogger to my job description. But, this has been in the plans for a while now. Our company is expanding, and as such the blog will be run a little differently from now on. First of all, this is no longer the Chuck Show. You can now expect posts from myself, Chuck (mostly about geeky things like camera equipment), and our newest member, second camera and loyal pack-mule, Nelson Carayannis.

Welcome to the team Nelson!



Have a beer.


For those of you concerned with the real business. Here is the quick and dirty update: First, Planet Snowkite. This Friday, Chuck is leaving for Argentina, to the southern-most point in South America, and the city of Ushuaia. There he and a team from Planet Snowkite will film a television series revolving around this emerging sport that uses an assistive kite to help the athletes perform massive aerials. Far-removed from the relatively slow sport of climbing, this job will test Chuck's capabilities to move fast and capture a much broader scope of movement.




While he's away, Nelson and I will be documenting this year's annual Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon. Personally, I'm very excited to be behind the camera for this suffer-fest. Both the Ascent and the Marathon begin in Manitou Springs, and cover the 13.2 miles and almost 8,000 ft of vertical gain to the summit. Then the marathoners have the daunting task of a return trip. Recently I have been begrudgingly suffering through the Lincoln Lake hike, which is only about 700 vertical feet, of walking, so I can only assume a shared mental illness amongst the participants.



Once Chuck returns, we will begin full pre-production on Song of the Untouchable. Travel to India is notoriously difficult, and I envision that we won't exactly look like your typical vacationers when our motley crew arrives with full camera equipment in tow. The fall will be packed with visa applications, travel carnets, and jumping through government hoops. Psyched!

And finally, after a very positive trip to the SLC trade show, it looks like we have the support of our sponsors to begin production on another climbing documentary. I suspect filming to start shortly after Chuck returns from the southern hemisphere, possibly only to return......

Sincerely,
Stephanie

Reviews and Updates

We've got some reviews in on CORE, and we went ahead and made a little secondary marketing push now that the film is out and apparrently it's a hit.

We also updated our web site with some examples of recent commercial work. Check out the KFC and Bona Kemi ads for a glimpse of what we've been up to since CORE's release.


Our biggest advertising job to date: National cable DRTV ad for Swedish Hardwood Floor manufacturer Bona Kemi.


A :30 ad for KFC celebrating the greatest sandwich of all time. The Double-Down.

Click Here to Check out the Commercials!

Stephanie is hard at work on our next newsletter, which will *hopefully* contain some exciting news. These are fun times at Chuck Fryberger Films. Life is good!

Epic - the good kind

Generally I think Epics are to be avoided, but having just threw down the deposit on the new generation of cameras from Red, I have to say that I cant wait to experience this kind of EPIC.

5K raw recording with 13.5 stops of dynamic range, and up to 225 frames per second makes this a perfect art machine.

On a climbing note, I'm headed to Rifle this weekend to see what's dry and get on some limestone. Cant wait to get on Zulu and Living in Fear, two routes that I've been on before but have never even come close to trying to redpoint.

Have a great weekend,
Chuck

CORE mini-tour... Slovenia

CORE is going on a mini-tour of Slovenia, with DJ konTROLL at the helm, with the support of Samsara climbing holds, LA Sportiva, and Blurr.

CORE SLOVENIA!!!

CORE in Brazil

I just got word that the CORE show in Brazil was a great success. Our host there prepared Portuguese subtitles for the film, and he said that many more people showed up to see the film than what they expected.

CORE in Brazil, blog post (in Portuguese).

Awesome to have a representation in Brazil. I would love to visit Brazil some time to do some climbing and some filming there, and meet all the cool people.

Cheers,

Chuck

The Jamie Emerson Interview

Today I went up to Boulder for a day. I had lunch with Chris Clark from Scarpa, dropped into The Spot Bouldering Gym, bought a new microphone cable, and met up with Jamie Emerson for an interview.

Red Bull Austria is currently close to finishing a project called Elements, which follows Kilian Fischhuber through several travels and competitions. I've worked several days on this film over the last few years, and I think about 5 or 6 minutes of the film will be from footage I shot. Today I sat down with Jamie to find out what it's like to set routes when you know that Kilian is going to show up and try to break down your hard work.

As usual, Jamie was outspoken and very knowledgeable about the topics. I would speculate that few people spend as much time thinking about climbing as Jamie.

For this video clip, I told him to pretend like I just down-graded his project. Look at that mean face. Love you JE. I am shooting the Red One on build 30 at the moment, and really liking the results I'm getting. Red has changed around the FLUT which is a component of the color science in the compressed RAW data. I'm finding that I'm getting better skin tones overall with the new color science. Geek of the day award goes to yours truly.




The film will be released mostly in Europe I believe. Not sure exactly when but I'll post up some more info when I have it.

Cheers,
Chuck

Before and After

I'm currently testing some footage from the new generation of Red cameras. One of the best things about shooting on Red is the amount of processing you can apply to the footage. Here, we see a test clip that represents the raw data from the shoot. In other words, this is what it looked like as raw capture data, straight from the sensor.



After applying some correction, processing, and some effects (more than I would typically use... but hey... we're testing here) I was able to get a more dramatic image from the original data.



There are huge advantages to shooting with a raw camera that has over 13 stops of dynamic range. If you're an art director or marketing person for a company, be on the lookout for the wave of photographers who are currently dabbling with 'movie mode' on their SLR cameras and hocking the results as professional. You can get away with murder if your end result is Vimeo, but if you are aiming for a higher-quality playback format... beware!

Looking forwards

The Red One's big brother - Epic.

With the release of CORE I'm now free to look forwards once again. As I'm now inbetween films, I can do some commercial work, recharge my creative batteries, and wait for the inspiration to arrive so I can dive into another project.

I currently have no less than three feature films that are in various stages of production or pre-production (one of them is about climbing), but everything now is at a standstill as far as production is concerned. I get to take a breath and make some careful considerations about what comes next in my own artistic and technical development as a director and cinematographer.

Red, the revolutionary camera company that is bringing cinema-quality gear to market at prices that even hacks like me can afford, has announced the upgrade path to their next generation of camera - the Epic. I'm one of the first in line for the new generation of cameras but I need to consider carefully if now is a good time to upgrade from a camera that is already pretty gosh darn amazing.

On another note, Panasonic has announced plans to release a full 4K Display. This is the first display I've heard of that has the capability to display 4K resolution, which is of course the native resolution of the Red One.


The Panasonic 4K Plasma. If you have to ask how much it costs, you cant afford one.


As I've always said, there's no need for sharp gear when you have fuzzy ideas. And right now I'm creatively depleted from CORE, so time will tell if I step up to the plate and once again pounce on the highest quality cinema gear for my upcoming projects.

Cheers,
Chuck

Viewings

So at this point, Blu-ray copies of CORE are circulating, and the global tour now has over 50 live shows. The DVD hits shelves worldwide on May 1st, and the HD download starts on the same day.

I was reviewing the full-length copy of CORE today once again as I prepare the 52-minute version for TV broadcast, and I wanted to offer some hints about what to look for if you've already seen the film. There's a few layers going on in the film aside from just people climbing on rocks.

Layer #1 - People climbing on rocks
Layer #2 - Money
Layer #3 - Work / What is a professional climber?
Layer #4 - Todd Skinner

To be continued...

Blowing like the Wyoming breeze

The World premiere is concluded. We had a packed house last night at the Boulder Theater for CORE and overall the film was very well received. Always great to hear the audience cheering for the climbers on the screen.

At this point, I still have a lot to do to wrap up the project, but my mind is now free to wander off and get inspired for the next thing.

An Early Review

So I guess whenever anyone says anything about a "FILM", you are supposed to put it inside these laurel things. Usually you see pretentious film festival awards featured inside these little plants but as many of you know I could care less what a panel of judges thinks about my films. I got a comment earlier today from an early blu-ray buyer and I thought it was worth re-posting here, so I put it in some laurels so as to adhere to tradition.



Please join us at the World Premiere of CORE at the Boulder Theater on Wednesday at 7pm.

Cheers,
Chuck

CORE goes out the door

Well it's April 1, my scheduled release date for the Blu-Ray edition of CORE. Today is the start of the release of the film, with the Blu-Ray shipping today, live screenings starting in just a few days worldwide, and then on May 1 the DVD will hit shelves around the world and the HD download goes live.


A frame from Nalle's Finland segment

CORE represents a massive statement about the sport of climbing and the athletes who I feel best represent the spirit of the sport. The concept of the heart, the title of CORE, the opening scenes, the symbols of what we take away from the experience. It was a goal of mine to try to create a defining film. Without doubt, the production level of this one particuar micro-budget film genre has been multiplying each year. When I started making videos, I just went climbing and carried a camera around and what I created was good enough to sell thousands of copies. Now I'm shooting with a $50,000 camera system and hiring lighting designers. I traveled to Finland for two weeks and came back with just 5-minutes of CORE. Based on some early reviews, I think I may have hit my mark however. One reviewer said

"I think that CORE is a turning point. There will eventually be two kinds of videos - those that came before CORE, and those that come after."


A frame from Matt Wilder's Hueco segment

It's optimistic to think that I've created the iconic climbing film of our generation. Eventually the hype will cool off and then we'll really see if the film has the kind of staying power it takes to keep people talking about it for years instead of just months.

I'm proud to announce the release of the Blu-Ray edition of CORE. It's taken a long time to create this film but it's finally ready to go out in the best format currently available. I've watched the blu-ray several times on various types of monitors and projectors and it's really amazing how realistic it is. Less like watching a video and more like looking out a window.

The Blu-Ray features the uncut Fred Nicole interview - sit down with the legend himself for a full 60 minutes of uninterrupted conversation.

The Blu-Ray is available now, and it will start shipping out today.

ORDER HERE

If you're in the Denver / Boulder area, please join us for the world premiere of CORE at the Boulder Theater on Wednesday, April 7th at 7pm.

Best,

Chuck

Hair Metal: The Definitive Guide

If you're looking for some inspiration for what to wear to the CORE premiere on April 7th at the Boulder Theater, Here's some ideas:

Remember, this is serious. We're giving away $2000 in prizes to the best dressed. I repeat... this is serious. Matt Wilder will be officiating the contest to if you see him in the next couple weeks you might just want to throw down some dance moves on the spot just to gauge his reaction. Trust me.

Build 21

We're in between projects now, so I'm taking the opportunity to maintain the equipment and make some upgrades. I upgraded the Red to build 21, the latest firmware release. Stephanie took a break from booking CORE shows to model for me.

Yes, I may have to do some more scientific testing to start getting truly awesome results, but for now, here's the first shot with the Build 21 RED. Click through to Youtube and watch in HD if you're curious to see the full quality.

Cheers,

Chuck

Sean Hannity rips on my girlfriend

As those of you who follow the excellent climbing-news blog B3 Bouldering already know, Fox lackey Sean Hannity recently counted down the biggest waste of taxpayer stimulus dollars and who landed in the #2 spot? My girlfriend, Sarah Marvez. Well, not actually her, but a building of her design.

She recently designed Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder Colorado under Jim Logan Architects in Boulder. This building is one of the largest carbon-neutral buildings in the country, meaning that over it's lifespan, it generates net zero carbon emissions through use of solar power and efficient energy usage.

This is a little remix I did that compares his candor and appearance to Dr. Clifton L. Gayness Jr, also probably a mouthpiece for the Rupert Murdoch of his day.

Sarah should be proud. If you make #2 on Sean Hannity's list of anything bad then you're probably doing something VERY RIGHT. Keep it up girlfriend!

CORE Trailer

Whew.

After over a month locked into the edit suite, I'm finally ready to let CORE off the leash. The trailer goes out now, and the film will have its world premiere at the Boulder Theater on April 7th. It will be available worldwide on Blu-Ray starting in April, and then in May it will be out on DVD and HD Download. We have dozens of screenings coming up, so check www.ChuckFryberger.com for the updated tour calendar as we add shows in North America and Europe.

We started filming in June 2009 and wrapped our last shoot day just seven days ago. Behold, 9 months of work distilled into 3 and 1/2 minutes.

What it's about.

It was about this time last year that I said that PURE was about contrast. I've finally figured out what CORE is about. It's about loving something that doesn't love you back. You'll see. In fact, you'll see in the very first frame of the film.

chuck

This just went in the video.

So..... this just got added to the video.

Editing

I'm well into the edit on CORE now. The pieces are starting to come together... slowly. I'm working with over 5 Terabytes of footage and the style of editing is painstaking. Speaking of editing... here's an awesome re-edited remix of an infomercial I saw recently:

Poll Question

What is the maximum resolution of your biggest display?

Thanks!

Nalle gets the 2009 Golden Piton

My main man and featured PURE and CORE athlete Nalle Hukkataival has recently been awarded the 2009 Golden Piton from Climbing Magazine for his bouldering achievements of the past year. If they had an 'Urban Ninja' award I'm sure he would have taken that too. I'm proud that the staff of the magazine chose an appropriate photo for their news: NALLE TRAINING IN INNSBRUCK

As soon as I heard the news I called Nalle, who is in Spain at the moment doing some sport climbing. He agreed to give me a brief interview about the award.

Chuck: Hey Nalle, I'm glad I was able to reach you on your cell phone.

Nalle: Yeah, well even here in spain I can get some service.

CF: I wanted to congratulate you on your recent award. The Golden Piton! That's great!

Nalle: Yeah, a piton. What the f*ck am I supposed to do with a piton? I dont even ice climb.

CF: I think it's more of a symbol...

Nalle: Yeah but I mean, why not give me something useful like a beer or a.... (pauses) ... different kind of beer?

CF: Well I dont think that is really the point.

Nalle: Okay, but the colors clash with the other colors in my van. I mean, I guess I could change the whole color skeem to accommidate the award, but I've got a great purple and pink thing going in there now and I think I'll stay with it.

CF: Purple and pink? Is your english failing you?

Nalle: No.

CF: How did you decide to go with those colors?

Nalle: Well, I've been sport climbing a lot lately, and those colors seemed to really embrace my feelings at the moment.

CF: Excuse me?

Nalle: I've just become a lot more thensitive. Sorry, sensitive.

CF: Wow, okay. So tell me about the ladies in Spain?

Nalle: Well mostly I've just been hanging out with other athletic young men who climb.

CF: Oh, okay. Well if you had to describe the feeling of getting the Golden Piton, what would it be?

Nalle: Super.

CF: Thanks for the interview.

Nalle: Ciao!

Day one with Greg Walker

Yesterday was day one of shooting on Song of the Untouchable with Dr. Gregory Walker. He's a violinist but not like the ones you're probably thinking of right now. Here's a video of one of his performances from a while back.

The blog for Song of the Untouchable can be found at this web address: www.SongoftheUntouchable.blogspot.com



I'm psyched to be rolling on the project and I'm really happy with what we did yesterday. Here's a frame from Macky Auditorium, the venue of last night's concert.




And a cool portrait of our featured musical athlete...

Nick Duttle

On Sunday I went climbing in Clear Creek Canyon with my friend Nick Duttle. Originally from Las Cruces New Mexico, Nick has been a fixture in the Hueco Tanks scene and spends most of his time climbing steep and powerful routes.

He had worked on Prime Time to Shine and after a few minor tweaks to his beta at the upper crux, he hiked the route like he was warming up. Awesome to see a 190-pound climber crushing those tiny crimps.

This week we're prepping for the trade show and getting ready for day #1 of shooting on Song of The Untouchable, an upcoming feature documentary we'll be working on until May of 2011 with the great Violinist Gregory Walker. SOTU has it's own blog, which you can check out HERE

Cheers and happy Monday.

Paul Robinson Video is LIVE

The profile video I made with Paul Robinson is live on the web this morning. Check it out!

Denver Rescue Mission

Today the staff here at Chuck Fryberger Films donated some time to help serve lunch to the residents at the Denver Rescue Mission. We spent about four hours at the facility preparing the service, dishing out the food, and cleaning up afterwards. It was a great experience and a joy to help some folks get back on their feet.

Hueco with Matt Wilder

I have just returned from Hueco Tanks where I spent a week following the efforts of Matt Wilder (OMFG I totally got his autograph) to establish a new first ascent in the heart of West Mountain. After four days of effort the project eventually went and I was able to cover the whole FA with a single, 15-foot camera move. Matt's approach to projecting a difficult boulder was great to watch and needless to say the climb is of high quality and great difficulty. Here's a frame from the video.


Matt Wilder, FA, Bandersnatch

On my way back to Golden I stopped off and visited Michael Clark, who has a new book out on adventure photography. Michael has been a great source of advice for many photographers including myself. On my way out Michael bought me breakfast at the Flying Tortilla and gave me a D700 with a massive new lens (the Nikon 24 - 70 f2.8) that I can shoot stills with and also use on my Red One. If you ever meet him on the road just ask for a free camera and he'll probably give you one.

I'm quite psyched to continue the edit on CORE and get it out as soon as possible. It's looking like it's just a couple months from completion at this point.

Cheers,
Chuck