Expedition
featured case study
PERPETUAL PLANET AMAZON
AKA The Ultimate Perspective Shot
Who
Client: National Geographic Society + Rolex
Featuring: National Geographic Explorer Dr. Baker Perry
What
On location production support and creative leads for video, stills, and audio
where
Nevado Ausangate (6400m), Peru
The Sacred Valley, Peru
Why it ruled:
Hot off the heels of our Mt. Logan shoot in partnership with the National Geographic Society, we were invited to crew up another expedition shoot - this time down south. Or more appropriately up south - 6400m up to be exact. This docu-expedition production paired our crew of 3 with Dr. Baker Perry’s team as they trekked to install a weather station on the summit of Nevado Ausangate, the highest weather station in the tropical Andes in the thick of the COVID pandemic. Did someone say challenges?
Specialists in mountain media and low key science nerds through and through, we knew we could operate at the speed and with the low (and light) footprint needed to make the journey and with subject matter centered around understanding the weather patterns that shape the headwaters for the great Amazon basin, we didn’t let a global pandemic stand in our way of signing up and setting out.
Yes we got stuck at customs, yes we got altitude sickness, yes we got COVID. But HELL YES the weather station was installed and we left with 13TBs of footage. And no, we could not have pulled it off without our incredible local guides and our hyper-agile team and production approach.
and also…
While often storytelling around the Amazon takes places in the basin itself, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture the origin story of this titan of terrestrial life and it left our team humbled and reeling from the understanding that our livelihoods hang in a fragile balance, one that is melting faster than we could have imagined.
PS:
Somehow carrying a 70lb backpack at altitude doesn’t get easier... never skip leg day!
