Trail Running Vignettes
The outdoor community, in general, has no shortage of content, especially in regards to trail running.
The problem is that most of the content is just becoming a blur of indistinguishable athletes telling the same monotonous stories. While we may look to sponsored athletes for inspiration for our own physical goals, their stories can often feel one-dimensional and unrelatable.
The goal of this project is to shine a light where one is not often shone: on everyday people with real daily struggles who go out of their way to run in their beloved natural spaces. The focus will be on their connection to these particular spaces they choose to frequent. This will also push forward the message that accessibility to outdoor spaces is inherent for all of us.
“Creativity, in its simplest form, means: to transcend the ordinary.”
— Terrance McKenna
Visual Style
We can almost call out the shots ahead of time in your typical outdoor piece these days. With the plethora of affordable gimbals and drones on the market, the vlog blueprint has not just become the standard, but rather the dominating format for most content today.
I think it’s important to not lose touch with classic filmmaking fundamentals, and to pay tribute to the greats that showed us what could be done with a camera in the right set of hands. I plan to model these vignettes after one of the all time greats of cinematography, Chívo, who has always favored long dynamic choreographed shots with a handheld kinetic feel to it. There will also be a mixture of closeups and unique perspectives to help break up the long shots when the music and/or voiceover inspires it.
Compelling locations. The right natural light. Immersive camera movement.
Being Original
This is about highlighting voices and thoughts are rarely heard in the outdoor community.
Edit Structure
Each character will be interviewed about their connection to their location of choice (among other topics), and said interview will play out cinéma vérité style as a voiceover letting the poetic visuals carry us through the narrative. We will let the persona of the character dictate the feel and pace of each piece, giving each one its own individuality.
Deliverables
The goal is put together 3 vignettes about 3 very different characters. Each one is targeted to be approx. 90sec - 3min in length. By keeping them short form, they will be ideal for sharing across all available platforms.