Selling out weeks in advance and becoming the most coveted ticket in town for the past month, last night's world premiere of Whistler-based Sherpas Cinemas' latest film, Into The Mind, was the event of the season for ski and snowboard film lovers in Whistler. Expectations couldn't have been higher and the Sherpas did not dissapoint. Building on what they did with their first release two years ago, titled All.I.Can, Into The Mind was a genre-bending hybrid of a ski and snowboard film crossed with Planet Earth crossed with a high-budget acid trip.
The film was broken up into chapters, each one a mini-film on it own with different themes and terrain-types ridden. From insanely huge big-mountain spine walls to halfpipes and back, the film wove these stories together, through a larger storyline of one man's injury and subsequent hospital recovery, all showing us exactly what goes through the mind of these insane athletes who live life on the edge and must here the same question over and over again ... "what the fuck are you thinking?!".
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Although it featured some of the most insane big-mountain skiing and snowboarding ever captured, the film was actually not really about the action at all. It was more about telling a story through the action ... in fact it had to have been about five minutes of solid mind-blowing nature and lifestyle footage before the first skier even appeared on screen.
Cinematography and editing wise, the film was nothing short of incredible. And by incredible I mean better than Planet Earth, better than Art of Flight, pretty much better than anything you have ever seen, or are likely to see for a long time to come. Taking risks with the camera many others would never step near, the Sherpas Cinema team not only elevated their own filmmaking, but filmmaking as a whole. I guarantee there will be Plant Earth producers scratching their heads at some of the shots in the film.
Imagine the nerves it must take to call action and have a skier drop in on the steepest and gnarliest line he's ever stepped to - all while flying in on a helicopter at top speed from three kilometers away with the half-million dollar Cineflex camera system zooming in and creating some of the most dynamic shots ever captured. The Sherpas have really figured out how to use the Cineflex to it's full capabilities, pulling of shots that must have taken dozens of tries but manage to somehow encapsulate and show the grandeur of the big-mountain environments the film takes place in. Every shot in the movie was planned out and captured to perfection, drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into the story.
The highlight of the film for me - besides the amazing nature cinematography and general radness of the whole thing - had to have been the section that featured snowboarding legend DCP. Filmed at Retalack Catsking and then interwoven with incredible shots of DCP surfing an incredible wave somewhere exotic, it managed to show beautifully the connection between these two boardsports and was a real treat to watch. The Sherpas clearly made an effort to include more snowboarders in this film than their last one, which is always appreciated, and featured Xavier Delarue and several other shreds as well. Another section of the movie that had everyone talking in the lobby afterwards was a mind-bending halfpipe segment that featured snowboarder Benji Farrow shredding the pipe with dozens of versions of himself. It was definitely a but CG-heavy, and a few people I spoke to afterwards though it came off as a bit cheezy but personally I really liked it and appreciate the effort in trying something really different.
Venue-wise, the Whistler Conference Center was packed to capacity with 1500 rabid fans who stuffed themselves into the main room which was cut in half ensuring no one was too far from the two screens. There were also some really cool art installations, demos from some of the sponsors, signature-signing sessions, live DJs and even live-painting going on in the lobby before and after the show. If you managed to get a ticket you were stoked. Plain and simple.
and performed a beautiful traditional song before the film was shown
Thank you Sherpas Cinemas!
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Check out the teaser below for a little taste and then head over to iTunes and pick up your own copy of Into The Mind, I promise it will be the best 12 bucks you ever spend.
