Snowday in Quebec with Charles Morgan
Day One – Friday March 18th
We departed Toronto for Quebec City and the Red Bull Crashed Ice event on Thursday. Correction. We were supposed to depart from Toronto on Thursday evening by 11pm, so naturally we had the entire crew in the SUV by just after midnight in the downtown core. The plan was to drive overnight and start shooting in Quebec City on Friday morning but the forecast was for above-zero temperatures and precipitation. Somehow, through the blaring music and endless supply of Red Bulls, I passed out for a few hours and awoke to a rainy, Friday morning Quebec City breakfast at the Cochon Dingue.
After we recharged with some food, we hit the streets of Old Quebec around the Frontenac to check out some of the architecture and shoot some of the pre-360 scenes. I had the lucky role of falling down a flight of stairs repeatedly to “get the right shot,” but I thankfully had some Goose gear to fend off hypothermia in between shots. Boom, now its 360 time.
Registration at the media center in Frontenac netted us another package of Red Bull, important to note because we ended up shooting about 18 hours a day. The hotel was decked out with the Crashed Ice promo and the atmosphere around the city was electric. Finishing touches were being put on the course and there was media from all over the world gearing up for the competition. This event is, without a doubt, the kind of event you need to experience to understand.
Our next stop was the hotel, which I wish we had pictures of because the indoor pool had exotic birds flying around. Very impressive for a last-minute booking. After a quick wardrobe change into the freshest vest I’ve ever seen, we dipped for dinner and the first shot with the 360 camera at the Frontenac. The quintessential professional and good friend of ours, Mr. Mike Horner, brought in about a dozen full buses of students for the party. The hotel was overflowing with energy and it was time to go to work.
When the buses pulled up to take us to the Skratch Bastid party on Friday night, we knew it was going to get crazy. There were tons of cameras and towels waving around and the footage turned out incredible.
Day Two – Saturday March 19th
Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love dogs and with no competition at all – the most incredible breed is the husky. These beasts took us on an intense sprint through the countryside with the 360-chest harness on. The number of times I almost fell off or got both my lead girl and myself killed was innumerable, but thankfully the guides kept us in one piece. I can’t believe I had gone my entire life without riding a dogsled. “Snowday” was in full effect.
Next up was the gorgeous Quebec Ice Hotel, which attracts visitors from around the globe, and it did not fail to impress. Our guide at the hotel set us up with an interview with the president and access to some of their finest accommodations. We visited, but sadly did not exchange vows, in the Ice Chapel but I may be taking a trip back in the distant future (distant, distant future ladies). Taffy on the snow is so essential so after a quick bite, we had to wrap and get to the hills!
As we rolled up to the mountain, I got my boarding gear together. We bumped into Annie Dufresne (Quebec legend) who turned out to be our next lead girl for the video. She was hosting an event that day and just got a full new Rossignol kit to ride in the video. The chairlift was rocking back and forth and I thought it might fall off at a few points. Easily one of the scarier moments of this trip! It must have looked ridiculous to people riding below us as we bounced around, riding up to the top, but the footage came out so vivid. Dogsleds, taffy on the ice, Ice Hotel’s, snowboarding and beautiful Quebec women – this was definitely the best Snowday ever.
After a quick boot back to the hotel for a nap and to grab some more energy drinks, we headed straight over to the main event – Crashed Ice. Our media passes gave us access to everything and we picked some awesome spots to bring the event into the wicked 360 interactivity. When the skaters were prepping for the event, the crowd started banging on the sideboards and you could practically feel the ground shaking. As I mentioned earlier, this is the kind of event that words and pictures can give you a slight idea of but you have to attend in order to truly understand what Quebec transforms into. Shooting footage on the grand stand with our crew was fun but a bit unnerving because they set it up for 2-3 media members and we had 5 of us plus the camera gear. The entire platform was wobbling back and forth but after we saw the footage, it was obviously worth the risk! We shot the performance footage from the event at the starting line and it looks unbelievable with the smoke machines and lighting backdrop.
The weekend called for precipitation and 9+degree weather, which did not bode well for our video production. Thankfully, we were blessed with sub-zero temperatures and the warmest outwear available to mankind!
Charles Morgan
[ASPEKTZ TWITTER]
http://www.twitter.com/Aspektz
[ASPEKTZ FACEBOOK]
http://www.facebook.com/AspektzFanPage
[ASPEKTZ YOUTUBE]
http://www.youtube.com/Aspektz
[SNOWDAY OFFICIAL VIDEO]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKezg5E53DI
[SNOWDAY ON iTUNES]
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/snowday-single/id482640151
[SNOWDAY MP3]
http://hulkshare.com/56gzf3u7ct36