Gear Patrol

Wondering what to do with all that leftover footage from a recent project? Well you could follow in the footsteps of Matt Kleiner and piece together a stunning video from whatever’s left on the cutting room floor. Light: The Natural Agent That Stimulates Sight is the result of Matt’s leftover footage fom shooting a feature…

Iwan Bigler and Raphael Nussbaum, the visual raconteurs of Team Nine, bring the greens, greys and sometimes blues of Iceland to you in the beautifully composed Shutter Ísland. In their first effort, the Switzerland-based duo artfully choreographed an August 2011 couch-surfing trip to Iceland, with vistas near and far that capture the detail and grandeur…

When he was just 18, Shawn Reeder serendipitously won a trip to Yosemite National Park whose breathtakingly majestic beauty has won his heart ever since. With a knack for time-lapse shooting and the help of some sponsors, Reeder set out to capture footage of Yosemite’s Range of Light and compile it into the epic tribute…

Does the world need another take on Titanic? When the response involves James Cameron and National Geographic, the answer is always yes, as long as charcoal drawings aren’t involved. This latest installment of Viewfinder combines James Cameron’s fascination with the ocean, and state of the art computer animation to reproduce, arguably, the most famous shipwreck of…

Think about this – commercial airlines traveled faster 35 years ago than they do today. Technological advances seem to be limitless, yet we no longer travel at super sonic speeds as we did from 1976-2003. How did we flout the sound barrier at the end of the 21 Century? The Concorde. It was the result…

The Fender Stratocaster is the definition of an American classic. The instrument has been produced continuously since it was introduced in 1954 and has since become a mainstay of players across all genres of music for its timeless design and distinctive sound. Legends such as Hendrix, Gilmour, Clapton and Jeff Beck have solidified the Stratocaster…

Brooklyn’s 718 Cyclery traces its roots to a backyard shed. Several years ago, founder Joe Nocella, a reformed bicycle messenger and current architect, combated the indignity of a stolen bike by building a new one himself. He liked the hands-on approach so much that he built more, eventually building bikes for friends and neighbors and,…

We recently dropped into Aspen Fashion Week with Bentley and roared around in the snow with 631 horsepower at our disposal in the process — but we’ll talk more about that later. For now, we wanted to share a video that the esteemed British automaker debuted over the weekend featuring world-renowned big-mountain skier Chris Davenport….

We’ve already shared our experiences in the exotic land of Vietnam, but film maker Daniel Klein does a particularly good job of highlighting the country’s culinary delights. Unless you happen to have access to good Vietnamese food, or enjoy personally torturing yourself, — we’d recommend watching this visual buffet on a full stomach. $20 bucks…

Red Wing is a classic American brand, and we’ve always been fans of their footwear. Today, the company has launched a new collection, hand sewn in Lewiston, Maine. Other fans of the brand are bound to enjoy the video above released to explain the collection, but even if fashion isn’t your thing, it’s still interesting…

Ok, so we can’t really verify that Devin Graham really did, in fact, create the largest rope swing on the planet for this video. That doesn’t make watching people experience 130 ft. of giddy freefall, and whiplash swing speeds under the Corona Arch (in the spectacular Moab desert of Utah), any less thrilling. That’s even…

Limited time is often your enemy when it comes to creating engaging stories through film. Director by BenDavid Grabinski, however, manages to squeeze compelling Sci Fi action, suspense, and a ton of laugh out loud moments into his debut short entitled Cost of Living. Starring Brandon Routh (of Superman Returns fame), it’s one of the…

What do you get when you combine three nights of Red Epic filming on a skidoo, with a bespoke L.E.D. suit, and Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France? One hell of a visual spectacle, that’s what. While the short film above looks as graceful as ever, apparently the luminescent…

If you believe the commercials, buying candy, cards, jewlery and flowers on February 14th is the ideal way to commemorate love. We happen to think Dan Riordan at Gnarly Bay Productions has a better approach. A Story for Tomorrow was filmed over five weeks by Dan while traveling through Chile & Patagonia with his girlfriend…

If push came to shove, we’ve probably sell a kidney or two for one of ICON’s glorious vehicles. So when our friend Michael Williams at A Continuous Lean was kind enough to point out this excellent video on the brand’s latest pet project, dubbed The Derelicts, put together by the folks at eGarage, we had…

Now that today’s latest DSLRs are waging a war on two fronts for both still photography and video domination, having a test film made using your gear is a must for any camera company conducting a high profile launch. Earlier we showed you Canon’s Mobius film for the introduction of their new EOS C300 video…

If vistas are currency, then Montana more than lives up to its title as the “Treasure State”. Case in point: A Week in Montana by Preston Kanak and his shooting partners F9 photo and Eric Hines. The film was shot across various Montana locales using the Canon 5D Mark II, a repertory of glass (Canon…

In the pantheon of male bonding experiences, few adventures have the provenance of a weekend fishing trip. This short film by the Swedish fishing site Frontsidefly, made during a trip to övre vindelälven in their native land, perfectly captures the magic of these outings, leaving all of us here at GP HQ itching for Fly…

Visual effects, sometimes referred to more broadly as CGI, have always been a cornerstone of “movie magic” since their initial development in the late 1960s. While action blockbusters have deservedly gained notoriety for pushing this technology to extremes, the truth is that almost every big budget film project uses them liberally — and in far…

The craft cocktail movement has infiltrated America, with quality bars entrenched on both coasts and studding everywhere between. One of the latest to pop up is Detroit’s Sugar House, which opened in October and slings drinks comprised of artisanal spirits, fresh juices, fruits and herbs and house-made syrups. Ice wise, Sugar House bartenders hand-chip 300…

Esteemed photo journalist Vincent Laforet is considered a pioneer of DSLR video and his short film Reverie helped significantly boost Canon’s 5D Mark II camera into the forefront of the amateur digital film community. Hoping that lightening could strike twice, Canon gave Laforet early access to the EOS C300 to demonstrate the dynamic capabilities of…

Adventure filmmakers big and small have more tools than ever for producing their work in the wilderness, thanks in part to the continuous improvements of camera equipment and filmmaking technology. Of course, the vision wouldn’t be anything without the dedicated creativity put forth by the storytellers — the writers, directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers. Lastly,…

A bit of a different tone from our usual Viewfinder fare, Pickin’ & Trimmin’ reminds us why we love our Southern roots — and even moreso, bluegrass music. It’s also further proof that the Barbershop (the institution itself) is one of America’s greatest treasures. Filmed by Matt Morris, the documentary has garnered heaps of attention…

We all love the look of slow motion, and it’s uncanny ability to make everything instantly epic. But not all slow motion is created equal. Youtubers known as “the Slow Mo Guys” put together this informative video on different slow motion frame rates, to help novices better distinguish the slow (500fps) from the slooooooooowwww (10,000fps!)….

Bridging surfing and environmental journalism, Tipping Barrels follows Arran and Reid Jackson, both surfers, into the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. The 20 minute film (thanks, couch mode), dives into the issues that the rainforest faces, bridging stunning cinematography and insights gleaned from a multi-day journey. Directed by Ben Gulliver. More information at Pacific…

Those of you who decided to make it to the movies, and did a little research beforehand, were treated to the first full trailer of Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to the Batman franchise The Dark Knight Rises. If you watched the surprisingly excellent Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in IMAX, then you even got to watch the…

Everything looks better in slow motion — or in this case cuter. If the toils of this week have left you drained or down, this five minute film depicting man’s best friend living it up on the road is guaranteed to make you smile. It appears they enjoy the thrill of the drive just as…

The fine folks at Gear Junkie brought this film starring Minneapolis custom bicycle builder Eric Noren, founder of Peacock Groove Cycles to our attention. Proclaimed as the Liberace of bikes by some, in this short film Noren covers his approach to creating the ultimate two-wheeled ride that hipsters, road bikers, or any fan of self-powered…

In previous viewfinders, we’ve shared footage of insane souls skydiving, cliff jumping, and even flying in wing suits. So, in the spirit of diversity, we felt compelled to hand the soapbox over to more a domestic (and accessible) method for tussling with gravity — the pogo stick. Hit play and prepare to be amazed at…

The result of six months of timelapse footage captured over a 1,600 mile journey, Finding Oregon paints the beaver state in a way like you’ve never seen before. Iconic locales like the Blue Mountains, Crater Lake and Columbia River Gorge amongst others are captured at near-impossible moments to create what might be the best “visit…