We wanted to do something different. We wanted to showcase our valley to the world in a way that would resonate with the local people. Truly exuding those experiences and feelings that we all know and love from living here full time. A weekend up north in Stanley, Idaho, a night under Ketchum’s dark sky, a day on the links at Sun Valley Resort, or some live music at Ketch’em Alive or the Hot Water Inn. And of course the hiking, biking, fishing, swimming, climbing and everything that we all enjoy on the daily as visitors or residents!
From sunset to moonrise, elevated vantages help place the Small town of Ketchum and provide for great transitions that bring viewers from one day to the next.
The Hyperlapse style of film, is captivating viewers across the internet, with edits of famous city’s such as Dubai and Hong Kong gaining massive traction on the web. Although more commonly capturing dramatic cityscapes than natural landscapes, we wanted to bring this style of shooting to the mountains. The editing process and shoot days can be very tedious however the results are quite rewarding.
How better to capture the excitement at the Hot Water Inn than the feeling of walking up to the door and down the sidewalk people watching and listening to music.
The reality of bringing this video to fruition would include very specific, time consuming shooting and very meticulous editing of 10+ terabytes of raw photos and video content. Some of the shots rely on the natural settings to tell the story or make the transition to day or night, while other times we used models and props. Modeling for this shoot would turn out to be more about patience and stamina than the perceived glamour of modeling with big smiles and extravagant dinners!
Above, our creative director and shooter Yancy Caldwell celebrates a three-hour golf shoot on the White Clouds golf course that produced a few seconds of video that portrays an amazing hole-in-one.
The Galena overlook of the Sawtooth Valley is perhaps one of the best vistas around.
When someone asks us what he or she should do upon arrival to Sun Valley, we always tell them the same thing… But wait! Does going north over Galena Summit really count as a Sun Valley experience? The answer is, “your damn right it does!” That’s where every local yocalspends their weekend waterskiing, letting the kids splash in the lake, or floating the lazy river with a cold beer in hand. “Heading up over the hill” leads one to a remote valley with scenic vistas of the Sawtooth Mountain Range, high mountain lakes, abundant wildlife, and limited cell service! There is only one highway passing through Ketchum and it connects the barren desert of southern Idaho to the rugged central mountains.
Redfish is the deepest lake in our backyard, at 85 meters of fresh snowmelt. The chilly temperatures and remote location of the lake also provide upwards of 10 meters of clarity, to gaze into the deep blue.
For the above shot of a man heading out Redfish Lake dock we clogged up the dock for 1.5 hours, on the busiest weekend of the summer. Our model moved one step at a time while we directed traffic around our equipment. Step, click, step, click and we have the perfect sequence of photos that would later be made into video.
Floating the Lazy River at Alturas Lake, a local favorite.
The Sawtooth Valley Gathering in Stanley, Idaho is arguably one of the best concert venues in the West.
Using our in-depth geographical knowledge of the area we concepted some sequences that would push the space and time continuum to the max. The editing task at hand was equally daunting as the shoot. Back at the computer screen is when our shoot to edit techniques made us, or more commonly broke us… Multiple stabilizers on the same clip, new transition techniques and an office full of running computers all night long, put us to the test.
The Ketchum Farmers’ Market provides ubiquitous options for locally grown produce and hand crafted goods.
We watch a family separate and experience the many joys of SV. The multitude of activities that inspire people on different levels but make for a great family gathering are all here in Sun Valley. If the mother-daughter duo wants to hit the spa while dad and brother want hit some balls or a mountain bike ride, all these activities are just a few steps out the front door.
The shopping options on Sun Valley Road in Ketchum are top notch.
This shoot was really about being meticulous, strategic, and having some serious foresight. The daily objectives would send us out with three dedicated timelapse cameras, a drone or two, and sometimes all the overnight gear. The best case scenario was to make a solid 10 seconds of footage, rather than 10 minutes.
A behind the scenes look at how we captured the from the grill to the table shot at the Bigwood Grill.
An elevated vantage of the beloved Ketch’em Alive free concert series in the Forest Service Park.
Some of the locations that you will see and stories we tell are the direct result of being born and bred here in Ketchum, Idaho. Stellar Media’s team is all locals to Ketchum and life long ambassadors of the valley. Armed with high quality cameras, artistic intent, and the creative motivation to try new things, we set out to produce a video that would hopefully break the Internet (or at least the router in the local coffee shop).
Hunter and Teresa celebrating the wrap of their three hour hole-in-one golf shoot.
We wanted to portray a hole in one scene on the golf course. The couple would flash across the course in the golf cart, watch the ball get driven in slow motion, and enter the flight path of the ball as it fly’s through the air, landing on the green and rolling into the cup. Our technical strategy included using measuring tapes, brick pavers and sidewalk lines to determine length and trajectory of shots. For the rotating golf green shot, we started at 300 inches moving the ball two inches and the camera one inch, click, repeat. The result is a spin around a ball that appears to be moving, however I can assure it was not nor were there any divots to replace.
Spencer and Piotr carefully calculating their next move.
In the spirit of the great dining options found here we wanted to portray the feeling of enjoying a glass of fine wine at the Bigwood Grill to close out the day under the evening sunset. We set up some wine glasses on the bar overlooking the golf course, got out a straw, looked into the sunset and click, sip, click, sip, repeat. One of our favorite shots to date!
The Bigwood Grill provides for one of the best sunset views dining spots in town.
To say we were only interested in capturing amazing shots is an understatement! This project fit the bill for where we wanted to spend our creative energy and couldn’t be happier to partner with the forward thinking minds and Visit Sun Valley who really let us loose on this project. We hope you can enjoy our efforts to send viewers on a hyper visual ride through our home town. A week of vacation here in Sun Valley may feel like this and we hope you enjoy your ride! See you this summer!
Production by Stellar Media