On location across Africa, the most at home I've ever felt shooting! Here's why:
Challenge:
Fearless and Far, a 1.8M subscriber YouTube channel owned by Mike Corey, a professional adventurer, offers captivating entertainment that both shocks and amazes audiences.
Their mission is to explore destinations and undertake experiences around the globe that the majority of people would never dare to venture into. How many tourists have seen a 5000-year-old crystallized skull in Bali or hunted with a tribe across the plains of Tanzania!?
So far, Mike had been a one-man band shooting all his own content and was ready to take it to the next level; he needed someone with an unwaveringly fearless attitude, willing to throw themselves into any situation while capturing exceptional content.
The Brief:
Mike put out a post on Instagram asking for videographer recommendations. He was looking for a videographer who could capture similar content, whilst working with unknowns, changing situations and potentially dangerous scenarios.
As Fearless and Far’s primary platform is YouTube, storytelling was a key part of the brief. Everything we shot had to have a beginning, middle and end; along with an adventurous flair that captivates the audience.
So, after an initial call we quickly realised that this was going to be a great fit. Fast forward a couple weeks and we flew to Tanzania to start the most epic shoot.
Process:
Chatting through the brief with Mike, it became clear that the conditions were going to be challenging; strong sunlight, lots of dust, new tribal languages every day, daily changes to schedules and shooting up to 16 hours a day. So, there were several factors to consider for the shoot.
Whilst landscape footage for YouTube was the priority, we also needed to capture portrait footage for TikTok and Instagram reels. This meant always having an iPhone in our pocket to capture short form portrait content on an ad-hoc basis.
Seeing as dust was an issue, we needed to constantly keep cameras, sensors and lenses clean to ensure the highest production quality possible. Whilst we packed standard lenses (24-70mm) to give flexibility, we also had to consider portrait lenses. These included 85mm focal length, F/1.4 aperture lenses, which allowed for a shallow depth of field to give as much separation between the subject and the background.
One particular shot we were determined to capture was of the Hadza tribe running. We hadn’t been able to catch it because we couldn’t keep up with their remarkable speed! The Hadza hunt multiple times a day. It quickly became clear that if we wanted to capture a shot of them we needed to have the right equipment, charged using solar or generators, and the right attitude to be able to shoot at the drop of a hat. We asked the guide to help stage a shot of the tribe running. The tribe were adorned in bamboo baboon pelts, animal skins with bows and arrows. We captured an incredible shot with a wide angle lens, high frame rate to shoot in slow motion and a gimbal for stability. From a technical aspect, we needed all three elements to nail the shot. The shot looks incredible, we’re all really proud of how it came out. Check it out here (Seeing how excited the Hadza were with the shot was something particularly special).
Solution:
Fearless and Far were hyped with the final outcome. We shot about eight videos in two weeks. Two of which had a combined number of +8.5 million views.
While views aren’t the sole measure of success, it’s gratifying to see that BMC played an integral role in producing content that resonated so well with Fearless and Far’s audience.