The Adventure Film School Blog

Students Climb Boulder, Colorado's First Flatiron
July 22, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado
Students from the Bhutan and Kenya film schools visited our Boulder headquarters to edit their films. We emphasized putting ideas to paper through storyboarding and outlines before becoming too involved in the actual edit with Apple's Final Cut Pro editing software. We also woke up before dawn one morning to climb the eight pitch first Flatiron. We were joined by our good friend, expert climber, and comic-relief extraordinaire, Timmy O'Neill; there were plenty of laughs to go around.

Kenya Adventure Film School
July, 2010 in Kenya

We are checking in after a memorable trek on Mount Kenya, Africa's second tallest mountain and arguably its most breathtaking. Coming from a scorching summer in the United States, our students braved chilly temperatures on this expedition. However, the cool temperatures did not lessen the thrill of seeing monkeys up close, doing some high-altitude rock climbing, and capturing the stunning scenery on video.

We were joined on the trek by a remarkable couple - Craig and Kelly Perkins. Kelly is the survivor of a heart transplant and is a huge inspiration for her resolve to climb mountains and promote organ donation. Student Evan Grimm (shown in photo), did a wonderful job of documenting Kelly's story. One of the more emotional moments of this journey was interviewing Kelly as she reminisced on how gratifying it was to revisit Africa - there was a time when her return seemed very unlikely.

We were honored to be joined by such special guests on this expedition. Their character and personalities will go a long ways in making our students' films really shine. More on Kenya 2010

Bhutan Adventure Film School
June, 2010 in Bhutan
We are in the midst of a magical filmmaking adventure in Bhutan. This time of year the traditional houses are surrounded by the brilliant green of freshly planted rice paddies. It is warm in the valleys and cool on the mountain passes.

So far we have explored fortresses called Dzongs, hiked to see breathtaking views of the Himalaya, ridden mountain bikes for 20 miles down a winding mountain road, taught young monks to ride the same bikes at the Temple of the Divine Madman, rafted the Po Chu River past the Punaka Dzong, and played music late into the evening.

The students are carrying a variety of cameras. The new and exciting development in filmmaking is the use of digital SLR cameras to capture stunning quality.

Over the next four days we will trek up to the base of the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. More on Bhutan 2010

Teva Mountain Games Behind the Scenes
June 3-6, 2010 in Vail, Colorado
The sporting events wrapped up and students put in serious time to get their films edited and ready for the student film festival. Adventure Film School interns, Zach Newton and Kaitlin Addison, stayed busy as well - they compiled this Behind the Scenes video using short student shots and their own footage.

Teva Mountain Games Day 4
June 6, 2010 in Vail, Colorado
The final day of competition took fishermen out to the volatile Colorado River and slopestyle bikers into the thin Rocky Mountain air. One of our students, Nick Hayes, competed in the citizens bouldering competition. Students wrapped up shooting before hitting the edit room.

Teva Mountain Games Day 3
June 5, 2010 in Vail, Colorado
Fly-fishing started at the crack of dawn with casting competitions, but the World Cup Bouldering Finals stole the show. Dock Dogs also drew a crowd and made many new fans. Students took advantage of their all-access media passes to hold down prime real estate for the events. There was action everywhere we pointed our cameras.

Teva Mountain Games Day 2
June 4, 2010 in Vail, Colorado
Competition shifted to Vail Village as students spent a full day filming intense preliminary competitions including kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, road cycling, World Cup Bouldering, fly-fishing, stand up paddling, trail running and a half marathon.

Teva Mountain Games Day 1
June 3, 2010 in Vail, Colorado
Students rushed to the banks of the "radical" Eagle River on day one of the Teva Mountain Games. The action included kayakers pinballing through boulders and nose-diving over steep drops. We worked on getting good audio, which is a tall order next to raging whitewater. The students got off to a great start, as evidenced by all their shots used in the video below.