Life of Bot

"Blood" Brothers

    

    

    I recently downloaded the new movie from Brother's Films entitled "Blood". I sat and watched it on my computer and as soon as it got done playing I plugged into the big screen and turned the volume way up and watched again. At first, your like "yo, you need to de-interlace that shit son, but then you realize that it is part of the creative decision. Shot mostly on 16mm film, it has a timeless, reminiscent of a memory type feel and when woven together with the soundtrack, it takes you on an almost psychedelic trip through the powder and trees. Very atypical for a snowboarding movie, I loved it. So I decided to get in contact with the photographer, Zach Hooper, and ask him a couple questions about the debut release from Brothers Films and what the plans for the future entail. 

Hi Zach, 

I just got finished watching Blood, and I gotta say, It really, really made me want to go and ride powder. Can you tell me a little bit about where the motivation to make this type of a movie originated?

quoting Wyatt Stasinos, " I just always had an interest in filming ever since Aaron started shooting me when I was like ten. It came to a point where I couldn't depend on any one filming me on a consistent level so with some shopping around I found a good Arriflex 16 from FORUM and dove in. I felt like I would end up doing this one day but never really thought it would happen so soon. Now that I have done it only feels right to keep on with it. 

Who is Brothers Film?

Brothers Film is indy film crew made up of Wyatt/Cory Stasinos and Zach/Aaron Hooper.

It’s pretty awesome that you guys did this with 16mm, seems like a lost art. There is also some type of helmet cam used in the movie through the trees. Can you tell me a little about that?

Ya 16mm is a great medium. I have always appreciated the look of film and snow together. All the HD/digi stuff is rad to and is a huge time/money saver but so goes the battle between good and evil I suppose. Shooting film is a entirely different ball of wax in the respect of how you use it. We would roll with two 16's, 2 POV cams, the MarkIII and the 5d. Perfect lil production company. You just save the film for when it counts and make sure that what you film counts. You have to be dialed or your just throwing money out the door. Digi has just given everyone the opportunity to have a little leg room in being a true pro if you will, enough said. The only POV shot that actually made it into the movie was when Wyatt dropped the Gnar Coolie on the backside of Silverton located directly above Shaun's Red Bull Pipe. If you get the real DVD the bonus seggy at Wolf Creek is all POV. However all the other hand held point of view shots are actually from the 16mm being hand held. Try snowboarding with a 20 pound weight in your hands or further more wrapping your self around a tree while holding one. Aaron almost lost a finger while follow cam'n and catching an edge on some hard pack. Save the camera or save the finger? Your call.   

Does Brother’s Films plan to make another film?

We sure do Tim. In fact we have all ready started to film for the 2010 season with the early snowfall here in Aspen Colorado. We have some sweet locations picked out and good frends as well to be involved. 

I see that Frequency, The Snowboarder’s journal has published one of the blood shots. That’s pretty rad, those guys have their feet in the right place. The POW. Tell me about the shot.

The shot which you speak of was Cory Stasinos first published picture ever deep in the Aspen back country. This particular day we had worked our way up into this huge basin that was just filled with different lines. Cory and I worked out this line together on the "Cheese-grader" and he navigated his 16 year old ass through it like a pro.

It was rad to see you guys film a ton in Colorado, you have a lot of love for that place and it shows in the movie. Tell us about filming in CO and where else did you film at?

Here is the skinny, we all grew up in Colorado. My brother and I were lucky to get our fill of southern California while living in Newport Beach. So we have a good idea of whats up I think. Just like everyone else we have been doing this for a long time. Long enough to know that the industry needs to get behind people coming outta Colorado. Colorado is home however and Aspen is a mountain town that we have all fell in love with over the years. No lines, no crowds or crews to battle, just good old fashioned living. 

You have the editing credit in the movie. How did that happen? Aren’t you the photographer? 

Actually that is my brother Aaron who is a long time movie maker who has that title along with Wyatt Stasinos. I how ever did produce and film for the movie as well as shoot stills. I did a few lil b roll hype edits for the film before we released it. I like to edit and have learned a bunch from Aaron but the credit definitely goes to him for the edit. He is by far one of the best out there.

What kind of gear are you rocking?

Well if were talking cameras, Canon//Arriflex/Holga.  If you talking snowboard gear Nicolas Muller's pro model the BurtonEcoNico159/AG/Grenade/SmithI/O  Sled Polaris Dragon 800 59 track

What are your influences as a photographer?

I really enjoy other peoples work pro or am. I get crazy inspired from watching photog's like Blotto, Cole, TimZim, SvenMartin, TMEZ, Frode, TheGreenCowboy, PeterLik, AnselAdams etc. I also get really inspired by living the life or doing myself all the things that I am shooting. Well, let me clarify that cuz I am not going to go send my meat like Rice of some retarded big jump.

Besides making me want to ride powder, this movie makes me want to eat mushrooms. There is a slightly hallucinogenic quality to the ilm along with the music choices. It reminds me of raw 70’s, not the disco, but the fall out of the 60’s, 70’s. Did you choose the music?

The music was collaboration from the crew and mos def emotes the stoney vibe. Its been really fun to come up with these kids who really didn't care for any music outside of hip hop and see them opening their minds to new music and actually pick up instruments along the way as well. Its all circular no matter how hard each generation fights it, hahaha.

What are your plans for the upcoming winter?

Lots of snowmobiling, hooking up with some of our Swiss, Norwegian, Jackson and Idaho buddies. Maybe Japan.

Shout outs?

I would like to thank Wyatt and Cory Stasinos for just being them selves while putting everything on the line for what they love. Love you guys. Also wana thank Aaron my brother who never fails to create awesomeness. I would like to thank Cory Smith and Smith Optics for supporting us and building buy far the most superior goggle on the market. Willie McMillon and Travis Rice at BLUEBIRD for creating the fastest and earth friendly wax known to man. Thanks to Dr. Dave Jensen and crew at the WIN Health Institute for keeping us together and healthy. If any of you are in the area he is the man! www.winhealthinstitute.com. Shout outs as well to Travis, Mike, Sara and Jason at Radio Boardshop, Rachel, Melissa and Deric at AspenSnowmass, Danny Kass, Dingo and Kevin Casillo at Grenade, Mountain Power Sports, Jeff, Mike, Nate & Exile at SnowboardMag, Pouch formerly of Rossignal, Billy, Boyes and Wooly at Volcom, Will Blonna at Reqwium Design for doing all the art work, The Stasinos and Hooper Familes and KUDA. 

Get your physical copy of the movie HERE. 

Below are a couple rad production shots from Zach Hooper. 

 Lil' homey Cory Stasinos legitimizing the BLOOD title.

Cory getting after it in monochrome

This shot of Wyatt sums up the whole movie

To see more of Zach's work, go HERE, and to see what's up on the daily, go HERE.

Look Alive People - First official release from Wake Up Lucid

    Wake up Lucid's first release, "Look Alive People", is a fierce debut from this Southern California trio. The opening track, "A Minor", intros much like the humble beginnings of the band itself, starting slow and bluesy, then catching momentum and ripping into full velocity by the main riff of the song. "I'm gonna take you to heaven tonight, and I ain't never gonna bring you back". The album touches on a range of emotions and leaves you desperate for more by the final song, E Minor. It was nice to hear accents from the keyboard and organ interlaced subtly into their studio work as well. I was also impressed at how they managed to capture a bit of their live performance in terms of energy onto their record, especially Jamie Baca's intense drumming skills. Many successful bands never fully achieve that.     

    What's different from previous incarnations of the band is a dirtier yet fuller sound due to bass player Ian Baca and newly appointed drummer Jamie Baca. Coupled together with Ryan Baca's talented songwriting skills and electrifying guitar work, Wake Up Lucid has never sounded better or more complete. The EP is now available on . For $4.99, you get your money's worth. Pick it up now!

Below is an older write up from Rolling Stone, written 3/10/2009, since then, Jamie Baca has replaced Dan Hodge as the drummer of he band, and boy, does this Baca rip.

Introducing... Wake Up Lucid

March 10, 2009 11:30 AM

Thanks, S.S. readers, for your tips about L.A. trio Wake Up Lucid. We checked 'em out, dug their shit and hunted 'em down. We got them fresh -- turns out their first gig was last December.

Wake Up Lucid are cousins Ryan Baca (guitars/vocals) and Ian Baca (bass), and drummer Dan Hodge. They've known each other forever and jammed plenty before officially forming the band last March.

At that first gig in December, at LA's 24K club, "A couple of DJs from KROQ were there and they were really pumped on it," says Ryan, 29, who loves the Beatles and Zep and the Black Keys and the Raconteurs. "The crowd was stoked and they just started asking us back. So we decided to roll with it and kept going."

And they've only played a handful of shows since, and they're still in the process of making an EP.

They certainly have the dedication. "At our second show, we were about to get on stage when our drummer gets a phone call that his house just burned down," says Ryan. "We ended up playing the show -- I mean, it was already burned to the ground."

Check out "Broke Down House" below, and head over to their MySpace to hear more.

Wake Up Lucid - "Broke Down House"

Iberico de Bellota Ham

    I was walking through Bristol Farms this morning in Los Angeles by the deli department when I walked by a sign that stated:

Exclusively at Bristol Farms

Iberico de Bellota Ham

$99.99lb.

    WTF? No misprint here. So what's up with ham that costs $100/lb?

Scotch

    I never knew that much about Scotch before. It seemed to me like something old people who smoke cigars that don't want to be around their wives drink in some secluded and refined place. I have had a Johnny Walker Red before and really did not think very highly about it, in fact, gross might have been the adjective. I took a trip to Portland, Oregon and met with my buddy Matt Braman, who is now a retired bartender, he switched careers into sustainable business practices. Anyways, we went to a place he used to work called Paddy's Bar and Grill to link up with good friends Josh and Carla. Biggest liquor selection I have ever seen. I wanted something other than a beer, and asked Matt what I should get. He suggested a Scotch and we talked about the idea that older scotches were better and that was the way they were meant to be drank. I turned to the bartender and asked him, "if I was to die tonight, which Scotch, would reverberate in the afterlife?", this guy did not miss a beat, and reached for the Macallan 25 year. He leaned over and warned me that this shot was going to be $45.00. I thought about it, good friends, amazing city, life is short...hell yes. Over the next 15 minutes, I sat and sipped one of the most amazing Scotch Whiskeys I've ever had the pleasure to sip. I was also able to share that with all my friends. It was amazing. I think it's the kind of thing you have to be ready for, which can only be prepared by experience. If you ever get the chance, your over 21, you've grown tired of the standard drinks, and you have the means...give it a try, they are amazing.

Click HERE, for the list of the 10 most expensive Whiskeys in the world. You will be shocked.

Illusion Lab's "Touch Grind"

    Currently, I'm on a photo trip in Oslo, Norway for Forum with Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Nico Cioffi, Joni Malmi and Peter Line. We are very busy and don't have much down time, however, when we do, this new app from Illusion Labs for the iPhone is constantly being broke out. For those who don't know, it is a multi-touch skateboard game for the iPhone and it is as addicting as crack. I downloaded it for $4.99 from the iTunes store and it is wasting my life away. The look and feel of the game is very realistic. Check the video below. This video game will do no good for anybody who wants to do something with their life, so if you don't want to turn into a vegatable, steer clear of this and the iPhone. It's too late for me, I'm addicted.

Action Horse Presents "Pony Tale"

    A couple of years ago I had the pleasure to go to Hemsedal, Norway with the Roxy team for a photo shoot. While I was on that trip, I roomed with Per-Hampus Stålhandske, who at the time, was filming for the Roxy project, "Labor of Love" and we hit it off. Although I haven't spoken with him too many times since, it has always been a pleasure to run into him or see that he is doing well. So it goes without saying, when his new project dropped, I definitely wanted to make sure I had a chance to give it my full attention.
    First off, it's a free movie. In our current market place, people do not want to pay for anything. I am for the idea of just giving the movie away and increasing your viewing audience. The reason sponsors give money for projects like this is so that when you see their rider, it will connect you to their product. Enough said. I'm heading towards a tangent here, but, I cannot stand going to a movie premier and having to pay to get in to watch the film that they want me to purchase. That's like paying for it twice. Anyways, back on track. Stepchild was one of the first companies to realize that if they gave the movie away, more people would watch it, thus, increasing the advertising. Give the people what they want. Awesome. Obviously, this doesn't apply to every situation and is much more complex than I am making it seem.
    Secondly, the film stars some of my favorite riders including: Stian Solberg, Knut Eliassen, Hampus Mosseson, Jakob Wilhelmson and a slew of other very talented Scandanavians. These guys rip hard.
    Thirdly, this film, unlike many other snowboard movies on the market, is free of the normal politics of big business snowboarding, meaning, that it's fun to watch and makes you want to go snowboarding. This should be the end product of a film about snowboarding. Simple, right? Well, aparently not. Many films on the market today are plagued with ultra cool guy image, directors not getting the final cut for their art due to financial leverage and a complete lack of any type of underlying theme or message other than snowboarding sells so here is a bunch of snowboarding. This is not.
    So with all that being said, I'm going to have to say that this is one of my favorite movies of the year and recommend it to anyone who like to snowboard for the fun of it. Pat Moore has a great cameo in the movie. Just trust me, download it for free at http://www.actionhorsefilms.com/ponytale/.
    One thing I should mention, I had a really difficult time downloading the movie. I mean, it wasn't user friendly, so if your not Über computer saavy, you may have some difficulty in downloading it. The best way I found to do this was to click High Definition under the "Torrent" section. On a Mac, when you click this, a dialouge box will open. See the diagram below. Click ok and it will open Opera and begin downloading. Easy enough, however, this was not obvious at first. The first option on the site works through a third party called GigaSize. The ten times that I tried to download it through this option, it would stall and never complete the download which was annoying. I actually had to chat with Stian to figure it out. Anyways, hope this helps.

Below are some photos from the Roxy trip to Norway and other uncategorizeable instances where I have chilled with these dudes. Check 'em out homies.

(The man behind the lens, Per-Hampus Stålhandske)

(Per-Hampus with a silky smooth bs5 on the step up. Hesedal, Norway)


(Tonia Detomas hitting a kicker in Hemsedal, Norway)


(Erin Comstock with a proper method on the hip in Hemsedal)


(Portrait of Knut Elissen in the Tahoe Backcountry)


(Knut showing the kids how it's done - Ouray, Colorado)


(Stian Solberg looking...)


(...at this)

So, whatever, whatever...Check the film!

New Stepchild Video - Downloaded

 

"DOWNLOADED"

Stepchild has once again decided that money is not important to them by releasing a free downlaoadable Team video aptly titled "Downloaded". For those who don't know, Stepchild's team cosists of Simon ,(samoan), Chamberlain, Joe Sexton, Fredu Sirvio, Markku Koski, Stian Solberg, Risto Ruokola, Scott Vine, Chris Wimbles. E Man, Brian McClatchy, and November 2008 Transworld Snowboarding cover boy JP Walker. In typical Stepchild fashion, there is quite a bit of narritive delivered by the team to bring you a personal feel to the movie, skate style. It is obvious that they were not working with a big budget, but rather, taking all the footage they compiled during this past winter, and used the editing talents of Ilauri Suhonen. The movie begins with a travel segment to Japan and you witness first-hand the trials of traveling mixed with the fun of doing it all and continues into segments like "backcountry", "contests", "park", etc. I have to say that I am pleased with the movie by this criteria: does it make me want to go snowboard? If the answer is yes, it's a good movie, so, the answer is yes. If you asked whether it was as good as their previous effort "Child Support", I would have to say no. That movie was epic. This one is great to have on your computer and watch with your friends during downtimes. Also, I found it better to watch the movie online instead of actually downloading it to your desktop. The copy, and I downloaded it twice, suffered from audio problems and was extremely annoying to watch, so just watch it online, if your connection is in this decade, you should be fine. One last plug, Stepchild Snowboards is a real snowboard company. Support them, they make a good product, they give away free stuff and are owned by Sean Johnson, it doesn't get anymore core than that.