David Arnaud - Thinkliquid.net

Nissan Outdoor Games 2008 report - as a Director

David Arnaud — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:57:00 +0200

Last July the 4th edition of the Nissan Outdoor Games took place in Interlaken, Switzerland. This was my 4th participation to this summer event, but this time as a cameraman/director for the event organizers. My experience during the last Winter Outdoor Games in Chamonix had already been very interesting as video content manager.

This time I was in charge of directing the Event Highlight, a 24-min program aimed at TV stations worldwide. Nice challenge! Knowing the event and the area, as well as some of the teams and participants made my task easier. I also shot and edited daily clips for the event's website. All of the clips, as well as the teams' movies, can be seen on this page: L'ensemble des clips quotidiens, ainsi que les films des équipes sont dispos sur la page suivante :

http://www.dailymotion.com/outdoorgamestv

The concept of the event, for those who don't know it, is quite simple: 5 teams have 5 days to shoot a 5-min movie featuring 5 different disciplines: kayaking, mountain biking, base-jumping, climbing and paragliding. I spent most of the week following the teams on hte field, documenting the making of their respective movies. Unfortunately a tragic accident occured during the week. A base-jumper from the French "Ride The Planets" team, Yoann Lizeroux, was killed during a jump. It was a shock for everybody. After a meeting, the four other teams decided to continue the event but to leave aside the competition format.

Despite difficult weather conditions, the general level of the movies has improved nonetheless. My personal favorties were Team IBEX and team GOLGOHT. These are two very different movies, but equally inspirational.

Team Golgoth

Team_IBEX

During the public event on the last 3 days, 3 more cameramen came from Germany. As soon as the event was over, I made the drive to Germany to work on the editing at the "Dropin TV" studio. This is a production company that works mostly on sports events. Once again, a good preparation of the work and a solid script allowed us to edit this TV highlight in just a week. The tricky part in this kind of jobs is to make an interesting show with a good storyline, while taking into account the required exposure for the various sponsors of the event. The show is now airing in various parts of the world... pretty cool!

One of my personal highlight was to take place into the air:

Copyright: Outdoor Games 2008, Dom Daher

For about 15 minutes, the hangglider of Austrian Flo Orley flew over my head and in front of my camera. What a great show! In the background was one of the most spectacular panorama of the Alps. I was truely amazed by the maniability and speed of the hangglider. The noise of the hangglider is very similar to a plane or a jet. Very surprising. And very impressing during the close fly-by. Whooo!!!

Fluid Element Surfing - Hawaii sur Rhone

David Arnaud — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:30:00 +0200

Here's yet another Fluid Element action clip, shot on the left channel in Hawaii sur Rhone a couple weeks ago. On the video the level is approximately 950-1000 m3/sec. At this level the wave is hardly surfable with a standard freestyle boat.

It was a really fun session in the Element. It was only my 3rd session in it, and I know there's still a lot to be learnt from that great little boat. The potential is huge. I won't go into too much detail and I'll let the footage talk. However I feel that I should mention once again how easy this boat is, considering its high speed and agressivity while surfing and carving. In just a few rides you can start carving and doing high speed turns, like you always wanted to but never could in most other unforgiving surf kayaks!

I don't know if I made it clear enough that I fell in love with my Element ?

;-)

First sessions in the Fluid Element -video clip

David Arnaud — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:15:00 +0200

Remember that feeling, back in the late 90's-early 2000's, when every new boat was a revolution? When each new design opened a new world of possibilities and eventually put a huge grin on your face? Well, that was my exact feeling when I could finally test my Fluid Element on Hawaii sur Rhone at flood levels. Here's my totally biaised review of my new favorite boat.

Some time ago Andrew Pollock already showed us what the Element was capable of on the South-African ocean waves. Truely inspiring footage and action that had me waiting anxiously for the good waterlevels in Lyon this spring, thinking about the shiny red Fluid Element I had received earlier this year.

Andrew Pollock and his Element:

Unfortunately the river gods didn't hear my complaints and the wave remained at a quite low level for months, with a nice foampile but very little green to carve on. Just when I was packing my stuff for a creeking trip to Corsica last April, the level quickly rose and reached 1600 cumecs, a level we call the « ramp ». I could finally test my Element, late on a friday evening, right before crossing the Mediteranean the next morning.

At 1600 cumecs the wave is kinda long, and slow. It used to be interesting with the older generation of longer freestyle boats (Dominatrix, sub-7 and such) but it lost its interest with the newer butt bouncers. They are generally too slow to really enjoy the surf, and to avoid flushing these boats must remain stuck in the big foampile which is not very user-friendly. They're also too slow to catch the wave from the eddy. Not great.

In my Fluid Element my session was a total blast. Not only could I catch the wave from the eddy (which I haven't been able to do since the Dominatrix), but I could freely move all over the green part of the wave, even in the flattest sections. The Element is really, really fast, especially considering its short size (about the size of a standard freestyle boat). By watching the footage afterwards, I realized I was a bit too far backwards and that I could have safely move my seat forward to be even faster. But at the time the boat already felt so fast that I didn't even think of it.

The Element can carve very aggressively and radically, but yet it remains forgiving enough. In fact it is actually quite easy to paddle considering its high level of performance. It is still a bit more demanding than an average freestyle boat, but after 30 min I was totally at ease. The performance/user-friendliness ratio has been set very high with the Element. It is much easier to paddle than what you could expect given the hard, radical edges on the hull, and I think this is where the Element seperates from the pack. We've seen some high performance boats in the past, but their performance was obtained at the cost of user-friendliness. Now at last, this kayak combines an outstanding level of performance with the ease of use that makes it accessible for most WW paddlers and not just river gods.

After surfing for a while and enjoying the carving abilities of this baby (a true joy in itself), it was time for some moves. Needless to say the boat spins efforlessly. Clean 540° and 720° were the standard, but this was expected. The true question was to know if the Element would allow for aerial manoeuvers or not. In fact, it can bounce – but only if you use hard edge transition. It won't bounce if you let the hull flat on the surface, and this is good news for the ocean paddlers. Bouncing can be fun, but on bigger waves it also means getting out of control in no time and eventually getting crushed. So while bouncing is definately possible, you have to make it happen. The bounce in itself is smaller than on a freestyle boat, but combined with the greater speed of the Element, the air you get might well be just as high. Backblunts and flashbacks were easy to launch – even easier than front moves! It will definately take more time to really take advantage of the possibilities offered by this boat, but I can already feel a BIG potential.

My first session in Lyon in the Fluid Element:

All in all I think the Element represents the missing link between the surf kayak world and the freestyle boats. It combines the best of the two worlds in a user-friendly design that will make you instantly enjoy your surf. The kind of boat that makes you want to shake the designer's hand and offer him a good bottle of Cotes du Rhone. I've put one aside for you, Celliers ;-)

Now I can't wait to test it on a steeper wave – I know there's still a lot to be learnt from such a boat, and I love that challenge. It feels like exploration again, at last. I haven't had that feeling in a long time! It's raining outside. If only the level could rise a bit in Lyon again!

One happy Element paddler

Oh, and here are a few pics from yesterday, a last minute update before heading for the Pyreneans creeks. At last, a sunny session with decent a level on the left channel! Even if a bit low, the wave was super fast and fun (and hard to surf)!

Helico Flights in Chamonix Mont Blanc videoclip

David Arnaud — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:45:00 +0200

After mentioning in the previous entry the crazy helico flights I enjoyed in Chamonix last february, I couldn't resist and quickly edited this clip. It does not show the entire flights, but just the way back to the dropzone. The first flight is ultra fast with radical turns and quick loss of altitude (there's one move of the helico that I haven't quite figured out yet, at 0'40, it felt really weird), the second one is more scenic with a nice view over the glacier and still a very quick descent in the narrow valley above the DZ.

http://www.chamonix-helico.fr/

Busy times

David Arnaud — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:39:00 +0200

I must say the last few months have been hectic! I've been very busy working on various events and projects lately.

It all started last february with the Winter Outdoor Games. After participating in the first three editions of the summer version of this world-reknowned event, this time I was working for the organization. I spent a few days following the teams in the Mont-Blanc area, capturing incredible skiing, snowboarding, mountaineering and speed-flying action.

At work, with the Mont-Blanc in the background. Photo: P. Fragnol / Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia

I was also lucky enough to fly two times over the Mont-Blanc, to shoot action from the air. An helicopter flight over the Alps is a truely unique experience, and during the flights back to the dropzone the pilots gave us some really radical sensations. I couldn't even imagine what those machines were capable of in terms of maniability. Better have a strong stomach and light lunch!

Antoine Montant, speed-riding. Photo P.Fragnol / Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia

Wing-suit jump from the helico. Photo P.Fragnol / Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia

During the end of the week I was in charge of answering the multiple media requests for footage of the event, as well as managing the screenings of the 2 giant screens displayed in downtown Chamonix. With several thousands spectators and all major sponsors in the audience, there was little room for error! In the end it all went well.

Philippe Fragnol, local legend and famous photographer, became a good friend over the week. Photo David Carlier / Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia

After the Winter Outdoor Games, it was time for some sunny destination. I spent a week in Libya working on an adventure race called the Libyan Challenge. The race is 180km long, and runners only have access to water supplies during the race - which means they have to carry their own equipement and food. The winner of the event completed the distance in about 31hours, while the slowest participants took about 3 days reach the finish line. This was a great experience in a truely unique destination. The Akakus desert offers fantastic scenery, and the Libyans proved to be very helpful and enthusiastic about the race. I am not a runner by any mean, but witnessing the race from A to Z and spending some time with the participants was very rewarding. It takes a lot of focus and determination to enter such a race, and I came to admire many of the racers for their courage and energy in those harsh situations, when you're exhausted and you know you still have 100+ km to the finish.

Proudly posing in the Libyan desert while the sun's rising

After Libya, I was back to the Alps, in Switzerland, for the Verbier Xtreme which was the final stage of the inaugural Freeride World Tour. Just like I did in Chamonix a few weeks earlier, my mission consisted in managing the video content for the organizers as well as the giant screen. Once again I was very happy that I had equiped myself with a high-end HD editing workstation during the winter! My super-fast machine brilliantly edited, encoded and burned hours and hours of video for the various requests we received.

The Freeride World Tour podium in Verbier

Finally it was time for some rest, and time to go paddle as well! But this I will tell in another entry.

David

Fluid Nemesis & winter session video clip

David Arnaud — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:02:00 +0100

Here's yet another video clip. It was shot on my first session with my brand new, shiny red Fluid Nemesis. It was also shot during a cold, cold day last January, on the local artificial course. So, as you can guess, in this clip you won't see exotic destinations, huge moves or bikinis... I rather took the opportunity to insert some nitty 3D effects and play a little with the editing.

Youtube version:

Direct Download, better quality:
Winter Session - Fluid Nemesis - 14 Mo

Right now I'm off to Libya for 10 days. I'll be shooting video on an adventure race called the Libyan Challenge, in one of the most scenic desert on earth. Sounds good!

David

New partnership with Fluid Kayaks

David Arnaud — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:28:00 +0100

After almost 10 spent paddling Riot boats, I'm now joining Fluid Kayaks. This is of course an important change for me, and at the same time a very exciting challenge. Fluid has appointed me as the new International Team Manager, and this is what will keep me busy most of the time. I will also be involved in various other domains, mostly image-related but also on some "field operations" (and that includes taking care of the turntables at parties, oh yeah!). I'll be promoting Fluid kayaks at a a few European events this season as well. Watch out for the Fluid booth and come say hi!

My new weapons of choice are:

Solo Medium: Fluid's creekboat (already tested and approved on rivers all over the world)
Nemesis Medium: a very well-balanced, versatile and performant freestyle boat. Wave or hole, it does it all.
Element: Fluid's latest boat, designed to tear apart any ocean or river wave... I can't wait to test that one in Hawaii sur Rhone at high flows!

Except for the Element which only exists in Medium size so far, all Fluid kayaks exist in 3 sizes: S, M et L. The Solo also exists in Expedition version, with a hatch. I should also add that they DO exist in other colors than red... let's just say this is my favorite color at the moment ;-)

Below is the press release that describes my commitment with Fluid. And stay tuned, I'm finishing a short video clip from my first winter session in the Nemesis.

Fluid Kayaks appoints David Arnaud as pro-paddler and new International Team Manager

South Africa, February 26th 2008

South African watersports manufacturer Fluid Kayaks and French pro-paddler and filmmaker David Arnaud have joined together to both promote and bring synergy to Fluid's range of whitewater kayaks. By tapping into David Arnaud’s unique kayaking skill set and by supporting his future expeditions and productions, Fluid has positioned David as their new International Team Manager. His mission will consist of recruiting and managing a team of regional, national and international paddlers - “the cream of the crop,” as described by Fluid owner and designer Celliers Kruger. David will also focus on maximizing the positive impact of these team members in their respective areas (i.e. make sure Celliers is kept busy molding boats and shipping containers worldwide, while the team is having a good time on the river).

“In my opinion, a team should be more than just a bunch of talented and passionate individuals. I really want Fluid paddlers to meet and exchange as much as possible,” David says. In fact, Fluid paddlers will gather during an annual Team trip to be organized later in the year, with the emphasis of the meet not focused on competition; but on meeting, paddling, and collaboration. Also, the team will participate in photo and video shoots. David Arnaud really seems to be looking forward to this trip. “The thing is, as a filmmaker I've been looking forward to working with my new camera crane for a long time, but it’s an involved process to set up. However, considering my new position as the team manager, I think the Fluid paddlers might be patient while I dial things in.”

Besides offering leadership to the International Team, David will work closely with European distributor Rokxat, who is based in the Netherlands. “There are a few European countries where the Fluid brand is under represented, and in those particular markets getting Fluid on the map is a very exciting challenge. The great lineup of boats will certainly make our job easier, and I'm confident this will be another very busy year for Celliers at the factory!” Some of the boats that Fluid will use to punch through into new markets: The Nemesis is a high-performance yet versatile freestyle boat that will satisfy even the most demanding play boater. The Element is a state-of-the-art surfing and carving machine that prefigures tomorrow's kayak designs. The combination of a super fast hull and aggressive edges makes the Element the ultimate tool to take your paddling – and your fun – to the next level on any wave!

For more info: www.fluidkayaks.com www.RokxAT.nl www.thinkliquid.net

Valentin received his Artistic drytop (now he needs pants)

David Arnaud — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:51:00 +0100

Last Christmas, a drawing was organized among all DVD orders. There were a few Artistic products to win, and Valentin Grollemund won the Aveto Drytop. When I sent him his prize, I asked him to make a picture and send it to me. Here's what I received. I'm not sure however that it'll make it to the next Artistic brochure:

No comment. Really ;-)

Besides posing half naked for the cameras, the kid can also paddle. Earlier this year he ran the Salle-la-Source waterfall, arguably the highest ever ran in France at about 50 feet. I don't know where he found it, but it sure looks nice:

Valentin's blog (in French): http://valgrollemund.blogspot.com

I guess we'll hear about Val again in the future!

David

Artistic drawing: and the winners are...

David Arnaud — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:14:00 +0100

Among the orders received between December 1st and December 25th, a drawing has been made to determine the winners of 5 cool Artistic products. The wait is over, here is the list of winners!

AVETO DRYTOP: Christine Grollemund

Perfectly dry and very well-built, this is a high-end, durable drytop that will satisfy even the most demanding paddlers.

ORCO PRO Lifejacket: Luc Goujon

A great and super comfortable lifejacket. Comes with a built-in harness for safety purposes.

18m throwrope with integrated waist belt: Bethany Patterson

Your rope stays at your disposal anytime on the river

20m throwrope: Pascal Baudelot

Simple and efficient, the mandatory safety accessory for river running.

12m throwrope: Richard Larsson

Simple and efficient, the mandatory safety accessory for river running.

Thanks again to my sponsor ARTISTIC for providing those neat prizes! Have a look at the Artistic range, they've got everything you need to stay warn and dry in your kayak: http://www.artistic-sportswear.com

Happy New Year to all!

David Arnaud

New and longer trailer for In-Flux available!

David Arnaud — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:30:00 +0100

With "In-Flux" being selected for the Banff Moutain Film Festival World Tour, I had to re-edit a shorter version of the movie. Therefore I immersed myself again in this footage and all the memories that go with it. What a nice trip!

Retrospectively, I find that the first two trailers do not make justice to the actual movie. I decided to edit a new and longer trailer. This one features footage from all the destinations shown in the movie : Reunion Island, Italy, Canada, Morocco, Norway, Lyon (Hawaii sur Rhone) and Siberia.

The DVD cover:

I chose a soft soundtrack with a nice balance of melody and beat, whose author is Grace Valhalla. Grace has provided me with music for several productions in the past and is definately a great artist!

To order your copy of In-Flux, go to the Shop page. Order before Christmas to get free shipping and get a chance to win some cool Artistic gear!

The new trailer on Youtube:

To download the clip in better quality (right click + save as...) :
In-Flux Long Trailer/ format Windows Media Video, 38 Mo

Christmas special offer: free shipping + Artistic products to win!

David Arnaud — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:59:00 +0100

Christmas is around the corner, and Thinkliquid Productions has some nice presents for you:

Free shipping for all DVDs!
Win great products from ARTISTIC!

Among the orders received before December 25th, a drawing will determine the winners of the 5 Artistic products detailed below. Take your chance! Order the multiple award winning In-Flux DVD now by clicking HERE!

The prizes:

AVETO DRYTOP: Perfectly dry and very well-built, this is a high-end, durable drytop that will satisfy even the most demanding paddlers.

ORCO PRO Lifejacket: A great and super comfortable lifejacket. Comes with a built-in harness for safety purposes.

18m throwrope with integrated waist belt: your rope stays at your disposal anytime on the river

20m throwrope : Simple and efficient, the mandatory safety accessory for river running.

12m throwrope : Simple and efficient, the mandatory safety accessory for river running.

The drawing will take place on December 26th. Results will be announced in these columns. Winners will be contacted by email to chose the size/color of their prize.

Merry Christmas!

Wave-skiing in Lege Cap Ferret (France)

David Arnaud — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:23:00 +0100

Last October I spent a few days in Lege Cap Ferret, France. The first ever Wave-Ski World Tour was organized there, and it was a great opportunity to watch and learn from the world's best riders.

The Tour website: http://www.awwp.org/

I must say I've really enjoyed the time spent on a wave-ski. It's a very technical discipline. It took me a couple days before I could make decent moves, lines and bottom-turns, without losing too much speed. It's also very demanding physically. I've already planned to go back to the ocean next spring to finetune my skills and hopefully try some different and faster shapes. Thanks to Mathieu Babarit, Caroline Angibaud and all the riders for their warm welcome and all their useful tips!

Of course, watching the wave-skiers ride big waves was cool. But the most impressive for me was the amazing speed and air the best riders could catch, even on smaller waves. I guess there's a lot to be learnt from that.

For some cool action, you can watch daily video reports here: http://www.subgraviti.com/htdocs/moviehighlight.php

Paul Villecourt was there too, shooting pics during the week. Unsurprinsingly, for the action shots he focused on the the pros wave-skiers only ;-)

I also met with Xaver Walser, who is THE wave-skiing filmmaker. He vas there to shoot and edit the daily reports. Check out his website and DVDS: www.subgraviti.com. Xaver is a very cool and dedicated person. We talked a bit about kayaking and wave-skiing, and how we could mix these disciplines. We both feel that kayaking and wave-skiing have a lot in common, now we have to figure out how to merge these two disciplines in future projects!

Xaver also produced a small clip out of an interview made while I was getting out of the water, combined with some creeking footage I provided. I suddenly realize how terrible my accent is when I speak English. My apologies...

Video taken from playak.tv

New website for Select paddles

David Arnaud — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:14:00 +0100

Select just launched their new website! The new, improved version is way fancier than the previous site, with nice graphics and illustrations to browse through their beautiful paddles.

Check it out!

http://select-kayaks.com/

Hawaii Sur Rhone new videoclip + photos

David Arnaud — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:49:00 +0100

Yet another video clip in HD for your viewing pleasure!

This is not exactly a new clip since it dates back from spring 2006. It was originally available as a bonus on my Freestyle Instructional DVD "Methode Kayak Freestyle" (which is available in French only and therefore not presented in the english Shop pages).

I guess it is time to make it available to all. Among other things, this clip features Benjamin Durand's huge silly flip (probably one of the biggest aerial moves ever performed) and Canada's very own Ruth Gordon performing a massive Panam. Ruth, unsurprisingly, would become World Champion a few months later on Bus Eater ;-)

I also included some footage showing the good old Boogie, Riot's surfkayak... it is hard to describe how fun it is to carve on this perfectly glassy, 15m wide wave! For those who know the place, this wide glassy section is located on the left channel at around 1200-1400 m3/sec. At this level I generally prefer using my Boogie over a shorter boat.

2 versions of the clip are available for download :

Standard quality, Windows Media Video, 26 Mo: server n°1
HD 720p, Windows Media Video, 120 Mo: server n°1 or server n°2

Link to the Youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVsDQ-eVakA

And now a selection of nice pictures taken at the wave's optimal level called "the b-Wall":

"In-Flux" part of the Banff Moutain Film Festival World Tour

David Arnaud — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:00:00 +0200

I recently received an email saying that "In-Flux" was part of the selection for the Banff Moutain Film Festival World Tour. Wow! This is great news since the Banff Moutain Film Festival is probably the biggest and most important festival in the world for adventure movies.

A special edit was made for the Tour, with a lenght of 16 minutes instead of the original 65 min. This special edit is part of a list of movies from which the different showings' organizers will pick up their own selection.

Tens of showings are planned in North-America as well as in many different countries across the globe. For more info about the Tour or to find a showing near you, check out this website :

Banff Moutain Film Festival World Tour

And let your local organizer know that you'd like to watch some kayaking on a big screen ;-)

Costa Rica clip in HD

David Arnaud — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:30:00 +0200

I recently posted a video clip about our Costa Rica trip in last january. Here the HD version of this clip for your viewing pleasure, in windows media format.

The file is 95 Mo for a duration of 2 minutes. That's quite a big download! This clip won't play smoothly on computers older than 3-5 years. In fact it's not full HD : instead of 1920*1080, I encoded the file in 1280*720. This resolution is good enough to play fullscreen on a nice LCD. The improvement in picture quality is already quite impressive.

The clip is available on 2 different servers. Eventually my host provider won't complain too much.

(right click + save as...)

Hope you'll enjoy it!

David Arnaud

My latest investment: Canon XH-A1

David Arnaud — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:24:00 +0200

Here's my latest tool :

Now that's a beautiful baby... and it'll probably take some time to fully master the infinite possibilities it offers. It's a big leap forward in terms of picture quality and functionality. This new camera will perfectly complete my small sony HC-1. I'll keep the Sony for the camera crane or for situations when the use of the Canon will be too tricky.

Next shooting should take place on the Haut-Tarn river, one of the French classic. I'll also make a stop at the "Fête de la Soupe" in Florac (= Soup Festival, yes you read it right) which seems to be a very authentical and friendly event. Good old French folklore ;-)

David

New Costa Rica video

David Arnaud — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:09:00 +0200

Here's a new clip of a Costa Rica trip that took place in January 2007.

There are 2 ways to see the clip:

on Youtube : http://youtube.com/watch?v=vnX6lxO_UN4
by downloading the file (better quality) : Costa Rica 2007 - WMV, 40 Mo

Costa Rica is without a doubt one of the best destinations I've visited so far. I hope my footage will be convincing ;-) There's a very interesting diversity in the kind of rivers you can paddle in Costa Rica. From small creeks to big volume, there's more than enough to keep you entertained! Now consider the abundant vegetation, numerous animal and vegetal species, the warm climate and welcoming people... What else could you ask for?

Costa Rica will be one of the segments of my future movie... 18 months after the release of the "In-Flux" DVD, it's time to seek for new adventures! Cool trips are already planned in the near future. Some will take me to the other side of the planet, some others will simply occur in my backyard... France! We have some true whitewater gems in this country, and it's more than time to unveil them to the rest of the world.

Here are a few of my "souvenirs" photos from Costa Rica :

Click here to see the whole gallery:

Costa Rica 2007

David

Normandy - D-Day

David Arnaud — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:54:00 +0200

During a recent trip to Normandy I took the opportunity to visit the D-Day beaches. Let's NOT talk about kayaking for a change...

Omaha, Sword, Juno... These names have been made famous thanks to the numerous movies and books describing these historic events. Today's Normandy offers a very different atmosphere, to say the least. Many remainings of the German occupation can still be seen however (mainly bunkers) and every city, every village has its memorial in the honor of the Liberators. A really fascinating and touching visit!

A 180° panorama made on Omaha Beach:

Just by looking at this picture it's hard to imagine the violent fight that occured there on June 6th 1944.

The Pointe du Hoc is another impressive place. This well-defended battery was considered as unassailable by the Germans. Tens of bomb's craters are still visible, often 5-6 m deep, among the many bunkers and fortifications.

Further inland, I also visited the Lisieux military cemetary. There lie 698 Allied soldiers (mainly English). In another cemetery just next to it, lie 3715 German soldiers. To give you an idea, this is the smallest German cemetery of the region.

I put together some of my pictures in a gallery at this adress:

Normandy - D-Day gallery

David

Veneon shooting, jib test and video clip

David Arnaud — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:23:00 +0200

I spent some time this summer building a camera jib. This consists in an articulated arm which allows innovative shooting angles. The assembling of the jib was complex because I wanted the camera to pan independantly from the arm itself, without using any electronic or motorized head. In the end the jib is about 5m long once assembled, and I must say the resulting videoshots are very satisfying. Have a look at the video clip!

This jib allows for very smooth camera moves and creative angles. The beautiful Veneon valley was the perfect place to test my jib mid-august, with Mika Hyla, Fred Dumont and Fabrice Pouyeto in front of the camera. The waterfall featured in the clip isn't very impressive, but the whole rapid offered trajectories that were a good test for the jib. We took the opportunity to paddle the scenic Veneon gorge and collect some more sunny footage.
In the end, this shooting was very encouraging, and I could point some of the elements I can still improve on the jib. Without a doubt a great addition to my videoshooting equipment!

See the clip : Veneon 2007 / 45 Mo, Windows Media