How to Film Bouldering
Rock climbing filmmaking thrives in its specificity
The more specific you can be, the greater you can communicate the emotional process your character is experiencing. Unlike a lot surfing or snowboarding films, simply showcasing the sport itself doesn’t quite communicate the activity. If you see somebody surfing, you can gather what’s happening just by watching it. When you’re watching bouldering, that athleticism and strength isn’t quite obvious. So, when creating a rock climbing film my most important tip is to get specific. Show each individual hold, plan an interview or voiceover to communicate the specific route and bring that rock to life through storytelling. Regardless of what camera you have or how scary the route is, my goal is to allow anybody can tell a great story about bouldering with these tips.
Capture the lifestyle
A theme I’ll continue to hammer home on my website and YouTube channel is capturing a scene anytime you’re filming any outdoor discipline. Capturing a wide, medium, and close up shot of the beginning, middle and end of the scene will provide enough variety for you to edit it together into something exciting for the audience to watch. When I’m filming bouldering I’m especially cognizant of this tip. It’s obviously important to capture what’s happening on the rock but the lifestyle that accompanies climbing is also crucial to capture.
By documenting the approach, the other climbers laughing at the crag and the sunset that takes place halfway through the session you open up the opportunity to provide a comprehensive look into the experience of the climber. It may feel silly to walk away from the group and get a wide shot of everybody just hanging out but those moments give the audience a chance to understand what it felt like, not just what things look like.
Keep the horizon level
When a rock climber is setting up to climb an overhung boulder it’s crucial for the filmmaker to communicate the correct angle to the viewers. If the camera gets titled, something I think is easy to do because I believe our minds want things to be straight, you’re doing a disservice to the climbers. This is one of the most challenging aspects of filming bouldering for me because it’s not necessarily difficult to accomplish but I just need to constantly remind myself to keep things straight. Many mirrorless cameras now have a level feature on the back of the screen to allow you to see when your camera is skewed.
This is the video that I was filming while in Las Vegas and making the “how to film bouldering” video above in case you want to check it out :)
Get the beta from the climbers
I don’t consider myself the best rock climber by any means. Although I do love climbing and bouldering, I often sit at the middle of the pack in terms of ability since I often find myself dividing time between a number of different outdoor disciplines. However, understanding the sport of bouldering can really level up your filming potential. If you know what moves are important and which sections are the most interesting you can begin to predict body movement and capture the most relevant details of the climb. Like I mentioned earlier, rock climbing films thrive in their specificity so understanding the specific moves that are going to occur are a crucial element to a successful bouldering film.
What I use to film bouldering
If you check out the video at the top of this page you’ll get a full breakdown into when and why I use each piece of gear but here are the links to what I use:
Primary camera body - Sony A7siii
Secondary Camera Body - Sony A7iii
Most used lens (outdoors) - Sony 24-105mm f/4
Most used lens (indoors) - Sony 35mm f/1.8 (usually paired with a 1/4 pro mist filter)
Other lenses I use frequently - Sony 14mm (great for top down angles) and Sony 85mm (great for extra tight details)
Audio - Tascam DR-10L and Rode VideoMic Pro
Drone (rarely used for bouldering but I’ll list my favorite anyway) - DJI Mavic Air 2s
Gimbal - Zhiyun Weebil S
About Roo Smith
Roo is a commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has produced films for Outside Magazine in Ireland, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in Peru and Ecuador, directed videos with professional climbers in Mexico and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.
Let’s chat - reach out below and I’ll respond in the next 24-48 hours!