How To Make Adventure Films - Part 1 of 3 - The Planning

Making and watching videos is a part of daily life for nearly everybody now. As TikTok, YouTube and Instagram continue to push out fun, engaging and adventurous videos you may be wondering how you can do it yourself. Or, you may be a fan of some of the Roo Smith signature style films and want to create some of your own. Wherever you’re at in your filmmaking journey, hopefully this article will give you some insight into my process to creating high quality adventure films while still enjoying every step of the way :)

Step 1 / 3: Pre-Production

Before you even begin to break out the cameras, strap on your helmet or wax up your surfboard it’s important to think about a few things. There are four steps I always take before I gear up for a filming expedition, each one as important as the next

Choose Your Adventure

The biggest part of any adventure film is obviously the adventure. When it comes to choosing your adventurous journey for your video production I always like to base it off of what I just think sounds fun. Surfing in Ireland, rock climbing in Mexico, biking in Colorado, kayaking in Washington or trail running in Chile. Dream big and start to think of how a story fits into this outdoor adventure.

Bring in other elements beyond the outdoor pursuit

When I went surfing in Ireland with the Goat Surf Club for Outside Magazine it wasn’t just about catching waves, we partnered with nonprofits sharing uplifting stories about the environment. When I was filming a rock climbing project in Mexico for XtraTuf the story revolved around an individual pushing his limits to achieve the biggest rock climbing route of his life but we gave a glimpse into our silly antics while we were there. In the film about biking in Colorado, professional mountain biker Ryan Petry connected with local riders in each town he biked through to learn about what made those towns unique, etc. etc.

How to craft a story arc

As you think through whatever adventure you’re wanting to make a film about try to keep in mind that every good story as a beginning, middle and end. It has a character who wants something and needs to overcome something to get it. These simple plot guidelines will bring your film from an amateur GoPro adventure edit into something that resonates with audiences from all walks of life.

Choose Your Team

This is where the project really starts to become real because you get to share your vision with others. For every project you need a filmmaker and a subject. That’s the starting point. Once you have your subject, you can start to add in other team members. Depending on the project (and the funding) you can really start to scale big. For the projects that I normally work on, there’s typically only me and perhaps one or two other filmmakers involved (ideally an editor and assistant/additional camera person). If you’re breaking into $100k+ projects you can start to think through hiring a producer, an additional cinematographer/drone operator, a sound mixer, etc.

However, it’s important to remember to not put too many cooks in the kitchen.

“bring along others that possess the skills you want but don’t have”

I always try to bring on members of my team that have skills that I don’t possess to help bring a more well-rounded team. While I’m a decent climber, I love hiring an individual to just handle the rope work so I can focus on the camera operating on rock climbing films. For video productions about biking, I love having an individual dedicated to driving a car which enables me to film out the window of the moving vehicle to get some great shots. Your team is your support network but they’re also your community so make sure to hire people you enjoy working with too. There’s a lot of excitement on these adventures and being with people you know you connect with emotionally makes all the difference.

Where is the Film Going?

Online Distribution

This is a section that is often overlooked by many beginner filmmakers. If you make something you’re proud of, it’s worth getting as many eyes on it as possible. There are a few places your film might end up and they all have their pros and cons. Online distribution such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu gives you a chance to reach large audiences with an amazing financial return. Smaller distribution channels like Red Bull TV, Outside TV or the like will still offer a decent paycheck for self-funded or middle of the road projects but the tradeoff compared to the larger platforms is that their audience may be a bit smaller. However, these smaller distribution channels may focus on your target audience so it likely could lead to a lot of connections in the industry that may lead to commercial work on the side. This is the avenue I’ve chosen to go for a lot of my films and have been very happy with the result.

Film Festivals

Film festivals are another good option but you run the risk of your film not being selected into the festival. If you’re self-funding your film, film festivals can really add up but they do lead to good connections and a fun experience seeing your film in front of a live audience.

YouTube

Finally, you can go the classic YouTube and social media upload and hope for the best. If you sought out sponsors, they may share it on their social media but I’ve found this often leads to the most fleeting experience and doesn’t always guarantee the most exciting result. However, if you’re just doing it for fun and you’re just starting out then uploading quickly to your social media and moving onto the next project is not always a bad idea.

Training for Your Film

Finally, you need to start thinking through how to physically prepare for your adventure film. As a filmmaker, you need to be able to keep up with the athletes you’re filming so this is the time to start hitting the gym. I wrote a whole blog post on how I physically prepare for making an adventure film here in case you want some more specific guidance. Mostly, it just comes down to moving your body in a similar way as when it comes to filming your adventure.

If you’re making a ski film, go ski beforehand and get better and moving around the mountain in the snow. If you’re heading out on a climbing expedition, get your rope systems dialed and practice pulling out your camera while climbing with your friends at the crag. If you’re physically unable to take part in the adventure yourself you could be slowing down the whole group and not able to tell the story in the best way.

So, that’s how I begin the video production process for a high quality adventure film. There is a lot that goes into it but the better you can prepare, the better your film will be. I’ve completed dozens of branded adventure documentaries at this point in my career and every time I thoughtfully reflect on these four steps I’m grateful I took the time to conduct careful pre-production. There are obviously lots more planning steps that can go into a specific film but this is the general guide I use regardless of the outdoor discipline I’m filming.

More ADventure Filmmaking Tips Coming soon!

This is part 1 of 3 of a blog series on how you can create high quality adventure films so stick around for the other sections coming soon! If you care to learn more about how this all looks in action, check out how I made a rock climbing film in Mexico by clicking below…

Connect with Roo!

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.