Afterglow by Sweetgrass Productions
As there continues to be more and more “epic” in ski media, it is a gift that the leading filmmakers in the industry give us when they portray the art behind the sport. There is an inherent connection between the person and nature, and in Afterglow by Sweetgrass Productions, the intricacies of this connection are, quite literally, illuminated in a new and special way.
Sweetgrass Productions is “a collection of filmmakers, adventurers, dreamers – artists. From lonely nights at 20,000 ft to backyard BBQ’s, we seek to capture the indescribable, the surreal, and the moments in between that send the electricity right up into our spines and into our smiles. We can’t deny the draw of cinematography, the thrill of a challenge and the beauty of caressing light and shadow into the moving picture.” Their later, Afterglow does all of those things: a spellbinding twelve minutes of night skiing, with the movement of bodies through snow lit up by LED light suits on the bodies of the skiers starring in the film: Chris Benchetler, Pep Fujas, Eric Hjorleifson and Daron Rahlves.
Filmed at Golden Alpine Holidays in BC and Alyeska in Alaska, the use of light in Afterglow reveals a new magic in the movement of the skiers in the mountains, and exposes the skiers achieving another level of presence in their physicality. Every turn seems richer, more loaded, as the loss of complete visual sense enhances the viewer’s reminder of the feeling behind it all. We are caught up with remembering the floating feeling, the loss of worry, and the transition from the corporal into the ethereal that skiing provides. The film strips away the bravado, presenting an ego-less look at a sport that is so often mired with over-the-top extremeness. In revealing the “lighter” side of being in the mountains through this cinematography, Afterglow makes more of a statement about the soul of skiing, and for that we can only say: thank you.
But how the film was made is what makes this entire project truly fascinating. Watching the GoPro footage of these incredible skiers blasting through the night makes you realize just how talented they are.
On top of that, the sheer effort that it takes to produce a project of this caliber in both physicality and artistic merit is enough to warrant awe. You can hear the passion in the voices of the crew that made Afterglow a reality; you can see the simultaneous struggles and joys that bringing this dream vision to reality was. From making equipment work in minus twenty degrees Celsius in the dark, to lighting snow with ambilight technology, to timing and directing the skiers through the perfect moments; all of it together is truly a work of art. Watch the behind-the-scenes below…it’s hard to decide which is more fascinating: the finished project or the work behind it.