For Chris Nazarenus, it’s all about living life on the edge.
Nazarenus, co-founder of media production company, Triple Nickel Films, and an avid motorsports enthusiast, and her crew got to do just that June 27. The Redmond resident was enlisted by Seth Schaeffer of Hoptocopter Films to shoot a short-form video of one of Hollywood’s top stuntmen, Greg Tracy, flying up famed Pikes Peak in Colorado on the newly released 1200cc Ducati Multistrada, one of the most technologically advanced racing motorcycles on the market, during the annual International Hill Climb.
But there was a catch.
Nazarenus, who graduated from University of Puget Sound with a degree in Business Communications and is a former corporate executive for a graphic technology company, would only have access to one specific device to record all the footage – the Apple iPhone 4, which was released just four days before the race.
“We literally had eight phones that we had to purchase, and we had no idea how the phones would perform,” Nazarenus said. “We were just taking footage and literally had people all the way up the mountain with phones, crossing our fingers, wondering what we were going to get.”
A PERFECT RECIPE
Looking at the individual pieces of the puzzle, the project clearly had potential from the get-go.
Tracy, who has performed in blockbusters like “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Talladega Nights” and “Spiderman 3,” would be tackling one of the world’s most famed mountains, Pikes Peak, in a race that featured 156 turns, 40 degrees of temperature variation, and 3,000-foot drop-offs while going up to 135 miles per hour.
The race itself, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, has a lot of history. At 88 years running, it’s the second oldest motorsports race in the country next to the Indianapolis 500.
In addition, Nazarenus, a former longtime Denver resident, had been managing media content for years on the peak, including media relations and photography.
She knew the mountain like the back of her hand.
All the parts seemed to be in place, leading to the final question: How would the phones perform?
Leaving their motel at 2:45 a.m. on race day, Nazarenus’ crew took their places and prepared for their one shot at technological history. Never before had a video project of this magnitude and scope been attempted using a cellular telephone.
“It’s a big mountain, knowing you have eight phones and very extreme weather conditions. We really wanted to be first,” said Nazarenus on the pressure of race day. “You’re already exhausted, and now you have to produce this epic piece. But Pikes Peak is a magical, amazing place that is second to none. You go there once and it just captures you. We wanted to do justice to the mountain as well as the technology, the Multistrada, Greg Tracy, all the people involved.”
HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD
Originally planned to be more of a “commercial” for Ducati, that project idea was scrapped for a more dramatic one when Nazarenus realized how epic, and emotional, the footage was.
“The message became more risk-reward and risk living life… we decided to just take the footage we got and start piecing it together,” she explained. “It was a couple very long nights. Finally, at 5:55 in the morning (Tracy’s racing number), it was instant launch, just epic.”
And the phones themselves performed well beyond expectations, considering the harsh conditions.
Using mounts such as the Owle Bubo and the GPScity.com RAM, Nazarenus was able to get unique shots such as from the front of Tracy’s bike.
“We had faith in Apple’s track record, our team, and Greg Tracy to win – to make sure we all ended up on top,” said Schaeffer, the film’s director. “Not only did the historic event prove to be a test for the technology of the iPhone 4 and the Ducati Multistrada, it became a test for all due to the extreme nature of the race.”
Added Nazarenus, “How do you truly display the dirt-to-asphalt, that it’s snowing at the top, the high-ranging emotions from family and friends? You’re just waiting at the bottom and hope he makes it to the top. It’s a crazy feeling.”
And once the finished product hit the Internet, what began as nothing more than a press release to a media list and a Facebook post instantly went viral.
“Our friends kept sharing it and within an hour it ended up on a motorsports blogging site, Jalopnik,” Nazarenus said. “The Jalopnik blog about the piece seemed to generate more bloggers to write about the film.”
In about a week’s time, the movie had over 200,000 views, and currently has about 262,000 on its primary channel on YouTube. The film’s secondary channel is still generating about 2,000 new views a day, according to Nazarenus.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
Since moving to Redmond back in April, Nazarenus and her fiancee Andy DeVol, who is a distributor for Kirkland-based Dumonde Tech Racing Oils, have been looking into getting more involved locally and putting their newfound iPhone filmography skills to the test.
“We’re interested in getting involved more in Redmond and the Eastside,” Nazarenus said. “It doesn’t have to be extreme (sports)… but we like to do a lot of commercial production. I was lucky to be able to love technology, embrace it, and not say, ‘It’s only a phone.’”
In fact, right after returning from Pikes Peak, Nazarenus filmed a go-karting event fundraiser for the Seattle chapter of Children’s Hospital, which turned out to be a smashing success.
“It was interesting to see people’s reactions,” she noted. “Whether it was Pikes Peak or a karting event here in the Pacific Northwest, everyone was asking, ‘Is that the new iPhone 4?’ That created buzz… but when this came out and it was so easy to put that kind of thing in everyone’s hands, that was a big deal. Filming has become not only affordable, but fun, and you can tap into a lot of people’s talent.”
To find out more about Nazarenus’ company, Triple Nickel Films, visit the Web site at www.triplenickelfilms.com or e-mail her at cnaz5@triple-5.com. To view the video “156 Turns”, click here.
