I think is was late February when I was on a conference call with the folks from In Focus Asia.  National Geographic had just connected me with Dean Johnson (Johno) in regards to the Kamchatka Project and we were discussing some ideas and logistics regarding the tv show they would be shooting for NGT.  As the conversation closed Johno asked me what we were up to and I said we just got back from shooting this ice climbing route called “Icy BC”.  He was keen to see some footage, so I sent him over a link to the demo reel for the Sea To Sky Cam.  I think within a few minutes, I got an email back asking if I wanted to come to Taiwan to shoot cable cam for a documentary that they were working on for Taiwan Public Television.  It was the last thing I expected to be doing with the cable cam, but a perfect application.  I spent the next few days with Matt trying to lock in schedules, budgets and sort plane tickets and excess baggage fees.  It seemed pretty reasonable to get the whole system checked with just a total of 6 pieces of luggage.  Matt kept asking me where exactly we were going and I kept telling him, “A 3000 year old ancient cypress high in the mountains of Taiwan that the Smangus tribe calls home.”  We were both curious for sure.  Never would we have guessed that the cable cam would meet the Asian doc market, but sometimes light simple and effective techniques in adventure film cross apply to the doc market perfectly.

A warm Taiwanese welcome from the Taiwan Public Television crew.

After arriving in Taipai, we quickly made our way up into the mountains to hook up with Johno and the rest of the production team.  Within a few hours of leaving the capitalist mecca of Taiwan, we were on a winding mountain road overlooking lush forests.  It was a view of Taiwan I would have never expected.  Full blown rivers, rugged mountain landscapes and undeveloped wilderness.  Then we arrived at the Smangus village.  Truly a magical oasis in the heart of the mountains.  The demeanor of the people had the overwhelming feeling of content.  This was a place I would have never imagined existed inside of Taiwan.

The Smangus school. I could live here. Beautiful.

A tribal elder is all smiles in this paradise called Smangus

Our main role here was to shoot a series of cable cam shots over three days.  About 10 years ago when the tribe was suffering from most of the people moving out of root vegetable farming for mainstream jobs in Taipai, some of the tribal elders made an amzing discovery.  While they were out on a hunting mission, they discovered a groove of ancient Cypress trees that would have been missed when the Japanese logged these mountains hundreds of years ago.  A group of 3000 year old trees that stood untouched towering over the elders, just 5 kilometers from the village.  It was a discovery that forever changed the tribe.  It ushered in tourism and with that came wealth.  The challenge has been management, but clearly this discovery has allowed the Smangus to thrive.  Our job would be to create dreamy like shots where the cable came came out of the forest understory and revealed the giant trees.  Shots that would allow the story of the discovery to be told with magnificent visuals.  The first step would be getting an anchor up in Ya Ya, the biggest tree in the bunch.

A couple of motor bikes went a long ways in getting our equipment into the location. I'm just glad I was not driving.

Matt Maddaloni a way off the deck in the trees.

Beyond shooting the cypress forest scenes we did a scenic shot over a small river canyon and a bunch of work in the bamboo forests.  In total we pulled off 4 different cable cam rigs with numerous angles from each rig.  For us it was a challenging shoot in needing to really focus on the scenery more than subject matter transposed onto the scenery.  We are used to following action, moving quick and providing that sense of speed from adventure sports.  This was an entirely dirrent focus, but we were able to offer angles that could never have been achieved any other way.  It was clear that we not only nailed a few shots, but added a level of production value to this doc that could only be achieved by the Sea to Sky Cam.

A long cable cam down a pritine creek drainage.

Matt trying to sort anchors out in bamboo. Not our typical forest rigging scenario!

A huge thanks to Johno of In Focus Asia and Jessie and Selena from Taiwan Public Television.  While I love to go out and get cool shots, being part of genuine story telling always makes it way more fun.  The story of the Smangus will be out as a co-production from In Focus Asia and Taiwan Public Television next year sometime.  I’m hoping they submit to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, as it would be an unique twist on mountain culture and an opportunity for North America to learn about these people.  I would have never guessed that such a place existed in the modern pace and era of Taiwan.