EVEREST LIVE

May 8, 2001

From: Michael Brown
FilmMaker

Talking Heads

The team enjoy dozens of e-mail messages each day. Photo Jonathan Chester/Extreme Images

As the film crew our job is to tell the remarkable story of this climb and the characters involved. One of the tactics we use is to sit people down in front of some neutral background and fire questions at them. From Kevin Cherilla our Base Camp Manager to Pasquale Scaturro the expedition leader no one is spared this abuse. From our perspective Base Camp is a terrible place for interviews but it is our only possibility. First the sun is so bright that everyone squints like crazy. We will not allow them to wear sunglasses of course because that is too impersonal, besides the camera would be reflected in the glasses. It is also noisy here--yack bells, boom boxes, avalanches, birds squawking and other members of our own team who love to make noise. So, we point our microphones the other way and hope the audio engineers will be able to work with the material. There is an oft-used saying in the film business. "We’ll fix it in post." Meaning we will leave it for someone else to worry about later because we don’t want to deal with the problem right now.

Father and Son. Photo Jonathan Chester/Extreme Images.

Highlights from our interviews: Pasquale we asked about organizing a zillion pounds of expedition gear and food, Erik Weihenmayer we asked about his wife and daughter and how he got a bloody nose on the way to Camp One, Steve Gipe told us about Oxygen and its importance in the climb, Mike O’Donnel told us stories about he and Erik’s adventures on huge ice formations in the Canadian Rockies, Sherm Bull told us about previous attempts and how most people his age only TALK about Mount Everest, Brad Bull talked about how his previous attempts were for himself but likes this because it is for a bigger cause, Reba Bull told us about how it is to have a husband and father in law on the mountain, Jeff Evans told us about the climbing he does with Erik in Colorado and that this is his first time in Nepal, Chris Morris talked about systems for climbing with Erik, Luis Benitez was amazed by how well the team works together and how he hears bells in his dreams, Eric Alexander spoke of previous expeditions to the Himalayas with the team, Kevin Cherilla spoke about close friendships that develop on climbs, Didrik Jonck talked about taking photos, Maurice Peret talked about the mission of the National Federation of the Blind, Khami Tensing gave us a Sherpa’s perspective.

There are a lot of people to keep track of so it’s a good thing the film crew is behind the scenes. If we were interviewed we would tell you about how making films is all about carrying things from place to place. Mostly shleping, cameras, tripods, cases, batteries, and, of course, our climbing gear. In this case we have the help of Sherpas, without them we would not be shooting High Definition Video. The camera pack weighs about 35lbs. The other things we become familiar with are frost nipped fingers, and the lifestyle of ‘hurry up and wait.’ Frost nipped fingers are no big deal, just the superficial freezing of fingertips from touching the frozen camera. Mine are constantly peeling. ‘Hurry up and wait’ is our own fault. We leave early hoping to get ahead and then find a great shot. Then we wait for the team to show up. They pass as we get a shot and then we have to blast ahead and try to find another place to wait. This usually results in a feeling like your lungs are going to explode right out of your chest---Michael Brown

The documentary film ‘Vision of Everest’ produced by Newport Productions and Aperture Films and is sponsored by Allegra.