Trail Scat (a story of the mountains)

These images are frame grabs from 2011's short film, Trail Scat (a story of the mountains). You will probably notice the pole in the pix. Using a custom pole mounted Contour 1080P helmetcam and taking advantage of this camera's HD capabilities and ability to shoot at 60 frames per second, I was able to capture a unique and quite stable perspective while I was running Mt. Rainier's Wonderland Trail in the summer of 2010. This project had to be written "in toto"....in order to tell the story, first I captured the film, then I wrote the words to the narration/poetry, then I was able to write and orchestrate the music as an accompaniment; none of these elements could have been done separately.

The short synopsis is:  Steve gives us a glimpse into his motivations for staying fit for his yearly jaunts of trotting fun in the mountains. Combining elements of poetry, scat, rap and jazz with a big band backup, this 5 minute film takes us through some of the most pristine wilderness in the Pacific Northwest, all filmed on the run from a unique perspective.

Trail Scat has was screened at the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival in October 2011 and the Kendal Mountain Film Festival (UK) in November. I plan on entering more mountain film festivals in the coming months and hope you can screen it at a festival near you! The following is a quote from Outdoor Enthusiast:

And now for something completely different. This short American film was primarily shot using something like a StickPic as poet Stephen Burgess outlines the motivation for his punishing fitness regime. Underscored by a big band jazz score (!) Burgess walks, runs and snowshoes through the Pacific Northwest to create a particularly unusual but deeply amusing film.

To listen to the big band accompaniment, minus the spoken word and background vocals, check out the track below.

Trail Scat Background Music by williswall