into the heart of america...

recently was fortunate enough to spend some time in iowa for a red bull shoot called, Blackout.

i'm pretty sure everyone knows by now red bull's insane reputation of doing the most ridiculous, off-the-wall type shit.. well this was no exception.

so off we we're to Okoboji, Iowa to shoot this thing. it's in the "great lakes of iowa", i didn't even know those existed until i went there.

this is iowa.



the idea was to shoot at night. basically. ok, simple enough. most people would wait for a full moon or a well-lit area, or use hand-held spotlights or something. well, red bull isn't most people.

here's a grocery list of shit they planned:

----they hired a serious filmmaker, Ronn Siedenglanz to film it, along with another operator from LA, named Brooks. really cool guy..Ronn is an amazing dude, and old-school shooter. Shoots primarily all 16mm film.

----two helicopters, one branded with red bull to shoot from, another to shoot the helicopter (branded of course) shooting the action.

----a HUGE house for everyone to stay in right on the lake in IOWA. equipped with a pool table, foosball table, red bull fridges everywhere, nice big couches to sleep on.

----an entire building crew of like 5 or 6 people to build rails and help with logistics.

----EMT, Department of Natural Resources, Divers, and Police Presence in case something was to happen, and to make shit legit.

----the standerd
came to observe (me, josh, and joey meddock) .

----JD Webb, Adam Errington, Brian Grubb, Reed Watson, and Colin Harrington all we're invited to come and ride for it.

it was seriously, a spectacle.

these shots are from the tow-boat, i was manning that big-ass strobe you see hanging. we rigged it up on the tower of the boat with a magic-arm. it was the first time we had ever done that and it worked out really well. i just put it on bulb and panned, and hoped for the best. got a couple crazy ones out of it.






some other random action shots, that are marginally worth looking at.





and finally, some shots from the periphery.




we we're shooting in this farm that some guy was generous enough to let us use for a winch spot, and all of a sudden i looked around me, and saw this short, stalky, shrub that was everywhere... i came close, and it looked exactly like weed... so i picked off a bud, and smelled it. sure as shit, weed. growing wild, all over the place. i showed this dude that lives in iowa and said:

"dude, check this out."

he said, "welcome to iowa man, that shit grows everywhere. don't try and smoke it though, it'll tear ya up."

ditch-weed, they call it.



i've still got some more film at a lab, i'm waiting to get back. i'll prolly put some more of this trip up in a bit.