GoPro Filmmaker Simon Helbling

Simon Helbling is a Swiss filmmaker based in London. He directed and wrote several shorts, commercials and music videos and works as a writer (published by Reinhardt Verlag) and director in theatre (Schauspielhaus Zürich, Rote Fabrik, Schlachthaus Bern).

His short movie FOR THE SEA, WHICH IS A SHINING DESERT (2016) won the award for best Swiss Film at the Mobile Motion Film Festival 2017.

Interview with Simon Helbling

What is the story behind your film?

How humans are taking care of each other and how selfishness can be buried within, interests me a lot. So I once came up with this story, of how two characters behave in the extreme situation of being alone on a rubber boat in open waters. Without food, without seeing the shore. I decided to tell their dynamics completely without dialogue in order to be focused on their actions and the visual storytelling.

What were the steps which led you to make it?

I guess it’s a question of urgency and possibilities. At that time, it was important for me to explore this story. After getting the budget together, I contacted collaborators I wanted to work with for this project and started the pre-production. Within the pre-production process, our work didn’t differ in any way from a process on any other camera. I mean, it’s in the end just the camera, it’s the eye through which we tell the story – so any kind of “specialty” has to be considered whether it is a mobile device cam or a high end cinema cam. For instance just the way we are keen on a character of a specific lens, we treated our mobile device the same way. Planning out shots and composition then comes down to a situation where you would shoot on whatever camera just with the same fixed lens. From one perspective that’s a tremendous restriction in instruments to tell the story, but from another perspective we felt comfortable with the approach of “hey, we are storytellers, we always have limitations – let’s turn it into an advantage.”

Why did you choose a GoPro to film with?

It began with a very basic thing: budget. Since I wanted to shoot in open waters, and waterproof cases for cameras are quite pricy to rent, we looked for other solutions. And more out of a joke the DoP Andy Meyer mentioned his GoPro. But this triggered something. My initial reaction was like “nah, how could you tell a story with a GoPro” but immediately noticed how my brain was browsing through images I saw made by GoPro. Translating this into a storytelling approach, I found there is a lot to it. The “in-the-action” feeling, the authenticity, the intimacy of the footage made by people shooting their surfing or sailing or swimming with these cameras is actually quite suitable for the story we wanted to tell. Being set in motion by a budgetary restriction it became a creative choice and a key element in the cinematic language of this short.

What equipment/apps did you use?

We worked very agile. We had a total of four GoPro cameras, in order to have back-ups at hand if something should go wrong with these tiny things. To mount it, we had several different tools: From head mount to stick to tripod and so on. Because the camera wasn’t on a big solid boat, but on a very shaky one too in order to access the prop boat on the same height easily, we avoided to look at the footage after the takes. Plenty rehearsals and a well established communication and trust between the camera operator and me made this a good and efficient way to go. Furthermore, we used a professional mic (which actually fell into water during the very last take…)

How much did you know about filmmaking before you made this film?

This wasn’t my first work, I did some stuff before, from commercials to shorts to music videos, worked in film for several years.

What did you like about filming with a GoPro? What were the downsides, if any?

Working with the GoPro is the same as with every other camera: It has advantages and restrictions which ask to find a way to deal with. Of course the restrictions are very different from lets say dealing with restrictions of an Alexa or a7. I guess my point is every instrument we choose to tell a story brings a lot of stuff with it, and we always have to see how we can work with it. The lens through which we shoot is the key element for me in putting a certain, subconscious tone. It’s not interchangeable, it’s not arbitrary. It is the very eye, which captures everything we have worked for. Getting myself familiar with the tone of a lens is the same for the GoPro, as it would have been for any other camera and lens set. Because with every instrument I use, I need to find and somehow “get” the “character” of it and find how it suits, enhances, tells the story. That’s why it is hard to use the term “downside”. If I would have worked with photochemical film, I would have had to deal with the roll length; if it was a Red, with certain contrast situations. It is how it is, and it is my job to find a way to work with the situation at hand. For me regarding the GoPro it was mainly the fix lens, which was just very unusual for me but enabled a lot of creativity; the way it captures certain colours and the mental attitude of treating this instrument not as something “less”. The advantages were: It is a recognisable type of footage, and brings with it the feeling of these youtube amateur “live action” stuff; shooting in 4k gave us some room to adjust framings later on in post; the cams are reliable and the cases waterproof; and with the right settings, it can capture quite a good range. We even shot against direct sunlight without filters, and it worked out quite alright.

Has making the film changed your life in any way?

Ha! I can’t answer this question properly. I guess so, and hope so. I learned a lot, I told a story that was important for me to tell, I worked with talented people and had a lot of fun after – including being invited to MoMo as a jury member.

How successful was the film, personally and in gaining an audience for your work?

It gained a very international and a bigger then expected audience over time, which is definitely also due to the exposure through the MoMo festival. For me personally it was a good project, we achieved what we were aiming for and had a wonderful collaboration.

Looking back on the movie, is there anything you’d have done differently?

Absolutely. Guess that’s always the case for me – in this case, there are several aspects about the way I told the story that I would change. I still like the absence of dialogue, but I guess by having the characters sleeping sometimes I robbed myself of the possibility to create more tension between them.

How important are film festivals for you and your career as a filmmaker?

Film festivals are absolutely existential. Work of this scale couldn’t get any exposure with a live audience otherwise. Distributing through online channels is great, but the experience to engage with your audience live is just amazing. Furthermore it is vital for me to exchange thoughts and experiences with other filmmakers and a festival is a unique place to do so. To compete feels a bit strange for me though. A piece of creative work on a certain level is unique and I don’t get the point how it could be ranked honestly into “better” and “worse”. But yeah, that’s part of the filmmaking experience.

For The Sea, Which Is A Shining Desert

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