Absinthe’s David Vladyka

Tackyworld.com gets the skinny on one of Absinthe’s top filmers…

By Edgar Lanting…

Tackyworld.com continues its series of filmer interviews with the Swiss filmer David Vladyka from the high quality Absinthe movie production company.

Hi David, can you tell us who you are and what you do?
My name is David Vladyka and I am 30 years old. I am from the French part of Switzerland and I work as a cameraman for Absinthe Films. I’ve been working for them since the video VIVID. I used to take pictures and make European movies before. I started working in the snowbusiness 10 years ago.

What are you thoughts and opinions on the latest Absinthe release, “Optimistic?“
I love it, it’s a great movie about having fun on a snowboard. In my opinion a good snowboard movie should always make you want to go shred. I think this is the case with “Optimistic?” It was one of the most difficult one to make due to the lack of snow last year.

Did you use any of the tech filming stuff everyone’s been using this year (e.g. Picture This) and what do you think about it?
We didn’t use any tech filming last year except the helicopter shots, but they aren’t really tech indeed. The heli shots are pretty much Justin’s (Hostynek red.) speciality. He just hangs out of the heli window. There isn’t any mechanical arms or tech tripod in the heli, just humans arms! I think Picture This shooting quality is insane, but at the end what really matters is the ability of the snowboarder to make a good trick and the skills of the cameraman to document it correctly. I feel like some of the tech filming is there to help the trick to look better. I feel like a documentalist more than a real cameraman sometimes. I am here to witness the ability of the riders and make it look as good as I can without artifacts.

How has your season been up until now? Did you do any non-filming shredding?
My season until now has been really good. I went to Austria in December with Wolle (Nyvelt red.), Marco Feichtner and Markus Keller. We had a really good start I think. Then I went back to Les Portes du Soleil for some non filming shredding. It was sick, there was so much pow at that time. Then we had a few sessions in the Wallis, I spent three weeks around Brig area and the mission was a success. Some of the best stuff we filmed so far went down there. Justin aka ‘the boss’ joined me with JP Solberg, Gigi Rüf and Sylvain Bourbousson. Insane tricks went down. Wait till you see.

What gear do you use and do you have any tips for up and coming filmers?
I use a Bolex Super 16mm. It’s a film camera that is as old as me pretty much, but I got it modified to be able to use Nikon lenses. Then I have a few different tripods, big ones and smaller ones, depending on what we are going to do, lines or freestyle. Then I carry a Sony HDV camera for the making of and to look a the shots a the end of the day. My tip will be to carry a tripod all the time, it’s heavy but it’s worthy.

What kind of editing program do you use?
I use an Apple with the last final cut pro.

What can we expect from the next Absinthe production?
I can tell you that there will be a lot of powder again and a few cable cam shots from Austria.

How do you like traveling as part of your job, dealing with customs, loss of luggage etc.?
Traveling is probably the most difficult part, but also the funniest of the job. I have never been in any trouble with customs or boarders but it’s been pretty close. Most of the time I got my luggage on time and I always carry the camera and films with me on the plane. I am too much of a realist to let somebody else carry my camera stuff, so it’s with me all the time. It’s always fun to go on a trip, it can be tough sometimes because you aren’t home that much, but it is such a great satisfaction to go somewhere and come back with shots in the bag. This feeling will never get old to me.

All the luggage problems are forgotten at moments like this.

How is it to work with so many different characters, riders, filmers etc.?
That is what makes Absinthe films such a good company to work with, all the riders have strong character with so many different styles. It can be hard for people from the outside but we know each other for such a long time, it’s all about the love of the sport. When we get together somewhere the focus is on the filming and all the rest doesn’t matter for a while until we get out of the spot. It’s important that the riders and the cameramen put their energy in the same direction. Most of the time it works really well.

What does a day in the life of David Vladyka look like?
I Wake up around 7:30. Make some phone call to gather the crew at the meeting point, make sure everybody is on time. We meet around 8:30 at the lift, talk about the spot we want to do that day. Then we get to the spot, sometimes long hikes, sometimes just by the side of the slope . We shape the spot if it needs to be shaped. At 12:30 it is lunch time, little meeting about my filming angle and the tricks of the riders. 13:00-16:00 shooting time, 16:00 going out of the spot, it could be later sometimes, depending on how far you are in the backcountry. 17:30 we go back home. Watch the footage on TV and chat about the spot for the next day. From 19:00 to 20:00 it’s e-mail time and phone call to the boss (Brusti aka Patrick Armbruster) about who is doing what and what we are going to do next. 23:00 sleeping time.

What is the best thing about your work?
My stoke moment is when at the end of the day we come back to the house and everybody is pumped. We can’t stop talking about it! that makes me stoked!

For the full interview visit Tackyworld.com