Snowboard videos often follow a very similar script. Get a bunch of the best riders you can assemble together, film them doing their finest tricks and edit to some music and release. That’s obviously a simplified rundown of a video but essentially the format. Whilst this system is tried and tested, it often means out of the countless videos released each year, many, although fun to watch, become mundane and forgotten when the next video is posted. CHROMA is a film that breaks the mould of the traditional snowboarding video and it instantly grabbed our attention. We wanted to find out the reason for the difference in approach, what challenges they faced and are they happy with the results, and what better way than to speak to the creators of CHROMA themselves? Here are their thoughts.

Interviews by Tom Kingsnorth

Alex Tank, Director

You haven’t been as involved with snowboarding projects recently. What was it about CHROMA that lured you back in and has this project inspired you to take on more snowboarding jobs in the future?
After all these wonderful Atagge projects a few years ago, I found myself in a place where I was questioning a lot of what was happening in the snowboard industry. There’s a lot of exploitation from big brands under the cloak of a “lifestyle”. I used to be part of this as a professional snowboarder and took some time off to reflect. Yet, as a filmmaker, I always had the idea in the back of my mind to write a filmic love letter to snowboarding at some point because I didn’t want a capitalistic exploitation destroy the beauty of this thing we all love. I wanted this potential film to be cinematic, of high production value and with interesting snowboarders in front of the lens. I have talked to David at Hillton about this a few times in the past and at some point, he called me up and said he has this project and would love to have me on board with absolute creative freedom and Sevi in front of the lens. That was it; they let me write my love letter.

Snowboarding as a subculture is in an interesting place right now. Besides the classical trick-trick-trick videos, there are more and more artistically inspired projects coming up. I really enjoy seeing snowboarding evolve like this. I can’t know what the future holds, but personally, I’m really dragged into narrative filmmaking and that’s something I would love to pursue.

Following Sevi in CHROMA, it’s clear that a lot of tricks were unplanned, so there weren’t so many shaped kickers and many shots were first takes. What difficulties did you face because of this?
Sevi is such a talented snowboarder. He really feels the mountain and has an astonishing instinctive approach. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing things to watch, but it’s quite hard to catch on camera sometimes, especially if you try to follow a conceptual path as you never know where exactly he is going. You have to adapt to his snowboarding, but that leaves you with fewer options to mould a picture. We had a few talks about how we can reconcile that. Luckily, we had Silvano with us for the most part. He and Sevi are like brothers and have been on the mountain together for years. Sometimes it felt like he knew before Sevi where Sevi would go. From there on, Willem (the cameraman) and I could work way better and concentrate on our vision.

CHROMA isn’t your typical trick flick video. What was the reasoning behind your approach and what message do you want to portray?
As I said before, it’s supposed to be a love letter to snowboarding. It really is a personal film, but I don’t want to convey any specific message. Of course, I have had my motives and I hope you can feel them in the film, but I’d love the audience to make their own interpretations and assumptions. After the premieres, I’ve had so many beautiful discussions. People have so many different interpretations and that’s wonderful to see. Sometimes they even see things I haven’t intentionally thought of. I don’t want to take away any of this by dictating what to think.

What is your favourite shot from CHROMA and why?
Those long butters Sevi does are marvellous. How nice must it feel to be able to fly down the mountain like that? Also, that really long shot of the old man on the escalator is one of my favourites.

Which part of the process did you find most rewarding and what part was the most frustrating to produce?
Shooting a film in the cold mountains can be really exhausting. Hiking up a mountain at -25 degrees with all your camera gear can be a pain in the ass. But it’s beautiful to be out in “untouched” nature and that’s highly rewarding. But the most astonishing part is the editing and the postproduction, everything melts together and you really see how every little detail is more than a detail. So many talented people have worked on this film and the beautiful collaboration between all of the humans involved has made this something greater than the sum of its parts.

Willem Jones,Director of Photography

How did you get involved with joining the crew for CHROMA?
I met Sevi filming with Kevin and Tor and had some great times with the Beyond Medals crew. Sevi called me up after to see if I wanted to film a project he was working on. As soon as I heard DBK and Tobi from HILLTON were also a part of it, I was 100 percent in. I met Silvano and Alex through Sevi and ended up loving working together. Seeing Silvano look at snowboarding was unreal; he was pacing around the whole spot and then at night, when you look at all the footage, he has like 200 photos of snow, shapes, shadows, tricks etc. The dude is a machine. Looking back at the whole experience, Sevi introduced me to a type of snowboarding I had never seen and will be forever grateful for this.

It seems from watching CHROMA that a lot of the riding was unplanned, with Sevi riding natural hits and being filmed on first lines. What difficulties did you face filming this and did you miss any crucial shots because of this?
There was never a fixed idea of what the day would bring. There were structural ideas, but the riding was all up to Sevi. We would go to a zone and Sevi would do what he felt. My experience in this type of riding was still fresh, so I was always on my toes and Sevi has a style that you never know what you will get. I sure messed up a couple of shots, not expecting him to go where he went, but he made sure there was no stress. We tried some different framing, so there was not this stress if I would miss it or not. Sometimes I think Sevi doesn’t really know what he will do before he drops; he kind of just flows. Silvano knows him so well that he probably knows what Sevi will do before he does himself. There are a couple of shots that I look back and think, "Damn, I wish I filmed it with this angle but really happy how Alex pushed the concept and made it unique."

How much time did you have filming Sevi before filming CHROMA, did you need to practise to learn how he rides?
We met two years before filming CHROMA in Japan on a trip with Beyond Medals and a trip in Canada. We just clicked and I have to try to keep up with the guy ever since. It’s so crazy to see him shred; he really is a mountain goat—one of those guys that do instead of try. I needed to learn how to get from a to b with the camera gear and let Sevi have his freedom to pick zones. Finding the right backpack set up and feeling confident on the mountain was a big learning curve but a necessary one. I am so happy this crew gave me the space and patience to learn this, but at the end of the day, I just pointed the camera and loved doing it.

What shots are you most stoked about and why?
Watching it during the premiere on big screens got me so happy. Almost every shot has a story behind it, so it’s really hard to pick one. That really long butter we leaked on Instagram was a favourite, just because. But in reality, it’s too hard to pick a favourite. Because of this project, I got to meet so many people close to my heart and this movie translates it in the shots.

This isn’t your typical snowboard trick flick video, what do you want the viewer to feel whilst watching CHROMA?
That's entirely up to the viewer. It's whatever you want or expect it to be. Alex can answer this one the best and I don't want anyone to have a preconceived notion before watching it. For me watching it is a form of disillusion and a flow like a dream state. I could list so many technical details and little pointers, but I just wanted to end on a personal note. For me, snowboarding is still a no-rules thing and in my opinion, Sevi is a perfect translation of that. Dropping before the cameras are ready just because the spot looks too good, picking a line that is way out of frame, doing the raddest tricks once the camera is in the bag, filming heavy tricks on an iPhone on a day off, all because his snowboarding happens when it happens. It's who he is, which made this project one of the best I could have ever worked on. Sevi keeps snowboarding real.

Severin Van der Meer, Rider

How did you get involved with CHROMA?
It was a dream for a long time to do my own project. To get a crew of good people that I’m hyped on, inspire each other and work together on something unique. It all started when I was living together with Silvano, we just loved to hang out together, shoot together and I felt like we should keep this going in making our own thing. Some years later, I was over filming tricks after tricks just to get a part together that will stand out from others each year. I wanted to work on something that I’m fully hyped on. I don’t want to snowboard to be better than others; I want to inspire people and mainly, I want to have fun doing it. I asked Dave from Hillton if they wanted to do it; they were all ears from the beginning and held our backs during the whole process. I met Willem in Japan on a Beyond Medals trip where it just really clicked with us and I knew that I wanted him to film this peace. He was straight up down and committed all the way to the end. Alex came in after the first year, put his magic on to the whole thing and made it what it became. Thanks for doing this with me. Love ya all!

What parts of your riding are you most stoked about in CHROMA?
I really wanted to show the flow of snowboarding in a different way, in an aesthetic and creative way. I loved how everything came together with Silvano’s photo/film section and that is for sure my favourite part of the film.

Which trick took the longest to film?
As I tried to keep it with as little shaping as possible and connect with the natural wind formations to jump off, butter or turn on, I did not have a lot of tries to get it done. I lost a lot of battles, but I hope the viewers will see this as a refreshing comparison to always trying to step it up.

CHROMA isn’t like your regular trick flick snowboard movie, what do you hope the viewer feels when watching the movie?
My dream was to show snowboarding differently to get the viewer more into what a magical feeling it is when being in the mountains and turning, butter or jumping down. Next time they’re on their board, I hope they feel like in the movie, you know? I wanted to make it relatable for everybody.

Are your plans to make another movie with this crew?
It was a huge commitment from everyone to be able to do something like this. Let’s give it some time to settle and then let’s see what comes out next.

Silvano Zeiter, Photographer

Your photographs really go well with the CHROMA film, what challenges did you face to match your photos to the film?
I think the visual mood of the movie was actually based on my photography style from the start, so luckily, this was no challenge at all as we knew it was going to match. Also, Will the DOP revealed to me recently that his filming for Chroma was partly inspired by my photos as well, which definitely honoured me to hear as I love his filming. I never really thought about that during the production, but I’m happy that everything turned out harmonically.

There are always certain rules with snowboard photography, such as no guy in the sky photos, but your shots of Severin alone in the sky are really great and getting a lot of positive responses. Are you ever nervous to break the rules or are you someone who likes to challenge the norm?
Breaking the rules is exactly what kept me so passionate about this project. I’d been getting a bit tired of shooting snowboarding conventionally, maybe without even realising consciously that it was because of its rules that are quite strict. There’s usually only a split second of a trick that makes snowboard photo good when the grab is tweaked the most, the ollie the highest and the slash the biggest. By slowing down the shutter speeds combined with my own movements, I realised that suddenly a take-off or a landing or, frankly, any moment of any trick can turn out to be the most exciting shot that can make the spectator feel right in there as part of the action. I felt like this opened up a whole other world for me and helped me break out of the norm.

How happy are you with the outcome of the movie and your photos and what would you do differently next time?
I am super hyped about the outcome. Sevi’s and the other guys’ beautiful riding, a humble and super devoted Will absolutely killing it behind the camera and I love how Alex put his polarising fingerprint on the whole thing. It’s amazing how many talented people were involved through Hillton as well, from production to colour grading to sound design, music and graphic design. This proved to me that outstanding projects can only come to fruition with a devoted and talented team behind them. The same goes, of course, for our sister project, “Poly”, that never would’ve happened if it wasn’t for CHROMA.

David Bertschinger Karg, Co-Producer

What was it about CHROMA that got you interested to work with snowboarding again?
Since I quit snowboarding professionally a couple of years ago, the snowboarding world has knocked on my door a few times, asking me to get involved in film projects. The split was still too fresh for me to commit to something, as I enjoyed just riding for fun and not needing to “deliver” anything to the snowboard world. But when Sevi came and asked if I’d get involved in his project, I could not say no another time. I love how he rides and knew he’d give the creatives enough room to make something special. He got me in a weak moment. Haha. I was supposed to direct the film with my directing partner Tobi. Still, due to Hillton, our film production company, becoming quite busy in the last couple of years, we couldn’t give the project the attention it needed during the season. This is not fair to the other people involved. Especially as an ex-pro, I knew how important it is to have everyone involved 110% in a project like that. That’s why we looked for someone to take over the directing after the first season. So, I could step into the background and produce the film, but not needing to be on the mountain for every shooting day. With Alex Tank, we’ve found the perfect fit. He loved the rough structure and conceptual ideas we’ve set for the film and brought a ton of additional ideas and fire to the film.

What are your favourite parts of the film?
I love the whole thing. It’s one of those films where you need to sit down and watch it from start to finish. It has such a slow build-up, a captivating peak and a soft and gentle ending. It’s one of the few snowboard projects which dared to give the film a bit of a narrative and it requires your full attention to get it. Alex killed it! That’s why it’s hard for me to pick a specific section. One thing we worked excessively on from the beginning was the photo part. We went through a lot of R&D, built special rigs, tested, discarded, tested more, et cetera. It was definitely exciting to see this piece come to life. It was such a trip to see it on the big screen for the first time!

Are you tempted to do more snowboarding projects after this one?
It was so fun to dabble in this world again. I was super happy that the crew let me continue to work on this and accompany the project as a producer. It was fun and exciting to see it all coming together over two years. I will forever love that world and probably won’t be able to fully leave it. But I don’t want it to become my main source of work again like it used to be. We have such a good thing going with HILLTON and to work with our little family is fun and rewarding. I appreciate snowboarding more than ever right now and it gives me so much just to go out and ride. That’s the most important to me.

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