Sebastien Montaz-Rosset Scales Dizzying Alpine Heights For Nivea

First things first, who came up with the (slightly crazy) ideas for this “Worst Time for an Itch” series?

The 'Worst Time For An Itch' came from Nivea and their creative agency (FCB inferno), and then we came up with each scenario after talking to the different athletes.

Was there much back-and-forth with the client beforehand or did you guys start filming pretty quickly?

The project was on a really tight deadline. We developed rough storyboards initially, which were ok'd by the client then we had a really short window for shooting due to weather and when the guys were available. All of the shooting was completed within a week.

If all films were shot in a week, how long did each separate shoot take?

Each shoot was done in a day, with the highline and climbing shoots including an overnight bivvy in the mountains also.



You’ve filmed these guys doing risky tightrope antics before, what sort of considerations must you have before embarking on a shoot like this?

My main objective is to be as discreet as possible, to film what the guys do as they do it without influencing what they're doing. Safety is always our first consideration when deciding where to go and what to film, safety for the athletes themselves and I make sure I'm in a safe position to film.
All of us are experienced alpinists, so we know how to look after ourselves in the mountains.

How did you begin collaborating with these athletes and do you feel like the go to guy for capturing death-defying alpine/aerial stunts?

I knew the highline group 'the Skyliners' as friends, and Vivian (the skier) I met a few years ago when he called to see if I wanted to come with him to film some ski descents. It might look like it is, but what they are doing isn't death defying - all the stunts they do are well thought out and they have a good understanding of the risks. I have developed ways to film in these difficult situations and there aren't that many people doing the same type of filming.



How did you get into this style of filmmaking?

I started filming my clients working as a mountain guide, using the cameras and equipment that was available without a massive budget. You can't take heavy cameras with you in the mountains, so the style of filming is a result of the situations we film in.

What type and how many cameras did you have on the go for this project?

For this project I used a Canon 1DC as the main camera, to be able to pull stills from the video also filming in 4k. The athletes are equipped with GoPros, and I use one or two for different angles, and behind the scenes footage.

Despite the serious and risky nature of the pieces you somehow keep them light-hearted and humorous, is this balance difficult to maintain?

Not at all - this is how we do things. We go into the mountains because we love it, and these films (and also the longer films we have made) are a true portrayal of what we do.



This particular video caught my eye because of the lack of harness – was there any backup plan for if he fell?

For highlining you don't use a harness in fact, but he does have a leash attached to his ankle. This is how they do it. Tancrède also does quite a lot of 'free soloing' - so not attached at all. But he will always be able to catch himself on the line if he falls.

Was there any point where you and the rest of the crew were actually scared for him?

There is no 'rest of the crew'. It was only myself and Tancrède. And no, I wasn't scared for him because I know how good he is at what he does. The incredible talents of these athletes come from their ability to be able to focus and concentrate in nearly all situations, objective danger is always taken into account, and if it seems too great then one of the most important qualities of an extreme athlete is being able to turn back.



Considering the potential risks involved, how happy was the client to give the go-ahead for the videos?

It's very hard for a client to have real understanding of what is involved and the real risks. We will tell the client if we think something they're asking for is too risky, and I won't film anything that really involves someone risking their life. But it's more likely for a client to ask for something that's more risky than we're prepared to do, rather than the opposite.

I couldn’t help being reminded of the 2008 classic climbing documentary ‘Man on Wire’ (about a French trapeze artist traversing the not-then-built Twin Towers in New York)- was there any connection / inspiration here?

No not really - it's a similar activity, but that's it. I'm just filming what these guys are doing - but they would be doing this stuff (and they do different things all the time) whether I'm filming them or not.



How was the edit? Did you have a lot of footage to choose between?

I always film a lot, so always have a lot more shots than get used in the final edit. After the initial edit the clips were taken over by one of the small team I work with - I find it harder to take things out, so it's good to have someone else involved at this stage.

Are there any good ‘behind-the-scenes’ stories from the shoot that we don’t see on camera?

We always have lots of things filmed that don't get used - maybe I'll put together a behind the scenes series of some of our shoots.

What next, do you have any exciting new projects coming up?

We've got a few commercial projects going on at the moment, and towards the end of the year I'll be going on another expedition with the ultra runner Kilian Jornet, as part of his 'Summits of My Life' project. All of my latest projects can be seen on www.sebmontaz.com.