The Joy of Air – Short Film + Q&A with Creator Bryan Smith

Bryan Smith is a Squamish, BC-based filmmaker with roots in the kayak and other action sports arenas who has elevated his game to the point that he now is more likely to be found working for National Geographic on some epic movie or TV show rather than the latest edit to make the rounds of our daily newsfeeds. His production company Reel Water Productions has quickly become leaders in the field of "non-fiction narrative" (ie. lots of action but with a story!) and he's even a founding partner of Sea to Sky Cablecams, who build, rent and operate some super heavy-duty badass cablecam rigs. Basically, he's a cinematography badass and his work is always super high end. 

While I'm used to seeing post from Bryan in my news feed announcing the last Nat Geo project or his latest speaking engagements, this week I couldn't help but notice a few people posting a video entitled "The Joy of Air" and when I saw Smith's name attached I knew I had to watch. What I was treated to can only be described as a "visual poem", telling the story of the joy of catching air, something we can all relate to, through spoken words matched with epic action… all presented in gorgeously rendered black and white. I had to get a bit more info from Bryan, and he was nice enough to play along, here's what he had to say about the piece. 

33MAG: Where did the idea for The Joy of Air come from?

Bryan: The idea originally came from a brainstorm session with Tim Loubier. He thought it would be cool to make a short all about catching air. Something light, that included kids and spanned multiple sports. Then the whole thing evolved as these things do. Fitz Cahall and I started discussing some possible story lines with athletes. Jackson was a for sure from the start. I wanted to shoot some kayaking. We new it was going to all be super nice slo motion from the Epic, but the real creativity came in how it was put together. Using my son Nelson jumping the cars sparked Fitz to right the poem. At first we thought it would be cool to have Nelson read it, but it was way over his head. With Jackson as the star we decided he was a great fit for the read. So it was a real collaboration of ideas to be honest. We wanted it to feel different than your average sports edit.

What is the underlying message you are trying to convey here?

We really wanted to convey that young or old across all walks of life, we are all inspired to catch air. It makes us happy. Humans love leaving the ground!

What do you like most about working on smaller projects like this? 

These are the kind of projects that are really fun and motivating. I work on lots of bigger stuff, but the beauty of these smaller projects is that you can let your creativity run wild. Arcteryx has always supported Fitz and I and given us lots of room to explore. I think this is a great example of having fun with something. Taking time to make it good and just trying to be as creative as possible.

Enjoy!