While we’re stuck at home, we’re finding new hobbies and things to do. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t miss our old hobbies, like going out to eat, shaking people’s hands, and… skiing.
28-year-old filmmaker and photographer Philipp Klein Herrero stunned his YouTube followers by creating a video where he’s freeride skiing at home. The stop-motion video got more than 426.6k views at the time of writing and people thought it was absolutely amazing!
According to Philipp, he was supposed to go freeriding with his family, but because of the coronavirus lockdown, he had to postpone his plans. “The lockdown had me thinking about skiing the whole time, so I started to think how I could ski without leaving my living room,” he said in his video description. Scroll down for Bored Panda's in-depth interview with Philipp!
Philipp Klein Herrero made an awesome stop-motion video about freeride skiing at home!
Check out his full video right here
Philipp told Bored Panda that it took him 1 whole day to finish the video: from planning and storybooking to checking feasibility and preproduction. "The next day was rainy and grim so I waited for better light. The next day it was overcast but evenly lit and bright: perfect, so I went for it. I moved the furniture, set the camera up, dressed in ski gear and started shooting. 6 hours later, everything was in the box! Then I started a 4-hour edit, where most time was spent on sound design: my idea was that if someone closed their eyes and only listened to the video, it would seem a real outdoor experience."
Philipp's video was very popular and people thought it was "amazing"
He also told us that the biggest challenge that he faced while making the video was trying to get the story to be happy, cheerful, and funny while at the same time sending the "right message."
"On a physical note, running a solo production in ski gear in spring in Barcelona while walking with skis on and trying not to scratch the floor was a workout, that’s for sure," Philipp pointed out. He revealed that the most fun part of the production process was "bringing something that sparked in my mind into reality and sharing that happy thought with the world. Every smile makes it worth it."
Philipp is a real skiing wunderkind. He got into the sport when he was just 3 years old! "I’m lucky, both my parents were ski instructors and I always went skiing off-piste even as a kid with them. During my engineering and later economics studies I stopped skiing out of time constraint but later I became ski instructor myself. Nowadays, I just ski for fun and love documenting it."
We were interested to know how Philipp spends his time stuck at home when he's not making awesome videos. "I spend my time home staying active. Homeoffice (I have a “real” job in Sales planning at SEAT, the carmaker), cooking, eating a lot, 2 hours of crossfit sessions per videoconference, playing guitar, etc. I’m really busy, haven’t even started watching movies yet!"
Philipp said that he made the video to cheer up his friends and family during the difficult times they're facing. "In Spain, the situation is critical and I wanted to spread some positivity! The reaction it is having was never imagined, I’m beyond thrilled!"
Philipp, who works as an engineer at Spanish car-maker SEAT, made the video by attaching a camera to the ceiling. He told AFP that the day that Spain “decreed a lockdown for the whole country,” he had a bus ticket to go to La Grave in France for a week’s skiing with his family. “It was the freeride trip I had saved up for all year, everything was planned,” the man said.
“I could have got on that bus, but when I saw that the situation was getting crazier by the minute, I decided that it was a bit immoral to go skiing while people were dying in Spain.”
According to Philipp, he saw a lot of funny videos of people doing outdoor sports at home and he wanted to make one of his own.
Philipp was born in Germany, but he lived most of his life in Madrid, Spain. He also traveled all over Asia, including Tibet, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. He loves photography, making videos, and (obviously) skiing. He’s an adventurer and explorer at heart and can’t wait for the next big exciting trip.
Philipp's video ends with a message for us all: "Stay safe. Stay home."
He even made a video about his trip to Asia called Walk With the Dreamers, so be sure to check it out. It’s inspiring and it’s got me thinking about how I can’t wait for this global pandemic to be over so that I can travel again. I’m pretty sure you Pandas are thinking something similar. Adventure, here we come (but not just yet)!
Meanwhile, Philipp’s Instagram account has more than 14.3k followers who can’t wait for him to upload photos and clips from his adventures. The shots are gorgeous and it’s very obvious that Philipp’s a real pro when it comes to visual art.