Behind the Lens: Documenting a climbers year-long journey

As filmmakers, we’re constantly searching for stories that push the boundaries of human ability and overcome the natural elements. When Hannah approached the Native team with goal of sending a boulder problem known as 'Taylor Made' we were immediately intrigued.

Taylor Made is a 7C route starting in a confined rock opening, finishing on a demanding vertical face. At first glance we expected this route to demand immense strength, technical ability and importantly mental resolve. We could not have anticipated the equally impressive personal journey Hannah had undertaken over the past year leading to the send.

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Preparing for the climb

Filming a climbing project isn’t as straightforward as setting up a camera and hitting record. To do justice to Hannah’s story, we needed to visually convey not only the physical scale and technical difficulty of the climb but also the emotional stakes—all without disrupting Hannah's focus.

One of the most complex logistics to understand was framing the shot. Sitting back from the wall and filming straight on, captured the length of the route and demonstrate endurance, however it lacked the understanding of strength, power and emotional involvement that a close up angle provided.

On the flip side, being too close can lose a sense of scale and magnitude.

Adding to the challenge, Taylor Made is a compact route with limited space for camera placements. Using multiple cameras risked catching equipment in the frame, which would have distracted viewers from the climb itself. Furthermore, this project was a self-funded passion endeavour, leaving us with limited resources, a narrow weather window, and just one cinematography team available for rigging and filming.

To properly capture the story we were also expecting Hannah to react when finally completing the route. Therefore we needed to be in a position to intimately capture this reaction.

Finally after considering all options we settled on what we felt would ultimately tell Hannah's story best.

Throughout Hannah's practice attempts and warmups we captured multiple angles to immerse viewers on the complexity of the route and attributes it took as a climber to achieve the send.

We rigged ropes to position ourselves above the finishing hold—arguably the most crucial spot—to capture the full length of the route and the climactic moment of Hannah’s ascent. Drones, ground cameras, and handheld rigs added layers to the visuals, ensuring we captured the drama from every perspective.

Finally when we felt the final send was near our team positioned themselves to capture the full length of the route whilst also close enough to engage with Hannah if successful.

The result was everything we could have hoped for!

Building a Connection

As a team embedded in the climbing world, we’ve come to understand how deeply personal the sport can be. For some, climbing is a social activity, a way to connect with friends while staying active. For others, it’s an all-consuming passion that influences every aspect of their lives; dictating where they live, what they eat, what they do for work, etc...

From our experience climbers generally share a fairly similar core set of values, however the range of personalities, body shapes and sizes, dreams, fears and lifestyles cover every spectrum of the population. Making every climbing film unique and every individual, well an individual.

Without any preconceived ideas of who we thought Hannah was, our team was required to understand the why behind this particular route.

Before interviewing Hannah we spent a few climbing sessions discussing many areas of life, climbing, values and goals. Informally gaining a fuller picture of Hannah's life proved incredibly useful when we approached the interview.

The interview angle was focussed and story driven, building a powerful, emotive narrative. We were able to break the surface to uncover the deeper understanding we had already gained off camera.

We’re thrilled to share this documentary with the world soon, and we hope it inspires others to persevere in the face of almost impossible tasks.

Stay tuned for the release of Taylor Made, and thank you for coming behind the lens with us.