Aaron LaRocque is a 23 year old freelance videographer from Victoria British Columbia. After his recent launch of his web video What's Next his career as a filmer has blown up. He is now traveling around the world doing awesome video work for big industry names like Geax Tires and Race Face components.
I recently had a quick catch up with him, and this is what was said!
Who are you, where are you located, and what do you do? My name is Aaron LaRocque, I am 23 years old. I live in Victoria BC, and I am an action sport film maker.
What do you film with camera wise? What do you edit with? I shoot on a Panasonic HVX200, and I edit on a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Studio.
How have you got to where you are? Who has helped you out to date so far? I've kinda had tons of people help me out along the way. I got into filming when I was in high school, shooting with my buddies and then I started taking it more serious. After a while we started getting more connections in the industry through contests launched on Pinkbike.com and other websites, which helped me get to where I am. Pinkbike.com helped me out a ton getting my contests noticed world wide, which was a big deal!
Race Face and Geax have also helped me out a ton along the way as they were the first to come on as sponsors for What's Next. My parents have helped me out a lot to date as well. They constantly are bailing me out when I get myself into trouble, which isn't too often fortunately. Big props to them!
What's Next really set you up for success as it was an awesome video, and free for people to see. How do you think it affected your career as a filmer? The biggest thing I wanted to do was to do a full length movie, as people see you as being more legit when you can put something completely together. I thought most people looked at me as a web edit kinda amateur videographer and I wanted to get away from that. After I released my movie things changed a lot for me in my career as a filmer. I got bigger projects, and started working closer with companies.
Pinkbike.com and Race Face hosted a pretty big party for the What's Next premiere at Las Vegas last year. What were your impressions on the party? The party was totally crazy! It was like a dream come true. There were a ton of riders that I looked up to growing up, a couple even that I had posters on my walls of. It was such an awesome scene having big name pros attend a party for me.
We did a live feed from the party, how do you think that went? The live feed went pretty good. It was the first time that Pinkbike did something like that, and so many people were watching it was awesome. There were a couple hiccups, but all together I think it was rad.
What section out of What's Next was your favourite to shoot and why? I think the one that comes to mind was probably Dylan Sherrard's section in Kamloops. Everything went perfect, we had golden light, it was dry, dusty. For my first time in Kamloops shooting I was blown away! Dylan is a sick rider and an all together awesome guy so it was great working with him.
All the sections were really fun to shoot at the end of the day, but the section in Kamloops was epic.
What projects did What's Next set up you up with after it premiered? I think I have done projects for almost all the sponsors of the video since it dropped. I've been working closely with Geax and Race Face. I've gone to Taiwan, Thailand, and Italy so far to shoot for Geax and I just got back from California where I was shooting for Race Face. The movie has definitely helped me grow a tight relationship with the companies that sponsored the film, that's for sure.
What projects are you currently working on? Probably the biggest project I'm working on is with Tara Llanes. Her and I are doing a documentary on spinal cord injuries in action sports. It kind of showcases her injury but it's definitely designed to open peoples eyes to all the potential injuries in action sports. Our ultimate goal is to raise awareness and money for research and to promote things that makes riding safer for everyone.
I am also doing a project with Race Face. We're doing a full length video that focuses on filmers' segments, as opposed to rider's sections. Basically Ambrose Weingart and myself will shoot all of the footage for the film which will debut at Interbike in 2011. It's called
Transmission and you should see some press about it soon.
I remember your clip 'Sin City', you had said you created all the art and graphics yourself, are you a bit of a comic book aficionado? Not really. I saw Sin City and I loved it. I love stylized movies like that. 300, Sin City, all those kind of films. As far as comic books go I love the art, but I don't really read them.
Where did you come up with the inspiration to do a short like that? I just like making stuff that looks cool. To me the more surreal you can make an image look the cooler it is. My Sin City edit let me get super creative and expand on my design and editing capabilities a little bit more than usual.
If you had to describe the feeling in your videos, how would you describe it? I just want to get people pumped. I think a lot of people when they watch movies that are really good, it'll give them butterflies. I just try to make each of my edits as entertaining and exciting as possible so the viewer is immersed in the film more so than just watching it.
What do you do in the off season to keep yourself occupied? There isn't really to much of an off season in Victoria. This year I thought it was going to be a long winter, but then I ended up traveling and filming the whole winter. It was busier this past winter than any of my prior summers so I just tried to keep my filming top notch and looked forward to the summer time.
The Olympics were in Whistler BC this year, so anytime that was spent outside of filming was watching them, or out enjoying the festivities. That being said we sure did have a lack of snow for the winter games!
If you could film anyone, anywhere, with any setup where would you go, with what, and with whom? If I could film anyone I would probably be filming with my friends. I would go somewhere on the other side of the world with all of them, as they are the ones that really helped me get to where I am at. If I could shoot with any camera gear at this point in time it would probably be a Red One with all the attachments I could carry. Simply put they are setting the bar for video footage these days, and I would love to try one out.
We only ever saw 1 edit of you riding, do you get out riding still or are you constantly cooped up working on things? Um, I ride quite a bit. I just got two new bikes from Banshee so I am looking forward to riding even more. I try to ride as much as I can, but I am still working a lot. It kind sucks as I get to go to the sickest trails in some of the most epic spots and don't get to ride them. It's all good in the end because I know where they are.
Would you prefer a great day filming or a great day of riding? Oh man. If I could do both in a day then that's a good day. If I had to choose I would pick filming over riding. I'm not really sure why I would choose filming over it, but I love filming!
Did you originally start on video, or did you make the transition over from photography? I originally started on video. I've always done a little bit of photography and I am planning on getting back into it. My Grandfather and my Dad were both photographers so it's in my blood!
Favorite filming moment to date? I think I have had way to many good times to count. If I had to pick one it would be the first time I ever won something. In 2004 I won People's Choice at the Rossland Film Festival in the under 19 category. I won like $150 or something, but that was the best feeling in the world to hear my name following "People's Choice Award".
What is your greatest inspiration in filming? What makes you want to go back out and shoot? Good light. I love golden light, fog, anything mother nature has to throw at me. I really like dramatic landscapes, and the crazy imagery they can produce. It really all comes back to making something that looks cool.
What are your top 3 mountain biking movies, and non mountain biking movies? Top 3 mountain bike movies: Disorder 2, Disorder 5, and Seasons, in that order.
Non mountain biking movies: Gladiator, Running Scared, and 300.
What's the worst crash you have witnessed to date while filming? Mike Grieve was hucking this 25 x 25 foot gap on his hardtail. He hit so hard he couldn't even hold on to his bike. He was knocked out cold and everyone ran over to see if he was ok. He basically got up and walked it off. He is for sure at the top of my top 10 crashes.
Who do you want to shout out to? I got a ton of shout outs. All my friends, my girlfriend for putting up with me and supporting me, my parents for all their support, all the companies that have helped me out, all the guys at Pinkbike.com, and basically anyone who has done anything for me along the way. Without your support I would still be making web edits, and bagging groceries.
What's Next Complete Film
Btw. maybe somebody knows..
Is it fast enough for you to edit HD?
