Archive Post- Behind the Scenes of "The Cell 2"

In December, 2007, Firewater Film Company in conjunction with Panic Button Media, was hired by Strategic Film Partners and New Line Cinema to produce the behind the scenes added-value content and electronic press kit materials for feature film “The Cell II.” A follow-up to the Jennifer Lopez thriller, “The Cell II” is a moody psychological thriller shot in the gritty, industrial areas around Salt Lake City. Firewater Film Company shot for 10 days on the set, capturing the process of making the film. Additionally, Firewater shot interviews with principle case and crew for use in publicity and marketing materials. The film is due out in Fall, 2008.

Archive Post- McCann Erickson

In Fall, 2007, Salt Lake City production house Impatient Cow tapped Firewater Film Company’s Eric Ristau for a project with ad agency McCann Erickson and electronics giant Plantronics. For the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Plantonics wanted an installation piece to demonstrate their products at work in everyday life. The concept of a three-panel, synchronized narrative was written and storyboarded. Sets were constructed to suit the story. Talent rehearsed the choreography and timing to the fraction of a second. Director of Photography Eric Ristau and Producer Jon Foster worked with agency staff and Director Adam Hancock to create the look and feel the client wanted. The shoot took place over a two-day period in downtown Salt Lake City.

See the finished piece here

Stills from project below:


Firewater's HVX rocks the set.

What are you looking at, actors? Back to the mines with you.

A stand of c-stands. A grove, you might say.

Is that the ocean out there?

Archive Post- Utah Office of Tourism

In June and October, 2007, Struck Creative, in Salt Lake City + Portland, hired Firewater Film Company to shoot a new HD footage library for the Utah Office of Tourism to be used in national television campaigns, web content, and in-flight media. The Firewater crew shot with two camera units across the entire state over an epic 45 days. The crew ventured into all of Utah’s national parks, many state parks, and dozens of other locations throughout the state’s spectacular landscapes. As Directors and DPs, Eric and Damon, brought Firewater’s cadre of equipment into the field, carrying a dolly, jib, and Glidecam to the peaks and valleys of Utah’s wilderness. Also, Firewater brought a helicopter gyro mount and its underwater camera housing to the production. A montage of footage and a spot from the Utah.Travel national television campaign is available at the link below

Firewater Film Company homepage

A few behind the scenes photos from the Summer '07 shoot (Thanks to Nick Driggs):

Damon directs talent at the "The Wave" while Eric shoots.
Eric dons his anti-sand shooting goggles at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
Eric operates the Glidecam at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
Eric operates the Glidecam in The Narrows of Zion National Park.
A jib + dolly combo near Boulder, Utah

Archive Post- Warming Island, Greenland expedition

In September, 2006, Eric joined an expedition to Greenland, led by famed Arctic explorer, Dennis, Schmitt. The five-man team explored a newly-discovered island on the East Coast of Greenland, formed by melting ice and discovered by Schmitt one year earlier. The group flew to Reykjavik, Iceland, assembled the team and equipment, then flew to Constable Point, Greenland, then traveled by helicopter to the northern tip of of Liverpool Land, a particularly rugged section of coastline. Over the course of the week-long stay on the glaciated island, Ristau shot a documentary of the exploration. Since featured on CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, ITV, the New York Times website, and regional public television, “Warming Island” is available for viewing here:


Photos from the expedition:


400 miles North of the Arctic Circle, Aurora Borealis was to the South.The trusty DVX-100 with the campsite in the distance.
The foreground is the island with with the newly disconnected mainland in the distance.
A hike across the glacier to the other side of the island.

Archive Post- Taku River Tligit Documentary

In July, 2005, FWFC's Ristau bros. went to Canada to make a documentary beginning in the small town of Atlin, British Columbia, near Whitehorse, Yukon. They walked 50 miles into the bush with members of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation from their inland village to their traditional salmon fishing areas in the headwaters of the Taku River. It is the largest pristine and unprotected watershed on the Pacific shore of the Western Hemisphere. The Taku River drains into the Pacific Ocean near Juneau, Alaska. No roads, no dams. For centuries, the Taku River Tlingit have traveled to the river to harvest the five native species of pacific salmon.

The Taku River watershed is the subject of controversy due to a
planned mining project and the construction of a 100 mile access road. It is projected that this project will have a long-term negative impact on fish and wildlife habitat, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, and the ecological integrity of adjacent wilderness areas in
both British Columbia and Alaska.The threat of a mining company's desire to drive a road through the heart of the Taku wilderness and essentially obliterate the both traditional Tlingit trail and way of life, led Utah based conservation organization, Round River Conservation Studies, to work with the TRT to create a film documenting the issue. Over three, weeks, Damon and Eric walked with the tribal members and students of Round River, documenting the journey and the summertime way of life on the river. Two films resulted from the time in the Taku. The first is a 28 minute piece directed and edited by Damon, which premiered at Vancouver's 5th Street Cinema and toured Canada with a Taku River Tlingit cultural presentation. The second was used by Round River to give prospective students a glimpse of their fieldwork opportunities.

That film is available here: http://www.roundriver.org/student_main.html#

Some pictures from the trip are below.