Chris McKechnie, a cinematographer and editor from Long Beach, California, was recently hired to produce a video for Make-A-Wish America. In it, he documents Chris Gabriel Lavan-Ying: a nine-year-old boy suffering with Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome who wished to become a national park ranger. Yosemite National Park partnered up with Make-A-Wish to help fulfill Gabriel’s wish back in June. This is the completed film that Chris created, and below he discussed with me the technical process of how he created this cinematic story along with what he took away from the whole experience – especially as a father.
Chris began by explaining that and he and his assistant traveled to Yosemite a day before the wish event in order to get establishing b-roll footage, “capturing the magnificence that is Yosemite.” They also interviewed Gabriel and his mother that appears at the beginning of the film. He told me the actual wish day was a long event that started early in the morning and ended in the early evening, but that “Gabriel was a trooper.”
Chris mused how he was fortunate to “[have] a second camera operator and sound guy on the wish day to help with alternate angles,” because of how hectic it was running and gunning throughout the event. Chris was also happy to have someone recording audio for him since it’s one of his least favorite things to also have to capture. In my experience, having someone who knows how to capture clean audio can make all the difference in the world when it comes to a smooth production. Unfortunately, sound didn’t work out as well as he expected. “My sound guy had a new bluetooth wireless receiver thing that he wanted to try out on the MoVI since it weighs like nothing. It worked like 10 percent of the time. So since I had no other audio reference on my [Red] Epic, I had to manually sync everything in post!”
A news crew from CBS had priority access and was allowed to ride in the vehicles with Gabriel, so Chris and his crew had to stay farther back and get what we could in terms of coverage.
I was operating on the MoVI the entire day and stuck with a focal length of 50mm on a Zeiss Contax f/2.8 since there wasn't really any time to do any lens swapping. I had the second cam fitted with my 80-200 f/4 Contax. He had RPPs (Red Pro prime lenses), but I wanted the look to be consistent. Plus, the Contax lenses are amazing! I had him on a monopod the entire day so the longer shots would be more stable, as opposed to hand-holding or shoulder-mounting.
He continued to describe the typical run-and-gun scenes throughout the day. It sounded pretty intense!
We all rode in my truck, so as soon as we would roll up on a scene, Will would bail out of the car as quickly as he could to get some establishing shots and sometimes they had already begun the next mini event. I would immediately follow with the MoVI. My AC was pulling focus, while I was operating in Majestic Mode. I used my Cinemizers for framing, and Jason, my AC, had a SmallHD AC7. I had Will shoot at around f/5.6 while I shot between f/2.8 and f/4. We over cranked here and there for effect.
I asked Chris to explain what it was like working with Gabriel outside of the technical stuff and he let me know that having only done one wish video before, Make-A-Wish really stressed the “wish experience” importance, which Chris was in full support of.
I wanted to stay on the sidelines as much as possible, so our actual interaction with Gabriel and his mother was limited. However, they were so incredibly amazing to work with. The only alone time we had with them was a short-lived hour-long interview time with both Tara and Gabriel. I could tell they were so appreciative of what MAW was doing for them, and Gabriel was just in complete awe and really had no idea as to what was about to happen the following day.
This is what Tara, Gabriel's mother, told him when saw the finished film:
Alright, so I suppose I have no business on this site (Vimeo), but as Gabriel's mom I wanted to say thank you so very much Chris for this beautiful film. It is absolutely gorgeous! I have to tell you that I cried at the slower motion smiling shot (that smile without his two front teeth!) after he was asked if he would help them out during this busy time of the year. Thank you for this precious gift, as the day was a tremendous blur of activity.
Chris went on to help me understand how he felt that our society takes so many things for granted these days: how if we don’t have the latest and greatest tech gadgets, or if we have to wait in line for a ride at an amusement park – stuff like that – we just can’t take it! We're spoiled. It’s something he admits to being at fault at himself, and I'll very readily admit that I'm right there too a lot of the time. That's why I thought this video was important to share. Sure, his behind-the-scenes explanations are cool to read about and envision to help us grow as photographers and filmmakers... but when there's a little substance in there, when there's more than just doing a job, that's when I personally feel that our jobs transcend the idea of "work" or just another paycheck. That's the good stuff, and Chris got to do a lot of good that day in Yosemite.
There are so many less fortunate people and children not only around the world, but here locally in the United States. Kids with life-threatning illnesses like Gabriel are one of the many who are less fortunate. I have three kids of my own and I pray every day that I never have to see one of them pass on before I do. I can only imagine what Gabriel and his family go through every day. Having children changes your world, but having one who is sick, completely flips it upside-down. For this very special day, that world was turned right-side-up! Gabriel, his family, and everyone involved that helped make this day become a reality will never forget the power of wish.
Gear & Specs
- Shot 5K WS at 8:1 compression
- Edited and graded in Final Cut Pro X
- 2 RED Epic Dragon cameras
- MoVI M10
- RedRockMicro's One Man Crew and MicroRemote Wireless Follow Focus
- Zeiss Contax Lenses
- Manfrotto Monopod for second camera
- Tiffen Variable ND filters
- Cinemizers and SmallHD AC7
You can check out more of Chris' work at his Vimeo account and read even more details in the comments of Gabriel's Journey to Yosemite. You can also visit the Make-A-Wish America website for more information and to help their amazing organization.
Great video. I also have EDS and know what a struggle it can be to deal with but it doesn't look like he's going to let it hold him back! Thanks for sharing.
That was an incredible video and Make A Wish! It was awesome with the National Park Service involved!