DP/30: Free Solo, Alex Honnold, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Audio Only - moviecitynews.c...
The subject of the Oscar winning doc, Free Solo, and co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi sat with David Poland last fall to discuss the film. Unfortunately, the camera went a bit haywire. But you can still see them in much of the interview and hear them throughout. Amazing film, amazing team.
Shot in Los Angeles, September 2018
Subscribe to DP/30 for more interviews: bit.ly/17Xg4Y1

[@justicemoody]

There’s this cool invention from like the dawn of time called MANUAL FOCUS.

[@MrDavidschloss]

you Mother of all Bastards, go on and do better!

[@dickmacgurn590]

This is one of the best interviews they've done minus the autofocus issues. They covered a bunch of topics that nobody got in to before.

[@fictionmyth]

Fully agree. I've watched tons of interviews with the three of them and this is one of my favorites. It feels more intimate and the interviewer was present. A lot of them just go, "Weren't you scared!" or "Feel my palms, OMG!" and then act like Alex is insane for the next X minutes.

[@jonesjeremiah]

You know whats funny. I lately watched a lot of interviews with Honnold and in every second video one of the top comments is:" this is the best interview with honnold!" lol

[@MikeB-1965]

Besides Alex's super-human climbing accomplishments I love listening to his interviews and presentations. He's very intelligent and has an entertaining dry humor.

[@fictionmyth]

I love watching Honnold interviews because of this thing he does after he talks. He says his honest to God take on the situation, usually very eloquently. Then if you watch him, he does this head tilt, scans his eyes left to right, and then nods. I have come to believe he is scanning the last thing he said in his mind to see if he finds any issues with it. Like doing a second pass to check for errors. I've noticed sometimes after he does it he'll expound on his last statement, making sure to clarify one point or another. I could also be 100% wrong and it's just a little thing he does. It's just what I've noticed and believe. Either way he's an amazingly interesting character and they were right for wanting to do a character study on him, regardless of El Cap, and his athleticism is just impressive to the point I can't even fully articulate or comprehend.

[@DeonexGlower]

If you just pretend you drank too much it's not a big deal at all. It's actually one of the best interviews.

[@elvisparsley8]

Alex Elizabeth Jimmy if you release the 4 hours of the climb on like a netflix. I and I'm sure many others would watch it.

[@tubewatcher38]

Or 45-90 min of it. Definitely not enough in Free Solo.

[@JoshuaBarrio]

watching this on my phone I just want to tap the screen to adjust the focus.

[@lucanreynolds947]

Just listen to it like a podcast

[@Project_s14]

Too bad

[@TyroneBeiron]

It’s a lot funnier on my UHD screen... Like, OK. What went wrong here... and then I’m kinda annoyed because the audio feed is great and the interview... like this really ‘SUCKs’!

[@PaulSmith-fn4wn]

One of the best interviews I never saw.

[@dp30]

Fair enough. Sorry.

[@PaulSmith-fn4wn]

@@dp30 I was just breaking balls.

[@dp30]

@@PaulSmith-fn4wn completely deserved. And the thing is, I was trying so hard to simplify by setting them up in that space. I had no idea there was a problem until I downloaded the “video”. Frustrating as hell. I still suffer every interview with tech problems from 15 years of shooting

[@t1n86]

i've aways come for the insightful conversations - and this did not disappoint, even after seeing pretty much all the free solo interviews & QAs! truth be told, i always just keep your videos playing in the background while also doing something else. so the out of focus issue didn't bother me at all. glad you're still doing these, thanks DP!

[@briancunningham5196]

what professional uses AUTOFOCUS ??? especially indoors ?

[@squatch545]

Shot with one of those Bigfoot lenses that makes everything blurry.

[@sf-ou2fc]

Great video and great interview, despite the blurry camera. In any case, the audio is 99.9% of it. So congrats for getting it together.

[@anovemberstar]

I LOVE alex’s Way of being. He’s so funny, without meaning to be

[@LunaticTheCat]

It's not ideal that the video is blurry but I dont really care tbh. Im more interested in the conversation.

[@wiseykills]

thank you, nice interview, I have no idea about all these climbing things and personalities, but enjoyed this movie a looooot, just mind blowing. I cannot imagine how stressful the filming process was, credit to the directors and cinematographers all the crew for such a great achievement, wooow

[@SuperAhmed1337]

I watched with the window minimized -- but have to say: great interview. Thanks!

[@yousfimouna4699]

Elizabeth your film is just beautiful Thank you.

[@RafaelbySuzannah]

"listen" to this youtube - I put my phone down and just listened....

[@Btw_visit_____todacarne-com]

I wonder what Chai as an Oscar winning director thinks about this FOCUS thing.

[@dp30]

I'm sure she dislikes it as much as I do. You can stare at her (and Jimmy) for 32 minutes here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHe7nKJ8rrqJotE

[@marcosmorales266]

I actually loved this setup, seeing them both in such a "house" environment makes them "closer" :) Thanks for the interview.

[@LaughingLion4Ever]

The camera didn't go haywire......it was user error.

[@michaeltheunissen609]

Brilliant interview . Loved it and the out-of-focus was not an issue. Have watched countless interviews with Alex and this is really up there! Well done!

[@Biomirth]

You know, the video was obviously not so great but the interview was really something. I love the way you naturally egg them on with short interjections, which fits perfectly into climbing culture (or any outdoor culture). Many of your questions or prompts fly just perfectly under the radar and get them to carry on into deeper terrain than it initially looked like was available. 11/10 good stuff.

[@lcoopcooperl]

Send the raw footage to me, I'll fix it.

[@inoxiafilms7230]

How are you supposed to fix focus in post, even from a raw archive? Not Lytro!

[@lcoopcooperl]

@@inoxiafilms7230 Semi-AI frame processing. The software has been issued to me by my Uni. It'll take about 3-4 iterative cycles of operations, and the video is likely to come out with at least 60% increased clarity.

[@lcoopcooperl]

@@inoxiafilms7230 Basically it samples the settings from the intact frames, takes the average, check with the database for similar value sets, and applies those settings repeatedly to the erroneous frames until a a value set similar to the default ones upon re-sampling is reached.

[@skobird2732]

I trust this person, will you edit my research paper due next friday ? :D

[@fictionmyth]

I'm genuinely curious and invested in how this all turns out for some reason, lol. Good luck to all!

[@aem9786]

Fab interview, informal but really insightful.

[@facelen4321]

Why didn't you check the focus man???? Your camera probably has a screen. And yes there is manual focus!!!! It would be better to release only the sound. My God!!!!!

[@myflyingkidney]

If you were doing this professionally, you would have used two cameras. This is a great interview and doing it so sloppily is terrible. If you are relying on one single camera you have to check the image all the time, you can't just say it hasn't done this ever before. I suggest you get proper equipment and start doing this work professionally, otherwise this will keep repeating and talking to actors and directors who are on a festival circuit doesn't allow you to make errors. You will not be able to repeat the interviews. I suggest you take the technical side of it more seriously.

[@manuellindarte4323]

No sé inglés pero es un hombre q es humilde y demasiado valiente tiene cojones de titanio y su calma y su sencillez lo ase más grande y valiente q es un verdadero hombre su forma de sr siempre lo va acatapultar a alcanzar las cimas de todas las montañas q escale q bueno q viniera a Colombia y escalará la piedra de guata pe

[@davidwalgenbach6218]

One of the best interviews on Free Solo filming - but DP/30 should have hired Jimmy to shoot the footage and Chai to edit... I agree with Elvis - release all of the footage of the climbing - it would get a lot of eyeballs.

[@jessedampolo]

Throwing you a like to make up for the dislikes. Good interview, I only listened on headphones anyways!

[@RobMutch]

Thanks for posting. Interesting. Is it on auto focus?

[@dp30]

No. You’ll notice that the camera doesn’t focus on anything when it goes fuzzy. When there is an autofocus problem, it picks something else to focus on.

[@RobMutch]

@@dp30 Interesting. I don't shoot that much video. Nice interview.

[@dp30]

After 2000 or so half hours, I have made every mistake you can make.

[@jeraldbrewer6087]

DP/30 flat out does the best interviews. This interview is worthy of this great film even if the camera focus wasn't.

[@mohammadlevy9668]

nice interview audio wise. Visually, blurry as hell most the time. Subliminal messages?? ;)

[@johnb.4174]

Good interview. I’m wondering, what was subject of that captivating news story they were watching???

[@gmill7911]

Didn't bother once I saw the focus issue was never resolved.

[@loony1004]

Great job.. humm. Enjoy challenging life with your leisure. Congratulations on your breath

[@amernice]

jesus christ my diabetes is kicking in again my sight keeps going in and out of focus

[@janbudden9781]

Elizabeth comes off a lot better here than she did in her oscar speech

[@markmcmullan3351]

What was wrong with her Oscar speech . Too liberal for you ? .

[@kevsn94]

best camera man :P hah

[@paulswayze5064]

DP is "Director of Photography". Blurr. Beginning and end of that idea...

[@dp30]

DP is David Poland.

[@paul1x1]

Making a movie first find someone crazy enough to climb 3000 feet with no safety equipment film him

[@delgoogle]

buy two cameras, you can always mix in audios later, two different make cameras. or at least an action camera like say yi.

[@t1n86]

i agree a cheap b-roll (maybe even gopro) camera could've salvaged the video quality of this interview, but i'm just glad the audio was good throughout.

[@suneetsrivastava24]

He found a camera from 1981.

[@smarsville]

Great, great job Alex and Elizabeth! But these interviewers out there, golly, ugh! Please learn your craft!!

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

5:30 - "at the end of the day, there was money to be made".

[@Anthonym5236]

What’s happening to the focus.,

[@melvilleallemang7837]

ALEX SHOULD OF RAN THE CAMARA

[@twstf8905]

Dude SERIOUSLY needs a focus puller. 😂👎👎👎

[@james1327]

this video is unwatchable. Sort your camera issues out dude.

[@username4570]

looks so ominous

[@vernoncarpenterjr6213]

Alex: but um, um , but um ,um ,um ,um ,but um, but um, um ,um ,but um, um um, i dont know, but um, um ,but um, but um, um ,um, but um. Um like um,but um!

[@MrDavidschloss]

Nice

[@innismor11]

There's plenty (and plenty) of great videos, and interviews and podcasts featuring these two (and also Jimmy Chin) throughout the web. NatGeo funded a continual tour with these three over 4 months in pursuit of the Oscar (successful, with that, they were). No need to give your yourself a blazing migraine watching this. Just google Free Solo Honnold Chai Chin

[@RockClimberAlex]

On desktop some people will get sick if they watch this, including me, it's like motion sickness. Awful. I'll just listen to it i guess.

[@Treptalks]

bruh...focus?

[@dp30]

bruh ken

[@blackdog2006]

Amateur hour, both in terms of cinematography and many of the questions. Always great listening to Alex, who saves this VERY poorly researched and shot effort with some great answers.

[@paranoidjohndroid]

alex and elizabeth love one another

[@SKULLKR3W]

chai has really big eyes

[@rwhirsch]

Stopped watching 45 seconds in. What an annoying interview. Stupid questions to start. Does it get better?

[@mrHugefro]

Robert Hirsch much better

[@rwhirsch]

ok, i'll go watch it again. i just understand how tired alex must be of stupid questions so i turned it off.@@mrHugefro

[@fictionmyth]

It could just be a random warm up question to get the guest talking. It's a question most people won't just say, "Yes." to. "Yeah, I've been training a lot lately so I get tired and have to sleep X hours a night to make up for it. Yadda yadda yadda." I've seen a lot of interviewers ask a dumb question to start, get them talking, then further expound on what the guest is talking about. Making it feel more natural and engaged, like a real conversation. Sometimes the "dumb question" is to allow for initial context that someone watching that interview as their first about the topic, might be able to follow. Then just pepper in follow up questions as you exhaust the mining you are able to do from the previous one or redirect the topic back on track. It could also be based on something said pre-interview that we didn't get to hear. It could also be a random stupid question that had nothing to do with any of that. I know that doesn't make it less annoying but hope that helps redeem some questions like those. I'm hard pressed to shit on the guy too hard because it was a good interview overall, save the camera fuckery.

[@thunderhead68]

Amateur.

[@daveyork0]

How dare she sit at the same table when she was attached by a rope the whole climb

[@fictionmyth]

Are you okay? Are you mad at a director for sitting at a table and talking about the film she made? I don't understand your comment at all. She wasn't taking credit for climbing anything... In fact I don't think she was ever "attached by a rope" at all, as she never did any climbing to make the film. She just directed/filmed/edited/produced/interviewed Alex... yeah. What an asshole she is for talking about her part in Free Solo, lol. What's your point here?

[@1herbiekritzer]

Cringy