Asude: Hello Marcel, we’d like to thank you so much for giving us the honor to have a chat with you! We, as edelkrone team, would like to get to know you personally. For starters, could you please give us a brief background about yourself and mention how you get started with videography?
Marcel: I was born in the city of Fürstenfeld in Styria, which is in the south eastern part of Austria on August 20th 1994. I started with videography pretty early. But, the content of my videos was more or less random at the beginning. Over time, I got more and more into filmmaking and decided to combine filming with my great passion of travelling and exploring.
A: Great to see that you have managed to combine your passions with your skills! But, how about the video project you earned your first money? How did that happen?
M: My first video I earned money with was planned as a complete non-profit “short-film”. I decided to hike up a mountain with some friends and document the whole adventure in a short video. After putting the video online, a tourism agency contacted me and asked if they could buy some of the footage for their website and social media platforms. This was also the moment when i realised that I could make much more out of my passion for filmmaking.
A: With creativity and some courage comes money, then! You started out filming as a hobby, right? What’s your background in videography?
M: For me videography started out as a hobby which more and more developed into a little business. Most of my skills as a filmmaker are completely self-taught or learned from online tutorials. I think if you really love doing something, you automatically challenge yourself to get better and better at that. And, someday you’ll also get the feedback from others and realise that you have really achieved something.
A: To us, especially your time-lapse projects are really soothing and neat like the WOODLANDS - Beauty of Austria but, how would you describe your own videography style?
M: The main technique I use in my videos are time-lapse recordings because time-lapse is a filming technique which fascinated me from the beginning. With time-lapse sequences, you can show processes in nature which you can’t see with your naked eye in such kind of way. I also travel a lot and spend nearly every moment as much as I can outdoors, so time-lapse is just a great way to make my short films look much more interesting and stand out a bit. Of course, there is also a downside of creating time-lapse and that is the time you have to invest in creating such sequences. Especially at night, when you record the milky way or the northern lights, it often takes many hours to create a 10sec-long video. So, life can often be pretty rough as a time-lapse filmmaker. Sometimes you have to hike up steep hills for hours and spend your night out in the cold and in the end you realize that the weather won’t allow you to take the shot of the scenery you have planned to film. On the opposite side, it’s always an amazing feeling when everything works out as planned and you stand on top of a mountain with a sea of clouds beneath you.
Creativity has no limits!
A: As much as wee can see in your projects, it’s definitely worth the effort! How about the effort before before all the beautiful footage happens? What are the preparations you make before you begin filming?
M: My preparations are a bit different than the preparations most videographers have to do. My filming locations are often at pretty remote places where no electricity is available. I often have to hike several hours up a mountain to reach my planned destination and that with over 15 kg of camera equipment. The day before I start filming an “adventure”, I charge several power banks so that I can also power my gear over a whole night when I create for example, a time-lapse of the milky way. On longer journeys, like for example, my Lofoten trip, things get a lot more complicated. To be more flexible and get the most out of the time I have during such a trip, I mostly decide to sleep the whole week in a rented car and use it as my “base camp”. That also means that I have to do all the backups and battery charging in the car, which sometimes can get quite tricky.
A: That must be very challenging. But, I guess all these preparations explain how those beautiful shots are made. The details you have just mentioned must be a lesson to the time-lapse enthusiasts out there. So, up to day, what’s the best advice you've ever been given?
M: Be inspired by others but always stay true to yourself and do what you can do best.
A: You create your projects while travelling and put your gear in some challenging conditions. So, do you generally prefer buying or renting your filmmaking equipment?
M: I really prefer buying filmmaking equipment. Before I buy something, I do a lot of research to be sure that it suits my use cases. I often use my gear in pretty rough conditions, so I prefer using my own.
A: These days, creating a time-lapse video has gotten easier compared to the past. But, editing software is still a must for time-lapse photographers. So, what software do you use for post-production?
M: For post production, I use several programs. When editing time-lapse, at first I import all the RAW files into LRTimelapse. Then, I edit and convert them to JPGs in Adobe Lightroom. After exporting all the files, I import them into Adobe After Effects; make some fine adjustments and color corrections and then, export them as a video sequences. In the end, I cut my short-films and videos in Adobe Premiere Pro.
A: You fascinate us with your videos, especially the LOFOTEN - Beauty of Norway looks mesmerizing. To be honest, we can watch them forever. That’s why, we thought it’d be a good idea if you could tell us about the best piece of advice you could give to other filmmakers?
M: Always challenge yourself and be creative.
A: Apart from the preparations, the software you use and the challenges, what’s the equipment you generally bring with you on your adventures?
M: I always bring my main camera, which is currently a Nikon D850, with me. Sometimes, I also bring my spare camera around. Different lenses, but a wide angle lense is always in my backpack. All kinds of batteries, cables and power banks and last but for sure not least my edelkrone SliderPLUS with the Action Module and a tripod to get the most creative shots out of a location.
A: It’s not so hard to guess but, have you ever received an award before for your projects?
M: Yes, in the year 2017 my short film “LOFOTEN - Beauty Of Norway” made the first place at the International Mountainfilm Festival Graz in the Openscreen category.
A: Excellent, we wish you success in all your future endeavors! We also wonder your thoughts on the future of filmmaking with the technology is advancing so fast?
M: With always improving technology, the possibilities in filmmaking get bigger and bigger. With new technologies, you can get the most out of every shot and there are nearly no limits which would interfere with your own creativity.
A: That’s a different but a very good point! So, could you please share with us your biggest ambition for the future?
M: I still want to travel and visit as many locations as possible. Exploring and sharing my stories with other people is my greatest passion.