Richard Seehausen directed 2021 WMFF feature “waveforms”. We asked him a few questions, see our Q&A conversation below:
What is in your gear bag/kit?
For Waveforms, we shot the film on a Sony FS7 with Contax Zeiss vintage glass. The FS7 is a bit big and heavy, but it proved to be a durable workhorse for working outside in cold, snowy conditions. Some of it was shot on a Fujifilm X-T3, DJI Mavic Pro 2, and a GoPro Hero 8. We also used the the Fuji to shoot sequences which were compiled into clips.
What item can you not live without?
Variable ND filters or on-camera ND. Can’t shoot in the snow without it.
How do you choose music for your films?
I listen to songs and I know it’s a keeper if I’m able to start visualizing the scene and the edit in my head. If the song works, I can visualize and almost pre-edit an entire segment in my head.
Most necessary character-quality for a director?
Confidence. Even if it’s faked, you need confidence to see the vision through and get people on board and with the program.
Who has been most influential in your directing career?
I’m just starting! Hoping to find mentors and people to work with to help show me the way. I definitely get inspired by a great snowboard videographer by the name of Jake Price.
Favorite on-set memory?
The first day we visited Tomo at his surf workshop in Niseko was a special one. We just filmed him and our friends Aaron and Jay, a shaper from Hawaii, talk surfboards and eventually carve out the initial shape for a new surfboard project.
Craziest on-set/en route to set adventure?
Honestly flying out to Japan on New Years Day after a NYE celebration with friends where I did not sleep at all before my flight. I had to haul 2 snowboard bags, a Pelican case, and a camera pack all by myself. All told it was 300+ lbs of gear that I had to haul from the car through the airport by myself and I was drenched in sweat by the end of it. Luckily the airline worker was having a good day and did not charge me anything for oversize, overweight bags.
More About Richard Seehausen
began filmmaking at age 14 in North Carolina, and after graduating from Duke University, I moved to Bend, Oregon to pursue my outdoor goals through snowboarding, mountaineering, and filmmaking. For the past 3 years I have worked as an engineer full-time while building my filmmaking skillset and saving money to fund my own projects. I have now reached a point where I am ready to start transitioning towards being documentary filmmaker, something I have dreamed of for a long time.
Currently I am in production on my first documentary film, “Waveforms”, which documents snowsurfing’s roots and evolution between the U.S. and Japan while investigating connections to Shintoism along the way. As of March 2020, I began developing my 2nd documentary film, a video diary collection about the COVID-19 pandemic, for which I recently secured fiscal sponsorship from the International Documentary Association.
I am excited to keep pursuing filmmaking further and to ultimately tell stories that inspire change for the greater good of humanity.
