Trøllkonufingur - A Film About A Climbing Adventure In The Faroe Islands.

Project 2017-07-05 09:46:55 +1200

Click HERE to watch the trailer!

Trollfinger Pledgeme Rewards Information:

 So what is this pledgeme thing about and what rewards do I get for supporting the Trollfinger Film?  

• Our friend Carla is an awesomely creative film maker. She likes our Trollfinger story and luckily for us she has a gap between contracts so has agreed to make a 20min film about our climbing adventure.  It takes a great deal of time and skill and passion to write and edit a film.
• At this stage we have agreed to pay her well under the minimum wage to make the film.  This is $150/day for 30 days (ie. $4500).  So she won’t go hungry…..but double that would mean she can have some money for a new camera...and we would feel more satisfied that her 10+ years of training and experience would be more appropriately rewarded.
• Our music collaborations are the same - they will provide the music regardless, but it would be great to reward their talents and hard work with some hard cash.
• With your help we can achieve this. But we hope we can help you too!!!! By providing heaps of awesome rewards  from our loyal supporters that could be Christmas presents, birthday presents for your friends and family or just awesome stuff for you.

See our rewards below: 

Moana Road Sunglasses $39

Moana Road are great supporters and their polarised bamboo sunnies are awesome.  Enough said.  Choose a pair - let us now the # and it is as simple as that.  Check out www.moanaroad.com for more information and sunglasses options.

Health Discovery Co. - 5 superfood bars $15.

Visit https://healthdiscovery.co.nz/ for more info. 

Bianca at the health discovery co. has gone out of her way to help the Trollfinger Team.  When she heard of our trip from and article in the Auckland Herald, she promptly sent several boxes to us.  They were so scrumptious, that we quickly gobbled them up during training.

Following our departure to the Faroes in 2016, Bianca sent a shipment of super food bars on the courier for us to pick up on our arrival in Copenhagen.  Unfortunately, they got caught up in Danish customs (which are managed by a German company) and things got real confusing.  In the end, much to our frustrations, the 5kg of superfood bars ended up being sent back to NZ.  Bugger.  Luckily, we had brought a small stash with us for critical motivational moments during the climb.

Apollo Yogo - 2 weeks yogo for $20. Based in Christchurch

2 weeks of as many introductory yogo sessions as you like for $20.

Yoga is epic for climbing training.  Mind and body and all that.  Cheers Appollo.  Visit http://www.apollopoweryoga.co.nz/ for more infomation.

A4 Huffin and Puffin Print for $20   or  A2 Huffin and Puffin Print for $40
or Huffin and Puffin Print on an organic fair trade cotton T-shirt

Jason’s awesome friend Giselle Clarkson, a Wellington Based artist, made this choice commemorative illustration. Visit http://www.giselledraws.com/ to check out more of her work.

T-shirt prints by Liminal visit http://liminal.org.nz/ for T-shirt sizing options including kidds sizes.

Earth Sea Sky Vertical hooded top with Trollfinger Logo $169  or 
Earth Sea SkyMerino Beanie $29

For Vertical Hoody colours see the selection in the photo of the team below.

For the climbing on the Trollfinger, we wore our Vertical Tops constantly.  For temperature regulation I can’t think of a more useful adventure companion.  Zip down the full length zip if you are too hot and pull the close fitting hood over your head if you are cold.  A deluxe, reversible Merino beanie is a no brainer for winter.  These ones also fit nicely under a helmet.

Jane, Dave and Mike at Earth Sea Sky are great friends and major supporters of the Trollfinger team.  They also manufacture this epic adventure clothing right here in New Zealand. Visit http://www.earthseasky.co.nz/ for more details.

Aspiring - Spectra anchor chain - $40 (these retail for $55 so this is a steal)

Aspiring - New Zealand Made Climbing Harness $109

Aspiring - Nimble quick draw set $35

Shane from Aspiring has been a massive support for the Trollfinger Team.  Building on with the foundation that Lindsay Main put in place, Aspiring Enterprises manufacture and supply the goods when it comes to rock climbing kit.  A custom made etrier made by Aspiring just prior to our climb and a full replacement of a damaged helmet prior rockfall on the climb provide a glimpse of the support we received from these guys.

Visit https://www.aspiring.co.nz for more information.

Jenny Pattrick “Catching the Current” - $30

Jenny Pattrick is a favourite author.  Her writing and creativity is inspiring.  Visit http://www.jennypattrick.com/ for more information.

French for Rabbits, The Weight of Melted Snow $29 (Signed Copy)

Sometimes I like to kick back with a whiskey or schnapps and listen to some fine music.  French for Rabbits is currently my first pick.  Brooke and the band havegenerously agreed to collaborate with the Trollfinger team by providing open use of their music for the film. Cheers.  Visit http://www.frenchforrabbits.com for more music.

Cloudcatcher Children’s book $25

Not only is Carla good and making films, she is also a talented illustrator. Visit https://www.youngruraladies.com/products/cloudcatcher for more information.

Read on for more details about our planning for this project....

"Treatment  - ie. synopsis of the story"

A land of sheep. Remote islands. Questionable weather. New Zealand and the Faroe Islands have a lot in common. At the same time, they couldn't be further apart. 

A group of intrepid climbers, Jack Grinsted, Jason Blair and Dave McKinney, are preparing to leave for the trip of a lifetime. The only thing they know for sure is that their quest is a game with many uncertainties. A Faroese friend has enticed them over to his faraway homeland with the promise of a gnarly rock climbing mission. 

Their ambition is to climb a new route on a 300m high claw of rock, reaching into the moody skies off the coast off Vagar Island. The objective is named the Trollfinger (Trøllkonufingur in Faroese), and it is shrouded in mist and a good dose of local legend. 

High seas make it a challenge to even reach the base of the sharp sea cliff. The amount of gear the team has to haul is diabolical. Above all the weather is hardly ever appropriate. After multiple attempts, it seems the team has been beaten down, physically and emotionally. They have one more chance, and they give it everything. 

Despite no guarantee of their boat pickup returning, they commit. Being pelted with all sorts of seabird excrement, they continue upwards. The climb is harder than expected, and it takes two days longer than planned. Lack of food and a very near miss with a stray boulder are almost the last straw.

But the journey is successful literally at its darkest point, when Jack reaches the summit in the middle of their fourth night on the spire, closely followed by Dave and Jase.  

Their eventual success is not only due to their own energy, perseverance and passion. Their new route “Huffin and Puffin” was made possible with the help of many. The team is quick to sing the praises of the irreplaceable friendships they forged with the local Faroese people, which made the journey so much richer. 

The Film – Our vision 

The definition of adventure has changed. Adventure is increasingly becoming a hollow visual product, a marketing mashup encumbered with sponsor's investments, twitter feeds, a frenzied facebook fanfare. The associated big-ticket film is almost the most important end result. 

But once the best, extreme slow-motion, ultra high-resolution footage has been captured, the whole event is sprayed with light leaks, overdone colour correction, and underlaid with unreal beats, something is missing, and that is the actual experience. Trollfinger was not that kind of journey, and this is not that kind of film. 

What does it feel like to be wet, cold, hanging off the side of a cliff for days, with no food, being bombarded with fulmar vomit? Not so glamourous. A bit more real. 

Budget

Funding (and potential funding for the project):

 …..even if all our potential funding streams come to fruition, we are still left with quite a shortfall.  Thats where you come in.

Meet the Team

We are really excited to have you on board.  If you don't already know who we are...heres a wee profile of the Trollfinger Film Team:

Carla Braun-Elwert, a natural history filmmaker and illustrator based in Tekapo, New Zealand.  Fresh from a 2 year effort working on the BBC television production "New Zealand: Earth's Mystical Islands" she approached the Trollfinger Team with a vision to tell their story.  As editor, writer and illustrator, Carla has put her hand up for the mammoth task of editing hours of footage and audio and shaping it into a high level production.

Jason Blair, an award winning photographer based on the wild West Coast of New Zealand. Not shy of a bit of hard work, Jason hauled 10kg of camera and audio gear (almost) to the top of the Trollfinger. This was a bit different from his normal call outs to cover media events for TV1 on the West Coast.  As director, Jason will make sure that the film will be technically and creatively epic.

Jack Grinsted, an adventurer who talks about doing creative, cool adventures...and then goes off to do them.  In 2016 Jack organised a Sport New Zealand funded expedition to climb an new route on the 313m Trollfinger sea stack on the Faroe Islands. As a first time producer, Jack will attempt to round up a bunch of talented creatives to deliver a high end production. 

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