Staff Blog
Dispatches from Vimeo HQ written by the real humans who work here.
Vimeo is super fortunate to have an amazing community that makes sure even the shortest month of the year is chock full of incredible videos. Thanks, everyone!
And once again, we feel it is our duty to celebrate and showcase a few of our very favorites from the month.
Out of the bunch, there was one video that left our mouths agape and too many questions unanswered. We'll give you a hint: it features parachutes, clowns, an umbrella, and thousands of feet of space between humans and the earth. Yep, "The Balloon Highline."
In an effort to fulfill our own curiosity and inform you, we chatted with Sebastien Montaz-Rosset about the inspiration behind the project and the challenges of filming from a hot-air balloon.
Vimeo: Where did the idea to put a slackline between two hot air balloons come from?
Sebastien: Among the Skyliners team, we have always been attracted to combining all our skills to create aesthetic results. We are more interested in creativity, and consider ourselves artists, rather than sportsmen just pushing for performance.
We always thought of doing a high line between two hot air balloons; this would be the real aerial high line, the real sky line, no link with the earth or the ground.
Vimeo: What preparations and research did you do before going up and trying?
Sebastien: We didn't know if it was possible on a technical level to walk this high line. Each balloon basket weights around 500kg, and you need around 200kg of tension on the 15m highline to be easy to cross. Also, the balloons’ fabrics were touching each other, and we didn't know if it was going to flatten too much. We were also afraid of the pendulum effect of the balloons...
We tried to train on the ground with loose slack lines, but they were anchored to trees, so it was not really a real conditions test.
Vimeo: You say that you weren't sure how the slackline would behave in the air. Were you surprised by it once you stepped foot upon the line?
Sebastien: Not really surprised, it was feeling really loose. What surprised us is that the balloon fabric was flattening, and the more time you would spend on the line, the looser it would get.
Vimeo: Did you consider tethering into the slack line instead of using a parachute? If so, what made you decide to use parachutes?
Sebastien: Of course, but the idea was to walk the slack line and jump from the other side. If we had more time and several flights, we would have tried attaching to the slack line, and it would have been easier. What was hard for the brain with just a parachute as a safety device is that when you fall, it is game over, you don't have any other chances to cross…
Vimeo: How many hot air balloons?
Sebastien: We had three similarly sized hot air balloons. Two were connected together by the high line and the third was used for some external filming for an American TV show (ABC News’ “Good morning America”).
Vimeo: How many people were filming?
Sebastien: Myself as a main camera hanging in my harness from the top of the balloon, and my friends from the baskets with the POV cameras.
Vimeo: What's the hardest part of filming from a hot air balloon?
Sebastien: There is no hard part. It is pretty easy compared to what we usually film, as there are no fast moving subjects, no wind (as we travel into the wind, you don’t feel or hear it), no cold temperature. It is a very peaceful environment.
Vimeo: At the end of the video you said you would try again, have you? If so, how'd it go?
Sebastien: We haven’t been back to Sapin yet, as the winds were really strong all of February. We are carefully watching the forecast maps and should be ready when the time comes!
Vimeo: And finally, who is the clown? Did he ever try?
Sebastien: The clown tried, yes. He is called Anicet, and he is a professional clown in life. See:
vimeo.com/68840678
vimeo.com/ondemand/7960/68839592
