Claudio von Planta

Last updated
Claudio von Planta
Born (1962-09-16) 16 September 1962 (age 62)
CitizenshipSwitzerland
Alma materZurich University
Occupation(s)Cameraman, director and editor
Years active1985-present
Website www.vonplanta.net

Claudio von Planta (born 16 September 1962) is a Swiss cameraman, director and filmmaker, based in London.

Contents

Projects

Long Way Round

His best known work is as the cameraman who accompanied Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their Long Way Round motorcycle journey eastward from London to New York in 2004, Long Way Down from Scotland to South Africa in 2007, and Long Way Up from Ushuaia to Los Angeles in 2019.

Shortly before the 2004 trip Planta discovered his motorbike licence was invalid for the journey. He subsequently failed his bike test the day before the team was due to leave. He remained in London and retook the test two weeks later, eventually flying out to join up with the team in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Planta would often ride far ahead of the other two in order to film them going past, or trail behind getting the shots he wanted. He suffered a couple of bad falls on the journey. At one point in Mongolia his bike took such a battering it had to be sent ahead for repairs and a replacement bike was purchased by McGregor and Boorman.

In 2006, he linked up again with Boorman and Russ Malkin as the director of photography for Race to Dakar , a documentary chronicling the team's attempt at the Dakar Rally. In 2007, he reprised his role as cameraman on Long Way Down . He again suffered an accident on the trip, coming off and damaging the bodywork on his bike after narrowly avoiding Boorman who was rapidly slowing down on a motorway in South Africa. In 2019, he joined McGregor, Boorman, and Malkin once again for Long Way Up , riding from the southern tip of South America, all the way through Central America, to Los Angeles.

Racing Green

Racing Green Endurance (RGE) was a student-led project at Imperial College London to demonstrate the potential of zero emission cars. The team drove 26,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) in 136 days down the Pan-American Highway starting in July 2010 in northern Alaska all the way down to Argentina in an open-top electric sportscar, which was filmed by Planta as eight 22-minute episodes for the BBC World News channel. [1] [2]

Other career

After leaving the Swiss Army in 1982, Planta studied political science at the University of Zurich. He sold his first film in 1985 and has continued to build his portfolio of work since then. He has filmed in locations as diverse as war zones, terrorist training camps and the Pfizer UK marketing conference. He spent a month in prison in Pakistan for crossing the border illegally. [3] He related a brief version of the story on the DVD release of Long Way Round while discussing the inability of the Swiss embassy to help its citizens.

In October 2007, Planta filmed Hull Freedom Trail, a 5,000-mile (8,000 km) road journey from Hull, England to Freetown, Sierra Leone undertaken by a group of five 4x4 vehicles. The vehicles were to be donated to charity projects working in Freetown to reunite families torn apart by the years of civil war in the country, and attempting to raise awareness of modern slavery/human trafficking issues.

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dakar Rally</span> Off-road rally raid

The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. Security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, and events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trail riding</span> Traveling on trails and forest roads by horse, bicycle, motorcycle, or all-terrain vehicle

Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and in North America, the equestrian form is usually called "trail riding," or, less often "hacking." In the UK and Europe, the practice is usually called horse or pony trekking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventure racing</span> Multi-disciplinary team sport

Adventure racing is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo competitions as well. The principal disciplines in adventure racing include trekking, mountain biking, and paddling although races can incorporate a multitude of other disciplines including climbing, abseiling, horse riding, skiing and white water rafting. Teams generally vary in gender and in size from two to five competitors, however, the main format is considered to be mixed-gender teams of four racers. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real-time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.

<i>Long Way Round</i> Television series

Long Way Round (LWR) is a British television series and book documenting the 19,000-mile (31,000 km) journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York City on motorcycles. They travelled eastwards through Europe and Asia, flew to Alaska, and continued by road to New York. The series aired on Sky One from 18 October 2004 – 1 February 2005 and was repeated on BBC Two in 2008. The series was added to Apple TV+ on 18 September 2020, along with sequels Long Way Down (2007) and Long Way Up (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Boorman</span> British television presenter, writer and actor

Charley Boorman is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made three long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in Long Way Round (2004), Long Way Down (2007), and Long Way Up (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW GS</span> Series of BMW motorcycles

The BMW GS series of dual-sport BMW motorcycles have been produced from 1980, when the R80G/S was launched, to the present day. The GS originally stood for Gentleman scrambler, but was later renamed to Gelände/Straße. GS motorcycles can be distinguished from other BMW models by their longer travel suspension, an upright riding position, and larger front wheels – typically 19 to 21 inch. In May 2009, the 500,000th GS was produced, an R1200GS model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-distance motorcycle riding</span>

Long-distance riding is the activity of riding motorcycles over long distances, both competitively and as a pastime. A goal of long-distance riding is to explore one's endurance while riding a motorcycle, sometimes across several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorcycle racing</span> Racing sport using motorcycles

The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.

<i>Race to Dakar</i> Television series

Race to Dakar is a documentary series following actor and keen motorcyclist Charley Boorman's entry into the 2006 Dakar Rally from Lisbon to Dakar. First aired on Sky Two and ABC Television (Australia) during 2006, it was also released as a book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW R1150GS</span> BMW motorcycle

The BMW R1150GS and R1150GS Adventure are motorcycles that were manufactured by BMW Motorrad from 1999 through 2004. There was a limited run of 2005-06 model year R1150GSA models as well. The R1150GS models are part of the BMW GS family of dual-sport or adventure motorcycles that have been produced from 1981 to the present date. The bikes have a 1,130 cc horizontally opposed flat-twin engine and shaft drive.

<i>Long Way Down</i> Television series and book

Long Way Down is a television series and book documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2007 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from John o' Groats in Scotland through eighteen countries in Europe and Africa to Cape Town in South Africa. It is a follow-up to the Long Way Round of 2004, when the pair rode east from London to New York via Eurasia and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russ Malkin</span> British television director

Russ Malkin is a British TV producer and director, the founder of Big Earth Productions. He has created documentaries for broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Sky, National Geographic, Amazon, and Discovery, often working with high-profile personalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Pavey</span> Australian motorcycle racer

Simon Pavey is a motorcycle enduro and off-road racer, currently based in Wales.

<i>By Any Means</i> (2008 TV series) British television series

By Any Means, also known as Ireland to Sydney by Any Means, is a television series following Long Way Round and Long Way Down TV presenter Charley Boorman. Travelling from Wicklow, Ireland, to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, it features him completing the journey using 112 modes of transport and only travelling by plane when absolutely necessary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewan McGregor</span> Scottish actor (born 1971)

Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW F series single-cylinder</span> Type of motorcycle

The BMW F650 is a family of motorcycles developed by BMW Motorrad beginning in 1993. Models included the F650St Strada and from 1994, the F650 which, due to some subtle differences, was considered to be a more dual/multi purpose motorcycle with some off-road capability. The 1993 - 2000 F650 was the first single-cylinder motorcycle from BMW since the 1960–1966 R27, and the first chain driven motorcycles from BMW.

David Alexanian is an American director and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racing Green Endurance</span> Motor vehicle

Racing Green Endurance (RGE) was a student-led project at Imperial College London to demonstrate the potential of zero emission cars. The team drove 26,000 km down the Pan-American Highway starting from north Alaska in July 2010, this was filmed by the documentary maker Claudio Von Planta.

<i>Long Way Up</i> Travelogue Television Series

Long Way Up is a British television series which debuted on 18 September 2020, documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2019 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from Ushuaia in Argentina through South and Central America to Los Angeles in the United States. It is a follow-up to 2004's Long Way Round where the pair rode from London to New York, and to 2007's Long Way Down, when they rode from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Rusch</span> American athlete

Rebecca Rusch is an American endurance professional athlete, seven-time World Champion, author, entrepreneur, Emmy Award winner, and motivational speaker. Rusch's career has spanned adventure sports including rock climbing, adventure racing, whitewater rafting, cross-country skiing and mountain biking.

References

  1. "Episode 31: We Made It! Interview with Claudio von Planta". Transport Evolved. 30 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011.
  2. BBC World News (23 December 2010). ""Racing Green" Trailer". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. Zulkey, Claire (29 April 2011). "The Claudio von Planta Interview". Zulkey.com. Retrieved 11 November 2014.