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What do you want in a mountain bike film

Patrick L

Chimp
Feb 14, 2010
53
0
Peoria/Kansas City/Bozeman
After reading through the Life Cycles thread and watching it along with Follow Me, The Collective series, Fist, and a few other older films I got wondering, what do you want to see in a mountain bike film? What do you NOT want to see? Great cinematography and editing are a given, but do you want to see more of a story about the individual rider or event? Or take the names out and have it just be about the riding? Would you like more of a documentary feel to it or a montage? What about team videos? The BMX, Snowboard, and Skateboard industries have seen to have great success with team videos. Clay Porter has done this to an extent, but those were just web-miniseries not a full-length movie.
 

Mr Lahey

Monkey
Sep 23, 2009
183
28
No more stupid bro stoke voice over and interview stuff. That crap is pretty much the reason I stopped buying action sports films.
 

Delimeat

Monkey
Feb 3, 2009
195
0
Canada
I want to see things that I can relate to, but that inspires me. Watching some kids spin around on dirt jumps or the big guns hit senders doesn't really do it for me anymore... I like to see great riders tear regular trails a new asshole. This vid of Brendan and Keene that was made by Sage does it for me, not to mention the MCD! Another one is from Larock, this I can watch over and over again and always get stoked.

Someone needs to make a movie called "Mountain biking" that as some effing real mountain biking in it. /rant
 
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karpi

Monkey
Apr 17, 2006
904
0
Santiasco, Chile
I got into a discussion about long sports documentarys/movies with my cousin the other. He really pointed out how the new thing to do is webisodes, miniseries, just viral contente, short clips that last tops 5 minutes... In all honesty, I've got'n so used to going on line and wathcing at least 5 new videos everyday, that when I actually sit down to watch a 30 + minute video, I start loosing my attention in like 10 minutes.

If your making a new video, well what can I say, innovation is key! But then again, its all been done, so you really have to get creative, or just simply go with what's been prooven right. The most key element to a good bike video in my opinion is to get you stocked and it makes you wanna ride, this comes in various forms, but what really seems to work is: Music that really goes with the clip, and riding you can relate to. You wanna see someone rip it with style, not just huge things that arent really posible to most people's abilities, but more like stuff thats suitable to good more riders. Its always amazing to see people shred with style rather than just hit huge jumps! Huge jumps brings the "wow" factor, but it just stays there... wow! The other stuff makes you wanna grab your bike and shred!
 

stinky6

Monkey
Dec 24, 2004
517
0
Monroe
I can't stand all the bro crap and the long intros that have nothing to do with riding. A quick intro is cool, a little quote here and there is good. I've watched a few surfing videos and they seem to let Kelly Slater talk a lot, which is great because he sounds intelligent and doesn't come across as some one dimensional "lets get stoked and surf bra" kind of guy. Too much slow motion sucks, some is okay though. Thats what I don't want to see.

I want to see guys riding with style. About 80% trails and 20% air would also be good.
 

limitedslip

Monkey
Jul 11, 2007
173
1
We all know mountain biking is a challenging sport. But does it ever bring people together? Would this pro rider have ever traveled the world if it wasn't for mountain biking, to experience new cultures? Will he have to not make any mistakes in order to win? These are the things I need to know.
 

motomike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 19, 2005
4,584
0
North Carolina
I was thinking the other day about how awesome a movie would be if it was just trail bike footage. A whole movie with downhillers, freeriders, and enduro riders ripping trail bikes on all kinds of terrain would be so sick and it would relate to a hell of a lot more people.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Dont let cam McCaul talk will be my number 1 request, id rather watch a 12 year old on pinkbike than hear McCaul talk about how his forehead is like a bird.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
- More trails
- Less dirt jumps (prefer none)
- More riding
- Less talking
- Less excessively long background shots
all of this.
so many good movies are easily ruined by dirt jumping guys in brightly colored shirts or jumping in corn fields.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
In no particular order:

-No commentary especially if there is nothing insightful to say.

-Longer clips of each rider. I know the terrain is the limiting factor a lot of the time here, but seeing a rider for more than a couple seconds at a time would be cooler I think.

-Slower and more deliberate zooming (as opposed to short fast zoom-outs as a rider is coming towards the camera - kinda disguises their speed for better or for worse if you can't see as much of the terrain that is coming up to the rider).

-If there's going to be commentary, keep the face time of the person speaking to a bare minimum, and have them talking over the riding footage. And for fvcks sake, make the subject speak clearly and audibly if you're going to put them in a film. If they can't be understood, make them do it over.

-Normal music. The music in the Clay Porter movies has typically been good and easy for anyone to listen to. Nothing that makes the ears bleed. Earthed series? Makes me embarrassed to show those films to anyone who isn't already involved with biking somehow, which is too bad because I think the rest of those was basically the best - all riding, no crap.

-Boobs
 

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
i like seeing a couple attempt/crash clips then a clip of the line being pulled, gives it some context.

again with context, camera angles that show the terrain and whats coming are great.

I HATE slow mo when it is overused and on clips that just arent deserving. it can be nice when a trick is super clicked or there's a nice roost or something but the same old backflip/zoom/slowmo is super annoying.

excessive zoom also gets annoying. i think that in most shots the context of the background is very close to as important as the subject for context and giving an idea of the actual movement of the subject. when a shot zooms in on someone in the air against the sky and zooms out all the ground, its just cliche and annoying to watch.
 

Radarr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
1,130
9
Montana
Anything that doesn't involve sped up footage. The standard of playing everything back at 110% speed looks like crap. It reminds me of some tacky highlight blooper reel.
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
I want to see a gravity MTBing version of Bruce Brown's On Any Sunday. Something that can be enjoyed by enthusiasts but can be understood by and yet speaks to non-riders as well . . . and carries the thread of a story throughout.
 
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4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
No slowmo of the same shot from 10 different angles. So painful.

More riders showing thier home or "training" trails that they ride on a regular basis- like Seasons Steve Peat training section.
 

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,167
73
Israel
I like to see:

the same part of the course, every time with another rider. (makes you see diferents in riding style and what is better)
more focus on the bikes (fork and all bike react to the terrain)
parts like the intense crc riding in morzine

less talking
less dirt jumps
 

fluider

Monkey
Jun 25, 2008
440
9
Bratislava, Slovakia
- I prefer content over form, or content 1st, then form. OK, chicks may be granted exception :D.
- no more those 'short tail-whipings' on soil or loose gravel (or how do you call it) in each turn to fancy throw material out of the trail and see it in slow motion.
- less dirt jumping
- more natural trails and obstacles
- has anyone made short film about trailbuilding? I know, that wouldn't sell well.
- combinations with on-board camera
- and I miss the calling of the nature in films. They like present rider or his riding skills and environment around him is just a place where it can happen. Just a place ....
 

Steve M

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2007
1,991
45
Whistler
The best sections of video ever are still Rankin's work. The Nico Vink/Pish section in Earthed 3, riding in Alpe d'Huez I think, is just epic. Tight tight editing, sick riding, nothing but sheer awesomeness. No slow motion, no bull****, just fast zooming, tight editing and quality riding.

What I like:
- Super tight editing. NO wasted frames.
- Unpretentious music/atmosphere. F1RST was the worst movie ever in that regard, which was such a shame because the filiming and editing was awesome otherwise.
- Focus on the riders' wheels. Rankin does a really good job of that - you get an awesome feel for what the rider is doing. Who cares if the head gets cut off for a few frames of the shot, the wheels are what tells the audience what the bike/rider are doing.
- No dirtjumping. Seriously boring to watch.
- No slow motion unless it's a quick replay or slowdown of something particularly awesome. Again watch any of the DH segments from any of the Earthed films.
- Fast zooming. Makes riding look as fast and frantic as it really is without actually speeding the footage up.
- No storyline BS. Add a few voiceover clips from riders by all means, but I don't want or need to see another documentary. Please no stoked bros.
- Lots of riding footage. You don't need EVERY clip to be the most amazing thing ever if the editing is tight.

Basically, watch Earthed 1 through 5, note how much awesomeness is in there, and do your best to emulate and add to that :)
 

ROTFLMAO

Monkey
Nov 17, 2007
363
1
Maumee, Ohio
I think it would be cool for a film crew to visit 10-20 different trails/resorts/secret spots over the course of a season and film hundreds of no-namer yet capable riders doing what they do best, having fun. Film some racing, some regular riding, some big feature attempts, whatever you want but I would like to see our "community" in a film. Feature some of the trail builders in there, maybe some of the local bike shop "dudes", just make a fun film about the thrill of riding. The bike is not important, your kit isn't important, carbon helmets aren't important, hell the actual person isn't important. What's important is the feeling that a day of riding gives you and somehow getting that across in the final product.

I suppose head tube angles and yaw would have to be important too...

Oh, and no dirt jumpers with their butts hanging out of their little sister's jeans ;). I actually like watching some DJing as long as it isn't overdone.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
I agree with ROTFLMAO more trails we can ride and racing. I really do not want to see some location scouted out in Egypt. That a crew spent 2 days building was ridden 5 times and then destroyed. Yeah sure the amount of money spent on that would get videographers into 5-6 states easy and film real trails or races. Oh and for the love of god maybe try using a Red camera and good lenses? That may kill the budget though.
 
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captainspauldin

intrigued by a pole
May 14, 2007
1,263
177
Jersey Shore
I agree with ROTFLMAO more trails we can ride and racing. I really do not want to see some location scouted out in Egypt. That a crew spent 2 days building was ridden 5 times and then destroyed. Yeah sure the amount of money spent on that would get videographers into 5-6 states easy and film real trails or races. Oh and for the love of god maybe try using a Red camera and good lenses? That may kill the budget though.
Agreed,I enjoyed the whistler segments in Roam/Seasons/Follow Me much more after riding there..
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,564
24,182
media blackout
I think it would be cool for a film crew to visit 10-20 different trails/resorts/secret spots over the course of a season and film hundreds of no-namer yet capable riders doing what they do best, having fun. Film some racing, some regular riding, some big feature attempts, whatever you want but I would like to see our "community" in a film. Feature some of the trail builders in there, maybe some of the local bike shop "dudes", just make a fun film about the thrill of riding. The bike is not important, your kit isn't important, carbon helmets aren't important, hell the actual person isn't important. What's important is the feeling that a day of riding gives you and somehow getting that across in the final product.

I suppose head tube angles and yaw would have to be important too...

Oh, and no dirt jumpers with their butts hanging out of their little sister's jeans ;). I actually like watching some DJing as long as it isn't overdone.
I agree with ROTFLMAO more trails we can ride and racing. I really do not want to see some location scouted out in Egypt. That a crew spent 2 days building was ridden 5 times and then destroyed. Yeah sure the amount of money spent on that would get videographers into 5-6 states easy and film real trails or races. Oh and for the love of god maybe try using a Red camera and good lenses? That may kill the budget though.
a few years back there was a video called "no more heroes". nothing but no names and up and coming riders jamming their local spots. editing wasn't the best, nor was the soundtrack, just dudes who ripped in their spare time. still one of my all time favs.