It's late and I'm bored so.... long story long....
I hugely respect the skill the film riders have and I do believe climbing a monster chute takes alot more than just buying a turbo. Most guys, especially on the boards think they are ALOT better riders than they are in reality, it's just life and the same in every sport. If they were really pro level they would eventually get "discovered" and at least asked to ride for a film crew.... no one I ever met ever turned down a movie contract so they could sit behind a desk and shuffle papers ten hours a day. I have worked in the movie sports industry in the past including being involved in the making of Red Bull fuel and fury (which in truth was a made for Red Bulls net webcast format not a feature film), the Ross Mercer world record jump and varied other films / events. I saw a substantial amount of the raw footage end up in Slednecks and other movies as Red Bull (who paid for it and own the raw stock rights) basically gave it away for promotion sake. The editing was up to the individual videos. I can tell you that the athletes in the movies whether it be biking, skiing, or sledding are in them because they are the best at what they do! They have a style that joe average doesn't... for the most part the opinions that they are just "lucky" or have a buddy who puts them in movies is total crap to make the arm chair athletes feel good about themselves... The pros are that good! I have seen a lot of amazingly talented kids throw themselves off cliffs trying to get in the movies and at the end of the day they're usually not pro quality.... but they do have brass balls. I have also seen long time pros get their segments cut because they lost a step somewhere. Business is business... even in a business as cool as action sports.
All that said, with the best intentions and just my opinion.... I think the single best thing the guys at Thunderstruck and to a slightly lesser degree Slednecks, could honestly do for themselves is call up Freeride Entertainment or Matchstick Productions and straight out hire them to edit their films. Hand them the raw footage and let them run and the difference would be mind boggling. Red bull, Monster, Oakley, Salomon, Mavic, Kona and just about every other major sports label you can think of worldwide all trust these guys with their events and promotional films. There are dozens of ski / snowboard and bike videos distributed each season and all but a select few really do look like a home video project. I said ski and bike because, Dan Gardiner aside, sledding is not even in the game yet... there is SO MUCH potential in sledding to blow people away compared to the other sport genres that have been there and done that. Unlike skiing / biking I don't think the sled athletes have to pull out better bigger lines or tricks, in sledding the filmmakers just have to make the current stuff look better. I love them all and buy them all with my own money including this years Thunderstruck after I saw the premier from beginning to end (also got t-shirts and hoodies for the family before we left the theatre), to support the guys who put their hearts into doing what they love. My 9 year old who lives to sled, a kid who has every sport movie out there and Ross Mercer poster on the wall, wanted to leave the theatre and I was pretty sad about it. Try explaining to a kid that you have to include certain riders, segments or do specific things to please sponsors when they just want to see a cool film. Again, it's not because the athletes don't have skills but because the filmmakers / editors often don't have the time, expensive editing resources or experience to make it look epic. Watching hugely talented TS riders with big dollar heli shots (helicopters are crazy expensive, so I think the TS guys must be doing a hell of a job selling sponsors in a tough market) end up with really, really poor editing and music selection was honestly painful. Music is the feel of a film and good selection lets you get away with a lot of other "shortcuts". I do like the bands on their own and even have an audio CD from last years TS in my truck but I think their music selection was repetitive and failed to compliment the shots or make them feel like unique segments.. Matching the beat to specific rider moves is not just playing a song along with a clip, this is a VERY time consuming and skillful process to get right, guys spend their careers doing it. Sledders are very dedicated, loyal and protective to their sport even compared to skiers or bikers. Looking around the theaters they also seem to be more varied in age making it more difficult for a film maker to be all things to all people. But at the end of the day, movie making is a business and film making is a highly skilled profession / art. I have only seen trailers /clips but I think Dan Gardiner (Boondockers) Powder to the People might just move sled flicks out of the basement edit suite. It looks like it mimics the top ski movies segments. Which is a good thing. IMHO
fire away boys (and ladies).....
P.S. Whether you like the song or not.... whoever did this clip has a great feel. If this doesn't make you want to go tune the sled and drive to Alaska to find snow nothing will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKn9kOtVgEg&feature=related
