Sam Nichols Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Just seemed a bit too Instagram like for me and sort of forced creativity. I'd go so far as to say it's the total opposite of anything Instagram. This video is raw, not just a filter slapped over the top to make it look arty. I'm not entirely sure where the forced creativity comes into it, I think it's just something so different to anything we normally see on here. It had the potential to be a pile of shite but I think Ali picked the perfect song and got the whole feel bang on. When Ali played the song to me t'other day I actually wasn't particularly keen on it, it's kinda weird, but when hear it alongside the footage it's absolutely bang on the money. I like the fact that the riding itself wasn't really the focal point in the video, but when you watch it a couple more times you get a feel for how sick the riding is too, and that shit's not contrived, no 100 attempts to get a line here, I don't think Ali's bank account could have handled too much inconsistency. So it's really a great tribute to Ali's raw skills, dedication to riding and just pure awesomeness. Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liam n Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 It was cool, bit too trippy for my liking but, loving the wall ride/sideways gap combination and the 360 endo into drop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Dunstan Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 My films also feature dead birds. Nice retro film, sorry but I did skip most of the intro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpanzyyyy Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 all I have to say now is Ali, I feckin' love you man but this was so good, I ll take some of my time to make a full comment about this piece of art a bit later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson451 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 The forced creativity I guess just comes from a competition called GETcreative, and I guess that's why this video feels kind of forced to me is because it's attempt at being creative is just to make a flickery video with a lot of different shots. The video just appears to me to go too far out of its way to be creative instead of just genuinely being so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 yeah, I knew it wouldn't be to everyone's tastes, but that's fine, nice to get people discussing it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalopS Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to more GET video entrys coming out soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I'd actually been wanting to do a Super 8 video since before the GET comp came about. The main thing that put me off doing it was the cost of it - £33-35 for film/processing/telecine is a bit offputting when you factor in fuel costs 'n' stuff too. However, with the comp coming around it seemed like it'd be a good chance to try it out. As Ali mentioned before, for top riders like him there's a sense of expectation of videos where it's supposed to be a 'serious' video. This is a good chance to try out something fairly experimental like this and have a good context for it. People are going to be watching this knowing it's made for a creative video comp so that sort of prepares you for it, whereas if Ali just dropped this out on a normal Wednesday afternoon I don't think it'd go down as well because it'd just be too 'different'. Some of the things you mentioned though are purely down to the medium itself. It's a 40 year old camera so it's not functionally great, meaning you get flickers, unintentional double exposures when the film doesn't get wound on properly, etc. It adds to the sort of charm of the footage from my pov, and it also adds to the whole experience. When we were driving back down through Belgium we'd been talking about the video, and it was weird knowing that we had no idea if any of it had worked. It was pretty clear from the sound of the camera working that the first tape was f**ked, but we didn't really know about the 2nd and 3rd. Not being able to see what you've filmed sucks for the rider because they don't know if it was clean enough, it sucks for the filmer because you've got no idea whether you got the angle wrong and then it sucks for whoever has to edit it 'cos you have to wait for a minimum of 3wks to get it (think it ended up being 8wks for Ali?). The flip side of this whole thing though is that because it's so easy to use, you can capture some stuff you wouldn't ordinarily get with a dSLR or proper video camera. Because you're not wasting your life away setting exposure, getting the focus right, etc., you can just get spontaneous shots that can give you more of a glimpse into what went on. It's always going to be down to the viewer as to whether they feel that happened or not, but for me this video represents the trip pretty well. The travelling bit where it's double exposed did it for me too just because that's sort of how it feels when you're travelling for 9-10hrs to get somewhere. Those memories blur into one, whereas I can still remember Ali donig that 360 pivot into that bank at the end really clearly... Anyway, time to go home... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew62 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 The forced creativity I guess just comes from a competition called GETcreative, and I guess that's why this video feels kind of forced to me is because it's attempt at being creative is just to make a flickery video with a lot of different shots. The video just appears to me to go too far out of its way to be creative instead of just genuinely being so. I don't really understand what you're saying. It IS a competition to encourage creativity in regards to editing, filming and riding, yet your reservations are based on the fact this video is trying to be creative. It has been made specifically for the competition so therefore should be creative.... I'd understand if you said you didn't like the style, or that it was too overpowering and the riding suffered because of it etc, but you say it's an attempt at being creative like that's the wrong approach for GETcreative. Also you say it goes out of its way to be creative (instead of being so) - which again it should be, as that's the idea of the comp. Also, in regards to the latter part of that sentence 'instead of being so' - this is the bit that confuses me the most. You don't happen to stumble across creativity, you don't make a video then at the end go 'oh would you look at that - its creative'. To be creative is a conscious choice so it seems paradoxical to criticise a video for being so when it has intentionally been made to be so. I'm not suggesting you're not entitled to your opinion, but the grounds on which you've criticised it are flawed. I think it is actually the style and aesthetic you don't like which is perfectly fair but your comments so far are (i assume unintentionally) contradictory. I reckon you don't like it as perhaps you feel the creative visuals have ruled the video over perhaps the story or riding, and even that it might be a cliched approach at the alternative visual or "being creative" but based on what I said about a creative approach being anything but accidental it's not completely fair to say it's not genuine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 No need for an essay from me, that was just downright cool. Loved it mate, thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomeck Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 (edited) Last drop is what I call creativity, but it's really rare to see a creative move that is this huge at the same time! And tap/hook from few seconds before, wow! Actually I watched these two lines about ten times now. Nice to see cool street-trials video without any g-turn inside. Edited September 19, 2012 by Tomeck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewEH1 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 (edited) I'll keep it short hopefully... I wasn't a massive fan on the video, a little too trippy for me I'm afraid! ...but a high level riding by Ali as usual, it was great edit and the music fitted in with the trippy-ness(?) very well. My only, minor, criticism is that the footage looks sped up at certain points. I realise this is because of the format used but made some amusing watching around 3 minutes when Mark was pedalling hard. Credit to Mark/Ali for the bravery of using this format though! I hope you were also doing a bit of back-up filming on the DSLR in case everything went tits up? I doubt we'll see this format used again like this for a while, unless you've started some craze (I await a TGS video on Super 8...), and it definitely meets the objective of being creative. So even if this doesn't win anything it should definitely get an honourable mention! Edited September 19, 2012 by AndrewEH1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw_86 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 it was creative in terms of production, some serious effort must have gone into it with regards to the films and conversions etc. But i didnt enjoy it at all, apart from the drop in at 3.40. song was in my opinion hideous lol. Editing did match the feel at first but just got ott and hard to watch really. And it also wasn't the best riding i have seen you do. btw, it seems im just shooting it down but i love watching you ride, but everything detracted from it. Never the less, you got creative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 First thing I thought of was Andy T, I guess because of modest mouse but also the creative and different filming and editing. Riding was great too, I think the lines in here were fun to do rather than ones that just looked good on film? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew62 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Just watched this with sound. Great feel to this video - I really like the pace of the music versus the slightly unnatural speed of the 8mm footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Loved it Ali! The 360 pivot to slope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1a2bcio8 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 (edited) I really enjoyed that. I felt the style of editing or the nature of the film did somewhat detract from the riding but as a creative entity it was awesome to the extent that the detraction was unimportant. The music fitted the imagery really well which is the most illusive of things to achieve. I take my hat off to something which is quite unique within our domain although, to me, it was very reminiscent of videos I used to see in various extreme sports. Edit: Oh and the final move was awesome. Edited September 19, 2012 by Ben Rowlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eskimo Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I think some people are worrying about the 'creative' thing a little too much (not saying ali), just feel some are trying to forcefully be different. I'm thinking quite the opposite. I've discussed with others before that people aren't really thinking about their edits and just doing something that they would do anyway, then entering it for the sake of it. The idea of the comp is to be creative (in a loose sense) and to inspire and push each other to help us move forward and feel like we've acheived something in the sense of enjoyment or progression. Anyhow the video. I'll give a lengthyish response. I did wonder what Ali was going to cook up. I knew what others had, and what they were capable of. But this surpised me, allot. I always liked the super8 footage mixed in, Evolve and older bmx dvds mixed with other colourfull cameras always felt good. But, you can't of been that scripping for cash if you've got time to spend filming the road Joke aside, it was tottally worth it showing that you were venturing into that other country. And not just filming some traffic or random people at a shopping centre. The over exposure worked and if i hadn't read previous comments i would of thought it was just multiple overlaps from the editing. Riding was chilled, rolling, then blam. Couple of big ones in there. I'm really suprised people didn't pick out the size of those moves. The 3 nosepick into that crazy tranny. Sheesh, that was big and you caught it perfect. Didn't look like much room for error. However (ahah, yeah sorry), the filming. The floor fade offs didn't suit imo, or Ali didn't make use of them Super8, i'd prefer long crossfades. And the music, i see the reasoning. And it worked for the intro, but i would of liked to heard another tune come in. It felt like something from a southern US state bar. Even if it wasn't a winning entry, which it is, you can look back at that and feel happy as i'm sure it was a great trip. f**kin' summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Thanks Nick and Ben, getting praise off you guys is always great I didn't fade between clips as I wanted to keep the feel of the film being played through a projector, back in the 60's and 70's it would have been pretty raw and I wanted to capture that feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson451 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I don't really understand what you're saying. It IS a competition to encourage creativity in regards to editing, filming and riding, yet your reservations are based on the fact this video is trying to be creative. It has been made specifically for the competition so therefore should be creative.... I'd understand if you said you didn't like the style, or that it was too overpowering and the riding suffered because of it etc, but you say it's an attempt at being creative like that's the wrong approach for GETcreative. Also you say it goes out of its way to be creative (instead of being so) - which again it should be, as that's the idea of the comp. Also, in regards to the latter part of that sentence 'instead of being so' - this is the bit that confuses me the most. You don't happen to stumble across creativity, you don't make a video then at the end go 'oh would you look at that - its creative'. To be creative is a conscious choice so it seems paradoxical to criticise a video for being so when it has intentionally been made to be so. I'm not suggesting you're not entitled to your opinion, but the grounds on which you've criticised it are flawed. I think it is actually the style and aesthetic you don't like which is perfectly fair but your comments so far are (i assume unintentionally) contradictory. I reckon you don't like it as perhaps you feel the creative visuals have ruled the video over perhaps the story or riding, and even that it might be a cliched approach at the alternative visual or "being creative" but based on what I said about a creative approach being anything but accidental it's not completely fair to say it's not genuine. I didn't explain it very well, but to be honest am finding it hard to explain. My reaction's kind of like being in an art museum and you see a painting and even though it's all creative you can still have a gut feeling that it just feels forced in a sense. I'm not saying creativity is accidental but for me this video seems less creative and more so adopting a different style that in my opinion doesn't work for trials videos at least. Sorry if I'm not explaining it well but I don't feel like I'm contradicting myself, just trying to put a gut feeling into words. I still respect the video for really bringing up something new, I just feel that it doesn't work as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 I think that was the best trials videos I've ever watched, and it's not my preferred style of riding either. Very well done to you Ali for creating this masterpiece, PLEASE bring out some more like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-0 Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 Sweet last clip! Not every day you see 1970's style video produced in 2012. Great effort for making it. It was an enjoyable and very different watch. Felt like we had uncovered an ancient bike trial video that had never been watched before, pretty cool vibe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlperkins Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 not wanting to start a fight, but thats not my cup of tea. there was more artsy-fartsy stuff than actual riding. and the style of the film, like the old and scratchy style as if it were filmes on a really old school camera.. just annoyed me. wasnt very clear and i found myself squinting. plus the music? was pretty bad. thats just my 2 cents.. DISCLAIMER: in no way am I stating i am a better rider/camera man/artistic director than ali c. just didnt like the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 the style of the film, like the old and scratchy style as if it were filmes on a really old school camera It was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlperkins Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 It was. yeah i thought it might have been, judging by the picture of the old camera. thought id play it safe though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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