Related to BMX photography, is the vast amount of video content which is posted online every day. With new videos constantly being used as methods of advertising. Each company tries to constantly provide the consumers with short web edits to capture their attention. This made me think that, as I am trying to capture the attention of people who have never been exposed to BMX before, this might be a really good way of engaging with the audience.
I looked into several video styles, which I think would be most successful.
Above are some screen shots from an advert used to promote a new signature frame. Throughout the video the rider is seen cruising through the streets of LA. This kind of video is full of interesting angles and is composed in a really professional manner. Videos like this are really successful at portraying the simple nature of our sport, and I think this would be the best way to represent it to a new audience. Here is the full video.
THE BANK LA - C.R.E.A.M. — Andrew Jackson — Cruisin' Video from THE BANK on Vimeo.
BMX has many connections with other sports like Skateboarding and surfing. So I looked into Skate and surf videos to see if they had the same feel/atmosphere to their videos. The main Skate video which I liked was 'Etnies:Aimless' This was a Mike Manzoori Production, which I knew would be well filmed, edited and directed. This moving image was screened at La Gaite Lyrique in Paris at a Skateboard Exhibition. The piece celebrated 25 years of Etnies Footwear. Manzoori wanted to capture the essence of skateboarding, and the reason why many people do skate. He wanted to represent how fun and free skateboarding is and how that it is still the reason people skate now, and will be in another
He used a super panoramic approach so the video could be projected right around the gallery. I used high definition cameras and several creative techniques to create the multi shot panoramic. Here you can see he attached 4 DSLR's to a custom rig, so as he skated the cameras rotated around, so the skater moved from shot to shot. He then stitched them along side each other to create the super panoramic. From Aimless I took inspiration of different angles and filming techniques, like the use of selective focus, still and tracking shots, which I could then incorporate into my own piece.
Related to both Skating and BMX is the surfing culture. I was advised to watch "Dogtown and the Z boys". This provided me with information about how our culture started, as the skating/surfing/BMX culture has a lot in common. The documentary interviewed the "Z boys" who were the first to make skate boards. They made them for something to do during the day once the waves had died down. The cut wood down into small surf board shapes, took the clay wheels of roller skates, and started carving down the local hills and 'surfing' banks in local playgrounds. The craze soon took off all across America, and the documentary shows how skating changed the lives of these boys. The documentary brought my attention to the clothing and attitude which started it all off, and this is what I want to portray through my work.
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