Cinematography, Special Effects, and Storylines in Ski Flicks.. where does it belong?

[telecolo_]

I am currently about 2/3 the way through Valhalla and I have noticed a real trend in this years movies. They are just that.. movies. Now this isn't a stab at Valhalla, so far I enjoy it more or less (not better than Signatures though), this comes from watching Into the Mind, Partly Cloudy, Mutiny, and a handful of others.. Into the Mind being the real culprit here.

At what point is the story line too much? Though I enjoy the aspect of Valhalla and the idea of the constant search for a simpler life full of naked sex parties, endless powder skiing, and full beards.. in some instances I feel as though I should had popped onto Netflix and just watched a movie instead of teasing myself with the possibility of watching a landed trick or a full pillow line. This goes double for Into the Mind where I was remained constantly confused as to whether I should be stoked on skiing, worried about the dude who biffed it, or wondering why I should care anyways. At best it was distracting. Which is unfortunate for all of the work these skiers put into the lines, just to have the editing shamelessly detract from their successes.

Then on the other end we have movies like Partly Cloudy. Something that you can simply put in the DVD player and get hyped. Maybe not even watch it from beginning to end.. why? Because you don't have to, despite some of the urban which I still do not understand.. it isn't mentally demanding and simply lets you sit back and enjoy the efforts of others.

How does everybody feel about the overabundance of editing, graphics, and storylines in these recent movies? Do these get you hyped on the other end of the spectrum? Or is it a little too much?

 

[telecolo_]

Also, this is in no way a stab at the cinematography involved in these movies. From that standpoint, it is incredible any way you look at it.

 

[a_burger]

I feel like there's a fine line with balancing the amount of storyline in a ski movie. Travelling circus pulls it off really well, but it's probably a bit easier considering their episodes are only 15 mins max.

 

[Theskiingguy]

Theres a real fine line between distracting from the real subject (skiing) and enhancing it. Especially with skiing. If I find a film doesn't have enough story line I'll start to zone out with what tricks or things they're doing after about 5 minutes and it blurs together. But if there's to much and I can't go a minute or two without being interrupted, it can distract from what's going on with the skiing and it really becomes about the story.

Tough to find the line, but once you do, it adds A LOT to the quality of your film.

 

[homestar]

I was thinking the same thing. I would like to see more movies of both types though. I loved Valhalla for the vibe/storytelling/filming and I loved Partly Cloudy for the ski porn. I'm glad they were different. I don't want to see every company start putting out the same movie as everyone else.

 

[hill.dale]

I'll agree, it can sometimes make a film feel uncomfortable if the storyline is forced in, but in a few cases, Mutiny for example, I would argue that it makes me more interested in the individual shots and the stories behind them all.

 

[ankhou]

I just watched Valhalla, and I loved it for the cinematography; there were some really stunning shots. Highlights: Alaska at dawn/dusk, powder + fireworks, rainforest in spring. Some incredible skiing as well, but I definitely get your point. There were a couple of sections where I got tired of the 'theme', like the psychotropic dream sequence around the bonfire, and the storyline narration was a bit over the top in parts.

Largely though, I think I was just pining for more full lines. There were a lot of filler shots of slow-motion pow slashes and pillow bonks, which are great in moderation, but a lot of them could have been left on the cutting room floor without hurting the movie.

It was nice to see something different, and I think there's space for pure ski porn and more storyline-based films. I'm really looking forward to seeing Into The Mind on friday and comparing it to Valhalla.

 

[t_rob]

"I want to make some ski porn this winter. Everyone's gotten so serious with movies these days -- I want to go back to having fun." -Scott Gafney of MSP

 

[telecolo_]

I completely agree. Now that I have finished the movie I can definitely say I enjoyed it, but still the some shots tended to just be too much and you nailed it. The weird, and perhaps sexually suggestive? did anyone else get that?, fireworks party scene just got to be too long. And though it was done really well from a technical standpoint I think it ended up serving more as a video editing layer masterbation than about skiing. Or anything for that matter. And yes, I feel like there are so many lines that will never be seen and have been filmed for no reason but to simply serve as a quick 1 second cutaway, which is awful because there looked to be some great shots that were accomplished. Also, as I digress from Valhalla to track back to point, it drives me nuts they didn't finish the clip of the one snowboarder doing the backflip who obviously loses rotation halfway through.. that looked like it would had been the best bail ever!

hill.dale, I agree on Mutiny. I actually think this is the perfect happy medium if you are not too fidgety and anxious to show your AFX skills. What I got from the movie was more or less the constant battle and commitment involved with what they did to accomplish, what I thought, such a great video. And it was subtle too. There was not too many harsh narrations to force you into what they wanted. It just seemed like more of a simple explanation of things and that kept me incredibly interested and I will always enjoy watching the video.

All in all, I agree there is completely room for both. If their was not any exploration and creativity being played with during the development of these videos.. I think the demand would go way down. Everything would be way too boring! But the thing that bums me out is the lost ski shots. So many incredible lines and clips and were worked so hard for to just be battered into psychedelic clusterfuck of a montage. I never order the DVDs (always iTunes) but I think their should be some nice B-Side edits in these showing you the true clips! If you have time to make a segment with 500 snowboarders hitting one pipe, you have time to do a clean 3 minute edit of some full lines.

 

[eheath]

There have been multiple threads and discussion about this exact topic this year and I think people are over thinking things.

I also think people go into ski movies with high expectations for what they want the movie to be.

The first time I saw Into the Mind I barely even remembered watching the trailer, let alone what the whole movie was even suppose about. Because I went in with no expectations (except the fact that Sherpas would more than likely make a high quality movie) I feel like I got a lot more out of the movie than say someone going into the movie expecting ski porn, or All I Can, etc.

Sometimes you just need to sit down and watch the fucking movie. Nothing pisses me off more than someone sitting down in a movie and going "this is boring" "why is this happening" or something similar then they check their cellphone. The only way you're going to enjoy the movie is if you just fucking watch it. If you don't want to pay attention to the movie, go watch something else, thats fine, but don't bitch about a movie being boring if you have no desire to engage with the film.

There are some things that could have been changed about Into the Mind, but the movie was made how Sherpas wanted it to be. I think telling people they should make movies a certain way completely takes away from the individual film-making experience. Even if you make something and it gets negative feedback, at least you did something unique and true to your own creative persona.

Sure Sherpas could've made a ski porn movie of big mountain, urban whatever and maybe a few more people would've been happy with the result, but then they would've just been another ski company making a ski porn movie and what's the point of that? Being the same as everyone else is comfortable and reliable but stepping out the box and doing something different is risky but the outcome 10 times more rewarding.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[telecolo_]

I definitely agree. I by no means think anybody should follow a preset notion as to what is going to make a good ski movie. Honestly, the way we discover such different incredible movies/editing tactics is through experimentation and leaping outside of the box. Could you imagine the first person to layer in a film burn?

I was more curious as to the general consensus on the direction a lot of these movies seem to be going. Though I will say it is pretty hard to go into these movies without at least some sort of expectation.. regardless of how general or specific. I thought Sweetgrass provided a movie that was completely on point with their trailer.. which is where we all usually draw our initial expectation. I cannot say I remember the Into the Mind trailer.