MSP or TGR

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@LANTASKI

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Sup Bong Mommas and Kush Daddies

When it comes to big budgeted ski movies, TGR and MSP have run the ski movie industry since the late 90s. They both have made huge contributions to the sport. Ski Movie 3 and The Prophecy were the first ski movies I ever owned.

As titans of the industry, both are the 2 "core" ski movie companies most recognized by Gapers or casual skiers. TGR more so than MSP in my opinion.

Which one do you prefer? Despite MSP fucking over L1P a decade ago, I'm still firmly entrenched with MSP. Historically they have had better riders (Tanner, Pep, CR, Shane, Candide, Mark Abma, Douglas), while TGR has had more obscure riders..Collins Bros, Sage, etc. TGR also is more Gaperish IMO in its overall scope and reach

Discuss
 
Both suck now imo. Sure they have a few good shots every year but the storytelling shit they get into is just awful.. Haven't enjoyed either since like Seven Sunny Days and Resession
 
First of all, it was TGR that filmed Candide over Chad's Gap... and Tanner was a star in Re:session. Many athletes cross lines and film with each other. Regardless, they both have access to solid athletes.

Before this season, I've thought that MSP has had the upper hand with skiing talent caught on film for the last few years. Richard Permin, Sean Pettit, Hoji, Henrick Windstetd and moments of Cody Townsend were not to be matched. Attack of La Nina and Superheroes of Stoke were bangers! So this year's two-year project came with high anticipation... but failed to satisfy my high standards of entertainment. The skiing was still REALLY good. Heimer stepped up to toss cork 7's in lines. But, they blew the story line.. The narration sucked bad and if that old guy they filmed still skis, why didn't we see him on snow? I also can't believe they didn't use Cody's POV on the pinner line that won him line of the year (at least they showed it in the credits). I was disappointed on the execution of the production. Also, losing Pettit is a big blow. BUT, I can't wait to see what they keep doing in years to come.

I've worked with TGR the past couple of years and have a little inside knowledge from that side. Lately I feel that TGR's ski movie has been dwarfed by MSP. Though meanwhile, they've been crushing the Jeremy Jones series. I knew they had the tools, but something has been wrong with the ski side of things...

Dana Flahr was my favorite TGR athlete for a while, but for the past few years, he hasn't performed at his former high level of tossing massive lawn darts and misty 7's off 50ft cliffs. But he still gets A-list heli time... I compare this move to Kobe landing a massive contract past his prime and hurting the Lakers ability to pay for fresher talent. Looking further, everyone knows that Sage rips... but he's taken his skiing to a controlled/safer level than the full throttle that got him here. He still skis over/around exposure, but he won't air out of lines nearly as much. And these days he won't throw tricks unless he's got the young guns pushing him (or trippy his light projections). And before this past season, coupled with an injured Ian Mac, they had to rely on Todd Ligare and Griffin Post to entertain us... but that didn't compare to the MSP Crew or TGR of recent past. Last year's Way of Life was saved by Tim D stepping up and Sammy getting in on some action. Thank ULLER for them! Then came this year...

Production is what won TGR the flick of the year awards at Powder Video Awards and iF3. At the insistence of Blake Campbell, all of the athletes were mic'd up this year. There are tons of audio moments that help you feel like you are there with the athletes. Each mission was fun and not over played. The project as a whole had unity. The addition of McNutt was brilliant, even though I thought his skiing in his Co-Lab entry was better than in Almost Ablaze. TGR executed well on the complete product even after thinking that they didn't have the very best skiing.

And I'm stoked that TGR aims to do with Sammy what they've been doing with Jeremy Jones recently. Sammy is pretty close with Todd Jones and they are ready to take the sport to the next level together. If you saw Sammy's teaser (or his winning realSKI entry), then you know what is about to go down!

Can you tell I'm a fan of this shit!?
 
oh and partnering with 4bi9 to get down in Eastern Europe with Karl and some kid missing a tooth and a lucky golden boy was super smart too. That Co-Lab contest proved to deliver for TGR in developing that relationship, and signing McNutt. (Now they need to get Elyss to film with them and get the boys to step up their big mtn game again.)

btw, Joss is way more than lucky and Laker is a cat.
 
13255382:snomaster said:
oh and partnering with 4bi9 to get down in Eastern Europe with Karl and some kid missing a tooth and a lucky golden boy was super smart too. That Co-Lab contest proved to deliver for TGR in developing that relationship, and signing McNutt. (Now they need to get Elyss to film with them and get the boys to step up their big mtn game again.)

btw, Joss is way more than lucky and Laker is a cat.
Click to expand...

hm yeah i didn't think about how successful co lab was for them. that's up there with superunknown's success for l1p with vanular and then wallisch (others too but those two stand out obviously)

love your post above the one i quoted btw and agree with almost all of it

tgr and msp are both fucking awesome but they definitely blow it sometimes imo with too much slow mo and corny narratives/narration. i think at least part of that is that they are trying to reach a larger audience than super duper hardcore ski scholars such as myself but still... the cheese factor is really high sometimes. which is too bad because im actually more into msp/tgr style skiing nowadays but the movies often feel too bloated and long for me to want to buy all the time
 
I've always been a big fan of matchstick, seven sunny days, claim, the way i see it, and la nina were all great movies. Their pool of talent definitely helped. I think a lot of the new tgr movies suffer from not having the most creative line choice. A lot of it seemed too repetitive, one huge spine after another.

While msp had imo better skiing in their new movie, I would definitely agree that almost ablaze was the better movie. I think I'm the only one that wasn't crazy about the light segment, it seemed too much like a gimmick.

I really miss the high level of park skiing that used to be in these movies, most of the segments in newer films seem like an afterthought in what is really a big mountain film. Go watch sammy or tj's parts in seven sunny days, right after bangers from abma and rubens. I think that lack of diversity hurts new ski movies; when I go to watch skiing, I want to see it all.
 
Level 1's last great movie was Refresh..the only movie with the magnitude of matching TGR /MSP

In terms of The Great Production Companies

1. Sherpa, MSP

1b. Poorboyz, L1p

2. TGR, 4bi9, Stept, Sweetgrass
 
I used to love MSP so much. Claim, 7 Sunny Days, all that old stuff was so good. I used to love seeing Hoji, Petit, Shane, Colby James West all filming in the same movie. I really didn't like Days of My Youth though. The story straight up sucked. MSP used to be straight up ski porn, it felt like they tried to imitate Sweetgrass or Sherpas and sucked at it massively. It's really too bad since it featured some of my favorite skiers. Cody's segment was so nasty and I was stoked to see Sander in a real film. Unfortunately I felt like his segment was a little weak. Like the skiing was nasty, like his always is but the production was weak. I would rather watch one of his GoPro edits. Hopefully this year someone films something worthwhile with him... Definitely my favorite skier to watch.

TGR is always pretty cool, I guess I haven't kept up with them as much, the Jeremy Jones stuff is really sick though and the CoLab was dope as well. McNut is insane and I am stoked to see what they do with Sammy. His X-Games part was so insane, I can't wait to see him throw down.

I also like L1 a lot, haven't seen less yet but I am always entertained and impressed with what they put out, doesn't hurt they shot some at Schweitzer.

Honestly though, right now my favorite company has to be Sweetgrass. Valhalla is one of my top favorite movies ever (not just ski movies) and Afterglow was sick as well. They can pull of the artsy story stuff like no one else can.

If someone could get full parts with Delorme, Sander, Hoji, Pep, Andy, Candide, Pollard, Sammy and Cody T my life would be complete. Throw in a little Tanner and Petit coming back and it would be unstoppable.
 
It's always good to see new faces, especially if they slay hard. I think it's those companies' jobs to always be on the lookout to find the best skiers and ski with them. How much risk-taking do these companies do (as opposed to just the skiers)?

In "Way of Life" they skied with an Austrian fellow (forgot his name) and that was cool.. he was the local guide for them, so that was different and had his own mini-segment. So I'm never sure if they want to create some cult-of-personality to bring viewers back, or what their priorities are. For example, there's a guy in Argentina Adria Millan who absolutely kills it (as does adria33). But will he ever make it into one of these high-profile ski movies on just that alone? (who knows if he speaks English) should that even matter? What if he skied on crystal meth?

Anyhow, it'd be interesting to see a Candide "Few Words" type 1st-person narration. I mean if you want to create cults-of-personalities then do it properly, otherwise just stay focused on the best skiing no matter who and where it is being done.
 
It's always good to see new faces, especially if they slay hard. I think it's those companies' jobs to always be on the lookout to find the best skiers and ski with them. How much risk-taking do these companies do (as opposed to just the skiers)?

In "Way of Life" they skied with an Austrian fellow (forgot his name) and that was cool.. he was the local guide for them, so that was different and had his own mini-segment. So I'm never sure if they want to create some cult-of-personality to bring viewers back, or what their priorities are. For example, there's a guy in Argentina Adria Millan who absolutely kills it. But will he ever make it into one of these high-profile ski movies on just that alone? (who knows if he speaks English) should that even matter?

Anyhow, it'd be interesting to see a Candide "Few Words" type 1st-person narration. I mean if you want to create cults-of-personalities then do it properly, otherwise just stay focused on the best skiing no matter who and where it is being done.

That said, I haven't seen many films from these companies, but that's the general impression I've gotten.
 
For me, it's really hard to compare flicks like Ski Movie 3 and Days of My Youth. They're such vastly different concepts in terms of budgeting, time, and scope.

I'd argue that people should be judged on the standards of what they're doing now. By that, Almost Ablaze was by far a better movie. Extra kudos to TGR for putting Angel Collinson as the opener.
 
TGR has done a nice job getting back in touch the last 3 years, where MSP has sat on their laurels, and their editing has really fallen behind. They both have great cinematography, but TGR's presentation solidly beats MSP today.

What worked amazingly in in 2004 will not still work 2014 - and both companies are guilty of falling into the same formulas they've used for decades, but TGR is climbing out of that hole much quicker than MSP.
 
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