It’s About The Form
I’ve never been the type to be fussed about cameras. Some people do amazing work with the most unconventional methods and it’s eye opening and inspiring as a creator to see something like that. A lot of people get into the thinking that a legit HD setup or a VX1000 will make their footage legit and to some people it is that camera quality that pushes their footage to acceptable but the rare few who utilize different things to their advantage. That’s originality and creativity that you can’t buy.
This whole edit was filmed on an iPhone. It is also a hundred fold better than most videos out there which got pushed by the mainstream media in the past year. It has an unspoken quality that is consistently there the whole time. It’s not like the riding is ground breaking or the camera or angles is pushed to it’s limit. It’s a combination of all the those things plus more, that produced a vibe that I enjoy the most in BMX. It’s that nonchalant form where BMX is not at the forefront but almost blends to the world around them. It’s awesome to see conventions broken by showing a different way for something as everyday as filming on an iPhone.
There is real thought to it all too and the evidence is in the timeline. Zack Cooke has a thing where two different clips are combined together at the same exact moment. Similar ideas have been done but I remember about those edits was that it became a bit of a sensory overload and the cut didn’t justify it. You’d watch the combined clips and be unable to focus on any one. With this Zack times things right with conflicting images. In the first one where the guy is grinding the ledge on the pier. The only time two actions really coincide is in the beginning feeble to hard 180 and oppo feeble to hard 180. Even though it’s hard to focus there was enough to context shown to understand what went on. In the other side by side sequences he rarely pushes two actions at the same time unless once context is given. It’s usually riding/action matched with something mundane. Allowing the action to take precedence but the watcher not to completely loose sight of the atmosphere through the mundane. It creates a heavy vibe feel which is exactly what I liked about this video. It’s real good work.
With that being said would I want this to be the new standard in how iPhone edits should be filmed. Not at all. The whole iPhone filming is more of a documentarian route where the very basic minimum standard exists to be part of a greater whole which is also social media these days in general with hashtags and all. It’s convenient and easy which is why all the footage ends up looking the way it does. Then your favorite pros use the same rap songs and zoom in and zoom out rapidly method so their work and your work are on the same grounds. There’s something to that too.
Step Forward (Another World Remix) by Simon Moon
My Advice To You by Gangstarr
Obedience by Ivan Ave
Fearing Much by Stefano Torossi
Dilated People by 1 Young Micah & 3 Mil Rod
iPhone April side B (2017)
Edited by Zack Cooke
