Recommendation to all climbing videographers

Why is it that almost every climbing video starts out in a car showing someone driving to the crag/mountain? Some linger on the driving scene for an excruciatingly long time panning from the drivers face to the road. No one wants to see someone driving. That is not why we view climbing videos. We know that you got to the climb somehow: car, plane, skateboard, etc. Who cares? Start out with climbing and stick to just climbing. If I wanted to watch someone drive I’d view a NASCAR video. Whew…now I feel better.

I don't mind a little of it. It can give a feel for the area. It is often overdone though, as well as the climber looking at his hands like a ninny.

Yes, there are many over used and drawn out themes in many videos. Its like "filmmakers" are just watching other mediocre climbing films and just repeating the formula. My suggestion to anyone out there trying to produce something new and creative is branch out of climbing videos. Watch skiing, biking, skating, old westerns, sci phi... find creative elements in those videos and apply them to your climbing video. Easier said than done... I make crappy videos all the time.

Yes! I love bitching about overused cliches. I get really annoyed with videos that have a lot of FLUFF like driving, hiking to the crag, random nature shots, partying, rest day bullshit, etc. I'm not sure which is worse: a 7 minute 'build up' before the climbing starts, or cutting away from the climbing footage every 10 seconds. There are some very polished amateur videos that try to cover up the fact that the climber has no business on the route by "creative" editing. You're not fooling anyone when you cut to slack lining at Miguel's every time the climber approaches the crux.

And yes, it is possible to have a good video without music. The video of Ondra onsighting The Golden Ticket is a good example...

yeah, the approach shots are overplayed. Id really like to see more footy of people brewing coffee.

The over used B reel shots at the beginning is an ailment of all action sports videos now. You had big production companies doing it once and it was all over (brain farm, sender one, freeride entertainment)

Ryan Palo wrote:yeah, the approach shots are overplayed. Id really like to see more footy of people brewing coffee.

This is a small project I just recently started just for fun. It definitely isn't perfect. Ive been calling it Less Than One. Its a series of videos that are all a minute long. No fluff, no driving, no coffee brewing.. just climbing.. or whatever it is I feel like filming. Check it out if you want and let me know what you think, or go spend your free time actually climbing. I would recommend the latter. enjoy.

vimeo.com/user29547426/videos

Cocoapuffs 1000 wrote:You're not fooling anyone when you cut to slack lining at Miguel's every time the climber approaches the crux.

Ryan Palo wrote:yeah, the approach shots are overplayed. Id really like to see more footy of people brewing coffee.

My pet peeve is all the cutting out all time climbers are putting in pro. I guess most people don't have the attention span? I can't stand all the cutting and chopping during climbing. One shot the climber stops to put in a cam, the next they are already above the cam. I think the part they skip is kind of interesting and important for a lot of overall trad climbs.

Slow motion. After Sherpa production did their All I Can ski movie (which in my opinion was a break through in action sports movies) everyone started to use it. Now you can't watch a 3 min video without it being 1.5 minutes in slow motion: driving to the crag, leaves in the wind, taping hands, hanging on a hold and blowing of chalk from fingers, smiling, pouring coffee, hand crimping 

greg t wrote: This is a small project I just recently started just for fun. It definitely isn't perfect. Ive been calling it Less Than One. Its a series of videos that are all a minute long. No fluff, no driving, no coffee brewing.. just climbing.. or whatever it is I feel like filming. Check it out if you want and let me know what you think, or go spend your free time actually climbing. I would recommend the latter. enjoy. https://vimeo.com/user29547426/videos

Thanks for the link.  There is nothing I like better than siting at my desk on the click watching climbing movies. If that's not dirt baggin and sticking it to the man then I don't know what is!!!

I personally like the driving shots and the moments between the climbing, as much as I like the climbing.  I prefer to get to know the person climbing, the cars they're driving, the place they're climbing, some context, and a mental break between moves/climbs, etc, otherwise it all blurs together.  But I appreciate your perspective. 

I must say I do agree. I do recognize that setting a certain atmosphere or feeling about your video is something that the "drive towards the crag" can do, but I do like other ways of building up the mood for climbing adventure with the viewer - like drone shots. I have done a short video about ice climbing in Rjukan, Norway, where I use a few drone shots to set the scene about what is about to happen. Check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk15aG30qno