Filming Center of Gravity is best described as being 8 years old, discovering the world is made of chocolate, being given a Red Bull and let loose on the mayhem. I consider my job as a filmer to be in the places you're not allowed or can't get too, watching things from angles that no one would ever get to see otherwise. It is my duty to hop fences, lie, cheat, drop names, do dodgy things to get names etc., all to get the audience what it deserves. In this case, Center of Gravity wants you to get the most out of the event while you are there and while you're watching the videos afterwards. Check back seeing if that time you gave the cameraman the horns made it into the cut .
Center of Gravity Video Series, 1 of 5, 2010 Highlights!
Center of Gravity brought in a man lift and golf cart to help us with the filming. The Golf cart blew up a pretty major cloud of dust at the crowd so that had to be kiboshed early on. Later on that day one buddy got pulled over by cops in a golf cart and another flipped his golf cart and lost a finger. Oh yeah and then there was the biking....
Center of Gravity Video series 2 of 5 : Mountain BIke Highlights, Best Trick and Best Line
For those of you who haven't heard of Casey Groves before, this is the video we made last year, includes unseen footage from Center of gravity, AT Showdown, Crankworx, Dreamland Jams and his session with Justin Wyper on the Step Down and gives a behind the scenes look at a great ambassador for the sport.
I've always like the term "commandeered a boat", so that's what I did. Special thanks to Jetski legend Mike Klipper for not dunking my camera and inland divers for their assistance with boat follow-cam and dolly style shots. This is where a new toy of mine came into its own. The Kenyon Labs Gyro Stabilizer that looks a bit like a bomb and attaches to the bottom of my camera has two gyroscopes inside it, allowing me to film standing up on a boat, fully zoomed in tracking a wakeboarder going fast on choppy water or get a smooth dolly of a mountain biker trying a rodeo 360 on the lake jump.
Center of Gravity Video series 3 of 5 : Lake Jump , Jet Ski Big Air , Wakeboard Jump Jam and Winch Jam
Ever seen those shots were the rider does a whip and the camera is right at the same level as the rider? Sick right? Well I wanted that shot, WetApe Productions hooked up a massive man lift for me to cruise around in and get nice and close to the riders. Some of this stuff was filmed in 3 minute continuous raw clips because the action was so frantic, 4 of Canada's best FMX riders ripping laps on 2x 60ft gaps. Center of Gravity.
Center of Gravity Video series 4 of 5 FMX Best Trick!
It's kind of like stampede in Calgary (where I was born and raised, but now live in Kelowna)... it's a cool event, with lots of exciting things... but the city gets TRASHED! People show no respect for the city (or eachother), so its a bitter-sweet event. Great for tourism and promoting the summer life in Kelowna (and the Okanagan), but it just results in a trashed downtown, an over-flowing hospital (from all the drunk idiots), and annoyingly sleep-less nights working on Ambulance (which I'll have).
As an avid mountain biker living in the Okanagan, it's hard to endorse it... but they, they have some pretty sweet headliners for the concerts!
aren't you thinking of the Wakefest era....CoG has been pretty mellow, really, all things considered and it seems under much better control with much more responsible organisers who are local and know the score
Well, if idiots being loser drunk and high on cocaine, getting in fights and doing stupid things (like running out into traffic), which I just spent a 14 hour night shift dealing with, is "pretty mellow", then I don't know what actually being mellow is...
Kelowna has a bad enough problem with cocaine and alcohol as it is, giving them a reason to do it in public is pretty irresponsible. I foresee CoG going the same fate that Wakefest had.
There was about 3 hours tonight, where there were NO ambulances available between Vernon and Penticton... let alone the hospital almost being Code purple (if it wasn't already) dealing with almost exclusively CoG people for a while...
