VIDEO: DOWN THE HILL
A FIRST ATTEMPT AT PRODUCING A DOCUMENTARY BY MOUNTAIN BIKER ONG ZHEN WEI
With the easy access to videographic equipment and the convenience of social media, producing and broadcasting something of interest is as easy as a simple click away. And to spice things up, there's always a phone app that could help spice up any video edit quickly and beautifully. The wonders of technology advancement. Once in a while though, we tend to wonder whatever happened to those real-original-scripted-high resolutioned productions. And then we came across a team of 2 students who embarked on a project to produce a mountain biking documentary. Their objective for this video – to gather the opinions of Singaporean mountain bikers with regard to the downhill riding discipline of mountain biking. We spoke with Zhen Wei from the video production team, who is also an avid mountain biker himself.
THE PATH TO DOWN THE HILL
What is this film about?
It's a documentary about the small downhill riding community in Singapore.
Here's some fast facts about the film:
Title: Down the Hill
Length: Approximately 5 minuntes
Equipment: Panasonic GH4, Canon 5D mark III, Sony A7R II, DJI Ronin M, H5N (Sound)
Location: Kent Ridge Park, Chestnut Nature Park MTB Trail
Riders: The Kent Ridge Downhill community
How did this idea came about?
Being a cyclist and a film student, I have always wanted to make a documentary for mountain biking. The idea came about when I went to Kent Ridge Trail for the first time. After riding one lap of the downhill trail, many questions regarding the downhill riding discipline and its community in Singapore popped up. The idea of producing a documentary on downhill mountain biking followed.
Is there any objective to making this film?
With this documentary, I hope that the general public would have a better understanding of mountain biking. We also wish to highlight issues that concern off-road cyclists. One question we wish to gather opinions is whether the mountain biking community feels that there is the shortage of MTB trails in Singapore.
How many times was it screened?
It has yet to be screened at any physical venue, but I hope that this documentary would be screened to the public soon!
Is there any style or director that your team take reference with?
There isn't really a defined style on how I shot the documentary, as the entire thing is very "run and gun". But I took inspiration from video clips in Red Bull Channel, Danny Macaskill's "The Ridge" amongst many others.
Will there be a sequel to this film?
For now, I don't think there will be a sequel on this. As we are currently busy with our Final Year Project
What is the team's next project?
I guess we would focus more on short film than documentary. I have just finish shooting my short film and is planning to submit it to National Youth Film Awards (NYFA).
Parting Shot: What should we look out for when filming a cycling video?
Always be ready to shoot, you may just get some really great footage. For all other occasions, do give a head start by commencing recording before any action starts – remember the rule of thumb "Light, Camera, Action". Last but not least, always spend time to recce the location before shooting day, you may get more great ideas along the way.
BIKEZILLA AND YOUNG TALENTS
We are always on the lookout for young talents that would contribute to the biking community, be it through videography, photography, events, writing, riding or any other avenues. The more we put into the community and the culture, the more solid will our very own bike culture be. If you wish to share your talent or have friends that you wish to tell us about, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you. Ride!
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Photos by Ong Zhen Wei
