Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The great nearby


My cousin Leif just sent me a beautiful video segment of an urban ski session in BC:

JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.


What's unique to me about this video is the focus on details of place- the dripping water, the birds leaving the tree, the man riding his yellow tricycle past the bright yellow bird mural as our jibber zips by. Wide panoramas capture the cityscape on a grey day and draw focus to the brown leaves, the long, solitary fence lines, the smoke rising from factory stacks and vents in rooftops circling slowly. The skier only appears in glimpses and in the background for much of film, until finally these images of place give way to footage of a beautiful downhill run through a quiet neighborhood elegant air and stylish turns all the way down to the BC transit bus waiting to go uphill.

This film is a brilliant reminder of the beauty and potential for adventure that exists, truly, everywhere, so long as one brings an observant eye and an open heart to play.