Treborsnave’s previous ‘Progression’ film, ‘Kiting films 2001-4’ has been a firm favourite of mine for some time. The producers use of creative camera viewpoints and not being afraid of showing the less glamorous side of kiting, when pilots might mess it up a bit, makes it easy to relate to. It’s a simple DVD which has always left me with a feeling of satisfaction, and that key desire to stick it back on again.
Calling the new one ‘Evolution’ is an appropriate title. Even thought a lot of the content is over a year old the progression in both kites and pilots is there to see. There’s some varied content in the new one, but for the sake of simplicity I’ll break it down into the following chunks.
Packaging:
Funny things DVD boxes, quite why a music album is packaged in a nice slim case, and DVD’s in much bigger space wasting boxes evades me, perhaps it’s to make people feel they have something more substantial, or maybe the boxes were designed to fit into the millions of shelving units that VHS videos used to occupy, who knows? But, Treborsnave have gone the compliant route with a regular DVD box.
The cover graphic is a step forward in comparison to the ‘Progression’ cover, which has a rather sparse look to it. A rock like surface background resides behind a tone dropped in-flight kiteboarder, a sign of things to come. The rear of the cover has some choice thumbnails of some of the film content, always a good thing to have as shop buyers will welcome a good indication of just what’s in there.
Menus:
I first loaded this into my PC, and Windows media player didn’t like it. Having clicked on a menu option it locked and ctrl-alt-del proved my only exit, this seems to be a Windows or my PC issue, not this DVD, as it seems to occur on a number I have. Reloading via ‘PowerDVD’ gave me no problems.
The menus have a simple but slick appearance. Another step up from the ‘Progression’ version. You are presented with a two element menu to start with which provides access to either widescreen or regular films. A quick check on my Aquos LCD TV via my Philips player showed the kit automatically adjusting the screen image without problem. I think it’s fair to say that widescreen is rapidly overtaking regular stuff, and it would be good to see this become the norm in this level of production.
Image quality:
Fine, no twitchyness, but some tone graduations were stepped, a common thing that LCD TV’s reveal rather more readily than CRT’s. As usual skies in particular pushed this forward. Unlike the former DVD I have, this one handles problematic lighting far better, with good tonal graduation in spite of the film-makers nightmare of overcast skies in some of the shots, but now I’m touching on the next subject. Colour saturation is right up there, with little or no loss of colour depth perceptible.
Cinematography:
I’m no expert on the process of getting moving images into film by any means, but all of us are capable of identifying good and bad camera work I’m sure. Treborsnave have a kind of signature in their use of extreme wide-angle lenses, and there are some scenes where this is used to great effect as the exaggerated perspective makes thing more dramatic.
However, hand held tracking shots with this lens stick out like sore thumbs to me. The cameraman is largely depending on the short focal length of the lenses to provide stability, but every footstep is detectable and this I find a little distracting after a while. I couldn’t recommend the use of a steady mount enough. Tripod, or monopod perhaps, stuff with the same lenses are far better, and I did find that once I’d picked up on the running after a pilot thing that it distracted me from the subject, tending to look at the jumpy horizons rather than what the guy’s actually up to in the shot. I really believe that if the producers could get this bit sorted then the resultant smooth camera movement would make these shots whole.
Some of the slow motion stuff is great, though some stepping is detectable when there is big contrast differences between objects, say between the kite and the sky, pretty minor though.
Lighting seems to largely be whatever was to hand, but by whatever means they have the exposures are great, shadow detail is retained when shot against the light and everything appears bright.
Music:
I personally struggle with a lot of this. The rapid, often manic soundtracks are quite fatiguing at times, but that’s down to my personal preferences with such things, others will differ. But I do feel that it would have been good to get some more variety in there. From a production point of view, skirting around the score, some tracks lack wide dynamic range, with a distinct lacking of bass to provide some depth in there. At the other extreme high frequency stuff does suffer from that distinctive ringing caused by compressed digital recordings, even the interviews reveal this as a bit troublesome.
Sourcing music for film work is difficult, I know that through being on the music end of it in the past. Treborsnave do well enough through the use of all electronic productions, but there’s scope for music with a wider, more open, feel which was keyed in better to the content. I get the feeling that the audio and visual elements don’t gel as much as they could. Turning the sound off does nothing to diminish the effect of the video I feel, turning it on does little to enhance it.
Content:
If you’re a boarder you’re going to like this DVD more than most buggiers, as the bias towards this is huge. This creates something of a problem, it’s a victim of its own generosity as 72 minutes of filming is always going to make it difficult to prevent a sensation of repetition, in spite of the buggying elements. It kind of gets away with it to a degree by virtue of the fine differences between one pilot and anothers technique. But as a buggier I’m not set alight too much by one pilot jumping after another, but I’m sure a boarder would think very differently.
What I would say is boy have these boarder dudes moved on in recent times! Huge airs are something I can take or leave, I seem to appreciate low horizontal technical stuff more, and there’s plenty of that to be seen here. Some of these guys are made of rubber! And the timing involved with gyrating as much as both they and their boards do to come together at the moment they set back down on the ground is impressive, all of which has been effectively captured in the camera.
There’s some short interviews in there with some of the pilots. It’s very interesting to hear the differing views, particularly the chap who thinks that kiteboarding isn’t going to be very ‘big’, most amusing. Unfortnately that sound thing did distract me from what they were saying a bit.
What a pleasure it was to be able to view the kite sports classic of Richy Stones buggy jumping with the improved quality a DVD gives. ‘Second Law’ must be one of the most downloaded kite videos there is. If ever you want to show a non-kiter what buggy jumping is all about then this is the one to show them. The almost absolute absence of any distracting things in the background allows the viewer to absorb Rich’s action readily, as I say a classic, and a welcome addition to this production.
The kiteboarding instruction section is simple and uncluttered. It does inspire me to get the board out and have another go, one day. Things move forward at a sedate pace, and the explanations are clear and concise.
‘Extreme Hebrides’ portrays a trip which showcases one of the best places in the UK for power kiting, if you want that sensation of actually travelling to a very different far away place without actually leaving the country then a trip to the Hebrides will do it for you. Having been to Tiree, the inner Hebrides, I have witnessed these phenomenon myself, and plan to again.
When I read the title I figured I was in for some nuts kiting, but it soon becomes apparent that the extremes are not in the sport, it’s in the place itself. There is a bazaar mix of sea that looks like it should be the shore of a Caribbean island, yet with rocky outcrops and that particular blend of survivalist plant life if you turn 180 degrees from the sea, then you are very much on a remote island off the Scottish coast.
This element of the DVD really is an insight to what can be had there. Here the camerawork adopts a more arty element, with cameo shots of geographical features coupled with close ups, all of which help to paint a picture of what you can expect.
Weather is an all-prevailing element, which changes in these places in ways which defy belief. With the vistas being far and wide you can witness incoming changes in weather and marvel at just how things can change from one extreme to another in minutes. Some of this is captured well on the film.
There isn’t much kiting in this section, but as a way of portraying the potential for it this film does well. There’s enough flying to give a taster of what’s to be had there, and it leaves you with thoughts of what could be. I personally find it raises the desire in me to get back there quick! Elements which will have interest for non kiting partners are brought across well, as the stunning scenery one witnesses on the journey through Scotland to the ferryport, and the island itself are enough to satisfy anyone looking for something to brighten the soul.
So for the prospective visitor this represents some great exposure to what’s to be seen, and for those who have witnessed it for themselves, like me, it’s a pertinent reminder that life away from cities, smog, smoke and the trappings of commercialism can enliven you like nothing else.
In conclusion then, I’m aware that I have been quite critical of this DVD, but lets put that into perspective.
This is a good step forward for Treborsnave. Those who know me will be aware that I’m a stickler for value for money. Some sports videos carry frightening price tags, and whilst such productions may take the viewer to exotic locations and demonstrate the sport at its highest level I don’t feel that a lot of them give me that value. I am far more interested in seeing realities that are accessible to me. The portrayal of regular people doing great things in places that we can all get to represents something which has far more personal value than dreamy stuff which remains so far out there it’s like looking at another world.
This is real, this is just around the corner, this is value for money!
Heartily recommended!
To see a preview of this DVD click here
To read the PDF factsheet, click here
Visit the official Treborsnave website at www.treborsnave.com
Review submitted by Jerry Hill.