Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Author

Smitten the movie

Fish Boy

2-Sep-2011
2:13:28 AM

Gold Simey!


ChuckNorris

2-Sep-2011
7:01:03 PM

useful 1. Danvd 0

One Day Hero

3-Sep-2011
11:18:48 PM

I'm getting a bit sick of the neverending task of hanging shit on davidn. Am hoping that useful has now realised what a dick davo has, and will take on a bit of the work!


Dan Theman

12-Sep-2011
10:46:04 PM

Making a climbing film is harder than you might expect... going by this article...

http://hotaches.blogspot.com/2011/09/10-reasons-why-climbing-photography-is.html


china_sam

13-Sep-2011
4:26:46 PM

Following this topic has been very entertaining.
So much so I went online & ordered the dvd - I hope it arrives soon...
The shop only had 2 copies left, so it can't be that bad, can it?!? (unless they only had 3 copies to begin with)
;)

simey

21-Sep-2011
10:40:14 PM

Finally got around to watching Smitten.

But where do I start? I have to say that I was just getting into it, but then they interrupted things with all that climbing nonsense.

Firstly, that rabbit intro was a stroke of genius. Has anyone ever come up with a more irrelevant and weirder start to a climbing film than that?

And does anyone have Zac's number? I need him to cut some firewood for me.

I would love to know the process of how this whole film came into being, but particularly the introduction. I can only guess the film-makers had a conversation that went something along these lines...

"How should we start this climbing flick that captures cutting-edge Australian climbing?"
"What about some dude in a rabbit suit hitching to the city and eventually shagging some hot playboy bunny?"
"Sounds perfect, let's run with it"

All I can say is - check it out for yourself. Smitten is undoubtedly the best Aussie climbing film made since the last one.


Macciza

21-Sep-2011
11:13:28 PM

On 21/09/2011 simey wrote:
>
>Firstly, that rabbit intro was a stroke of genius. Has anyone ever come
>up with a more irrelevant and weirder start to a climbing film than that?
>
I thought the one with the kid getting stuff from the old style claw-grab lucky vending machine in the disused warehouse was a pretty irrelevant/weird one - from CORE by Chuck Fryberger.

Pretty sure Jarmilla's got Zac's number . . Try her . . .

Nathor

22-Sep-2011
8:11:05 AM

On 28/08/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>On 28/08/2011 davidn wrote:
>>Did it occur to you that:
>>
>>(a) yes, some climbers who watch it may not know the area, perhaps because
>>they don't live, eat and breathe one area; and
>
>If you don't recognize it as the Bluies then I reckon you can't claim
>to be a climber. It's bleeding obvious. The bluies is also a world heritage
>area with masses of mainstream tourism. Anyone who lives in sydney or nsw
>would immediately recognize it.

And now it can be recognised by german packpackers

http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/australia/australia-travel-guide-15

simey

22-Sep-2011
8:18:27 AM

That's pretty funny. I'm surprised they didn't include a bit of Death Swing action on the cover too.


nmonteith

22-Sep-2011
8:42:28 AM

I also saw it featured on a TV ad last night. Just a helicopter shot with some bushwalkers standing on the end point admiring the view. I can't remember what the ad was for though...


china_sam

25-Sep-2011
1:42:32 AM

On 22/09/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>...some bushwalkers standing on the end point admiring the view.
...browning their trousers...

Came in the mail this morning, just finished watching it - loved it!
It's going to keep me motivated for a while to come... well done

simey

25-Sep-2011
7:54:05 AM

On 25/09/2011 china_sam wrote:
>It's going to keep me motivated for a while to come...

Have you got plans to do something in a bunny suit?

Mr Poopypants

25-Sep-2011
8:27:42 AM

On 25/09/2011 simey wrote:
On 25/09/2011 china_sam wrote:
>It's going to keep me motivated for a while to come...

Have you got plans to do something in a bunny suit?

Who doesn't?

egosan

25-Sep-2011
9:27:55 AM

Saw the film last night. I'll give it the ol' sh1tsandwitch.

The film maker did manage to capture on film some interesting climbing and did not fcuk it up with MTV editing.

It is completely amateur and not even gifted. Constantly out of focus. Hello? White Balance are you home? What the hell did he borrow his dad's old camcorder? Can't compare it to the very polished films made by Chuck Fryberger and others. Comparing it to other amateur climbing films like Consumed and even Low Gravity only shows how bad the film making is.

The final sequence showing Lee Cossey on the final moves of Sneaky Snake is great. Swearing and all, it manages to capture some desperation that is so often missing sport climbing film. Nice work.


china_sam

25-Sep-2011
2:32:24 PM

On 25/09/2011 simey wrote:
>Have you got plans to do something in a bunny suit?

Nah - it won't be right, I eat at those bbq bunny resturants /alot/....

Wendy

26-Sep-2011
10:14:18 AM

Somehow I manage to watch the film twice over the weekend. Not because it was so good I couldn't wait to watch it again, just that we had a hoard of people who hadn't seen it over on Saturday who insisted on putting it on.

Sol was either gripping the arm of the chairs to dispel the pain of the filmmaking, or jumping out of his seat and exclaiming in horror for most of the film.

I think Ed could have done with a good dose of Simey's editing advice. The film almost always has too much of a good thing. Or too much of a not very good thing. The quirky acting bits might have worked better if much much shorter - that includes the bunny! - but they are all so long as too loose any potential interesting/funny/quirky and just become tedious.

I thought the interview with Zac and Jamilla has the air of an unwilling couple in marriage counselling.

Monique's interview contained great stuff encouraging women that climbing and motherhood were possible, but successfully managed to be dead flat.

Interview with the monkey - kinda cute, but um, how long should an interview with a silent monkey suit go for? Not as long as it did!

Aside from his limitation to two adjectives (sweet and rad), the interview with Lee (or was it Ben, I forget now ...) was at least vibrant.

And where did all that orange come from? I never realised how much almost fluorescent orange rock we had in Australia. Something weird was going on with the colours.

The devil sounds were definately overplayed. They just became annoying.

The music was mostly crap and did nothing to enhance the footage - you now how good music in a climbing film helps draw you in and rev you up? This doesn't.

Variety is a good thing. Smitten could have had more of it. Although, if it had been edited down to a reasonable length, that might not matter so much.

What I find really odd about the film, is the original trailer was actually really good. The music was catchy and worked with the footage, it was edited into engaging sequences, there was some good footage in it. Maybe Ed should stick to making trailers. The opening credits were cute though.


ajfclark

26-Sep-2011
10:19:34 AM

On 26/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>I thought the interview with Zac and Jamilla has the air of an unwilling couple in marriage counselling.

Is that the bit Rock and Ice were plugging this week:

Wendy

26-Sep-2011
10:30:34 AM

I've been throttled, so I can't be stuffed waiting for it to download. It's the one with the delightful green weatherboard background, suitable awkward distance apart, uncomfortable expressions, flat conversation ...

And dinner at my place on Saturday was the sort of last minute social extravaganza that you miss out on if you choose to live in Horsham!

widewetandslippery

26-Sep-2011
10:32:45 AM

"its all jugs, 8a maybe 8a+"


Sabu

26-Sep-2011
11:03:53 AM

Wow if the rest of the film is as bad as that clip i don't think i'll ever bother watching the rest...
What rubbish.

There are 124 messages in this topic.