Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Jump London

14:40 / 10.09.03

Just wondering what people thought of this, I have a tendency to agree with Matt in that it could have done with a lot less fancy camera work and just let the acrobatics speak for themselves.

I loved some of the stuff they were doing in their old home town and when the runners were talking about why they run over the top of say them running through the countryside over rocks and round trees.

It was when the direction got all arty that it kind of went downhill, the stunts were all cool but I'd just have liked to see them on one continous shot rather than cutting all the time.

The roofs at Bankside along with HMS Belfast and the National Theatre on the Southbank were the most fun, the National Theatre just seems made for this sort of thing.

But what were all those pointless talking heads doing? The Architect and the Professer whose written books on urban enviroments and skateboarding were good as was the dancer and the footballer to some extent. But most of the rest were pointless and probably the directors mates.

But for all that it was impressive to see these guys be the ninjas they always wanted to be and shots like them jumping through trafalgar square and over the lions made me smile.

Anyone else catch it?

15:37 / 10.09.03

I was really looking forward to this al and, like you found it a bit disappointing.

I also got confused as I'd seen the old ad for the Beeb (BBC for our colonial friends) of the guy running over the roof tops in time to get back for something silly, and thought he had invented the "sport" (although how they are going to make this an olympic event I just don't know, but will be watching). Although the bloke at the end giving the interview looked alot like the bloke from the ad.

I wish they had done more continuous shots. The whole premise of the show, to me anyway, was these guys were going to pick a route over the skyline of London, not just monkey about on various buildings. And I think they could of done with better choices of buildings, Yes the Royal Albert Hall is a very famous building, but they could only do one circuit around it's edge.

I would add their jumps around Shakespeare's The Globe to your list al, although the camera angle for the big jump from admiral's deck to gun (which was supposed to be two stories high) was ruined by the fact we didn't see him land.

Still very impressive and if they announce the next city will be New York (blame growing up with Batman and Daredevil comics) then I'll be glued to my set.

15:38 / 10.09.03

I missed the beginning of the prog but saw the London sequence. I didn't notice the artiness so much as the fact that there seemed to be an awful lot of film of them just running along in a not-very-exciting way. The most obvious example being the Millenium Bridge - I thought, 'wow, wonder what they're going to do with that?' and they, um, simply ran over it. On the whole it looked like they were having fun, and made it look like it would be a fun thing to do (which might have been the purpose) but it didn't make much of a spectacle.

20:07 / 10.09.03

It was a rather odd choice title wasn't it. I agree that the denouement was a bit of a disappointment, and for me the best footage came from when they were just pissing around in the streets and playgrounds. I mean, imagine having those abilities at your disposal; the temptation to use them for criminal purposes. Imagine trying to catch one of the fuckers.

I suppose the nature of the sport would have made long tracking shots and so on difficult, but all the jump cuts did destroy the sense of flow which, we were told, was fundemental to the whole ethos of the thing. Why no head-mounted cameras?
Clearly the programme makers were more interested in using the runners as an entry point into this idea that in built up, urban environments there are implicit structures within and around the explicit ones. And that by 'reading' the city differently we'll be 'freer' in some way or other. Which isn't an uninteresting idea, but I just wish there'd been a bit less of the Pet Shop Boys, and a bit more of the lads show-boating.

09:15 / 11.09.03

Saveloy, really is a shame you missed the beginning. It helped provide a context for "the artiness", and showcased the lad's talents far better that the London route (although that HMS Belfast jump was fucking amazing).