Class II-III-IV

scott curtis · Post by **scott curtis** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:16 am

i think just taking a friend paddling w/ u is where this is at. i infect you, you infect someone else. the scenery is alot of what it is to me. getting away from the bussel.

kenseb · Post by **kenseb** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:28 am

II-III

http://vimeo.com/18828367

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:33 am

My 2 cents- Dan's Dog river series got me back in an open boat. I really enjoy Milkman and Motorai's vids. Sure the class 5 stuff is fun to watch but its nice to see people paddling with style.

FullGnarlzOC · Post by **FullGnarlzOC** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:50 am

Yeah Danflath has some good III-IV stuff on youtube. He does a great job of catching the 'essence" of the journey. Which is really the angle you want to play on less than Class V.

The great Class V videos out there...do just that. Capture the 'essence' of what is sure to be a life long memory

FullGnarlzOC · Post by **FullGnarlzOC** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:57 am

Here was my Class II-III video a few months back. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZPdV0IwMk

The entertaining thing about is what the music is saying. pretty funny if u ask me.

Craig Smerda · Post by **Craig Smerda** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:23 am

FullGnarlzOC wrote:Here was my Class II-III video a few months back. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZPdV0IwMk

The entertaining thing about is what the music is saying. pretty funny if u ask me.

Who's hand is that in the video starting at :10 ?

I like the raft at :48 as well... plus the hand-paddling kayaker in the pink helmet at :52 is a nice touch.

What's up with the creepy nude sunbather at 1:39 ?

Jus' giving you crap Tommy... but maybe we need to get in touch with James Cameron

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak- ... 1655_n.jpg[/img]

FullGnarlzOC · Post by **FullGnarlzOC** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:00 am

that's a pretty sweet picture.

it was PLGs hand.

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:29 am

Craig, I totally agree. One particularly influential "class II-III-IV" paddling movie does comes to mind . . .

A little thing called "Deliverance."

So . . . I think we need another Hollywood blockbuster featuring canoeing! Can any of you guys get on it? I know we've got plenty of stuntmen and stuntwomen around here.

Any ideas for a plot?

Alden

Craig Smerda · Post by **Craig Smerda** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:36 am

Sorry Alden... but I've got my hands full making a politically correct version of "Blazing Saddles" at the moment.

Maybe next year...

semdoug · Post by **semdoug** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:41 am

Looks like most agree that a Class II-IV "entertainment" video would be fairly boring. But I think a good Class II-IV video would need to take a different approach.

I'd buy a DVD of Class II-IV if it had both a little entertainment and also had some quality instruction and demonstration of skills. I'd see a core group of excellent paddlers, no video boaters allowed, from the various disciplines of white water canoe paddling one of the rivers often used to groom up coming paddlers.

For example; assemble a group of paddlers like Kaz, Davey Hearn, a current young slalom racer (maybe female), someone from rodeo (sorry I don't follow rodeo but you get the point), maybe a wildwater/downriver racer, and a premier river runner type and send them down a river like the Lower Yough to demonstrate what canoeing is all about while also throwing in some instruction.

Maybe this would bridge the gap between canoe basic instruction videos and the current hair videos found on the internet, something I feel canoeing needs.

john h · Post by **john h** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:12 am

i like semdoug's idea. it would be cool to see an instructional video with paddlers from a bunch of disciplines in different boats doing the same moves.

Cheeks · Post by **Cheeks** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:51 am

Mikey B wrote:
Mikey "trying to get better" Bolton

False. Michael Bolton doesn't need to get better. He's already perfect...

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

dafriend · Post by **dafriend** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:52 am

Craig Smerda wrote:GI think this is really a great example of some "real world" ww-canoeing that was done by someone that isn't a ww-cinematographer.

HEY! Wait a doggone minute! I am a professional videographer/editor. Been one more than forty years. I didn't shoot all of it but probably more than half. That, and I taught the other guys what works and what does not. Dan Flath deserves all the editing credit cause that's not what I want to do in my spare time. (The cobbler's children have no shoes.) And it allows Dan to relive the previous season's adventures while the frozen north is in it's longest season. Thanks for the compliment though. It could be much more than it is but we were there to paddle not make a movie.

I do think that there is an audience for destination/travelogue/guide-book whitewater canoe videos. Something with a mix of different skills level requirements. For instance, a segment on what you'll find and what do to when you visit NOC and run the Nanty. Follow that with a segment demonstrating some fullgnarlz class V action. Wrap it up with a skills session and you've got the makings of a half-hour weekly on some cable channel. You'd probably have to cover all paddle sports in order to get such a gig. But would that be so bad? Such a show would likely do a lot for the general public's understanding of and interest in our passion. Surely new people would be tempted to give it a go.

The biggest problem with most of the YouTube stuff, aside from the crap craftsmanship of the video work, is that there isn't a story. I don't meet anybody interesting. I seldom learn anything new. When it's done - assuming I watch to the end - I don't care. As was stated earlier, it gets boring watching an endless progression of boats go over the same drop. Contrast that with Justine Curgenven's "This is Canoeing" which I have watched many more times than "The Canoe Movie." (Which is also quite good and worth the price.)

Justine does a fantastic job of introducing the viewer to interesting people, places, ideas. (Her movie is responsible for making me really really really really really (no, really) want to do the Mountain River trip.) Watching video of the Green River race doesn't make me want to participate. In fact it probably has the opposite effect. But then I'm a prime candidate for TOG.

I didn't take up WW until after age 50 which I think proves that it's not only the gnarlz-aged crowd that needs to be introduced to the sport.

As an outdoor activity WW canoeing has much more to offer than just an adrenaline rush. Advertising that concept - making it obvious that it's much more accessible than the average person might have expected would do a lot to bring more people into the fold.

Dave Friend

Creeker · Post by **Creeker** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:44 am

I sort of reject the general thought that Creeking CL 4-5+ is just harder class 2-3 water. Just like Playboating the New at 50,000 is just not harder playboating. To me guys that want class 2-3 videos want a completely different genre of boating and it's a boating video without the skillset that I want to see on display. Creeking is paddling Rock and Vertical as much as water. Its not if you are going to miss hitting the rock but how are you gonna deflect off, boof off, or overcome the geological disadvantage presented....not to forget at times how will you perform within a couple feet of a terminal looking feature. While some might see the gnarlz video as just huck your bacon down some vertical I'm positive lots of people are looking at it frame by frame to nail those drops clean themselves. I am forever amazed by perfect vertical orientation completely though a fall line at a waterfall.....that's way more technically impressive to me than have some green water move into an eddy. But I understand that's likely just me in the minority here at cboats.net.

Craig thanks for the post of the Dog River that was a beautiful river edit. I sort of had to give in to the slow pace to enjoy it to it's fullest.

Longboatin · Post by **Longboatin** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:29 am

Wow, sort of like an informal focus group... guess the LVM crew will be gettin all kindsa ideas. they do some solid entertaining work, so hopefully the admins will keep an eye on any over zealous proponents of one filmmaker over another

Anyway, I like seeing burly water run with precision. That is steep, technical and water. water being the most important component, we're in boats!!!!!!
I saw a pic of Chad Lewis on Walden Ridge on some firstD, the boat was sittin on rock, an he wuz throwin a cross stroke in the water. Now dont git me wrong, Louies boy can handle an drive a boat (good thing he didnt take after the ol' man).....of course cuz he a slalom racer, a good tech boater wid the stones to run more difficult runs. I jus dont git the sleddin. seems kinda limp.

Hey foolgnar, whin ya gonna be packin off to Nepal, an hittin up the serious, serious gnar, days away from hospital, sick from ragin microb, an still bringin home the bacon stompin the stuff?

C-Forum

Class II-III-IV

whatever