Epic! What?

Titanic…now in 3D. Jurassic Park… now in 3D. The Lion King…in 3D (and that’s a drawn cartoon)! The list goes on and on… We’ve seen the movie once and yes, we liked it. Why in the name of Zuess’ butthole (‘The rock’ reference - loved Nick Cage in that movie) would we want to pay twice the price to go see it again in ‘sort-of 3D’. Let’s face it, 3D these days is depth behind the screen. No Peter Jackson, your new (which it isn’t) 48fps technology does not make 3D better. No James Cameron, we do not feel like we are actually there. The only thing we feel is a growing head/eye-ache from wearing those stupid plastic glasses. Don’t even get me started on 3D-TVs. IMAX 3D (and not just the big enough screen, the actual IMAX experience), for nature or space documentaries, like I used to go watch with my dad in the smithsonian- THAT was 3D. The space-walking astronaut actually floated in the middle of the theatre, it was magical. Quentin Tarantino has a point, the magic of cinema is dying - it’s becoming too noticeably a business, rather than a craft, an art, a passion for motion pictures.

-Thomas

After the mind-blowing ‘All I Can’ in 2011, which, snatched up just about every winter-sport-film-festival-award known to man, the expectations for Sherpas Cinemas next project were very high. When I first saw a tweet about a new Sherpas film, I couldn’t click fast enough.  This time, they’re not just focussing on skiing… Surfing, kayaking and probably some downhill mountain-biking is being featured as well. Which is great - because an hour and a half of skiing and snowboarding gets boring no matter how well it’s shot and put together.  Overall, I was definitely not disappointed.

The huge helicopter-shots were epic, the time-lapses were stunning and the phantom did it’s work like a boss. The shots of actual sherpas in the trailer was a great little tribute to their name, and the phantom was used nicely in these sequences. The vertical slider or jib/crane shot at 00:17 is great because you don’t realize right away that it’s shot at a higher speed. Only when the swinging instrument comes gracefully into the shot (with an appropriate sound effect worked into the soundscape) can you see it was shot on the phantom. The environment ‘spinning’ sequences at 1:00 and 3:00 are sublime. I don’t know exactly how it’s done (although I will try to find out), but it works dizzyingly well. 

Cinematography: 9/10

The music was appropriately organic. I think we’ve had enough dub-step in action sports these days and this explores some other possibilities. 

Music and Sound: 8/10

I thought the graphics and typography worked quite well, the tracking of the titles were ok…The title of the film, however, was crap - compare that to their own logo (which is right at the end of the film, before sponsors) and things just don’t seem to add up.

Graphics/Typography: 7/10

One critique though: the edit is not always cut well to the rhythm of the music. I know this doesn’t always need to be the case, but the fast cuts at 1:41 obviously had the intention of following the music, and they’re off the beat. Which is annoying, for me, as an editor, to see that. So I’m sorry I have to do this but,

Editing: 5/10

For the production value and the sponsors at Sherpas Cinemas disposal, those little flaws shouldn’t have been there. But they have a little less than a year to make up for them. Fall 2013. Can’t wait.

Thomas out…

Overall I agree with Thomas, the editing lacks perfection at several points in time. What bothers me the most is that when the drop (1:35) finally comes, visually we are not satisfied. You would expect a much more dynamic, explosive, mind blowing image that gives you goosebumps all over! It seems like this edit was done by 2 different editors.

Editing: 6,5/10

As a motion designer the typography doesn’t seem to add up. They use 4 different fonts in a 4 minute trailer, and this doesn’t even include the logos. The only font that really works is the Helvetica Neue Ultra light. This font is superb for titling, it will never let you down! I suits the overall look and feel of the trailer. It’s a strong beautiful tight font. For their main title ’ Into the Mind’ I have nothing positive to say. It doesn’t even look good. They tried to make it look like salt flats, but it leaves me unsatisfied… It’s like a bad ending to a really good date!

Graphics and typography: 6/10

The music on the other hand is fantastic, the build up is great, the strange noises suit the theme very well and the extra sound effects (the woosh of the spinning world, for example) make the package complete! 

Music and Sound: 9/10

If you are a filmmaker and you love good cinematography, you can’t deny that this is something to be extremely jealous of. The slo-mo’s are phenomenal, the wide nature shots are monstrous, the spinning sequences are very creative and work like a charm. 

Cinematography: 9,5/10

This is Sherpas at their best and they know it. As junior filmmakers we salute them!

Ellen

OVERALL SCORE: 7.5/10