CTCS 505 Commentary by Michael Koerbel

This video encapsulates the idea of individuals taking what they love, and pushing it one step further.  I'm curious as to what was shot practically and what is CG ... one of the other commentaries mentioned CG, but we see the reactions to the skaters as they are impacted and fall.  Either way, this video is an excellent example of a couple of things:

1) Watching people do something do we can't do ourselves.  First, very few of us can skate like the skaters in the video.  Therefore we watch the video, experiencing what they experience. Spike intentionally slows down the video to see the reactions of the skaters both in the move and after the impact of the explosions.

2) Watching someone else fail (and/or succeed) ... as humans we are fascinated by falling, etc.  This piece is captivating because it causes me to "feel" or "understand" what they're accomplishing and what they're doing. Are they succeeding?  Do I inwardly cheer when they fall?  This type of one-sided interactiviity is why so many videos go viral.  Seeing someone else get hurt while not experiencing the pain itself is sickly satisfying at times.

3) The power of slow motion.  Everything becomes more important.  We focus on it - we see the details more.

Commentary#4 by Chi Huan Cheng

Spike Jonze and Ty Evans slow down the time flow in the video, and we are able to examine the skateboarders’ gymnastic precision with the boards and the environment closely, as if in a science experiment.  They push the video part of the skate video further into the realm of imagination by introducing exploding CGI into the skate trick documentary genre.  The explosions visually represent the excitement of landing on difficult tricks, and suggest the psychology that the skaters go through.  In the video, the skaters skate into somewhere new, like every time they land on a new trick, somewhere that reality clashes with Hollywood into CG explosions, somewhere beyond the concrete ground that pulls them back, somewhere that frees their skating spirits.

Prompt for commentaries in CTCS 505: Survey of Interactive Media Fall 2010

Assignment: Select one of the clips linked to this commentary and write a commentary analyzing it in terms of one or more course themes or discussion topics. If possible, you should also make reference to at least one reading from the course syllabus or an external source. Your analysis should be thoughtful and substantial, significantly transforming the clip from its original context and/or adding significant "value" to the experience of watching it; you are also welcome to respond to previous comments or make comparisons between clips (in this case, please link the commentary to both clips that are referenced). Remember to tag your commentary with "CTCS505"!