车轮不息 Where The Trail Ends (2012)

Where the Trail Ends is a film following the worlds top ferried mountain bikers as they search for untraveled terrain around the globe, ultimately shaping the future of big mountain free riding. This unparalleled story documents man's challenge of mother nature and himself showcased through a cast of colorful characters. This is the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking ever attempted resulting in an entertainment adventure unlike anything experienced before.

The following notes are taken during watching the film.
1. Whether a documentary loses its most original meaning if too much set-up shooting is used? For example, the rain at the beginning is obviously not real.
2. Both the camera shake and lens extension can be adjusted at later stage, but it needs to know every outdoor scene very well at early stage in order to get precise composition, which allows no accident. It is thus clear that how many test times and efforts are required from camera crew.
3. Subjective lenses seemingly are the favorites of ESPN and the similar. There is basically no aesthetic dead end throughout the film, ensuring that your eyes won’t get bored at any point, for each of them has combined quiescence and dynamic movements.
4. All the lenses go smoothly, whether it is a long shot or partial close-up. But film editing is not that smooth, sometimes, the cut-off points draw the audience out of their enjoyment of film.
5. The continuity of script is not good, for massive MOUNTAIN RIDE occupying most of the content, which make me feel that it is a long propaganda film co-worked by MTV and ESPN. Thus, I am not eager to finish it once, and I can still get the stress even by finishing it in several parts.

Summary: Basically speaking, there is no bad place throughout the entire content, however, it also highlights nothing. There’s no expected passionate images of extreme sports, even no such excitement as watching live BMX. Therefore, is it actually a soul-exploration film invested by Red Bull? I think this movie selected the soul-oriented route. Whatever, it is a beautifully shot.

以下为观影时做的笔记： 

1. 纪录片如果用了太多的摆拍是否就失去了纪录片最原来的意义？比如开头的那场雨，很明显是假的。

2. 镜头抖动可以后期调，镜头拉伸也可以后期制作，但是精准的构图就需要前期对每一个外景都无比了解，绝不能有任何意外发生。可见摄制组到底试验了多少次，有多用心。

3. 貌似主观镜头一直是ESPN什么的最爱。整个片子基本上做到了审美无死角，保证你目光放在任何一处都不会觉得无聊，都有动静结合的动感。

4. 镜头很流畅，不管是长镜头还是局部特写。但是觉得剪辑不够流畅，有点时候剪辑的切点让人出戏。

5. 剧本连贯性没有很强，大段大段的MOUNTAIN RIDE占了大部分内容，觉得有点像MTV和ESPN连个制作的超长宣传片。以至于根本不急于一次看完，就算分开几次看完也不会觉得很累。

总结，整篇内容基本没有不好的地方，但是亮点也没有很突出。没有期待中的极限运动的激情画面，甚至没有看直播BMX时的激动。所以其实这是一部红牛投资的心灵探索的片子吗？觉得这个电影是走灵魂路线的。但是拍的好漂亮啊！