Film Essay

College of Western Idaho

The Art of Flight (2011)

Brandon Hope

Brandonhope@mycwi.cc

ENG 102-035W

Film Analysis Final Essay

November 12, 2012

Abstract: By exploring pushing the limit, our humanly instinct of perpetual progress is aided by risk and innovation.  In The Art of Flight, the film travels from around the world backed by the most advanced snowboarding film crew to date.  By doing this they further spread the idea that anything is possible as long as you put yourself out there in the forefront of your niche.

            In The Art of Flight, represented is a modern push of creativity and ideas through the lens of a professional snowboarder and his crew.  Our human condition of exploration and seeing the unseen is bringing us to new edges and constantly pushing the limits of humans around the world.  In the Film, The Art of Flight, it shows the constant yearning for pushing our human reality farther. Travis Rice said in an interview about snowboarding, “That's not why I snowboard. The X Games are not why I ride, and I think that goes for just about every other snowboarder I know. Real snowboarders do it because they love it” (The Man who Snowed the World). The integral ideological point of the film being that life is an adventure, and pushing the extremes brings about innovation and innovation changes the world.

            The Art of Flight was produced by Redbull Media House in 2011.  The making of this film took two years and was directed and edited by Curtis Morgan.  The main actor and narrator was snowboarder Travis Rice.   His carefully placed narrations really produced a feel for the film and pushed it into almost of a ‘standout’ film just because of all the innovation and effort put into it.  One snippet from the film that really placed the tone was when Travis Rice was preparing to fly down to Chile to shoot.  He said, "We'll never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it. It’s this self-discovery that inevitably takes us to the wildest places on earth" (Travis Rice, The Art of Flight).  The perpetual motion of the human spirit is the same spirit that drove explorers of long ago and scientists of our modern age.  Being places that no man has been.  From Alaska, British Columbia, Chile, Argentina, and the Rockies in the United States, the beauty and raw power was a major determining factor for the reason of the films exploits.  By exploring around the world in the name of snowboarding, creativity and innovation was brought to the extreme parts of the world.

            Ultimately we are all just humans and even though we are all as careful as we can be, there still can be unforeseen consequences.  According to an article in Studies in Physical Culture & Tourism, “That 62% of the respondents sustained an injury while practicing snowboard” (Studies in Physical Culture & Tourism V.13 pp.133-136). In this film, it’s about the constant search for big snow, bigger powder, and being somewhere we have never been, no matter the consequences.   This puts them in scenarios in some life threatening scenarios.  All in the pursuit of adventure, and the extraordinary ride involved in it. Another key narration in the film said, “The mountains are serious and they are serious for anyone getting in the backcountry. It’s not just going in and riding crazy stuff, it’s not just with riding with film crews. It’s like you’re in the back country and your putting yourself at risk and nobody is above the law" (Travis Rice, The Art of Flight).  Anytime you innovate, risks are involved and when you're in the forefront of your field, your are constantly taking risks.  

            There is no doubt that throughout the films expansive scenes of mother nature, that they did not set a unprecedented standard for snowboard film making.  The way they were taking the filming of snowboarding was to a new level of creativity and innovation across the globe.  Whether they were in the United States of America or South America, they were constantly pushing the technological limits of snowboarding through all sorts of risks to themselves.  Bringing a sense of wanting to get out there and do something like that myself.  “When it comes down to it, it’s pretty simple; Adventure is what you make of it.  And whether it the travel, the discovery, or just the feeling of letting go, the only way we will find out, is to get out there and do it.  Enjoy the ride” (Travis Rice, The Art of Flight).

           

Works Cited

Gajdzińska, AnnaKunysz, PiotrMarciniak, Mikołaj. "Injuries In Modern Snowboarding."              Studies In Physical Culture & Tourism 13.(2006): 133. Associates Programs       Source Plus.  Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

Johnson, Noah. "The Man Who Snowed The World." Men's Fitness 24.10 (2008): 61-64. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

The Art of Flight. Dir. Curt Morgan. Perf. Travis Rice, Jeremy Jones. RedBull House        Media, 2011. DVD.

"Trekking in Patagonia." Trekkings. The best trekking routes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct.        2012. <http://www.trekkings.org/en/z16-patagonia/>.