Chris Parker, writing in this week’s TNB for Rock & Ice:
Excuse the extended metaphor, but five-minute Internet videos or short films packaged and viewable only in a film festival format have all but replaced the narrative/character-driven, feature-length climbing movies of yesterday.
I’ve been a bit nostalgic lately myself for climbing movies of yesteryear, but I don’t think it has anything to do with filmmakers abandoning the feature-length format. As Parker points out later in the piece when he reviews two feature-length movies that were just released, feature-length films are still being made1. In fact, my favorite movies from “back in the day” were the Dosage movies which were, at a base level, a series of short films with no real inter-connected storyline packaged together.
I wonder a lot about whether or not the high esteem we hold older movies in is more a factor of where we were in our progression as climbers when those films were made. I was just getting started climbing when movies like Rampage and Dosage 1 were made, and they played a formative role in shaping my growth as a young climber. Watching them got me really psyched to go climbing, and me and my friends would, of course, try our best Obe Carrion or Dave Graham impressions out while we were flailing on V5s pretending we were climbing The Flying Marcel or something. Re-watching those movies now elicits all kind of nostalgic feelings that movies made now can’t approach. It seems likely that this was the case for Parker and the movies put out by Sender Films.
Am I just a sucker for nostalgia, or is there something more to this? Let me know in the comments.
- Quite a lot of them actually: Island Vol 1, The Network, Chasing Winter, Western Gold, The Abyss and so on ↩
…don’t you let go Obe…pinch it! PINCH IT!!!!!
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Exactly
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If it were up to me, Dosage would be on volume 20 something by now…
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My current favorites are Between the Trees and Island Vol. 1 which are both recent (Island significantly more so) releases and both entertaining for more than just the climbing. Even considering just these two films I have a hard time agreeing with Parker.
I’d put it down to nostalgia – I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t hold a special place for the Sharp End…
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I have a hard time with calling those older films “character-driven” The work being done today might place less emphasis on character, but the phrase “climbing porn” has been around for a very long time and in part is a a mockery of fact that those older films don’t do much with character either, especially when compared to more traditional dramatic or documentary forms.
It seems to me that there are a good number of climbers today kicking around ideas for feature projects and TV series as well but the economics of climbing films tend to be even more challenging than those of making indipendent dramatic features, so the incentives are not so strong. For what its worth, I actually think that the 5 minute internet based climbing short is a far more organic narrative form for climbing than a feature length film is.
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The significant presence of popular and charismatic climbers like Chris Sharma, Dave Graham, and Obe Carrion played a huge role in the success of Big Up Productions’ movies. I think you can absolutely call those “character-driven” films.
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What are we to make of the fact that those first two climbers have yet to be usurped by a climber from a younger generation when it comes to media popularity (Alex Honnold notwithstanding)? Is it that their climbing resume is unmatched (in some ways yes, others no) or is it a factor of their personalities or of them being featured in the right films by the right people at the right time?
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Well… Woods is very very popular in the States, probably approaching the name recognition that Sharma had at one point (and undoubtedly surpassing Graham). While Graham and Sharma owe a lot of their popularity to being featured in so many films at a time where full-length climbing vid was really the only thing out there, Woods never quite had the same level of exposure– unless you count the short clips and downloadables we’re comparing them to.
And, of course, there’s Ondra who is arguably more popular than any of them, but for some reason there seems to be a contempt towards him by a lot of Americans that is never ever seen when discussing him with Europeans.
It’s like he’s Lance and we’re the French…
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I agree that the quality of climbing films has been pretty bad over the last few years. Big Up productions set the bar in terms of storytelling and inspiration, and no one has really been able to step up to that standard in their absence.
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I think Peter Mortimer’s classics: Front Range Freaks, Return to Sender, and The Sharp End all had a unifying theme and were incredibly well edited to tell a story. Not necessarily the story of a single climber, but rather a story about an area, or what it’s like to risk your life for fun. The lowell brother films were fun, but after Free Hueco, lost any semblance of story telling. I don’t think there is any reason that Mortimer style films wouldn’t be well received if someone put one together. I think the main thing holding them back is that the cinematography has gotten so much better that it takes too much time and costs to much to make a film that long.
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I would suspect that it makes more sense financially for them to pull together a series of shorter films and then tour around the world with them than it did to make one long film and sell it on their website.
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I think the style of recent films reflects the internet age they were created in. Before YouTube, Vimeo, etc., really the only practical way to reach a large audience was to put out a feature-length. Plus, it’s the instant gratification factor – once we hear about a send, we want to see the video immediately! (Where’s Sharma’s Dura Dura already??) That being said, I think some of the shorts that have come out in the past few years have been excellently made (Will Stanhope’s “Down in Albion” and the “Scarred for Life” series comes to mind). If there isn’t really a feature-length story to tell, why take the (huge amount of) time to produce a feature-length film?
I would definitely like to see more character/story/scenery driven features, of course. My copy of Fred Padula’s “El Capitan” just arrived a few days ago, and the thing is really a work of art – totally different from modern climbing movies. It’s understated, not overly stylized, not full of interviews and voice-overs. I suppose it fit better with the times, but I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a modern analogue.
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I think the article, while pretty nostalgic for me in some ways is off. Dosage films had an “arc” to them where we’d get a narrative, go see other “shorts” and then typically finish off the first story at the end but they certainly didn’t follow a single character or story for the entire 60 min or whatever (hence their NAME – Dosage). I also think they missed out on SEVERAL long form films the Brits put out that are of high quality (Posing Productions and Hot Aches both have put out single narrative films of very high quality). The great challenge with any of these long form climbing stories is 1) Making them and 2) making money on them to keep you fed and making MORE films. 1) A climbing movie with a good plot, START TO FINISH, can take YEARS to make successfully. You could spend an entire season hoping for the “send” or “Summit” and if it doesn’t go you likely don’t have as strong a film (not always true of course BUT we like to see sends and summits!) Couple that with the limited amount of routes/lines that can really HOLD UP a story line for an entire hour and you’re limited in what you can talk about. How many 30m hard routes have esssentially the SAME story? It’s hard. They fail a lot. They get stronger and smarted. They send. They’re a better person for the effort. Wash Rinse Repeat. For me, the BETTER stories are the more unique ones and require BETTER storytelling with MORE EFFORT to make. (The Long Hope for example). All of the above = TOO MUCH EFFORT, LUCK, WORK etc etc to get you a profit each year to put food on the table. That’s the bottom line I bet. Mortimer certainly COULD do another long form film but the audience would likely be smaller and the money less. These guys need to be good BUSINESSMEN too. Real Rock etc etc increases their audience with multiple stories and hence their potential to turn a profit with larger audiences.
Long Form Climbing Films aren’t dead but they’ll remain labors of love where, hopefully, they break even or even make some money.
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First and foremost it’s completely untrue to say full length movies are gone. Narc brought up quite a few and they’re many more however I think many of those movies fail to convey an appealing and interactive plot or story. Take, “a fine line” for example. There was an attempt at making a movie with some deep concepts but completely failed to do so. Or “welcome to the hood.” An attempt at showing how friendships affect climbing but just turned out to be climbing porn. A worse one was “reach” with stunning videography and some decent story telling this movie had a great chance but 5 minute cut scenes of airports and highways and random spots made it hard to watch. Even the the latest chuck fryberger films. The scene raised my ire significantly. 90% was Kilian and anna on plastic. There was sone great videography as well as some fun concepts but honestly other than the 20 mins of outdoor climbing it was horrible. The only excuse I could find for that movie was trying to sell a copy to everyone in Austria. I dont think its necessarily nostalgia that made older films better but the climbers themselves. I love warching daniel woods climbing but listening to him talk for more than 5 mins is hard. The same holds true for Paul, nalle, carlos, and many more. There are few climbers in the newest generation that can have an intriguing monologue or convey any deep thought to back their stories. As far as the reel rock films are concerned they may be short but they still tell great stories. La dura dura, the wide boyz, the alex honnald films, all of them have great stories and great characters regardless of their length. I will give some credit to lt11. They have been trying hard. Compare Lincoln lake giants to the abyss. They have made major strides in not just putting out climber porn. One last thing. Why does joe kinder seem to have some dialogue in every film that comes out. Save the 5 dollars and just say what you want to without him. Please.
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Joe Kinder is easily the most inspiring ‘character’ to me in the climbing wold…i’ll take true passion over anything else because, in a world of strong dudes/chicks pulling on tiny holds, its the aspect i can relate to most.
Frankly i think Bearcam is killin it these days. Island’s focus on digestible media, focused on characters, produced in a timely manner seems to blend the “character driven” modes of the past with our current appetite for immediacy.
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thanks!
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Just giving credit where it’s due, man…keep it up! #island
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For what it’s worth, Chris Parker and Narc are right. Most climbing movies are boring and we’ll always have a soft spot for the ones that we first watched. But there’s still room for good art.
Mortimer and Lowell Bros. had the original vision of making climbing movies, and it seems like the Sharp End and Progression are their swan songs.
It’d be cool to see a filmmaker with a totally original vision come out with a movie. I’d love to see something shot in 16mm, local climbers with strong personalities sending local testpieces, more ground-level talk and humor (so much good stuff happens on the ground before the actual climbing), more documentary style–all of which seems more harmonious with the meditative nature of climbing.
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watch my SA movie?
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Yes! Bearcam is where it’s at! You guys have the vision and artistic talent. Seems like your films do the best job of translating climbing experience to screen. Please don’t stop.
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come on! masters of stone and hard grit, why has no one mentioned these? I started climbing in 2001. I still get psyched watching dosage 1 or the masters of stone. For the nostalgia. I still watch old home made clips me and friends made. Either way a films greatest achievement is to get us (the viewer) psyched to go climb!! I if i waned a story there is always gone with the wind! Climbing a rock is not going to help world piece or end starvation. I climb for fun and to see what I am capable of. The same reasons as every one else.
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Video killed the radio star
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As someone who has not watched many feature-length films in the last few years (I think the last one I bought was Progression), I’m excited to view some of the more recent ones mentioned here and see how I think they compare to the older videos. Any other recommendations for recent feature-length films that are worth the money/time to watch?
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http://www.outofsightthemovie.com/
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Ahh… The good old days. When I first started climbing it was Free Hueco! and Rampage. Those films had a somewhat documentary style structure, and focused on a few key characters you could find yourself imitating as you went out. I’ll admit Alex Honnold is a charismatic character. Even those who don’t like the idea of free-soloing find him easy to like. Having said that, no one is going to go out and free-solo the nose because they saw Honnold do it.
But back in the old days, those films made you want to get out of your house and just go bouldering. The films weren’t fancy, they didn’t have a great deal of pricey equipment and special rigs. No special effects in the editing department. But they had some raw talent (both climbing and filming) a great soundtrack, and a strong energy behind them. You felt like you were watching a group of friends go out and do some climbing (and you were).
I guess it was because, back then, there was a kind of a “road trip meets endless summer” kind of feel to bouldering and bouldering films back then. Just some kids doing something they love for the sake of doing it. That, for better or for worse doesn’t really exist anymore as climbing has soared in popularity. A lot of great things have come from climbing’s popularity, but other things have been lost. Everyone and their mother’s dog climbs now. Kids have teams, coaches, leagues, and (at comps) the occasional “obnoxious parent” (coincidentally pretty much everything I didn’t like about the mainstream sports in school). Gyms have fitness centers and yoga studios. Maybe I’m meandering off-topic. I love the new as well as the old. The great short films. The mega-huge comps. The big time sponsorships. They all offer a lot of really cool stuff. I will forever miss the good old road-trip days of climbing with your pals and hanging at the local gym where everyone knew your name. I suppose its a part of growing up.
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Funny no one has mentioned Moving Over Stone, one of the originals. Not much has changed really. Hard Grit is still the one to beat though.
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I’ve got a stash – Rampage, The High Life, Stick It, Shut up and Climb, Boulder!, etc. Some of its great, some of its not. The original Obe/Ivan film “Big Up” seems dated, but I gotta admit, I miss the days when it wasn’t all numbers. A lot of those early films showed folks on really beautiful V5’s. Heck, Big Up has a highball V0 in it.
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southern slopers and sessions are awesome! any reel rock and the first ascent series are cool. who remembers climbx media? king lines is good. any thing with chris sharma is good. it is inspiring to watch him climb.
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Watch The Island! It’s great, shows people trying and falling and the awesome locations and the lifestyle, rather than just one sending go, really shows the spirit behind climbing and makes you wanna get out there with friends and try hard!!!
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Does it bother you that much of the falling in The Island is not actually followed by a send, or does it not make a big difference?
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Not at all, trying real hard for a long time and not get anything is part of reality and I like it when the videos cover all aspects of climbing
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I think a large part of the psych that came from watching the Dosage series in particular, as well as its success as a favorite among us, came from FAILURE! The final edit includes the projecting! Seeing Chris and Dave et al actually fail, and laugh, and get frustrated, AND DOUBT themselves at times… The projecting and eventual send make it that much sweeter, and that much more human. I crawled out from under a rock, but not without a bunch of struggle…
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I like to see the story off the route and the passion in it. A send is good but just to hear what the climber thinks about it and how each of the moves feel. The joy of linking sections and the lessons of not sending is something all climbers can relate to. I myself think mostly of beta and great climbing days almost all the time. I get psyched hearing what any one thinks of a route. Just hearing their passion gets you going. Sharing in it is awesome. Especially when you are both working the same thing. It all boils down to climbing being the best way to spend your time and I am jealous of those who can do it any time any where they please.
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Best of the West is still one of the best.
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No mention of the greatest character driven climbing movie, “the reel thing”, starring Jerry Moffet, featuring Ben moon
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I thought “wide boys” was the worst climbing film to come out in years! Great premise, great story of overcoming challenges, and great character development and ACTING. Too bad the grades which promoted the story are manufactured to make the story more appealing, such as taking 14b for Century Crack, or confirming Lucille at 12+/13-. Lucille has been confirmed at 12a/b by just about every ascentionist except Jay Anderson, Pamela Shanti Pack, and the Wide Boys, and before they had even gotten to Utah or climbed a sandstone crack the wide boys told me that Century Crack would be getting a grade of AT LEAST 5.14, otherwise they would have investors to answer to, and almost no chance of a movie deal.
If other feature length films are created in this same way, it’s no wonder they are less popular than ever. Thankfully, the five minute internet video short isn’t profitable enough to warrant such perversion, and hopefully it can stay that way. Or perhaps people can start making videos because they love making videos, with profits being a necessary but secondary objective instead of a primary one.
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When are they gonna make a Pilgrimage 2 already?! That’s like the one move Chris Sharma never stuck.
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