29 thoughts on “Must Watch! Alex Jumelin – G Spot

  1. Alex’s riding is a very large inspiration for me and even watching this today will put another push of energy my way riding today (and maybe this week!)

    However I must say that the multiple angle cut editing makes it seem as if he did not land over half of his combo’s. We all know he’s got the talent to do that and more, so thats not in question, but I would definitely prefer to see flatlanders riding from one angle, or atleast if multiple angles are used you can clearly see the 2nd/3rd camera/perspective so you know for fact that it is one clip and not editing.

    Personally, I think multi-angle is annoying and takes away from the rawness of fluid flatland on video. This is just critique of editing style and has nothing to do with alex’s riding/talent (for all you retarded immature trollers out there)

    This edit is also a good reminder that if I dont put out my material, one rider at a time will do the tricks I’ve been holding. Those stem whips are boss.

  2. Big progression for Alex. We ride a lot together and the work he puts into his riding is so much. I can’t even explain to all of you how much he works at his riding. He is a true artist on his bike that cares a great deal about progression and always doing the next chapter of his riding.
    I think what he does on the front wheel if extremely difficult and not many people can pull this off. Really take a second to look at what he is doing.

    As to the camera cuts talked about above, I have to agree a little on your point of view. Robbie is my homie, but too many cuts in there. Im not and have never been big on cuts in Flatland I love to see the entire flow of a combo and style of it all together. I can assure you though, Alex pulled every combo. In fact there is a few left out for ya, so be looking for future.

    I can also promise you that Robbie gives this his all and he is getting better every time. He is rather new to film work and Im stoked to have him around NOLA working with us all to get Flatland out there.

    Thanks Alex for pushing Flatland and thanks Robbie for your time and efforts in capturing riding. Great job guys.

    Peace
    Scott O

  3. That was awesome. I’m very inspired by that as it appeals to my style a lot.

    After all this time he’s still got the ability to drop a legit original edit of nearly 5 minutes that keeps us interested the whole way through.

    Going brakeless was a big move because Alex lost most of his original contest winning stuff, but I respect that he went to COB with his new direction and has persisted with it and made it something really great.

    I’ve actually been trying to drop 10kgs so that I’m a bit faster/lighter on my feet to do some switches of the tire like this.

    Very awesome vid!!!

    • Alex’s longevity impresses me the most, still going at it as hard as ever. Lot of new variations to take in, in this edit.

      Short of “xft turbine steam foot under BB” I don’t have an actual name for that trick Paul, maybe Alex does?

  4. I’ve worked on pedal hang 5 stuff for half a decade now, and I still couldn’t possibly come close to what Alex manages to do. It’s so fast and fluid. One of my favorite riders of all time for sure.

  5. Wow Alex is really tearing it up! I absolutely love this style, so tech and you never know what he’s going to do next!

    As for the video itself, well I have some thoughts on that which may get me flamed but here goes..

    Robby if you’re reading this I have been watching you grow with your video skills each edit so this is just meant as constructive criticism.
    I see a lot of talent in you and I just want to see you improve your skills, if I thought you didn’t have talent I wouldn’t bother saying anything.

    Anyway as for the angle cuts I am a big fan of cutting angles in flatland videos HOWEVER this technique is a slippery slope and needs to be executed with precision. You can’t just switch angles for the sake of switching angles because it looks cool. There should be a reason and with flatland you have to pick the exact moment so not to distract from the combo/switch.
    Most skate/street videos will switch angles mid gap or stair drop and your not even aware of the cut. Finding that moment is surgery!

    First of all you need to decide on the style of the video, is it all about the riding and made primarily just for riders viewing or are you trying to make something more visual that may interest an audience that doesn’t ride? If the latter I find having multiple angles helps with pacing and is more visually stimulating to a more mass audience outside of just riders but you need to be careful with how this is executed. If your target audience is primarily just riders and your making a hardcore riding video then cutting angles is not really necessary IMO (especially if you have a rider with a very aggressive style with shorter combos such as Alex) but thats the problem I had with this piece,
    it seemed to try and appeal to both audiences but falling flat.

    The biggest reason the cutting angles doesn’t work here is because the angles don’t match visually so every time it cuts its distracting and deters your attention from the riding. If you cut angles it needs to be fluid, invisible cuts so the viewer is not aware of the angle cut and attention never strays from the riding.
    This went from an angle with a letterbox matte with a nice soft filmic look to full-screen with what looked like a digital sharpening filter and a completely different color scheme, 2 different looks cutting together which just does not work for most situations especially for a riding video IMO.

    Also this went from a static shot to handheld moving shots, which to me is distracting in itself. This is kind of subjective but I think when your in a scene (in this case one riding location) and you want to attempt multiple angles you need to stick with one camera style. If your going handheld stay with that, if your doing dollie/jib moves, cut on the move but keep the same style so its fluid between each angle cut.
    When you cut between styles it can be distracting, especially when you have roughly the same framing between angles and not going from a wide-shot to Close-up, etc. Of course there are exceptions, I sometimes mix many different styles with my videos but there is a balance you need to find.

    The timing of the cuts between links here seem to be pretty good which is very difficult to line up. If thats off thats a sign that the combos were “stitched” together but having ridden with Alex a lot over the years I have no doubt he pulled all these combos but it shouldn’t even be a question due to technical discrepancies.

    All in all a solid effort for the video but for me these issues really distracted me from Alex’s riding which is unfortunate. Maybe I’m just looking too in-depth into this and being too picky but this is my opinion.
    I think Alex is one of the most technical, difficult, original riders and an all around good representative of how cool flatland can be, which is great for getting new kids riding so for me its disappointing when a piece of media (photo, video, whatever) doesn’t represent him and the sport/art to the fullest.

    I’m sure this was a “for fun learning experience” with the process of making videos and my intention was strictly constructive criticism so please don’t take anything I said personally. I have the utmost respect for everyone involved that produced this video and I just want to see the next project be even better.

  6. The front-tire-walkaround business is crazy. I think it’s rad how he’s not only pushing the front wheel tech style, he’s also making use of the fact that he doesn’t have a seat. It is clear that Alex bike setup is intentional and functional and not just aesthetic.

    I think that this is one of those edits where the emphasis is completely on the riding, and there is very little filler or “lifestyle” shots.

  7. Thanks for taking the time to comment Mickey, and with such great detail. I can totally see where you, Sean and Scott are coming from and maybe my thirst for verity got the best of me in this edit. There is always something new in the film world, especially for me; hell last year at Voodoo all I had was a T1i, a kit lens and no knowledge of how to use much of anything but auto modes on cameras. It was at that time I realized I wanted much more… I’ve invested time, energy and every cent of extra money I have had in the last year to get where I am today with my videos. So please don’t think I take it personally, I don’t. Though criticism may hurt a little because my product is not perfect, it also helps as long as it constructive, and I understand yours is. Many notes taken, and I truly appreciate your experience, technical knowledge, opinions and above all your dedication to riding and riders for so many years. Thanks again, Robby
    PS, when are we doing a Mickey G video? I think a lot riders would like to see that, including me! #pushcomestoshove

  8. Mickey:

    Nahhhh….I feel the same! Im stoked you went into such detail. Since I film with a tripod and do a lot of static film I find it very difficult to ‘cut’ appropriately in my editing.

    I saw a good street edit where he would create 1-2 cuts per link, one at the beggining showing the entry into the link, and one towards the end doing the outro, all filmed statically. It worked pretty well and im thinking about trying this approach for the next big one.

  9. There is progression, and then there’s evolution. What Alex has done with his riding style in the past few years is full on evolution. Amazing.

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