Filming & Editing Tricks - Q&A with Mathias Laustrup Andersen

April 9, 2014

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Mathias Laustrup Andersen has a huge amount of tricking editing experience, having filmed and edited on Rasmus Ott's 'Source' and 'Cool Moves, Different Locations', as well as the fantastic Xswipe Eurotour 2012 sampler 'From Paris to Bergen' (embedded below!). He's been kind enough to answer some questions about filming and editing!

What are the pros and cons of filming with a DSLR versus a standard camcorder, and which would you recommend? What about a GoPro?

There are an extreme amount of pros to having a DSLR versus a camcorder but they all sum up in one thing: quality. You can get insane amounts of quality out of a cheap DSLR with just one good lens if you spend the proper amount of time on researching. A Canon 700D can film - in RAW. You just gotta hack that thing, get some picture styles and most of all, learn to handle it. That’s about the only con (except for the addiction of buying new, fancy lenses for your DSLR) - handling. It’s harder to handle than a camcorder, and I actually think that if all you want to do is point and shoot, you should get a camcorder with auto focus. A camcorder can be better in low light and amount of detail if you don’t put effort (and money) into using your DSLR. The GoPro is quite a greyzone I think - the newest GoPro is AMAZING - for what it’s made for. I don’t really like GoPros as point and shoot cameras as they have the 170 degrees field of view. It’s just not the kind of natural style I like. Although using the right software one can correct it to looking like a normal wide angle, and all of a sudden you have an extremely good slowmotion camera for the money. Although the colours and lowlight handling of the GoPro is quite terrible compared to camcorders or DSLRs. Looking into a new camera now I’d be buying something like the new Panasonic GH4 or something like that if I’d be spending around 1700-1800 dollars (which I gladly will but I know most trickers wont). Just... don’t get the Canons. The new GH4 is amazing and costs about the same as a 7D / 700D with a good lens. It can film in 4K and 1080p 96fps. Enough said. Well, this isn’t about what to get and what not to get! What are a couple of tips for filming at tricking gatherings as opposed to filming training sessions? I think compared to filming a session where I’d normally just have one or two angles (because I don’t trick for that long, because, knees) I always try to get different angles and different lenses for filming. I use a 11-16mm, a 35mm and a 58mm and I think it’s nice to vary your focal lengths (zoom) when filming a gathering to get different “feels” and types of shots. A full gathering with a wideangle on a tripod would just be too boring. It’d look like every other clip from one of my sessions. I like doing both tripod, handheld and steadicam shots when I’m filming a gathering (compared to filming myself, I’ll normally just set up a tripod or at some times get someone else to just randomly hold the camera as still as they can manage). Getting the variety of the shots is, in my opinion, what makes a better gathering film. Oh, and also, film random stuff, you’ll be able to use it in the video, I promise! A gathering film without the funny faces, people jumping around on things and throwing balls at eachother isn’t really a true gathering film! Catch the vibe when it’s there.

What’s your editing process like, and is there a particular editing software you feel is best for editing tricking? Why?

My editing process is kind of lame and will be updated in a few months time when I’m buying a new camera. Right now I’ll just throw all my files into the timeline, cut them as I think I’ll be using them and start with the clip I think’s a good opener. From there I’ll try not to have shots that are too ‘alike’ next to eachother and that’s about it. I then correct tricks according to the music and so on. It’s pretty “sampler”-like. I feel like Adobe Premiere Pro is the best choice. I’ve had so many problems with Sony Vegas skipping frames, not rendering out properly and Premiere Pro works together with After Effects aswell so the workflow is much better that way. I don’t use Final Cut Pro as I’ve always used Adobe and thought I’d go directly from Sony Vegas to Premiere. Being able to live-update things from one program to another is quite an advantage, but I guess most people would be satisfied with using Premiere Pro without any other software aswell.

One final piece of sampler-improving advice:

Get variety in your shots. It doesn’t have to be much, but try to not film your gym from the same angle every time although it can be hard. (Pssst, nature looks amazing on film, as well as in real life). Some of Mathias' stuff: http://youtu.be/emRJlzNLOsA

Although my skills as a cinematographer weren't that developed at this point of time I think this gathering video is a really good example on what I think is a good gathering video. It literally shows the danish tricking community perfectly.

http://youtu.be/Wrhy2Q2aTx4

You can find more from Mathias on his YouTube channel here!

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James Daly

Founder

James created Invincible Tricking while studying design at university in 2010. He designs, builds, and runs the website, hand-draws all the clothing designs, takes the photos, films/edits the videos, edits the podcast, manages and ships the online orders, tricks, and travels to gatherings.