Take Flight

Here is episode 7 of our behind the scenes look at B13 – Ultimatum. In contrast to some of the other sneak peaks this featurette is comparatively mild.

A video like this, although not showing any major action, reveals more of the story and continues to build excitement for this film. If that by itself isn’t enough for you though, David throws in a smooth move and a vault that is, as always, well worth studying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD2UN7Aq504

We are so pumped about this next video from Airmout! This is a special edit that includes footage from David’s Speed Air Man video, Et Vous?, and his BBC commercial roll which we will be posting soon. No new footage of David, just a cool new version of it all. The following two quotes from the No Obstacles article -written by Alec Wilkinson in April 2007- may help explain some of the motivation behind creating this edit.

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David’s grandfather told him stories about Raymond that revolved around his exploits—“Spider-Man stories and Tarzan stories,” David says—and left him wishing to emulate him. He wanted to be Spider-Man when he grew up.

Last fall, David said, he had discussions with Sam Raimi, the director of “Spider-Man,” about playing the role of Spider-Man’s double, but he decided he wasn’t interested. “That was a childhood dream, to be in a Spider-Man costume,” he said. “Now I’d rather appear on a poster with my own name, not as a character, saying, ‘This is me performing.’ ”

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http://www.dailymotion.com/airmout/video/x4dp0m_ba-speed-air-man_extreme

Given the reference to David Belle’s famous fall in the article No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson, it seemed appropriate to include a video of David’s fall soon after. The most important lesson that comes from this is not from the video itself but from David’s verbal response to the fall in the No Obstacles article. David said:

I was a bit tired. It was the end of the day. I was just doing stuff with a bunch of kids. I fall all the time—I fall like the monkeys—but it never shows up on film, because they just want the spectacular stuff.

The two important things we learn from David’s response is this:

#1. Everyone falls. Even David Belle.

#2. Many Parkour accidents come largely as a consequence of the Tracer being tired. Tiredness leads to a lack of concentration, alertness, and focus, and when these attributes are combined with Parkour, a physically and mentally demanding discipline, falls happen much more frequently. David Belle blamed his fall primarily on this, sighting the fact that it was the end of the day (which is obviously no coincidence since any Tracer will become more fatigued the longer they train). As a note, ‘being tried’ and ‘end of the day’ were the two most prevalent factors that lead to Stephane Vigroux’s first major injury as detailed in Urban Freeflow Vol. 3. (http://www.misterparkour.com/?p=33)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kh8NeG9wf8