View Full Version : Why can no one do a documentary on the AT of this quality?
RITBlake
07-25-2012, 23:24
Watched this on Netflix tonight.
http://www.ridethedividemovie.com/
Blows away any AT Doc I've ever seen in production quality.
rocketsocks
07-25-2012, 23:33
Sweet, real nice looking. In answer to your question, I don't have a clue, but I sure do think your on to something there, maybe it'll happen, thanks for posting, I'd sure like to see the whole show, looks great!
It's a heck of a lot different when you have a crew that can follow you can driving on most of the path, everyone can sleep in hotels many times, and the entire trip is days instead of months. I think the last part is the biggest issue because you'd have so much more video to store and edit with a hike. Also, hiking and support would cost much more. I haven't watched it in many months, so I forget some details, but I remember that it was a totally different type of trip. It's a nice trip though. I home I'm able to do that trip someday.
RITBlake
07-25-2012, 23:58
Good Points:
It's a heck of a lot different when you have a crew that can follow you can driving on most of the path
everyone can sleep in hotels many times
the entire trip is days instead of months
you'd have so much more video to store and edit with a hike.
NatGeo did a very good one on the Appalachian Trail, titled exactly that. It's on Netflix if you want to go watch it.
T.S.Kobzol
07-26-2012, 08:21
I can do it but you'd need to pay me lotta money first :-)
Two Speed
07-26-2012, 08:35
Watched this on Netflix tonight.
http://www.ridethedividemovie.com/
Blows away any AT Doc I've ever seen in production quality.It also blows away all the movies I've seen about bicycling, kind of a tough act to follow.
Suckerfish
07-26-2012, 08:50
I had the task of sitting through southbounders, horrible movie, watch it but just know this, it is very painful to watch.
I think if someone did a documentary on the AT just filming georgia the Ga and NC section the first month of hiking to see how many bail out would be very good, just to show how tough the trail can be
Also would be cool if they did a race like ride the divide.
RITBlake
07-26-2012, 10:06
NatGeo did a very good one on the Appalachian Trail, titled exactly that. It's on Netflix if you want to go watch it.
I saw that one too. That was a hardly a documentary about thru hiking. Don't get me wrong, the photography in that was sublime, but I'd like to see a doc with the production value of the Riding the Divide filmed applied to the setting of an AT thru hike.
http://thebackpacker.tv/2009/11/appalachian-trail-by-national-geographic/
I think this link has it, if anyone wants it.
I have them both one on dvd the other on my ipad. Love watching them both. I have just finished the AT by NG for the fourth time in the last year and feel the need to get my hike started. Imagine how long a film would have to be in comparison. Abt 39 day ride on a bike ( almost 2 hrs ) vs 6 times that on a thru hike crammed into a 2 hr movie. What kind of content would it include. Maybe like someone said earlier the first 30 days.
RITBlake
07-26-2012, 22:57
Abt 39 day ride on a bike ( almost 2 hrs ) vs 6 times that on a thru hike crammed into a 2 hr movie. What kind of content would it include. Maybe like someone said earlier the first 30 days.
I don't really buy this... The other night I watched a two hour documentary on WWII and they managed to tell one story that spanned several years.
Watched this on Netflix tonight.
http://www.ridethedividemovie.com/
Thanks for the tip.
Just finished watching it tonight.
Though I do not mountain bike, the GDMBR parallels, intersects, and joins the CDT in many places.
More importantly, the emotions, camaraderie, beauty and exhilaration of being out there is the same as any person who makes a long journey.
Good stuff.
(In an odd twist, Matthew Lee and myself had a ah,um, spirited exchange over SPOT on CDT-L. Thought I recongnized the name from the doc and I looked at my e-mail. Sure enough... Small word. :) It ended well as he sometimes comes to Boulder and we agreed to that we had to buy each other pints of Java Porter next time he gives a talk at U-bikes. After seeing the film, I think it would be a lot of fun to have a pint or two with him..)
Rain Man
07-27-2012, 09:48
Also would be cool if they did a race like ride the divide.
Mountain bike race the AT? Horrible idea! :( The illegal bikers on the AT are bad enough as it is. Open it to racing (even a single race) and the illegal bikers would suddenly multiple like locusts, leaving a wake of destruction like locusts.
Rain Man
.
RITBlake
07-27-2012, 10:15
Mountain bike race the AT? Horrible idea! :( The illegal bikers on the AT are bad enough as it is. Open it to racing (even a single race) and the illegal bikers would suddenly multiple like locusts, leaving a wake of destruction like locusts.
Rain Man
.
Maybe he meant a race on foot? I liked in the biking documentary how they showed the map at the bottom of the screen and the different dots to mark the position. If you watch the documentary, it's really not a race of any kind, they spend more time encouraging and helping each other then they do competing.
Suckerfish
07-27-2012, 11:10
Mountain bike race the AT? Horrible idea! :( The illegal bikers on the AT are bad enough as it is. Open it to racing (even a single race) and the illegal bikers would suddenly multiple like locusts, leaving a wake of destruction like locusts.
Rain Man
.
I meant a race on foot, a hiking race. How cool would that be...
The best film/Doc i have seen, it is called ( TREK ) i think it was made in 05 about three thru-hikers hiking the AT. RED-DOG
Kerosene
07-27-2012, 14:52
we agreed to that we had to buy each other pints of Java Porter next time he gives a talk at U-bikes. After seeing the film, I think it would be a lot of fun to have a pint or two with him..Mmmmm....beer!
Saprogenic
07-28-2012, 19:19
It would be nice to have a documentry of a thru hike where the entire film isn't filled with complaining.
SunnyWalker
07-28-2012, 20:14
Look up film maker Lynne Whelden.
There was a series on PBS a number of years ago called Trailside. They gave video cameras to a number of thru hikers and asked them to record themselves while hiking. The then added some additional footage and commentary. I found it very captivating as non-hiker at the time.
Just found this link. http://www.amazon.com/Thru-Hiking-Appalachian-Trail-VHS-Trailside/dp/6304270968
I also really enjoyed Lynn Wheldon's, Five Million Steps.
tnvarmint
07-30-2012, 15:06
Wow just finished watching that film and was impressed. Although I am not a cyclist, I really enjoyed watching it. I liked how it told the emotional side of doing something like that and not just the physical.
Wise Old Owl
07-30-2012, 17:02
MARK FLAGLER (http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Impressions-Mark-Flagler/dp/B000ANNGPS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1343682132&sr=8-5&keywords=appalachian+trail+dvd) has a great 2 DVD set, about the experience - and is a great watch.....
16835
MARK FLAGLER (http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Impressions-Mark-Flagler/dp/B000ANNGPS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1343682132&sr=8-5&keywords=appalachian+trail+dvd) has a great 2 DVD set, about the experience - and is a great watch.....
16835
Just read additional reviews and this does indeed look like a good one. Anyone have a copy they want to sell?
A project for Jester when he finishes the CDT?
I think that someone trying to bike the AT would be one of the funniest comedies ever!!!
Can you imagine trying to do the AT on a bicycle?
chiefduffy
08-01-2012, 05:50
Just read additional reviews and this does indeed look like a good one. Anyone have a copy they want to sell?
Dont want to sell mine, but PM me your address and I'll loan it to ya.
The best film/Doc i have seen, it is called ( TREK ) i think it was made in 05 about three thru-hikers hiking the AT. RED-DOG
Trek was filmed in 2001. There is a segment in Maine where they talk about learning of the 911 attack.
RITBlake
08-01-2012, 09:16
A project for Jester when he finishes the CDT?
I've watched Jester's PCT doc. Not even close* to the quality and production value of the Riding the Divide film. Apples and Oranges really. To date, no one has done a documentary based on an AT Thru Hike that can match it. Obviously the National Geographic was a world class production but it only had sprinkles of thru hiking and thru hiking culture and centered around the trail itself.
*However I did enjoy Jester's PCT doc.
RITBlake
08-01-2012, 09:23
I don't believe it would be possible for someone to complete a documentary of this quality on the AT while hiking the AT. It would involve a crew, and following the thru hiking pack as they moved north. The Riding The Divide crew had dedicated sound and video operators.
This is true.
I think the elusive "A Walk in the Woods" movie is the only thing in the horizon that would have the money behind it to make that sort of movie.
do you have any idea what it took ben wagner to make that film? it is not NEARLY as easy as it looks. SOUTHBOUNDERS was pretty good in my book, but i still think north to katahdin is the quintessential AT film and nothing made after that has been able to hold a candle to it. that is, if you are interested in filmmaking and not a bunch of talking heads telling stories, which is fun as well. my opinion, of course.
- pages
I had the task of sitting through southbounders, horrible movie, watch it but just know this, it is very painful to watch.
I think if someone did a documentary on the AT just filming georgia the Ga and NC section the first month of hiking to see how many bail out would be very good, just to show how tough the trail can be
Also would be cool if they did a race like ride the divide.
fiddlehead
08-01-2012, 21:22
It would be nice to have a documentry of a thru hike where the entire film isn't filled with complaining.
Yep, that's all I saw in that trailer.
Lots of whining.
I guess they're trying to describe how tough it was vs if they had any fun out there.
Wrong!
Yeah, good quality filming and editing. But there's no way I want to watch a movie that focuses on pain, blisters, falls, etc.
Why are they out there anyway?
Spirit Walker
08-01-2012, 21:34
In 1992 there was a Sierra Club group on the trail making a movie about thruhiking. Did anyone ever see the finished product? They had a crew to film and support them who became somewhat notorious.
Wise Old Owl
08-01-2012, 23:47
Here ya go RIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ahejMG3o4Bg#t=22s
RITBlake
08-01-2012, 23:56
Cheers WOW, I've seen this one as well, in fact, I think I've seen em' all at this point. I haven't watched AT Impressions in a while, so I'll give it a rewatch soon.
Here ya go RIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ahejMG3o4Bg#t=22s
do you have any idea what it took ben wagner to make that film? it is not NEARLY as easy as it looks. SOUTHBOUNDERS was pretty good in my book, but i still think north to katahdin is the quintessential AT film and nothing made after that has been able to hold a candle to it. that is, if you are interested in filmmaking and not a bunch of talking heads telling stories, which is fun as well. my opinion, of course.
- pages
FWIW, I loved Southbounders. It's definitely not a Hollywood movie, but it captures a lot of the SOBO experience.
"Concerning taste there is no argument."