Question: Whats with all the POV hate?

[Dickeymotto]

I've been noticing for a while when people post up a POV video, often it is prefaced with something like "I know, another lame POV" or if its not POV, everyone compliments it for not being so. Is it because everyone and their dog has a GoPro now and its not cool anymore? I personally think it is great that I can hop on youtube, put in a trail name, and likely get a top to bottom POV of a trail I've never ridden in order to preview it and decide if I want to ride it (or if my novice girlfriend can handle it). Someone explain this negativity to me, because I don't get it.

[Bunion 2020]

I think maybe it has to do with most POV really sucking and being hard to watch.

A good POV is awesome but most isn't and makes me seasick to watch.

[Beakjones]

I personally think it is great that I can hop on youtube, put in a trail name, and likely get a top to bottom POV of a trail I've never ridden in order to preview it and decide if I want to ride it (or if my novice girlfriend can handle it).

It is extremely useful for this. Otherwise pictures can be a lot more artistic not being POV. Some people really have problems watching POV stuff because your body reacts as if you're actually doing it. This can be unnerving. Ever watched a POV of someone (on here) hucking a 60 footer? I get vertigo watching that. Like the Ian McIntosh section in Anamoly for example, I get mad vertigo in that section.... but I still watch it due to it being awesome.

[Missiongravity]

I will second Bunion. With the readily available supply of reasonable priced POV cameras everyone thinks they are the next pro photog/videographer(myself included a time or two). It is nearly impossible to get an angle that suits all ski/bike/whateveryouarefilming technique. Add to that some schmo riding along on an uneventful trail with a view of his handlebars and you get lame POV.

If you want good POV, get really comfortable riding with someone and once you have a good understanding of how they ride then play cat and mouse. Have them ride in front of you. Train your eye to follow them and work to keep the camera pointed at them, not where you are looking/riding. It is not easy to do, looking one direction with your head pointed the other way while trying to stick a line. But it will make for an infinitely better POV experience.

So there are only a few really decent angles to shoot from, one of which is not looking at the tips of yours skis. Keep it up so we can see where you are going, keep someone else in your field of view for perspective and most of all STOP SUCKING!!!

/Blog

[cpj.slc]

Missiongravity makes good points on how to do a POV. Bad POV's are really bad (pointed at skis for example) but to me even decent POV's where you can watch a trail or ski run top to bottom seeing what the athlete sees are really fun. I don't get vertigo though.

[funkendrenchman]

Most of the time when I watch POV, I say to myself, "wow this would be cool if I could see it from a non POV perspective. When I watch regular footage, I rarely say to myself, "wow this would be so cool to see with a helmet cam."

And ya, everyone and their mom has a Go Pro. I went hiking in Yosemite the other day and saw a 7 year old with a chest cam on for the hike.

[lph]

EXACTLY what bunion said.

Plus, with POV a lot of people don't edit out that boring crap. They download it onto pc then upload to vimeo or youtube unedited.

[SkiJunky05]

Link for the hiking footage? Ha!

Everything you guys are saying is true. Sometimes I still watch a "pretty meh" 5+ minute POV because I want to see what the trail is like. Plenty of times I decide within the first 5 seconds to close out of a video.

To the OP, I think people assume that if a POV movie is posted, it'll get lumped in with all the less than stellar ones out there. And yes, I generally agree that the best possible POV involves a steady view, other people, and alternate angles.

[Empty Beer]

Most POV is difficult to watch cause 1) it's just shaky crap, and 2) it's too long. C'mon people... edit your vids down to less than 2 minutes.

I also don't like POV because it tends to make really good trails/ski runs look mostly flat and boring.

Very few POV vids have made me say, "I wanna ride that trail".

[squatch]

Final issue for POV: when shooting movies from most perspectives, you are forced to put some thought into the filming. "Does this angle suck?" "Can I see my subject?" "Does it give perspective on what I'm actually doing" "Do I look rad or like a poser?"

POV can suck because you just hit go and (generally) aren't forced to evaluate the above. It's like stream of consciousness. Most people's consciousness sucks ass. See: twitter.

[SB]

here is a good video

[regct]

I just think its fun for lots of reasons. Sometimes bad POV is funny, its fun to watch awesome POV, its cool to be able to Google search trails and its great for porn.

I think its sweet that there are really high expectations for top tier POV videos but it doesn't mean that people shouldn't have fun making POV vids to show their stoke or have to become a pro editor to do it. I suck at editing, not an artist.

People are afraid of being judged. Look what you've done TGR.

I won't judge your POV. Post away oh contour hd goggle mount user, post away.

[kidwoo]

I don't understand all the hate either. I love watching everyone's unedited pov clips. They tend to be so creative and cinematic. Editing just clutters things up and confuses me. A good pov bike clip really gives me a good understanding of which direction someone's stem is pointing at all times..........sometimes an awesome full 10 minutes. And the out of frame, shaky crap beyond the stem is completely indecipherable anyway so it really highlights that stem action in a truly artistic way. I mean when watching a completely unedited clip, you really get a feel for how much someone genuinely cares about putting out a truly unique piece of art. And I always appreciate that......and simply can't deny the hard work and dedication of the cinematographer.

[donkeykong]

a lot of bike pov is bad because it's helmet mounted IMO. i think that has a very disconnected view of the trail and you don't really feel all the terrain changes. chest mount is more watchable to me.

[kidwoo]

a lot of bike pov is bad because it's helmet mounted IMO. i think that has a very disconnected view of the trail and you don't really feel all the terrain changes. chest mount is more watchable to me.

That's it. I'm sold. I'm never watching a smoothly edited bike video again without resting my chin on a washing machine while doing so.

[LeeLau]

That's it. I'm sold. I'm never watching a smoothly edited bike video again without resting my chin on a washing machine while doing so.

Oh look who's getting all advres on us. That's right - I used it as a proper noun

[kidwoo]

Oh look who's getting all advres on us. That's right - I used it as a proper noun

If I were to get all advresed there would be more cursing and personal insults. Plus I'm much funnier

[Particle]

It's been said, but multiple angles... and EDIT the damn video! Which takes effort... effort I'm not sometimes willing to shell out. So I have POV footage just rotting away on my hard drive. And that's OK.


I'm still a big fan of legit photo TRs on the interwebs. They are way more interesting to me than any video, POV or not. i.e., VitalMTB's slideshows.

[lph]

Plus, let's be honest, most people can pull off a moment in time looking good in a still photo. Riders that can look good on video, pov or otherwise are few and far between. Plus, Life Cycles has raised the bar to almost insurmountable height for videography. hell, I went through the list of the last 10 years of academy award nominees for best cinematography and none even approach what Life Cycles accomplished.

not hating, just saying.

slideshows are the future and the past. funny how things come full circle huh?

[lph]

Yes it is from Freeskier. But it is on topic:

http://freeskier.com:81/stories/catc...top-pov-videos