Daydreamers?

[Big Blue]

Just caught part of this flick today while booting up in Dave's Deli. Anyone have a copy of this or know where one might be obtained. Looked like some sick footage from the late 70's.

[runethechamp]

It's called Daydreams. TGR used to have in their store, but I haven't seen it there lately. I picked up a copy on VHS about 5 years ago I think. There's some absolutely sick hucking in there, but the overall mood of the movie is a lot more mellow than it is in today's movies. It's an absolute classic and a big part of skiing history at Squaw.

[Turn Up The Gravity!]

Wow - that sounds great. Know where to get any other 70's flicks?

[runethechamp]

Some more about the movie here: http://www.liquidmoonsports.com/stories26.htm

Daydreams Turns 25

"We all have our own daydreams. But how many of us are able to transcend our dreams and make them reality....".

So begins the opening narration of the ski film "Daydreams." Shot and edited during the winter of 1974-75 by North Shore resident Craig Beck, the film upon distribution was immediately embraced as a cult classic. Twenty five years later it remains the last unforked pea on the plate of American ski film making and a rarity of inspiration.

"My basic idea was a fantasy type of film," recalls self-taught filmmaker Craig Beck, 53, of Cedar Flat. "I wrote it somewhat like a symphony with an introduction, the hills and valleys, and the climax. I didn't want a lot of narration like other ski movies - no build up of bull. So I set the film to original music and some which I bought from Pink Floyd."

Whether it's skiing the steepest of the steep on "Idiot's" at Alpine Meadows, hang gliding the California coast, carving rowdy lines in the Canadian Bugaboos, or watching Craig's younger brother Greg uncork a then record 120 feet of air off Squaw Valley's Palisades, Daydreams launders the soul and piques the psyche into an almost paranormal validation of freedom. Scenes swell and crash like teen-age mood swings.

"The big jump is still something that blows me away," admits Beck who moved to Tahoe with his family in 1960.

"I'm still active filmmaking and I've been privileged to work with today's finest skiers and boarders. However, those guys back then defined big air. Greg's jump is truly incredible. We measured and it's 120 feet". recalls Beck.

Although Greg's sagamatha of huck is the film's biggest left hook to drop onto the viewer's jaw, the film follows with a series of other Ecstatic jumps that cross over into Oz. One has to remember that skiing was just growing out of the Jet stick and Bear Cat binding era and into new technology. Most of the film's skiers, which included Chris Von Der Ahe, Brady Keresy, Pecos Welch, Earl Downing, and Tuck Rivard, were on the most rudimentary of equipment, in blue jeans, and wool shirts.

That's what makes some of the jumps, such as the backflip by David Burnham off the Palisades into 80 feet of air even more remarkable. Mark Rivard wasn't so lucky. Near the end of filming he broke both legs jumping off the Palisades.

"I was really upset when Mark hurt himself," admits Craig, who began his journalistic career as a messenger for AP during the Squaw Valley Olympics. "Mark was the best and most beautiful jumper. Up until then we'd been filming without any type of injury. His injuries didn't stop anybody. The next day David did his flip off the Palisades, an incredible feat."

What possibly was more remarkable than the skiing and hang gliding was the film's production. Beck's previous experience had been only a Super 8 ski movie set to music called "Timepiece," and a 16-millimeter short he'd filmed for Hans Gmouver in the Bugaboos which sold to Air Canada.

Daydreams cost $1000,000 to make. Taking out loans to cover costs, Beck did practically everything himself in Orson Welles-like fashion: designing new camera mountings on the wing tips of gliders, to unusual dissolve transitions. He also skied some scenes, was the film's cameraman, filming with a beat up Bell and Howell and Aeroflex, edited the footage in his own house using a crude A and B roll editing process, and even played on the original soundtrack (along with Steve Connelley, Blair Pretz, and Ann Vieille). He estimates it took 100 days of filming and 15,000 feet of film to get what he wanted.

"I finished the film the night before it was supposed to premiere at the Cobblestone in Tahoe City," Beck remembers. "I also finished it flat broke and exhausted. I'd been working sometimes for days on end without sleep to get it done. I was obsessed."

Audiences loved it, but distributing the film became a titanic problem, partially for the lack of money and marketing experience.

"Whenever it showed I had success. I mean we outsold "Jaws" that same year at the Cobblestone. I booked it from Redding to Santa Cruz, mostly at colleges. In Monterey I flew up and down the community all day in my hang glider to promote its showing. I even flew off the Civic Auditorium in Redding," says Beck who once held the World Hang Gliding Altitude Gain Record at over 20,000 feet. "Then I went to L.A. and got burnt. I was emotionally drained and all the traveling wasn't helping my marriage. When Dave Burnham died in a motorcycle accident and I was so bummed I shelved it and went back to carpentry as a living."

Through the years Beck has worked on other films including "Ski Extreme." While writing a screenplay for a feature length movie about the life of Snowshoe Thompson, Beck became heavily involved in resurrecting the historic ski discipline of longboard racing and forming the National Longboard Association in 1994.

"I still love to make films," says Beck. "A primary passion for me is shooting pictures and putting them together. Daydreams remains very special. When I made it ski films were a weak market. Today it's quite another story. Daydreams amazingly remains current. I'm still surprised by its recognition and enthusiasm from the best skiers today. They like it."

[runethechamp]

Just caught part of this flick today while booting up in Dave's Deli. Anyone have a copy of this or know where one might be obtained. Looked like some sick footage from the late 70's.

You should send the TGR store an email and ask for it. They also have a good 2 minute sampler from Daydreams in Uprising.

[Big Blue]

Rune,
Thanks for all the info. I'll try emailing tgr store.

[spring_skier]

I am looking for a copy of Daydreams too. Looks like TGR store doesnt carry it anymore, anyone know where else I can find it?

[raisingarizona13]

The whole thing was a youtube years ago but they pulled it off for some reason

[spring_skier]

Yeah checked there first and it appears it hasn't been re-posted. TGR store and ebay didn't have it either unfortunately. I'm sure it's out there somewhere but I can't find it.