F1RST premier
Posted on April 24, 2008 @ 2:00 PM
Monterey, California.
It is by the sea, its pretty up market, has lots of green grass and lush trees, the air smells fresh and the main street is pretty and classy.
Driving thru town to get our new saint 2009 product, I was gazing out the window when I first saw it. initially I didnt realise what it was, not expecting it and all that, but as the fairy light covered trees thinned out the words took on their true meaning and my brain reacted, I screamed, yelled, grabbed the handbrake. Written in big red letters outside the towns classiest theatre: 'F1RST' a film by Clay Porter' on show April 16.
It was such a rad moment, of course the boys acted like they expected nothing less, but to see it up there, right in the centre of town, with all those people reading it, knowing how much it meant to clay, made me so happy for him.
Everyone was talking about it at the race, after Clay's last film, between the tape, there were expectations to be met, and I for one was nervous. We were all well excited to be seeing it, just to see what we had worked on in its final form, and knowing how much effort Clay put in, I knew it would be nothing less than radical!
Unfortunately, nothing ever goes to plan and we were attending a Crankbrothers meal before the premiere, it was pretty much the World Cup top 10 there, Peat, Rennie, Minnaar, Hill, Fairclough, Bryceland, Athertons, Neethling, I forget who else, so there we all are, late for the film running down Monterey high street! It was pretty funny.
When we got to the theatre everyone was allready inside, I legged it up the steps and found Clay and Martin Whitely stood in the lobby, Clay looked nervous, and pretty hot in his shirt and tie! He'd already made his speech which I was gutted to miss, but knowing Clay I bet he was very modest and grateful to everyone involved.
We sat at the back, (oh yea, double story, big time) and settled in to watch, the place was packed and electric. Sam's section is first and it's rad. The film has a lot of stuff in it that makes you draw breath and sams section was no different. I think the biggest congratulation to Clay is that with each riders personal section he portrays their individual-ness and style really well, which I think is difficult to do when ultimately everyone is doing the same thing!
F1rst is only an hour and a bit long, but it feels way shorter, I think because every section engrosses you and pulls you in. I feel justified in saying that everyone will love it. It was especially rad for me, and in turn the reason will ring true for the majority of people, because I missed out on the races that are being documented. Yes I was at Champery, but I never went up the track, I never got to see first hand the carnage and the difficulty the riders were having, I never got to see Mount Saint Anne and how the guys practically floated down the roughest track ever, and even if you did see it, you didn't see it in this perspective.
Clay captures racing like nothing else I know, he see's it from each persons point of view, he really gets across the pain of one person and the joy of another, and being a documentary style film, he takes you back to relive history being made. Because thats what it is, history being made.
Think about the kids that in 8 years time will watch F1rst and see Hill take victory after victory, they'll be able to practically feel his strength, and when he is beaten, they will either feel for him or cheer for the, not necessarily, underdog. And for me that is why Clays films rule, because they document what we, me and you, spend our lives trying to achieve. Effortless style and grace on a bike, which will lead to more fun, to speed and perhaps to glory, and whilst we strive towards that goal, when the going gets tough all we need do is whap on F1rst, see Peat determined to win, see Blenkinsop drift lazily round a turn, watch JD Swanugaun do the sickest whip ever, feel hills silent strength, and think to ourselves 'why the heck not?'
Perhaps some people will say that the depth into which Clay delves with his films in unnecessary, that the riding should speak for itself, and it certainly does that, but there is something reassuringly nice about hearing Clays voice speak the words we all know to be true. Voicing questions that everyone thinks but never says out loud, and giving the whole downhill mountain bike scene another edge.
The reason why I love this sport is because it is so diverse, there is so much room for everything, there need be no label on anything, the style of riding, the type of riding, there need be no boundaries. We need people like Bender to go big and show people what is possible on a bike, people like Vouilloz, Peat and Hill to raise the racing bar, and we need people like Clay, the glue that connects all these people to you and me, the glue that reaches out and touches fresh people outside of bikes.
So I say well done Clay for bringing to the masses a film which makes me excited to go and ride my bike, to learn new things, and a film which is gunna hit the big time.
Rach.
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