'Fall In The Woods' by Ryan Navazio
To hell with the diminishing sense of privacy afforded to you and I, wherever you go, whatever you do, especially if you're carrying a digital device, you are being tracked. While I'm not convinced this is a strategic mission of a 'deep state', rather for marketing purposes and the ability to sell you things, it is nonetheless a concern. But, where there exists grey clouds, there also exists a silver lining, or something like that.
My point? Digital technology has gifted me a product of the algorithm so tasty, so unexpected, so beautiful, that I must submit.
I'm talkin' 'bout this dreamboat of a video, 'Fall In The Woods - O'Hara BMX Trails', produced by the one, the only, Ryan Navazio. Presuming a chunk of our audience may not be familiar with RN, let me introduce the extensive list of seminal projects either entirely produced by, or materially contributed to, by the dude.
- Fitbikeco 'Fitlife' (2007)
- Standpoint 'Left Right' & 'Issue 6' (2008 & 2006)
- Ride BMX 'Insight' (2008)
- Tip Plus BMX 'The Family' (2005)
- Faction BMX 'Running On Empty' (2004?)
- Orchid 'Footwear' (2010)
- CULT 'Talk Is Cheap' (2012)
- Manmade self-titled (2004)
- Redbull 'No Problemo' (2005)
- Animal Bikes 'QSS 2', 'QSS 3' & 'Cuts' (2008, 2012, 2009).
A list that does not need any bulking.
I'm 95% sure that this is Jake Reid (i.e. Australian biker, 'Junior'). What a dip. Screenshot taken from the video
You may have noticed that all of this work was undertaken between 2004 & 2012. So, you can then understand my stoked to know that not only was Ryan Navazio still filming, but he is still filming BMX and still filming it real good. Working with what is understood to be a new setup, i.e. Sony FX3 & Bolex Rex 4 (Super 16mm) and as you would expect, he has dialled the colours and picture quality to the highest level. I always used to think that Ryan Navazio was the biggest G when it came to Sony VX quality, in fact he used to have a blog in which he detailed how he exported his footage to be of the best quality, a page I had bookmarked and studied, despite never reaching his heights.
For your ease, the list of riders, with a 16mm backdrop and for those video nerds, the use of 'Bebas Neue' as the font, with a gentle touch of blur. Screenshot taken from the video
Anyway, this footage was filmed in fall 2023 at the O'Hara trails, to which I do not know the location of, somewhere in Pennsylvania i.e. the centre of BMX trail land. This video is all about the aesthetic, the feel of the gentle seasons as friends make memories in the woods and the beauty of compacted and shaped dirt with a leafy backdrop. Layered with a sentimental, heart string tugging track, you must surely watch this to feel something after a busy day of polite chit chat, screens, busyness and movement in which you may not have stopped to find the present.
And remember, when life gives you lemons, store them correctly in your pantry to ensure they last as long as possible.
