Video: Escape the City

 Stated in the other comments, my other lens (wideangle) was smashed few days prior to this so that is why it was all filmed on the 50mm.

 Thank you I appreciate that. I really like the song when Josh suggested it! Glad to have some people appreciate it unlike the others that commented on here...

 So would I!

 I hope they were.

 You are correct. I do not have any photos of Josh, or any other rider for that matter on the trail this video is from. The last photo standing next to the bike is there but unfortunately I don't have any riding shots.

 That's a little harsh, don't you think? There's plenty of riding footage!

 A lot of these trails are really narrow with pretty dense bush on either side. I think Matt's done pretty well to get around this - very well done

 Begin with rider > Rider comes toward camera > viewer loses all perspective and can't actually see what's being ridden > Vegetation > Next shot

 @nutelladonut @Linc Can I just say... the kid who filmed and edited this all by himself is just 16 years old. So instead of ridiculing the techniques that he used in a very enclosed environment, give him a bit of encouragement. Furthermore, if you yourself are a capable photographer, give him some constructive criticism! This isn't the professional filming crew you think it is man, lay off.

 @thisisjosh95 Everyone's entitled to an opinion, you have yours, I have mine. I made a pretty fair call on how a lot of the film involved out of focus plant shots. My comment wasn't "this video is shit", my comment pointed out a technique that made the film less appealing to me as a viewer. It was a reasonable comment that I think any creator, 16 years old or not, will take on board and consider when they make their next peice of work. Apologies to the creator if he can only take onboard positive comments. Not everything in life is sugar coated.

 The foreground plants which are out of focus because I chose what aperture I wanted to use for each shot which determine how blurred or not they were. The reason they are in the foreground is to make it better visually, the subtle movements having them pass across the screen is much more appealing than just a boring, static shot.

The trail is very narrow and hard to ride without getting hit by the bushes so having my other lens smashed a few days before made it much harder to get different shots with only a prime 50mm lens.

Just so you know what made it extra hard to film this - a few days prior to this shoot, I broke my wrist. I'm sure you've never tried to film for one of the first times using a glidecam, with a broken wrist. It's quite complicated.

But hey, sorry for producing content that PinkBike likes to share. I started this because of injury and wanted to stay involed in the sport as much as I can. Most people would be sitting on the couch hating life rather than getting out and doing something constructive. Again, I'm sorry that you weren't please that I did something I love to do. I'd love to see what you come up with I you ever got behind a camera

 It's good to hear that you were able to create this film with the troubles you had and it's also good to see that you have something you're passionate about in life. My comment was aimed at how reoccurring plants were shown in the video. A suggestion if you were to make a similar film to this would be to cut the clip before the plants entered the shot (most of the time the plants were shown towards the end of the clip). If you're working on a tight trail, a ground shot perspective or a still shot on a tripod with no plants in the way would have also worked well. The foliage shots would have been okay if they weren't almost every second clip.

 don't get fired up mate, you got some good videos coming through!

 I'm not going to argue about this. It's up to personal preference - This is how I chose to film this video so if you like it or not it's up to you. Think about this, if you read the short article to accompany the video, it speaks about escaping the city and suburban areas (those that are full of man made materials and lack of plants), and into the "dense bush, requiring every rider to bow their head as if to acknowledge the serenity", this is basically what I was trying to imply with the form of filming. Having the plants in the foreground metaphorically closing in on the camera is how the bush is to the riders. Photography and film making is much more of an art form than you realise - It haas all these hidden meanings that you don't realise unless you really look for them, yet they add to the overall outcome of the project.

 @KevSong I'm not fired up, I just want to state my point as to why it is filmed in the way it is. Cheers

 Anyway, well done on making it to the top news of pinkbike. Good to see some more Australian stuff on here. Best of luck for any future films you make.

 anyways guys, look where we are. We're all on a website dedicated to mountain bikes, let's just get along and appreciate that we've got such young people out there doing their best to give some of their local interests to the bigger world. We're all mountain bikers @nutelladonut I see where you're coming from, but ultimately I think we can both agree that Matty's got some amazing potential, and when he's older and has less broken bones his talent will improve further!

 I like it. A huge problem MTBers are facing in this part of Sydney is a misconception that we don't appreciate the environment. I reckon this video showcases the radness of nature and the enduro-ness of the rider in equal measures.

 Cheers! They look great fun, I'll be there ASAP when I'm back riding.