Bobby Carter, www.diversionvm.com: The idea for a flatland magazine sprouted in September of 1996. I was not satisfied with the small amount of flatland coverage that appeared in magazines and videos. I wanted to make a video series that covered flatland contests, jams, new products, scenes, and how-to's. Since I was a student, with limited time and money, I could not gather the neccesary materials for a video magazine. Therefore, I created how-to's and with that, the instructional video "Hang-5: A Journey into the World of Flatland" was born. Fast forward to 2002.There are now two flatland video magazines (Flatland Manifesto and Vibe) that provide excellent coverage of contests worldwide. With these guys pumping out contest coverage, I am able to turn my attention to a more personal video adventure: Diversion Video Magazine. While completing a Bachelor's Degree in Film and a Master's Degree in Editing, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and Mexico, in search of riders. I have discovered that flatland riding is much more than contests. Although contests are an important aspect of riding, contests consume only a portion of a rider's life. Most of a rider's time is spent in parking lots riding alone or jamming with other riders. This aspect of a rider's life needs to be captured on film. Diversion Video Magazine is an extension on the TV screen of the rider's life. We meet interesting people, travel to new lands, and teach each other new tricks. Bringing a new format to BMX video production, this video series will serve as a way for riders world wide to communicate. If you would like to know what's going on in a scene far away, like Brazil or Malaysia, just pop in Diversion Video Magazine and check out what they are doing first hand. They will tell you about their scene and what's going on. Of course, you can tell them about your scene as well.
With this new format, riders will be able to build a line of communication, which will strengthen the flatland commmunity, world wide.
Marty Wendt, Ride BMX US december 1998: This is a 45 minute instructional video with excellent filming and editing. The focus is on single tricks without any links. Most tnicks are shown several times, at riding speed, and in slow motion. Verbal instruction is given for all but the "Advanced Tricks » segment. If you're getting into flatland, this could be the best $18 you'll ever spend. Send it to: Bobby Carter, PO. Box 6111, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 6111.
Ol'School, www.notfreestylin.com: Throwing this video in the vcr, I did not know what to expect. The niche of instructional freestyle videos was pretty much stunk up with BMX PLUS!'s 101 Freestyle Tricks and it's sequel. So I gave BC props for even trying to do the how to vid and to make it specialize in flatland. But after viewing this video I was mesmerized. It is amazing to see a video done by someone who knows about video. The transitions, the camera angles, the editing. As a person who has had training in film, this video stoked me. BMX and video done well, what a concept. This is a video manual for anyone interested in flatland. There is something in here for almost anyone. It was cool to see tricks broken down out of a link to see how they work. Sure you can use the slomo on the vcr on any video but this video breaks the tricks in the links to its most simplest. I think if I was forced to say something bad about this video I would say there is about 10 seconds of black between segments. Boy, that one was a stretch. Flatlander or anyone interested in learning flat own this video. It goes in a direction different than most punk flavor of the month soundtracked with a flat section. This video was made by one of us, for all of us, so support one of us. Check here for ordering info .
Bobby Carter , www.diversionvm.com: Introducing Diversion Motion Pictures. In the year 2000, many flatland jams and riders in the Los Angeles area were overlooked by the magazines (both video and printed). This is an epic compilation of lost sessions in L.A. with 27 riders representing, Austria, France, Japan, Malaysia, and the United States. Riders include: Day Smith, Alex Jumelin, Tanaka Kotaro, Stefan Brockich, Simon Chong, Mark Andrada, Mark Blayney, Bobby Carter, Stephen Cerra, Andy Cooper, Chris Day, David Dixon, Ibounig Gernot, Shinichiro Hara, Takahata Kensaku, Billy Martinez, David McDaniel, Ed Nussbaum, Paul Pagano, Edgar Plascencia, Stephen Scheuerer, Eric Stefano, Ito Takashi, U-haul, Bob Weatherlee, Gabe Weed, and Dylan Worsley.
www.ewirezine.com: Explorations is one of those videos that I'm happy to say is helping to push riding videos past the days of simply adding music to video. The filming, music choices, editing, and effects are well done and professionally blended together - it's more closely related to Transworld's skating videos than to some other riding videos that I won't mention here. The riding is flatland only, and has a nice mix of both new school and old school-influences (though there were too many freak squeak/funky chicken variations). The first couple sections of the video are interesting but not necessarily amazing (except for Bobby Carter's no-handed cross-footed hitchhiker). But the video starts getting interesting with Dylan Worsley's section and builds itself up with each one after that.
Once it gets going, Explorations doesn't let up much. The riders featured include guys you've probably heard of (Dylan, Stephen Cerra, Day Smith, Alex Jumelin, Gabe Weed, Ed Nussbaum, and Edgar Placencia), as well as riders you might not know but definitely deserve to be seen (like Takahara Kensaku, Dave McDaniel, Tanaka Kotaro, Paul Pagano, and Bobby Carter). As you'd expect after reading those names, there's lots of original riding, and the music - a good mix of styles, but mainly instrumental techno - flows well with the footage. One of the pros and cons of Explorations is its length: at 55 minutes, you do get your money's worth, and since there are so many riders featured, there's not a whole lot of repetition. On the other hand, sitting still watching TV for almost an hour can make you pretty antsy - I imagine myself watching this video on a rainy day, rather than using it to get psyched to ride. Normally, I prefer a well-edited 30 minute video (and this is coming from someone who's made some pretty long videos in his day...) which seems to be a more digestable amount. Still, if Explorations is any glimpse of what Bobby Carter is going to produce in the future, definitley keep an eye on him to join the ranks of Eaton, Rye and Parrick. The one biggest surprise for me was the shot of a shelf full of `zines, focusing in on an old print issue of Wire. People still have those things? Crazy...
Patrick Schoolen, www.theflatlander.com: This is the latest video to come from Bobby Carter. Many riders know and love Bobby because of his perfectly done instructional video, "Hang Five." Now he has come back with a couple of new videos: the Brazilian flatland documentary "The 25th Parallel" and this video, "Explorations."
Since moving to California more than a year ago to attend graduate film school, Bobby has become part of the Southern California flatland scene. "Explorations" is a compilation of riding sessions all over SoCal. There are a lot of top pros from this part of the world and they are well represented in this video but there are also many underground riders who haven't got much coverage before but whose riding is simply amazing. The sessions move around from Huntington Beach to parking garages to tennis courts and elsewhere. Along the way riders such Stephen Cerra, Alex Jumelin, Tanaka Kotaro, Takashi Ito, Dylan Worsley and Day Smith are featured as well as many unknown riders from California and around the world. Since Southern California is such a destination point for riders from outside the US, many "tourists" show up for these sessions. Particularly impressive were the riders from around Asia. Stephen Cerra is also a standout with his fresh spinning but oh so smooth style. I could watch Stephen do no footed tomahawks and upside down pedaling mega spins all day long. His riding is powerful and inspirational in this video.
"Explorations" does a great job of capturing the true SoCal scene. It's more than about photo shoots with Losey and hanging out at the beach and this video shows the true riding that goes on behind the scenes. The video flowed great and was a refreshing 55 minutes long. It's a nice change from the typical 25 minute flatland video.
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: I am a strong proponent of knowing what you are doing. Just because you have a knife that doesn't make you a surgeon. Just because you have a microwave doesn't make you a chef. Having a camera, lens and software doesn't make you a video maker. This brings me to Bobby Carter. The dude has the skills to make the magic. BC is probably the best video maker that you have never heard about. Bobby Carter's videos are on par with the videos from Chad Johnston and Jason Brown, in some aspects even better. This is one of the best looking videos I have ever seen. Color and video quality. The look of this video is even better than reality. It seems since the fish eye is so popular that people forget how to frame a shot. I liked the variety with the tight, medium and wide shots. I really liked the camera movement. The editing flows incredibly well. Anyone can put moving video clips together but it is an art when done right. You can call yourself a painter but the output is what tells if you are painting houses or masterpieces. This video is a masterpiece. The riding in this video is outstanding. You will see some you recognize and some you don't. If you plan to buy one flat video this year, make sure this is it.
Explorations from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
Reviews: Cream #16 march 2002, ...
www.liquidframe.com: BC Motion Pictures is BACK!! On our perpetual quest to hook up with riders world wide, we find ourselves 25 degrees below the equator in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Take a trip to South America's largest city and experience a new perspective on the BMX lifestyle. Join Emerson Godoi, Clailton Ferreira da Silva, Rogerio Goncolues, Vladimir Leoneti da Fonseca, Draculao, Leonardo Claro,Tico, and others as they show us around their amazing scene.
Patrick Schoolen, www.theflatlander.com: The unknown just draws me in. I love to learn about things I know nothing of. With his new video, Bobby Carter has taught me about flatland in Brazil. While we know a lot about flatland in the North America and Europe, you never hear about flatland in Brazil. But it does exist and it is thriving there. This video introduces you to the flatland culture of Brazil. The riders are amazing. You will have never heard of any of them but that is one of the things that makes this video so amazing. Incredible riding from people you have never saw. Beyond riding, there is interesting narration from the Brazilian riders describing their scene in Brazil and the bmx market there. Because of the weak value of their currency, it is incredibly expensive to import bike parts so a couple of small manufacturers have popped up to serve the Brazilian market. You get to see their unique bikes and hear about them from a couple of bmx shop owners in the capital of Brazil, Sao Paulo. "The 25th Parallel" is a great piece of work. It goes beyone just a riding video and draws you into the whole bmx culture of one country. I wish we saw more of these types of videos. Maybe film maker Bobby Carter will visit Japan soon!
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: There was a great pictorial in FREESTYLIN' years ago that spotlighted the UK scene. Up to that point I never thought about the sport in other continents. I know that sounds very American-centric of me but my eyes have been opened first with that FREESTYLIN' pictorial. I have made it a point to check out magazines and videos that come from across the pond. I have never thought about riding in South America. This video opened my eyes even further. I was really impressed with the scene, riders and and Bobby Carter's video making skills. The scenery of the video was great. There is one section with a guy riding in front of a huge spider painted on the wall that really added something to the image. The scenes that were shot at the park really added to the feel of the video. I think you get a feel of the scene and country. I have never heard of any of these riders before I saw this video. The double roll aid is impressive in any country. I that it was great seeing maybe the best rider in South America riding incredible flat on what appeared to be one inch pegs. Bobby Carter's video work blows me away once again. The videography and editing has to be soon. Bobby's video making skill matches the skill of the riding.
25thparallel from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
www.agoride.com: Video magazine realisée par Bobby Carter (USA)
Au menu: riding et riders d'Australie, Bresil, Canada, Costa Rica, Allemagne, Japon, Mexique, Norvege et Usa.
Meilleurs moments: Ed Nussbaum, Stephen Cerra, Neston Favela, ...ect filmés comme jamais vous l'avez vu.
Pour qui est cette vidéo: Pour les flatlanders avant tout mais aussi pour ceux qui veulent prendre des leçons de montage vidéo.
Note: 8 sur 10
Notre avis: Bobby explore le monde du flat et nous le offre sa vision esthétiquement différente des autres. Cette vidéo est à voir ne serait-ce que pour la réalisation artistiquement soignée et pour certains riders à découvrir. Certaines scènes datent un peu par le niveau des riders mais on ne se lasse pas de voir certains plans comme ce coucher de soleil par exemple.
Durée: 45 mn environ. Disponible en VHS uniquement. Distribution en France par Flava. Prix: 34 euros
Diversion is Bobby Carter's addition to the flatland video magazine genre. You might ask why the world needs another flatland video magazine - I'll admit I thought the same thing - but Diversion and Flatland Manifesto are quite different, both in their strengths, formats, and style. Where FM tends to be straight-ahead "magazine" with contest footage, interviews, how-to's, and plenty of the best up-to-date flatland riding, Diversion has more of an intimate vibe to it.
Issue 1 has different "articles" - how different riders survive bad weather where they live, a small section on brakelessness, and a scene info about Norway (with the guys from The Factory), Brazil, and a few interviews. You learn a lot about other people's lives from the interview segments, which play nicely over the riding. Especially interesting was Manuel Prado telling how difficult it is for people to afford a bike in his come country of Costa Rica.
Diversion is 40 minutes long, has an original and enjoyable soundtrack (not the stereotypical new-school hip-hop or Fat Wreck-style punk) that doesn't distract from what you're watching, and is expertly filmed and edited. If you've seen Bobby's other videos (such as Explorations), you can expect the same high-quality style here. He has a very distinct editing style, and he's easily one of top BMX video producers making videos.
And, by mentioning some of the riders in this video, you'll know the tricks are amazing: Ed Nussbaum, Stephen Cerra, Kensaku "Tagi" Takahata, Gabe Kadmiri, Dave McDaniel, and Menual Prado. I won't go into detail trying to describe any tricks, though Tagi's jumping from a cross-footed forward karl kruzer directly into a halfpacker - completely brakeless - really shouldn't be possible. There are also a lot of other unknown riders featured in Diversion, which is good to see: riding scenes are a lot deeper than the handful of riders getting coverage. Highly recommended video ... can't wait to see issue 2 !
Time: 42:24 min
Shows: Flatland only
Music: Mellow house / hip hop
Ads: Flatland Fuel (best ad ever!) / Flatlander.com / Liquid / Fatbmx.com
Bobby K. Carter is the director, producer and editor of this new Flatland vdo Diversion. Made in the USA but also a lot of European stuff cause it seems that the Europeans are moving to California lately. Riders from Austria, Germany and France living and riding at the US parkinglots in the sun but also riders from Costa Rica like Manual Prado found his way to flatland heaven. The difference for Manual is that he was cutting pineappels for 12 hours a day for months to pay for his trip and thats one thing the Euros can't do.
Bobby made a very good vdo that will be appreciated by all flatlanders, good quality, nice editing and most important: 100% Flat.
The Where are your Brakes ? Item let you know why some riders ride Brakeless or almost without brakes. Ed Nussbaum is an upcoming rider and is covered in the latest videos included this one, brakeless and unstoppable. In Trondheim Norway you can find 5 flatlanders: Marius Holm, Tomas Westgard, Roger Brandtzaeg, Audon Kallstad and Havard Johansen and they can be found in this first edition of Diversion.
Diversion is one of the best Flatland only vdo's I saw and it is only the first one of which I hope will be a long serie, you Flatlanders will like it !
If you held a gun to my head and made me say something bad about this video, the only thing I could come up with is that it doesn't have a "video magazine"-feel to it. No contest coverage. No news section. No product section. No real interview per se. There is nothing that really dates this video except for some of the most up to date riding. It seems more like an epic flatland video with commercials. This video is a reminder of why I ride flatland.
Kieran Chapman, www.ewirezine.com: The second issue of Diversion Video Magazine is what I expected: a well-edited all-flatland video that's fun to watch, makes you want to ride, and reminds you why you ride flatland in the first place. And if you don't ride flatland, it's still a great video: though ramp and street riders will probably find any all-flat video boring, Diversion videos are put together in a way that even non-riders can enjoy and appreciate the riding.
The video has Bobby Carter written all over it: the style is professional and clean, originally edited (it's definitely not just a Props clone!), and the soundtrack takes a back seat to the riding. This is the kind of quality I want in all my riding videos!
Diversion #2 has plenty of riding in it: The interviews with Dave McDaniel and Bizhouse owner Shawn White are interesting and go deeper than simple questions like "How long have you been riding?" Manuel Prado and James McGraw discuss different flatland styles. A Saõ Paulo, Brazil section highlights Sergio "Balú" (original new tricks, plus a rad Scurfer!) and Marcos Paulo de Jesus (a fast rider, if you haven't seen him ride), as well as other locals. York Jam footage features Matt Wilhelm, Brian Chapman, James Kennedy, and TJ Perry. Plus more riding from Pete Brandt, Ed Nussbaum, and more.
Manu Massabova, www.agoride.com, juin 2003: Riders: Dave Mc Daniel, Manuel Prado, James Mc Graw, Shawn White, Josh Evans, Sergio "Balo", Marco Paulo de Jesus, Leonardo Claro, Daniel Molina, Stephan Cerra, Bobby K. Carter, James Kennedy, Matt Wilhelm, Mike barrett, Brian Chapman, Tj Perry, Ed Nussbaum, Jeff Foster, Jon Dowker, Pete Brandt, Stephen Scheuerer, Jerry Milborn, jason Sison et Neston Flavela.
Best Tricks: Pete Brandt: Death truck en partant direct de la pedale to pedaling time machine no foot puis no hand ; Daniel Molina: Bike varial to switch feet forward upside wheelie to 2 tours du velo de suite en passant par caboose et fini en backward decade ; Marco Paulo de Jesus: ghetto truck to forward time machine.
Notre avis: En ce qui concerne la qualité de réalisation, il n'existe pas d'équivalent en vidéo de bmx, le montage est parfait, la lumière et les images magnifiques, personne ne pourra vous dire le contraire. Le but de Bobby est de nous faire découvrir des riders inconnus, ces gars que l'on ne voit nulle part car ils ne peuvent ou ne veulent aller aux contests et c'est assez satisfaisant de voir des nouvelles têtes. Des plus ou moins jamais vu mais ça n'enlève rien à leurs talents, le riding de certains, mêlant old school et new school tricks est assez intéressant même si on est moins habitués maintenant à voir des tricks en squeakant dans les links. Marco Paulo, fidèle à lui-même tourne dans tous les sens comme un taré, une belle turbine crack packer pour ce vieux Pete Brandt mais celui qui m'a le plus impressionné est sans aucun doute "Balo", avec son vélo tout pourri qui reflète bien l'environnement dans lequel il roule. Un vrai tueur, en brakeless, qui maîtrise tous les rolling et turbines sur l'avant comme sur l'arrière, des bons links, surtout celui qui se termine en catapulte (smith), prodigieux. A noter l'excellente interview de Shawn White pour ceux qui souhaitent en savoir plus sur le boss de Bizhouse qui sait aussi faire du vélo. La vidéo est certes, un peu chère, mais comme toutes les œuvres de Bobby Carter, elle restera une référence en la matière.
Distribuée en France par Original Flava.
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: There should be a warning on the this video. Don't forget to blink. I was a few minutes in to watching this video and my eyes started bothering me. I realized I wasn't blinking.
This review is hard to write because I am usually left wordless after I watch it. Bobby Carter's work is amazing. The riders and tricks captured are equally amazing. Some high points were David McDanial's hang 5 to bike varial to halfpacker and Pete Brandt's pedalling blender to no footed blender to no handed blender. Sergio from San Paulo, Brazil really wowed me by Rolling into a steamroller with no hands straight to grabbing the seat and rear peg. He doesn't touch the bars until the fourth trick into the link be and the dude can still do a Scurfer. Once again Bobby Carter reminds me why I ride flatland.
Manu Massabova, www.agoride.com, 09/10/2003: Bobby continue son exploration du flatland et nous la fait partager à travers des personnages et des endroits plus ou moins connus et comme pour les précédents numéros, un régal pour les yeux.
Riders: Stephan Royer, Tony Aguirre , Art Thomason, TJ Perry, Brian Chapman, Erin Donato, Ed Nussbaum, Stephan Cerra, The Southriders crew: Terry Adams, Eugene Collins, Mickey Gaidos, Carrey Matthews, Zack Demboske, Stephen Hearn et Scott O'brien,
Best Tricks: ça commence par le canadien Stephan Royer qui nous embrouille sur la roue avant, inutile de le repasser 800 fois, vous niquerez la bande de la k7 avant d'avoir compris ses tricks ! Les images d' Art Thomason sont magnifiques, comme tout le reste de la vidéo d'ailleurs, bon le gars est fort, ok mais y a pas de quoi se couper un bras sur son riding. Par contre le gars de news England, Brian Chapman, paye pas de mine comme ça mais sous ses airs de jeune premier ça défouraille sur le bike: death truck no foot, karl kruser pivot to x-footed half packer, double spinning switchiker comme vous ne l'avez jamais vu ou encore sa sortie de pedaling upside wheelie en remontant en death truck back ! Et une qui donne une leçon à toutes les personnes qui se poseraient encore la question de savoir si ce sport peut être exercé par une girl: Erin Donato avec son style smooth et ses bar whip que beaucoup d'hommes envieront. Le «sick child» Ed Nussbaum nous raconte l'histoire de son fameux cadre et sa nouvelle compagnie pendant qu'il nous martyrise de ses tricks new school brakeless et ses passages plus originaux les uns que les autres. L'enfant terrible de New Orleans, Terry Addams nous offre un festival: des links de folie qui ne s'arrêtent plus avec des jump de tous les côtés comme ce steam roller jump to crack packer les 2 pieds sur les pédales qu'il tient incroyablement longtemps ! Et ce sale gosse ne arrête pas là, il se permet le luxe de rider sous la pluie, pas une petite pluie de tapette comme chez nous, non, une averse de dingue avec 20 cm d'eau et le pire, c'est qu'il freine, squeak, pédale en time machine,...normal quoi, il est meilleur sous la pluie que nous au sec, les boules ! Sans oublier les tous derniers tricks de Stephan Cerra, tout en style avec ses shove-it et bar whip sur la pedale en steam roller par exemple.
Avis de la rédaction: pour parler franchement, au visionnage des 2 premiers vidéo-magazines de Bobby, je m'étais mordu les couilles mais pour ce 3eme numéro de Diversion, ce ne sera pas possible, je me suis mangé les dents ! Mr Carter a su créer quelquechose d'original et se faire une belle place parmi les vidéo magazine de flat, un travail artistique soigné avec des images recherchée et travaillées, privilégiant les couchers de soleil et autres lumières tamisées, comme pour les 2 premiers numéros, un régal quoi ! Ne manquez pas non plus les gars du Southriders crew, ils sont incroyables ces gars là. Distribué par: Original flava Distribution
Erin Donato on the box.
Diversion 3.0 from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
2004.
Diversion 4.0 from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
Disciplines: Flatland
Support: DVD
Durée: environ 1h
Distribution: www.liquidframe.com
Dwix, www.agoride.com, octobre 2005: Ce numéro s'est fait longuement attendre mais ça y est, il est dans les bacs. Et là attention, monsieur Carter a choisi pour beaucoup LA nation du flat, le Japon. Alors autant vous le dire d'emblée, il faut mettre des lunettes de protection indice 900. Dès les premières images, le spectateur est dépaysé. Ce pays trouve son équilibre entre traditions et modernisme. Le vélo y est un mode de transport comme un autre et de ce fait, le bmx ferait presque parti du paysage. On aurait pu s'attendre aux portraits des inévitables riders globe-trotters largement médiatisés mais non, Bobby s'est penché avant tout sur la communauté locale. Il semblerait qu'effectivement, la scène BMX puise sa force de ses propres riders: l'esprit communautaire y est fortement imprégnée, chose que l'on ressent tout au long de la vidéo. Les riders roulent beaucoup en jam ; la bonne humeur et les encouragements rythment les sessions. Tout cela ne fait que pousser à la progression. Les riders se comptent par lots de brouettes et forcément, on est sur le cul, à l'image de Yosuke Sakuma complètement déchainé sur la roue arrière à tel point de se demander quand est-ce qu'il n'aura plus assez de gouache pour finir son link où ça envoie des mawachigéris entre un spinning gerator et un megaspin back. Un mec à placer dans la catégorie pyromane de la back wheel aux côtés de Kotaro Tanaka. Viki et Martti s'incrustent aussi parmi les jaunes dans cette Diversion, histoire de faire un peu de la promo. Attention à ne pas se faire piquer par Martti en espèce de karl kruser decade cobra whip. Danger ! Néanmoins, on ne se laisse pas déconcerter comme Yoshihiro Shinde qui s'échappe en pedaling deaht truck ou alors préfère se poser plus en hauteur sur la fourche que sur les pegs. Petit détour ensuite au KOG, et on constate que c'est toujours l'overdose de tricks et de style. Mais penchons nous plutôt sur les personnes, chacune d'elles font vivre cette scène: Kotaro fait vraiment ce qu'il veut avec sa roue arrière. Ceux qui ont cherché en vain la part de Tsutomu Kitayama dans le dvd Twenty vont être ravis. La vidéo est enrobée de moments hilarants comme la pub Liquidframe (ceux qui ont vu la Diversion 3 savent de quoi je parle), Martti qui nous fait un run sur "une roue", une fan de Terry Adams qui se précipite sur lui pour lui demander un autographe, un trip au resto où tous les riders se mettent à dire "worldwide" avec les mains (l'accent d'Akira est E-NOR-ME). Par contre, je m'attendais à des images de contrées voisines telles que la Malaisie ou Singapour mais que néni, peut-être que Bobby a voulu garder tout ça pour le prochain numéro. Néanmoins, on se délectera des nombreux bonus: un shuffle qui se balade un peu partout aux States et au Japon encore, une jam au Costa Rica organisée par Manuel Prado pour booster la scène locale, un arrêt au Portugal où Valter Guerreiro et Pedro Melo brillent par leur originalité (Ceci dit Sergio Goncalves manque à l'appel !) et enfin la Voodoo jam (une petite pensée aux riders qui ont subi les catastrophes cycloniques de cette année) où Alex Jumelin et Raphaël Chiquet se sont bien fait remarqués. Vous l'avez compris ce dvd m'a séduit tant par la qualité des images que la sélection musicale variée et de très bon goût. Bravo Bobby !
Vincent Gastellier, www.agoride.com: La Diversion 5 realisee par mister Bobby Carter (ou l'homme qui téléphone en Death truck) est axée Japon cette fois. Il est parti à l'occasion du KOG et en a profiter pour filmer un peu quoi ! On retrouve le niveau fabuleux du KOG, qui est à l'image des vidéos que l'ont voit sur Internet et en plus on retrouve des riders sur des spots que l'on ne connaît pas. Ce qui est bien dans ce DVD c'est que l'on découvre enfin (pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas) ce qu'est le Japon, a quoi ressemble leurs spots, leur environnement, et leur niveau. On retrouve dans cette vidéo Kotaro, Uchi, Travis Collier avec deux links mortels et d'autres très bon riders. Honnêtement j'ai adoré regarder ce DVD, il est très bien monté, très propre et tout le monde a pris sa claque.
Darren Hough, www.facebook.com, march 2012: That's me at 21:10! :) Unfortunately Nev took a bunch of other footage of me that he later said he lost, which was why I was the only Athens Family guy who didn't get interviewed for that one. I was stoked to get that clip though. Thanks for posting this one E, hadn't seen this in years!
Yoshushi Tanabe in Japan on the cover.
diversionvm05 from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
Martin, www.global-flat.com, october 2006: So let’s have a look at Diversion 6.0. On the cover we can see Jonathan Danker riding in Singapore and that already reveals where Bobby wants to take us once more. Right, to Asia. After some introducing scenes we start our trip in Singapore. Bobby says a few words about the city and I directly start liking this DVD. It’s so refreshing to have some spoken comments in a flatland video. But not only Bobby is commenting, also most of the riders you can see, say at least a few words. That’s quite interesting because you also learn something about the way of life over there. Singapore seems to have tons of great spots. We meet for example Anton Tang at night in a parking garage. Doors are open, no cars inside, white clean walls, very well-lit. Why can’t I find spots like this in my city ? ;-) It’s time to move to the north. We’re in Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia now. The section is quite short and we only visit a jam session in some kind of multipurpose hall. Nevertheless we hear a few words from the locals and get an impression of Malaysia. Next up is Japan. The first person we meet here is Fumiaki Okayama, he’s doing a cross-handed-pedal-hangfive to bar-spin-landing at the very beginning of this section. Whatever ? Afterwards we visit several spots. Some of them are already known from Diversion 5.0 and you can start to feel like a Japan insider. Ahh, I know this spot .. Bobby shows a lot of underground riders in this section and my feeling is that the average level of riding is incredible high in Japan. Everybody is pumping and spinning it. What do you associate with Japan ? Of course the KOG - King of Ground. Time to hit the Jykk bus and drive to Kobe. Bobby really managed to capture the atmosphere of this hugeimage contest. We all know the japanese hardcore riding level from several videos but in Diversion 6.0 you can also feel the spirit. After this giant contest with hundreds of visitors we visit Yasushi Tanabe and his family. He started riding together with Shinsuke Ueda (“059 brand” owner) and shows us his styles and moves on a big empty parking lot surrounded by the mountained countryside. After about 35 minutes the main part of our trip across Asia is over. But in the bonus section we can book a trip to the Ticos Jam 3 in Costa Rica. Furthermore there are 20 minutes of bonus footage from Trever Meyer, Dickie Sanders, Eugene Collins, Justin Miller and various riders in Kobe, Japan. Diversion 6.0 is definitely a superb successor for Volume 5. Again bobby proves that he can keep and improve the high quality level of the previous issues. Great camera work, smooth soundtrack and awesome riding! Worldwide!
Manu Massabova, www.agoride.com, décembre 2006: Au Programme: Sessions in Singapore with riders from around Asia, Ground Force Flatland Promotion, Join a session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Underground riders in Tokyo, Yokosuka, and Okayama, Shotaro Teshigahara's Car Jump in the middle of Tokyo, KOG Round 2 in Kobe, Visit the unique life of Yasushi Tanabe in the Home of the Ninjas.
Bonus: 20 Minutes de footage avec Trever Meyer, Dickie Sanders, Eugene Collins, Justin Miller et les riders de Kobe, Ticos Jam 3 segment from Fuel TV
Avis de la rédaction: Comme à l'accoutumée, Bobby se transforme en agence de voyage et nous fait visiter des pays de l'autre bout de la planète avec des décors de rêve en privilégiant principalement la beauté de l'image.
Si vous voulez être dépaysé, découvrir des cultures et des scenes étrangères et surtout des riders inconnus, alors ruez vous sur ce DVD. Bobby prends son temps (les images ont plus d'un an) mais le résultat est au-delà de tout ce que vous avez pu voir en réalisation et images fantastiques.
Seul bémol dans cette production, c'est sa manie de filmer les riders en tournant autour d'eux dans le sens inverse de leur rotation. L'effet est sympa au début mais file le mal de mer à force.
Diversion, c'est surtout l'occasion de découvrir des riders rares et néanmoins doués comme les japonais Fumiyaki Okayama (nose wheelie cross hand), Tsutomu Kitayama (boomerang to switch feet nose wheelie) ou Yasushi Wanabe qui est interviewé.
Une vidéo à voir et revoir inlassablement, notamment les bonus avec Trevor Meyer et Justin Miller qui déboitent avec leurs tricks et leur style originaux. Par contre vous pouvez mettre en avance rapide la session du témoin de Jéhovah de service (Eugene Collins), un poil barbant.
Plus un documentaire ou un reportage sur ces cultures en expansion qu'une véritable vidéo avec seulement du riding, vous allez voir des choses et des personnes qui vous feront changer votre vision de ces pays et ça c'est pas tous les jours que ça arrive.
Jonathan Danker riding in Singapore on the cover.
diversionvm06 from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
Pete Hollinger, www.global-flat.com, november 2007: Diversion 7.0, the final stage. . . as I watched the trailer a few months ago I couldn’t believe that this was going to be the last instalment of Diversion. Known for its high quality camera work, editing and documentary-type style, Diversion has been a massive hit with riders around the globe. Diversion 7.0 arrived at my door a few days ago, and it doesn’t disappoint! This issue was mainly filmed in Europe, with a tiny bit of Japan thrown in for good measure!
The video begins by taking you on a trip to Hungary where you can see all the usuals busting out, Marton Szilagyi, Adam Kun, Peter Sarlos, Peter Szabolcsi and Denes Katona (who recently had a very impressive video online).
Aaron Frost must have influenced a few people as Shane Badman and John Leblond ride in the living room of Shane’s flat in Budapest. Some very nice riding in a very small space!
On to Germany we go where Seppl and the rest of the locals show us how it’s done. Seppl with his usual crazy whiplash style and Daniel Fuhrmann, who I must say is much underrated. He busts out with some seriously long, hard combos with a few new switches I hadn’t seen before.
Most of the footage from Flatring in Paris is from outside the contest area with only a short but sweet section from the competition. Anyone who has seen Diversion 2.0 will remember Balu from Brazil who makes a new and welcome appearance in 7.0.
Home of the famous Flatground contests- Amsterdam is up next. Locals Styse Winkel and Dez Maarsen throw down some nice combos here, but no Bram?
Lastly and by far my favourite section- Alex Jumelin. The whole section is filmed with Alex riding brakeless, and what a treat it is! Smooth flow and amazing combos! I have watched this one quite a few times! It has to be seen to be appreciated.
Bobby doesn’t hold back when it comes to the bonus section either. This on its own could have been produced into a DVD. Some amazing riding in these parts, my favourites being Peter Sarlos, who throws down some sick new switches and Seiji Sakata, who always blows me away.
There is a nice mini-vid from the last COB event in Japan, with some funny footage of Scott O’Brien trying to negotiate with a security guard.
I was also pleased to see some riding on there by the Keating brothers from my home country Ireland.
And so there we have it, Diversion 7.0, the final stage. Although I am disappointed there will be no new issues of Diversion each one was a classic in its own right and will always be remembered this way and I’m pleased to say 7.0 is no exception!
diversionvm07 from Diversion TV on Vimeo.
Balu from Brazil in France on the cover.