Comments on: BIKING + GUITAR HERO

BIKING + GUITAR HERO

boo_radley — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:28:55 -0800

By: grimmelm

grimmelm — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:38:34 -0800

Wow. This is wonderful. Many beautiful moments: the timing with the car at 1:50, the double-hand gesture at 2:24, the score multiplier at 2:50, and especially the [spoiler] at 3:18.

By: knave

knave — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:40:24 -0800

Activision goes viral.

By: aubilenon

aubilenon — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:46:25 -0800

Wow.

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:46:57 -0800

Obama should hire these guys.

By: Kinbote

Kinbote — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:50:15 -0800

Dayum.

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:52:55 -0800

Damn you, boo_radley. I'm gonna go on a forwarding bender because of this.

By: phirleh

phirleh — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:57:16 -0800

You Rock! I love the Michel Gondry-ness of it. Its strange, I was just watching the making of Star Guitar earlier today.

By: stargell

stargell — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:59:03 -0800

Is this the food critic kid?

By: procrastination

procrastination — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:11:26 -0800

That was awesome. I watched it twice.

By: Caduceus

Caduceus — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:13:12 -0800

That was the most amazing slyt we've ever had.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:14:04 -0800

My god, that is some serious work. Where is the making of??

By: phatboy

phatboy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:18:23 -0800

Any chance this is fake? There are a lot of points where the biker looks away from the trail which could have been used to hide edits. Most suspiciously at 3:05.

By: empath

empath — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:22:10 -0800

that's fucking glorious.

By: Caduceus

Caduceus — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:24:16 -0800

Any chance this is fake? There are a lot of points where the biker looks away from the trail which could have been used to hide edits. Most suspiciously at 3:05. You know what, even if they did it in more than one take, it's still fucking amazing, and they deserve all the mad props available.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:28:25 -0800

BEST OF WEB

By: defenestration

defenestration — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:30:32 -0800

Very, very cool. The tempo of a song, alteration of physical space, speed of bicycle rider and a POV camera all work in concert in a meticulously choreographed and coordinated effort to create a piece of recorded art. I don't mind that they went for the video game reference by recreating the gaming experience in a new context but imagine if the entire video was based on an original concept? It'd lose a lot of the novelty, but could be even more interesting. Mind you, I'm not saying this doesn't fucking rule... a lot of work must have gone into this. I'm not attempting to be the 'lazy critic' here; I'm merely pondering. Thanks for sharing this, boo_radley.

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:30:42 -0800

Yeah I'm thinking corporate viral vid -- it was just way too amazing! (No offense to the folks who made it if it's not. Actually, take that as a huge compliment, cuz HOLY SHIT!!)

By: tylermoody

tylermoody — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:32:50 -0800

I hate guitar hero, and I love this post.

By: empath

empath — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:35:36 -0800

I'd give this about a 90% chance of being a viral from an ad agency and 100% chance of me not caring.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:37:01 -0800

Please help me understand what this is. What is the Guitar Hero and why is all that painting on the ground being biked over so cool?

By: empath

empath — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:40:30 -0800

seriouslY? Guitar Hero

By: gwint

gwint — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:47:47 -0800

I kept waiting for the Bat For Lashes girl to show up. That said, holy awesome.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:00:18 -0800

As my mother would say, people are so creative.

By: sperose

sperose — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:02:38 -0800

This is fucking brilliant.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:06:31 -0800

And I think it's fascinating how our reaction to things like this has become one of balancing awe and how-fucking-cool (if it's real) with aw-bullshit what-crap (if it's some viral ad), until the question is resolved. And the two categories are coming closing every month. What happens when they actually merge - when a video like this is (somehow) simultaneously made by a) a bunch of super-creative kids with too much time on their hands and b) some heartless ad agency with deep, deep pockets, trying to sell us cars or video games?

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:09:38 -0800

Ok. Totally lacking the cultural references, but I hate it when someone posts something that makes me think something I hate is cool. Now I want to be in the know. Hate video games, hate stupid biking, hate dumb song, but this rules. Kids these days with too much time on their hands. When I was their age the internet was for porn.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:10:29 -0800

empath, thanks for the education. I get it now.

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:16:37 -0800

Holy effing shit. That was seriously, seriously good work.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:28:29 -0800

Watching it with the sound off is really, really boring.

By: Caduceus

Caduceus — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:35:22 -0800

Hate video games, hate stupid biking, hate dumb song, but this rules. You hate video games and biking, but you're linking to Avenue Q? What now?

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:48:17 -0800

That was pretty tops.

By: spork

spork — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:45 -0800

Of course it's fake. They filmed it (camera boom?), added dots and what-have-you digitally, then greenscreen a guy "riding" the film. And by riding I mean holding up handlebars in front of a greenscreen. This cost over a $100,000 to make. Okay, that's my guess.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:43:23 -0800

That was really quite cool even though I hate you and your SLYT posts.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:44:14 -0800

I don't blame you; I'm basically terrible.

By: xorry

xorry — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:49:05 -0800

spork needs more beer! viral but still fun.

By: foodmapper

foodmapper — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:53:00 -0800

Great find! Very entertaining. I am going with the 'ad agency' guess. I spend a lot of time biking and a) the hands on the handlebars seem to be at far too low an angle for somebody actually on a bike putting some weight on them (these are almost horizontal, superman style), and b) the camera doesn't seem jumpy enough when going over the grass and curbs. But still, a great idea and pretty well executed. I approve.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:53:42 -0800

Okay, I don't get it.

By: kcds

kcds — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:14:44 -0800

I liked the bit where the bike rode over the colored dots, all set to music. That was cool.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:17:47 -0800

Okay, I watched empath's link and I still don't get it.

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:21:57 -0800

meh? OK, is this cool because it imitates some video game? It sure is not interesting in its own right. Some preteens play with a video camera. ??? We are in pocket protector territory here.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:35:17 -0800

Very cool! I wonder how long it took to set all that up?

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:05:44 -0800

Seconding the wow. And zowie.

By: Mikey-San

Mikey-San — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:10:15 -0800

By: Solon and Thanks

Solon and Thanks — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:53:36 -0800

Metafilter: We are in pocket protector territory here.

By: empath

empath — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:13:00 -0800

We are in pocket protector territory here. Get Off My Lawn!

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:38:40 -0800

(Thanks, empath (imagine if that kid learned how to play an actual guitar? The mind boggles)). What a funny video. I'm old and like cheese. Crazy kids.

By: honest knave

honest knave — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:06:30 -0800

What is controlling the lights? When he picks his hands up to show the time, the lights on the bike keep blinking. Explain?

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:32:03 -0800

I didn't get it either. Thanks for explaining empath! Still, disappointing - the link text BIKE HERO had me all fired up to see someone doing some amazing tricks on a bike.

By: sveskemus

sveskemus — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:18:04 -0800

This. This is... This is fucking amazing!

By: DU

DU — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:11:59 -0800

I can see my lawn from here. And he's riding all over it.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:20:55 -0800

Did every other generation act like this as they got older? "I'm cool and hip, and I don't know anything about this, so it must not be cool and hip! Only nerds like video games. And Facebook? That's dumb. I already have friends."

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:59:36 -0800

This is really awesome...I can't imagine how many takes it took to get the timing roughly correct. Metafilter: That's dumb. I already have friends.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:40:03 -0800

By: JBennett

JBennett — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:42:14 -0800

Wow! I hope for their sanity that they were smart enough to take advantage of some of those "look away's" and edited this together from multiple takes. BUT, I suspect it's one take and those were just the rider checking before turning corners/intersections.

By: owtytrof

owtytrof — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:50:08 -0800

Meh. I'd be impressed if he did it on expert.

By: owtytrof

owtytrof — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:50:19 -0800

Maybe.

By: djgh

djgh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:45:40 -0800

I thought that at certain times the handlebars looked edited in, but still cool. Of course, if it turns out to be a viral, my outrage will know no bounds, etc. etc.

By: elwoodwiles

elwoodwiles — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:15:05 -0800

I think it was awesome. In addition, I'll not be checking this thread ever again, so if it's viral, maybe I'll never know...

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:58:17 -0800

I thought that at certain times the handlebars looked edited in, but still cool. Yeah totally, also the toilet paper was obviously faked and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the real Lars Ümlaüt.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:41:25 -0800

Still, disappointing - the link text BIKE HERO had me all fired up to see someone doing some amazing tricks on a bike. But he took it off that sweet jump! He got like three feet of air that time.

By: thsmchnekllsfascists

thsmchnekllsfascists — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:36:25 -0800

man, kids these days need to get off their couches and learn how to ride a REAL bike....oh shit...wait.

By: nev

nev — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:11:02 -0800

Made by an ad agency

By: nev

nev — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:19:17 -0800

with CGI notes.

By: nev

nev — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:22:31 -0800

Correct link

By: graventy

graventy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:33:40 -0800

What is controlling the lights? When he picks his hands up to show the time, the lights on the bike keep blinking. Explain? I presume the LEDs were preprogrammed to display the notes in time to the song. To explain a bit further, Guitar Hero is a game where you use a fake plastic guitar to hit 5 colored notes in time to them sliding down the screen. The various effects throughout the video (the "50 Note Streak!" "100 Note Streak!" etc) are part of the game, and the song always ends with a "You Rock!" even if you suck. Certain notes are shaped like stars as they come down, and will fill up a "Star Power" meter. When filled, the guitar can be tilted to rock out, earning double points and generally saving you from losing the song. That's what is happening when he looks up at the lightning streamers and the notes all turn blue. It's a neat video, ad agency or not.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:57:13 -0800

Another article/interview on it. The handlebar lights were an added effect. And there were cuts. Still fun, though.

By: DOUBLE A SIDE

DOUBLE A SIDE — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:38:07 -0800

The most obvious cut is if you look at the path when the runner goes past and don't get distracted as intended, you can clearly see they've morphed over the cut....and this is done a lot better through out the rest of the clip.

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:44:48 -0800

A crummy commercial?!

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:43:32 -0800

everything i ever loaved is ded nwo