Don’t miss the raw energy, skill, and creativity during your next BMX videography job. Understanding the discipline, planning your shots, and adding a personal touch to your edits will help you capture stunning footage and unforgettable moments.
surroundedmedia.com gathered information about BMX events, exciting and defining moments, pro videography tips, and professional insight to gather and create expert highlight reels for your valued customers.
Understanding BMX Categories
BMX includes distinct disciplines, each with its own style and demands. Knowing the roles these categories play in the sport is essential for capturing the right footage.
1. BMX Racing
In BMX racing, riders compete on a dirt track filled with jumps, berms, and sharp turns.
What to Capture:
Starting Gate: High-intensity moments include riders lined up, and the explosive start from the gate.
Jumps and Landings: Focus on riders catching air over jumps and their skillful landings.
Tight Corners: Showcase riders navigating berms and overtaking competitors.
Finish Line Drama: Capture the sprints to the finish and emotional celebrations.
2. BMX Freestyle
Freestyle involves performing tricks and stunts in different environments, such as skateparks, flat ground, or dirt jumps. Subcategories include park, street, vert, dirt, and flatland.
What to Capture:
Park: Riders using ramps, rails, and boxes to execute tricks.
Street: Tricks performed on urban obstacles like stairs, rails, and ledges.
Vert: Aerial stunts on half-pipes, focusing on height and style.
Flatland: Precision tricks on a flat surface, emphasizing balance and control.
Dirt: Riders performing tricks on dirt mounds, with dramatic mid-air shots.
3. BMX Big Air
This discipline highlights massive ramps where riders perform gravity-defying tricks.
What to Capture:
Takeoff: Show the anticipation and intensity before a rider launches off the ramp.
Mid-Air Tricks: Capture flips, spins, and other aerial maneuvers.
Landing: The rider’s control and technique during high-speed landings are key moments.
Watch this BMX Racing highlight reel
Best Moments to Capture
BMX is all about speed, precision, and style. Capturing these elements is essential for creating engaging footage.
1. Airborne Tricks and Jumps
Whether it’s a simple jump or an intricate backflip, airborne moments are central to BMX. Use slow motion to highlight the height, rotation, and creativity of tricks.
2. Competitor Interactions
In races, focus on moments of overtaking, crashes, or close finishes. In freestyle, document how riders encourage or challenge each other during sessions.
3. Rider Expressions
Zoom in on riders’ faces to capture determination, joy, or focus. These emotional moments bring a human element to the footage.
4. Environmental Context
Include shots that show the track layout, skatepark design, or urban environment to provide context for the action.
Watch this POV video of a rider negotiating a BMX track.
Creating a Sensational Highlight Reel
A great BMX highlight reel blends technical mastery and storytelling. Here’s how to achieve that.
1. Start Strong
Open with a dynamic moment to grab attention, such as a high-speed start, a spectacular crash, or a dramatic slow-motion trick.
2. Showcase Variety
Incorporate footage from different categories and angles, blending high-energy racing with creative freestyle tricks. Highlight a mix of technical skills, such as clean landings, and bold moves, like mid-air spins.
3. Add Personality
Feature individual riders’ unique styles, from their trick choices to their expressions. Including candid moments, like riders celebrating or preparing, adds depth.
4. Use Creative Editing
Music: Choose energetic tracks appropriate for BMX’s energetic and edgy vibe, such as hip-hop, punk, or electronic music.
Slow Motion: Use slow motion to emphasize dramatic jumps or close races.
Transitions: Smooth transitions between scenes keep the footage dynamic and engaging.
Videography Tips for BMX
1. Choose the Right Equipment
Action Cameras: Mount them on bikes or helmets for a first-person perspective.
High-Speed Cameras: Use these for capturing fast action and slow-motion effects.
Gimbals and Stabilizers: Keep footage smooth, even during high-motion scenes.
Drones: Aerial shots of tracks or riders in action add a unique perspective.
2. Position Strategically
Racing Tracks: Position yourself near jumps, sharp turns, or the finish line for dramatic footage.
Skateparks: Focus on areas with action, like ramps or rails.
Dirt Trails: Set up near the highest jumps for spectacular mid-air shots.
3. Anticipate the Action
Learn the flow of a BMX event to predict where the best moments will happen. Understanding rider routines and common trick setups can help you position yourself effectively.
4. Use Multiple Angles
Film from a variety of perspectives, such as wide shots for context and close-ups for detail. Incorporate creative angles, like shooting from below ramps or alongside riders.
5. Capture the Atmosphere
Don’t forget the crowd, announcers, and overall setting. These elements provide context and enhance the storytelling in your video.
BMX Sports
In this article, you discovered information about BMX events, exciting and defining moments, pro videography tips, and professional tips to gather and create expert highlight reels for your valued customers.
BMX videography is more than just following the bike (it’s telling the story of the event and rider skills). Understanding the event, focusing on the high-speed drama of a race or the artistic expression of a freestyle trick, and creating engaging highlight reels allows you to create videos that resonate with riders and fans.
Failure to learn how BMX events are structured and where the excitement happens will result in poor and embarrassing footage, missed action shots, and disappointed clients.
Sources:
usabmx.com
usacycling.org/team-usa/bmx
Video Credit:
Red Bull
Sebastian Aslaksrud