Blog Archives

May 30 2014

When Spider-Man runs out of web, he free runs

With the recent release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, you might have found yourself wondering how exactly Spider-Man would get around the city if he were to ever run out of webs. That webbing can’t simply be infinite can it? Now that would just be unrealistic! Well I bet you didn’t know that Spider-Man is also an expert free runner. The Amazing Spider-Man shows off his amazing parkour skills from sprinting full speed across ledges high in the sky to jumping from building to building in this short three minute video, made all the more impressive when you consider he’s doing this while wearing a mask which MUST cut down on his visibility.

+ Who

The video stars parkour athlete Ronnie Shalvis as Spider-Man. Ronnie is known as a professional free runner, stunt coordinator, and parkour trainer. According to his website, he has been practicing this art for the last seven years and has been involved in several extremely popular parkour videos including “Assassins Creed Meets Parkour in Real Life” which has received 36 million views on YouTube to date. Ronnie also has his own YouTube channel called Ronnie Street Stunts where he has uploaded over 100 videos and accumulated over 19 million views. Another stunt man, Chris Romrell helped coordinate the video. Both Ronnie and Chris are part of the CBR Stunt Team.

+ Where

The video was shot in the city of Provo, Utah. Provo isn’t a very big city and only has a population of around 115,000 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau). That’s a far cry from the 8.3 million of New York City, where Spider-Man actually lives. But hey, for the purposes of this video, Provo’s architecture looks really nice. Most of the scenes are on rooftops of various buildings and high rises. One of the coolest parts of this video is the crew actually used a flying drone with a camera attached to it to get a lot of the overhead shots.

+ What

At the beginning of the video everything is just fine and dandy as Spider-Man slings his way around the city then at (0:14) he goes to shoot a web and finds that nothing comes out! Spider-Man falls to the ground. This doesn’t deter him for long as he flips up and begins free running at (0:21). At (0:36) he jumps off a high ledge and spins around in mid-air then at (0:52) he crawls up to the roof of a building. (1:00) Spidey literally jumps from building to building and at (1:10) he does a handstand on the corner of a skyscraper. One wrong move and he could fall… (1:26) Spider-Man crawls up what looks to be a fire escape then back flips out of a window at (1:32). At (1:37) he does some handsprings through a back alley before climbing up another fire escape at (1:40). (2:05) Spider-Man begins to climb one of the tallest buildings in the city and at (2:18) there’s a panoramic view of him hanging from part of the ladder. (2:22) some police officers respond to a call as Spider-Man watches over them from above.

Read more
May 19 2014

Parkour doesn’t have to be on foot

Parkour has become more and more popular and you often watch a video to see people scaling buildings and leaping over various obstacles, but Ronnie Shalvis is taking parkour up a notch. Ronnie brings in a car and shows off his parkour skills by leaping, jumping, flipping and sliding all over a car. Ronnie doesn’t just stop with parked cars either, but also flips and jumps over a moving vehicle all at a park structure showing you that there is nothing you can’t do with parkour with a little time, a lot of talent and your imagination. He doesn’t even just leave it to jumping over or around a car, but going through as well leaving you shaking your head as you watch.

+ Who

Ronnie Shalvis stars in this car parkour video. He jumps, flips and slides over a parked car leaving you watching in amazement and wonder as he performs each stunt. The leaping and flying over a parked car is one thing, but Ronnie also adds a touch of style by jumping over a moving car as it’s driving by all filmed by Warialasky. Ronnie is a professional parkour trainer, free runner and stunt coordinator from Utah and has spent the last seven years training and perfecting his craft and for the last two years has worked as a professional stuntman with his crew.

+ Where

This video of Ronnie Shalvis is an urban landscape featuring a parking structure where he does all his parkour stunts. From moving cars to parked cars, Ronnie shows off his skills in parkour and free running. The Moscow – Minsk House provides the soundtrack as we watch Ronnie do his thing keeping the video upbeat and high energy.

+ What

Kicking off this video, Ronnie Shalvis drives into a deserted parking area and stops. Getting out he gets right to work showing of his parkour skills (0:14). After a few backflips to get a bit of distance, Ronnie leaps to the top of the car (0:18) and flips off before launching into his next set of skills. He leaps and jumps over the entire car (0:23) in a mix of power and grace. One of the most exciting moments is the complete jump over the car (0:42) without touching it at all adding in a little rolling flip. As the video continues, Ronnie opens the back doors on the car (0:51) and goes right through showing off his dexterity. An eye-catching moment is the leap off the cement wall (1:03) over the car driving by ending in a tuck and roll. After a few leaps over the car onto the cement wall (1:11) Ronnie really shows off his power by hurdling several parked cars (1:18) with different and unique moves.

Read more
Feb 02 2014

Team Zoic at Rebounderz

This fun video highlights Team Zoic, a parkour and freerunning team out of Orlando as they take on and conquer Rebounderz, a trampoline park in Orlando Florida. The team bounces around the trampolines, doing flips and kicks from trampoline to trampoline and into a foam pit. They also play dodgeball and dunk basketballs. The guys show off their parkour and freerunning skills all over this trampoline park and show how to get the most out of an amazingly fun theme park. Watch this video and you’ll definitely get the itch to head to the closest trampoline park to you get some bouncing in.

Rebounderz is the best trampoline park I’ve been to so far. Last time I was in Orlando I visited out another one called Airheads first, but it was closed for a kid’s birthday party. When I visited Rebounderz I was glad I hadn’t paid at the other one since it looked way better equipped. I spent a few hours jumping around and playing dodgeball. It’s amazing how tiring it is if you go all out.

+ Who

Team Zoic, or Zoic Nation, are a group of traceurs/freerunners from Orlando, Florida in the United States. The members are Jon Watson, Andy Taylor, Angle Santiago, Gareth Norvell, Mark Stowell, Will Brown, Crazy Stupid Kid Jimmy, Casey Jones. They have a very active presence on social media including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Vimeo. In their own words, they are a group dedicated to having fun and spreading their love of parkour, and not getting tied down in defining what it means to do parkour, free-running or tricking. They are simply all about having fun and accepting all styles as they get better and enjoy life.

+ Where

This video was filmed at Rebounderz in Orlando, Florida. Rebounderz is an indoor trampoline arena promising family fun and fitness. They have an open jump arena, with trampolines on the floor and sides that adds up to 24,000 square feet to jump. They also have a foam pit jumper, where you can launch yourself into a pit of foam squares, a dodgeball arena, and a basketball dunking jumper. They also host parties (which include pizza) and summer camps. On the Rebounderz website you can take a virtual tour, sign your wavier form (all jumpers must sign a waiver) and book your party.

+ What

The video begins with the Zoic crew getting out of their cars and heading in to the arena. They begin jumping (0:17) into the foam pit, and then take on the open jump arena (0:24). Shots of foam pit jumping and open pit jumping and flips are mixed until (1:18) when the crew gets together for an exciting game of dodgeball. At (1:38) we see some breakdancing on the floor. More dodgeball and shots of Rebounderz are joined by more foam pit jumping and then (2:15) basketball dunking. (2:35) the video ends with Jon Watson, the Youtuber and member who uploaded the video, talking about next week’s video and instructing users about how to manage their Youtube subscriptions.

Read more
Dec 05 2013

InMotionCZ parkour in Prague

Set to Kdrew’s “Danger Zone,” this video follows several young parkour and free running enthusiasts through a lot of different urban settings in Prague, Czech Republic. The cityscapes themselves deserve their own video, I’d definitely like to visit some of the locations that are featured in this video.

There’s a lot of interesting camera work that really puts you in the head-space of these guys, lots of movement and low angles to keep your adrenaline flowing. It’s difficult to capture the horizontal movements of parkour–a lot of people unfamiliar with it assume that it’s all about jumps and showing off. The beauty of this video is that it shows both sides of parkour. Some are drawn to the self-expression of movement, while others simply want a quick and smooth way to get from place to place. My hat’s off to their cameraman, who’s able to capture the motivations that bring people into the sport.

No Fear is the theme of this video. To question yourself while freerunning is to ask to get hurt, and swallowing your fear is essential to letting your body flow around obstacles and do what it needs to. Thinking “I could never do that” is the biggest obstacle we have to overcome before mastering our environment. The group is called InMotionCZ, and they definitely live up to their name.

Read more