Robb Alvey's Coaster Season 2001video
Well, I decided to write a review for this video because I come from a totally unbiased position. I have never seen any of Robb's videos before and
I just got to know both Robb and Elissa last year.
I thought this was a well done video. I know some people had problems
with the music but I didn't. I am not a fan of Nsync and some other pop music that was in there but each song fit well into each segment. Also, there was just as much alt. rock used in the video too. I esp. like the use of the Josie
and the Pussycats song and the the BNL song. I had thought about using them
for the video I will be making this year but you beat me to it.
Where this video really shined through was the editing. I am a Mass Commnucations major in Electronic Media so I know a little bit about editing. I thought the cuts were really well done. I esp. liked the splitscreen stuff that was done. I know some may complain about not enough
coaster footage but the title of the video is " Robb Alvey's Coaster Season 2001." Besides he does have a coaster footage video.
The video quality was excellent. This was shot on MiniDV so all of the video has a very professional look to it. The other amazing thing about the video is how good it looks on VHS.
Robb has obviously been doing this for years and you can tell by how good he as at his filming. He is very good at composing shots on the fly. Alot of the footage on this video looks better than anything I have seen in many of the coaster specials. I know Elissa and others shot some of the
footage too.
I also found alot of this video to be very funny. The running gag with them playing DDR at practically every park. It had alot of funny moments of people I know doing stupid things and it preserves Jeff Johnsons great
fashion sense for the whole world to see(can you say orange).
In conclusion I really enjoyed this video(hey, I even had a brief cameo). I know some of the complaints are too much Elissa or the kids or Derek(just kidding LOL) but the title of the tape is Robb Alvey's Coaster Season 2001. So if you want a video that has coasters, people making idiots
of themselves, The Swingman and good production values this is a good one to get.
Barry Short
(who wants a percentage of the gross not the net)
*** This post was edited by Barry Short on 1/3/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by Barry Short on 1/3/2002. ***
Good:
a) The video production and editing are excellent. Most of the music choices are also really good
b) There's a wide array of parks and rides shown
c) They play DDR
d) They're fellow Marylanders
e) Elissa loves Intamin
Bad:
a) It's like watching someone's home movies.
b) Elissa is shown constantly getting out of her seat, or having her lapbar dangerously above her lap [comment removed by me after offline discussion]
c) There's a lot of inside jokes
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Batwing-Bow Down
*** This post was edited by Intamin Fan on 1/7/2002. ***
The upside of things these days though is that DV cameras at least produce good enough video that the quality is usually quite good (though it bothers me that most Sony cameras use the fast shutter by default).
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
I got the feeling that the video was that way which is the main reason I have not purchased it. I have also come to the conclusion that the video features a lot of scenes of people. I want to see the coasters not the people (no offense to anyone in the video).
*** This post was edited by FanTurn on 1/3/2002. ***
FanTurn, the video actually seemed to be done extremely professionally. Except for the fact you see the same group of people over and over, you wouldn't think it even was a home video. If you just want coasters, the other coaster video he has for sale has almost no people at all in it and is just plain coasters. Very good as well.
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"Let's get it on! So, quotes The Swingman!" -The Swingman, Quassy Amusement Park
*** This post was edited by Koaster King on 1/4/2002. ***
I apologize if I'm wrong , but that's the impression they give off to me.
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September 11th, 2001. We will never forget. Peace!
DWeaver, you are right that there are those elements you listed in the video. Except for it's usually more than just Robb and Elissa mugging for the camera. And I should add that I recognized too many of the other "muggers" in the video! The one question I constantly had was "How do they afford to travel like they do?"
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Until you get a parking space with your own name on it, you're still part of the GP.
*** This post was edited by Intamin Fan on 1/3/2002. ***
Wow she said that Intamin Fan. Dang thats messed up. Its peeps like her that gets rides Ostr's and uneccessary brakes. They get ejected. And thats the sad truth
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Hart High. Indian Pride.
Intamin Fan said:
"How do they afford to travel like they do?"
I Wish I could afford to travel like that. I'm Lucky to get to go to SFFT, and SFAW this summer, and I live it Texas.
--Greg, who makes a cameo in Robb's Season video
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--Greg
"The questions ticket agents ask at airports are useless, but give an illusion of security to the GP. Much like seatbelts on roller coasters...
My page
Intamin Fan said:
Bad:
a) It's like watching someone's home movies.
b) [..]
c) There's a lot of inside jokes
I have nothing to do with Robb and Elissa .. in fact, I don't even know them.
But, Robb has always designed his movies with a 'home video' feel .. complete with the inside jokes and goofyness. I'm not trying to suggest that you have to like this sort of thing, just that it's to be expected with his movies. (The last two were even titled "Home Movies"!)
Cam.
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Cameron Silver
I felt that there was plenty of emphasis on the rides and parks in the Coaster Season video, and found Robb and friends to be pretty darn entertaining. The people, along with the music, lend personality to the video - something that is lacking in the Goldhil videos/DVDs.
*** This post was edited by Olsor on 1/4/2002. ***
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"Conviction is a luxury for those who sit on the sidelines"-A Beautiful Mind(best film of 2001)
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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."
If you have any questions about the video, feel free to ask!
You can download that IAAPA segment at www.themeparkreview.com
--Robb
PS. I'm not sure where the 'fat mexican' comment came from, as I don't ever remember Elissa saying anything like that, nor is she the type of person who would say that, unless it was something that was taken out of context or misunderstood. I just wanted to clear that up! I don't know who "Intamin Fan" is, and don't recall riding SROS at SFA with anyone but the two of us, Derek Ruth, or Ted Ansley this year.
lata,
jeremy
P.S. Tell Elissa the cookies she brought to the Batwing shoot were excellent!
You remember how on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it shows her lift her leg up? Well, she didn't put the lap bar there. The people that run the ride at Disney push it down only about 6 inches....EVERY CAR'S LAP BAR IS THAT HIGH! Unless, you feel unsafe and pull it down, but it's not like the ride has severe enough airtime to throw you. Oh yeah, and when I rode MF this past summer, my lap bar was always really loose. Tell me, what's so bad about this? If you don't die, then I don't think it's a problem.
Geting back to the video, I've had it since late November, and I LOVE it. Out of the three he's done, this is definitely his best. And, if you don't understand the inside jokes, pay a visit to RRC and learn about a few of them. I understood everything in the video and had a grand old time watching it.
"Thank you for getting me out of the Hell-forsaken park, it was just bloody awful. Now let's go eat some chinese food." - The Jolly Jolly Jolly Q-Bot at SFOG.
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Bomb Squad Technician
If you see me running, try and keep up!
Then there's an issue of people with cameras on rides. It's not for a TV or video(not home) production, when filming is planned and professional within some safe standards, it's an enthusiast, who pays to go to the park with the rest of the public. IMO, a perfect example of when someone who is an enthusiast legitimizing thier behavior because they are an enthusiast. Sure, a person may ask the ride operator for permission, but it's taking advantage of the ops because it is in violation of safety rules put into effect by the parks to protect people from, well cameras & such. A ride op may say yes, but they know it's in violation. That's why these people ask the ride ops, instead of asking park management.
I can see it now, next season there'll be even more people carrying cameras around filming:rolleyes:, it's a contagious disorder. Parks aren't obligated to give us a place to film, only a safe place to be amused.
Lap bars - Just so you all know, Elissa and I are not the type of people to 'force' a high lap bar, or do anything to try and 'leave it up'. Anytime the lap bar was high, a ride op left it that way. We don't do anything to try and 'trick' a ride op into thinking it's as far down as it can go, and we're not complainers if it gets pushed down. And yeah, that is the case with Big Thunder. The ride op pushes it down. And that's about the same level it's at when I take Dallas on too!
Standing up - We are NOT the type of people who would 'stand up' on a ride. The two incidents in the video were based on inside jokes, especially the Knoebel's Twister one, where, if you get in the car, pull your bar down one click, the ride op leaves it there and usually says something like "hold on now!"
Inside Jokes - Not only can some of the inside jokes be found on RRC, but also on our website, which we've felt has always been an extension of the video and vice versa. In fact, most of the pictures that were posted there this year were grabs from the video, so by looking the pictures posted in 2001, you can get a pretty good idea as to what the content of the video is like also.
Cameras on rides - Most of what I shot on rides this year was at media days or when I had the parks permission. Speed: The Ride, for example, we asked head of time and because the place was so empty, they let us take a couple of 'solo' rides with the camera. Same thing with Phantom's Revenge. Marylou actually duct taped the camera to my hand! =) And some parks just don't have camera policies, like anywhere in CA and FL, Knoebel's, Miracle Strip, Visionland, Jazzland, Wild Adventures, etc.
The other note about the video that I saw someone mention is that they weren't too sure if they'd like them which is why they didn't order them. Well, I do the videos on the 'honor' system, which is a 'try before you buy'. I send the videos out first, then you send me the money. I would have no problem with someone that didn't like them returning them to me. I understand that everyone has different tastes, and believe me, neither Elissa nor I would consider ourselves 'self-satisfied' people, we just like to go to parks, have fun, and meet as many other fun people as we can! So please, don't hesitate to introduce yourselves if you ever see us at a park! And how do we afford it? Hehe, lots of middle of the night driving, dirt cheap scary motels, and begging for time off at work! It's not like we're rich or anything, we just always watch for those internet specials! =)
Anyway, thanks again for all the feedback, it really does help us!
--Robb
www.themeparkreview.com
*** This post was edited by Robb Alvey on 1/6/2002. ***
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