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August 2004For August, we're giving you a sneak preview of the "C Class" prototype in the Benson Kites pipeline. The first part of the video is shot in Cornwall where I'm flying test model 4C1. The second part is filmed in my usual spot in Stoke Park, where I'm flying a slightly later (but near identical) prototype 4C5. Featured tricks include the Meteor, variations on the Mutant, a number of Multi-Wrap tricks, and some interesting ways of getting off the ground, including the Volcano and Dead Flapjack. |
For August, we're giving you a sneak preview of the "C Class" prototype in the Benson Kites pipeline. The first part of the video is shot in Cornwall where I'm flying test model 4C1. The second part is filmed in my usual spot in Stoke Park, where I'm flying a slightly later (but near identical) prototype 4C5. These kites are "blanks" - there's no fancy sail graphic yet, just a simple panel layout to help tension the kite properly.
The beach sequences show the usual Wardley-esque array of combinations, including corkscrews, comets, backspins, lazy susans and wrap tricks. There's also two great examples of the first trick of the month, the Meteor. This starts with a rolling axel to drop the kite deep onto its back with the wing that you just popped pointing down towards the ground. Then you jab hard on the same line for a pure double (or triple) lazy susan. There's also a variation on the "Fruit Roll-Up" where I tap the nose on the ground. I think "Fruit Stick" is a good name for this, unless someone already has one?
The Stoke Park sequence begins with another featured trick, the Dead Flapjack. This is a dead launch going straight into a flapjack (take off, lazy susan, back to tips). There are also some other variations going into 540 lazies, with one coming out nicely into a coin slot, and another into a tip stab. This kite is easy to dead launch and also very positive to back flip, making tricks like these much easier than they look.
The other big theme in the tricks this month is the Mutant. Recall that the mutex is a general class of tricks that intersperse a flic-flac with a spin trick (e.g. flat spin, backspin, etc). If you combine two different spin tricks then it's duplex, or for three, a triplex (see the May video for examples). The mutant is like a mutex but with the nose of the kite pointing up (instead of down, as in a mutex) and using flip-flops and backflip wraps in place of the flic-flac. For example, backflip to wrap, lazy susan, unwrap and flop to nosebone, then backflip to wrap and repeat. Or, how about combining two different tricks for a Duplicant (or Duplo for short?) For example a backflip to wrap, 540 lazy, unwrap to fade, 540 backspin to nosebone, then backflip to wrap and repeat. Three different spin tricks would be a Triplicant (or Triplo?), I guess, but I'm not up there yet. In fact most of the examples in the video are really just me playing around the mutant theme, rather than trying to nail any particular repeatable combinations. But I'm working on it!
There's another cool trick towards the end of the video. This is a backflip take off into a wrap (or a double wrap), then straight into a lazy susan and unwrap. My son, Ben, christened this a Volcano.
The music is another original composition with a bit of a story behind it. Following one complaint about the cheesy muzak in a previous video, I went out, with tongue placed firmly in cheek, looking for inspiration for something deliberately cheesy and muzak-like for a soundtrack. I found a fantastic organ-riff in GarageBand that reminded me of John Lord (Deep Purple) or Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer), bashing out manic chords and screaming runs on a Hammond. I played around with it, recorded some new organ parts, added some beats, a bass line and some lead synth lines to sit over the top. The end result is, uhm, "interesting". It's called "Organic Cheez" and I sincerely hope it doesn't haunt you in your sleep as it has for me over the last few weeks.
| 00.00 | Opening credits |
| 00.09 | Take off, a brief flip-flop, then fly up, rock and back flip into a wrap. Then 540 wrapped lazy susan and unwrap into a fade. Flip it under to wrap, fly down, tap the nose and unwrap into a fade (a "Fruit Stick" perhaps? - a "Fruit Rollup" being the same thing without sticking the nose down). Half backspin to nosebone (that's the name I use for that position half way round a backspin - it's like a turtle but with the lines running back over the leading edge), catching a tip with a little bounce on the ground as it unrolls, flares away and comes up into a fade. Then 540 backspin and backflip to multi-lazy down to the ground. Axel take off, fractured into a fade, half barrel roll and backflip into a multi-lazy. Meanwhile, witness the "Wizard of Oz" effect as the colour kicks in. Timbo, we're not in Kansas anymore... :-) |
| 00.37 | Picture cross-fades to a right handed comet down the window ending in a tip spring, ground pass and a couple more axels as we cross-fade into... |
| 00.44 | ...a backspin, then fly up to top left, corkscrew down and roll it over into a backspin (a "Multi-Mobius"?). Backflip out of the backspin into a wrap, fly up and drop it back for another wrapped lazy 5. Unwrap it to fade, single backspin, then flip under for a very deep tailspin (aka "Wap-do-wap") which doesn't quite make it all the way round. Nevertheless, I somehow manage to stick the tip and roll it around to pop up into a fade, half barrel and backflip into a super smooth 720 multi-lazy. |
| 01.08 | Cross-fade to kite carving up to the left then right hand axel over into a deep turtle ready for the hard pop (right hand again) to give the pure 720 lazy (a "Meteor"). Then fly up to the right for a left handed meteor ending up in a fade. |
| 01.19 | The beach explodes tearing a hole in the fabric of space and time. Kite and anti-kite hang in a fade, being careful never to touch, lest they spontaneously annihilate each other in a huge burst of energy and mutually assured destruction. Oh no wait a minute, it's just that stupid mirror effect that I love so much! Fade, fruit stick, unwrap to fade, half barrel, backflip and lazy to a tip, nicely framing the kite that's lining up for the next slot... |
| 01.27 | Here's the dead flapjack:- a dead launch straight into a lazy susan and back down to the tips. |
| 01.32 | Another dead flapjack. |
| 01.36 | Dead launch into a lazy 540. Left hand axel leading straight into a right hand coin slot. |
| 01.41 | Dead launch and lazy around to a tip. Axel off the tip, then fractured axel into a fade and backspin. Roll out and fly up to the right. |
| 01.47 | Enter from top in gently rolling axel corkscrew, coming up for the fade into backspin. Backflip out of the backspin into a wrapped 180 lazy, then unwrap to fade and backspin the other way. Backflip out to a deep turtle and acid drop down to the tips. The backspin/wrap/lazy/unwrap and repeat sequence is an example of a "Duplicant" combination. |
| 01.58 | Enter from top right and fly down to bottom left. Rolling axel fractured into a backspin and backflip out for another wrap. This time we don't quite make the lazy, but bring it down to a tip and unwrap it off the ground. This leads straight into another mutant sequence: backspin, backflip to wrap, lazy, and unwrap, coming down to the tips on this occasion. |
| 02.13 | Axel take-off, axel back the other way and pop into a fade, flic-flac, then backspin into a rung of Jacob's ladder ending on a tip stand. Ollie off the tip and back onto it. Axel off the tip and fly out. |
| 02.29 | Take off, fly up, back flip into a double wrap. Looks like I'm trying for a third but not quite making it, so instead we unwrap down to the tips again, getting a nice bounce off the ground. |
| 02.36 | Enter from top right, backspin then backflip to a wrap. Then we have something that looks like a wrapped half barrel roll back into a fade and backspin. |
| 02.43 | Take off and rock into a back wrap, lazy susan and unwrap down to the tips. |
| 02.47 | Ground pass from right to left, carve up and roll over into a left handed comet, ending in a 540 shove-it down to the ground. Sleeping beauty off the ground with an axel to follow. |
| 02.54 | Fly down, carve up to the right and roll over into a right handed comet, ending in a shove-it to the nose. Then headspring off the ground, backspin and fly up and out. |
| 03.02 | Corkscrew down the left, pop it up into a fade and backspin the other way. Backflip to wrap, lazy susan and unwrap to tips. |
| 03.12 | Dead launch into 540 lazy, unwrap to fade and roll out. |
| 03.15 | Here's the first volcano. Backflip take-off to wrapped lazy 5 with an extra half-roll while the kite unwraps (almost, but not quite making the tip stab). Fractured axel into fade and roll out. |
| 03.20 | Kite and anti-kite re-appear from the rift in the fabric of reality, dive down, flare out, pop up into fade and half barrel roll. Then backflip for a double wrap and then a 360 shove-it with the double wrap in place (the lines stay over the top of the kite rather than tucking under the trailing edge as they would for a lazy susan). Fly up double wrapped and momentarily out of picture while the ghostly image of a kite backspinning freeze-frame-flashes across the screen. Then we see the mirror kites drop back down into frame in a turtle, half lazy and double unwrap, nice and slowly, ending with a backspin for a final flourish. |
| 03.38 | Enter from right, turn up and fracture an axel into a fade, half barrel and backflip for another double wrap. Fly up, back flip to turtle and unwrap all the way down. There a nice little pause at the bottom then an axel to fly out. |
| 03.48 | A double volcano! Backflip take-off to double wrap, lazy 5 and then double unwrap, making it down to the tip this time. Repeated a couple of time thanks to the magic of camera trickery, then axel off the tip and fly out. |
| 04.00 | Fly down and flare out deep for a tailspin to land (I know, I know everyone else calls them "Wap-do-waps" but I just can't bring myself to say it :-). More camera trickery to repeat the tailspin, then axel take-off and fly out. |
| 04.07 | Fly down for another wap-do, er, I mean "tailspin" to the tips. Kite is melted in a simulated thermonuclear explosion. |
| 04.12 | Closing credits |
The video clip and associated text are Copyright © 2004-2006 Andy Wardley.
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