Powerful Techniques In Off The Edge

“Off the Edge” is a documentary that was aired on the 28th of February by 60 minutes. It is about JT Holmes, a real life Superman but the intent is to convince us that extreme sports are not as wreckless as many in society believe. And that extreme sportsmen are not raging fools who throw themselves off the edges of cliffs to plummet to their deaths but trained professionals. The intent of the director has been represented and implicated in the documentary through the use of file footage, camera angles and the inclusions and exclusions of material. Even the most adamant of people second guess themselves as a result of the powerful techniques put to work in “Off the Edge”.
File footage played a vital role in achieving the purpose of this
It ranges from very wide shots of JT performing his heart stopping stunts to low angle shots applying emphasis on the size and natural beauty of the mountains. I believe that the most effective shot in the whole documentary was when Liz Hayes was interviewing JT Holmes at the top of the mountains the first time he went back to the snow. This is my belief because it shows the breathtaking views of the snow-capped mountains and the extent of the jaw dropping stunts that are performed from how high up they are. Majority of the close up shots are of JT performing his tricks and some of the really effective ones are of the front of his skis as he glides down the mountain side. The wide shots and very wide shots are also of JT completing his antics. One of the more memorable shots is a bird’s eye view of JT as he jumped off the side of a cliff and fell through the air. These shots are to show off just some of the amazing things that extreme sport athletes get to take part
Obviously a point is made by stressing the positives about extreme sports such as how much JT loves his job and he explains it as “good, clean fun” and “part of me is just a little kid who just wants to go out there and have fun”. Not only does JT love his job but he is paid to live dangerously. JT even had the chance to coordinate and perform his own stunts in the blockbuster Transformers. One of the inclusions that surprised me was that people do in deed crash and die all the time and on top of that his best mate and mentor Shane McConkey was one of those extremely unlucky people. This proves two things, one, that extreme sportsmen realise the risk they are taking when taking part in this sport but they are trained professionals and know what they are doing. And two, just like everywhere else tragic accidents happen but life does go on. The major aspect that was left out of this documentary was the statistics for example how often people lose their lives and how long it takes before such advanced tricks can be