Corkscrewed

With 25, I can probably do some in-depth reviews for each of them. I hope one of my vids makes the final cut, but in the mean time, I will offer comments and PERSONAL rankings with each new quintet. A congratulations to all five of our first finalists before I begin, however. All tremendous videos. Dennis "Park Junkie" Kolodzeizik's Slagharen Video Contest Entry The thing that sticks out in my mind the most here are the hilarious facial expressions. I'm pretty sure that's what I might look like on coasters when I'm goofing around! The video editing, music synching, and cinematography are all very solid. I really enjoyed the way you transitioned from shot to shot. The dissolves are very artfully done and fit with the music perfectly, and though simple, make a tremendous difference. Extra points for boobies. Paul Ruiz De Miquel's Parque De Attactiones Video Contest Entry Now this was pretty cool! Early special effects trick of the year goes to Paul for his Intamin Drop Tower cart flick. The music synching and editing superb, just as the others are, and the transitions are perfectly chosen. What's really impressive here is the cinematography. VERY crisp shots, incorporating a variety of different types of pans, zooms, and movements, and very unique camera angles all add up to a very exciting video. On-ride POV's are enviously liquid-smooth, and just the scene selections are sophisticated enough to make me think that this was professionally done for a TV show. I enjoyed the occassional use of the four-corners view interspersed with the regular views, and of course, the comedy was a huge plus. Constant line jumping, ride interaction (literally), and the song itself were all highly entertaining. Also, you filtered in raw audio perfectly, accenting your clips where appropriate. While "silent" music videos aren't bad, music vids with a balanced and appropriate amount of background noise are even better (and require more skill), and you've pulled it off brilliantly. And for the record, it looks like you actually animated the tower effects thing manually. You filmed it with the tower as it, without the cart. Then you added the cart in via After Effects or something using the motion and scale tools. You can do something like that in Flash, actually. Or at least the concept is the same. That's my guess anyway. Justin Saxe's Silverwood Video Contest Entry Haha, as the video started, I was wondering whether you had actually chosen "Sing Sing Sing" as your music, or whether it was just a song that borrowed from the famous drum intro. Indeed, it is the famous swing hit, and such a great choice too! In terms of sheer music synch and editing, this was extremely solid. Most people use pop or rock music, but you swung this thang. Again, as with the other entries, the technical level is extremely high, clearly establishing the higher class that this year's finalists seem to occupy. I was also very impressed with the smooth and clear shots from your camera. Very good leveling work there. You could have added a bit of raw audio in there, but given the music choice, I'll more than forgive you. Julian Johnson's "Don't Look Down 2005" Video Contest Entry From a pure music synch perspective, this video is absolutely perfect. It matches the beat flawlessless and is consistent in its rhythm. It goes bar for bar, sticking to the bar, playing straight down the line. You don't have four clips per measure, then two in the next identical one. And I really do love this. Some may say the "DJ coaster scratching" maybe be too much, but I loved it. It's not really a difficult trick, just one that requires patience and a little bit of experience. However, it's done very elegantly here. And the music choice was extremely upbeat. A techno reggae ska mix? Awesome! Julian, you had the advantage of having footage from a variety of places, and you certainly pressed it. At the same time, this means you had more things to choose from, which meant picking the best clips might be hard, but you certainly didn't make it look that way. This was definitely a keeper and an early favorite to claim the top prize. Connor Thompson's Magic Springs Video Contest Entry Though the weakest of this batch, this is by no means a bad video! And at 13, Connor, you've already made quite an impression! You've clearly improved over last year already, and this video was pretty cool. Music synching wasn't as crisp as the above videos, but it certainly didn't disrupt the flow either (I felt in some places last year, it did). The transitions are a bit rough, but where you faded in and out or went to white, the transitions were surprisingly well done. The "(ghey)" comment was definitely pretty funny, as were some of the on-train antics. I'd suggest getting a wide angle lens to soften out the on-ride POV's... or just don't take your poor camera onto an SLC! So there's always that you can improve upon, but hey, you're 13. I think you kick everyone else's butts when they were 13, at least in terms of video editing! CURRENT RANKINGS: 1(t). Paul Ruiz De Miquel - "Parque de Attactiones" 1(t). Julian Johnson - "Don't Look Down 2005" 3. Justin Saxe - "Silverwood" 4. Dennis 'Park Junkie' Kolodzeizik - "Slagharen" 5. Connor Thompson - "Magic Springs"

Don't bother. Unless they're in fried rice, they're not that good.

All of this is good advice. Before you get in line, make sure to notice (or mention to the nervous rider-to-be) the people coming out, and how most of them are smiling. It's always good to ride with friends or someone who can be comforting or give you confidence. Once you get on, if you're really nervous, simply close your eyes (and cover your ears if you really want to), and let the coaster happen. It's always that lift that gets people nervous, and once you're over it, the rest is smooth sailing. Well, unless you're on a Vekoma.

So um, I guess to answer the original question (and someone did touch upon it a bit...) There are plenty of ways a coaster can stall, including but not limited to: WEATHER If the track is, say, too cold, it can produce more friction than normal, causing the train to lose speed too quickly and not make it up the next hill. Less common but conceivably possible is something like rain making the track TOO slick, so that the wheels lose contact and cause the train to valley. WEAR AND TEAR ON TRAINS If the wheels are too old or worn out, they may produce more friction and cause the train to valley. WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION Say a train has a bunch of heavy people at the end. The greater concentrated force towards the back can actually slow down the train enough to valley. That's the simplest example; there are other ways an unbalanced train can valley, of course. That's also why flat rides are balanced so that, in the event you don't fill the train, at least you have people on opposite ends and such. FAULTY CHAIN RELEASE Like in that Boomerang scenario, if a train almost flukishly catches the end of a dog and sort of stutters before dropping, the loss in speed may cause it to valley. LAUNCH WASN'T ENOUGH Coasters may be listed as launching at a certain speed, but this is rarely completely consistent. It might fluctuate up and down a few miles per hour, and like in last year's (or it might have been 2004) TTD incident, that might be enough to get a coaster just perfectly stuck. Basically, a train will get stuck because something causes extra friction, which slows the train down enough to get it stuck. You'd think that a coaster should have plenty of momentum, but when you have such large vehicles with large forces, something relatively minor can actually add up to something major like the coaster getting stuck. In cases where the coaster is stuck in an odd position, like upside IN a loop or right at the crest of a hill, it's often the combination of the above factors getting it just right to balance the train perfectly in an awkward position.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOT WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER!!! I only use that to compress my vids to post online. Anyway, I use Adobe Premiere, but Premiere Elements is definitely a great alternative for those with a lower budget... or a dislike of "acquiring" the more expensive version. Elements will give you the solid basics of what you need anyway, and I doubt anyone is going to produce special effects on their coaster vids. Pinnacle Studio is definitely good as well, although I'd suggest Premiere Elements over it just because I'm biased.

^^ Erm.. that's more coincidence than an actual Mickey. Proportions are definitely off.

^ and if that doesn't work... try the space bar But yeah, it's probably because your active window happened to be your video preview screen and not your timeline.

And break the magicians--I mean married-at-Disneyworldians' code??? For shame!!!

Meh... he's 13. Understandable that he wouldn't think to look around, although yeah, I'd suggest listening to what Robb said and browsing old topics to make sure it's not a question that hasn't been answered a billion times. It's good internet etiquette anyway and useful to develop. If you're looking for another opinion... I usually try to stabilize the camera against something like the grab bar of an OTSR harness. If there's nothing, I'll try to stabilize my arm with my other arm. Or I just anticipate the forces and counter a turn by going the other way. Unless you meant whether I hold my camera vertically or horizontally... which in case it's horizontal.

We should sticky a thread entitled "THE SECRET TO SMOOTH ON RIDE POV SHOTS: WIDE ANGLE LENSES!!!" The lipstick is pretty cool, but it does give off those color gradation shifts. The technology isn't around to the point where you can get a cheap one that delivers "good" quality video you, I suppose. So basically, I prefer the tradition POV's better. Robb and Elissa both have really steady hands anyway, so it's not like they're in dire need of strapping cameras onto stationary things to get them smooth.

Hmm....funny you should mention that! --Robb "An idea we've been toying with for a while now...." Alvey "Introducing TPR Netflix...."

As long as you send it by Friday (that's what postmarked means... when you go to the post office and they stamp it, that's the post mark), you'll be alright. Anyway, I sent my DVD in today, so hopefully it arrives without incident. Never got around to my "Theme Park Vids for Dummies" vid I was planning, so that'll have to be next year.

This was obviously a joke, because everyone knows it's gonna be a 600 foot floorless flying wooden rapids ride.

Still sticking with the three max, eh? Well, I have three done, but I've been planning on another one, so if that's the case, I'll have to kick one out, and it'll be interesting figuring out which one should be cut. April 1st... that'll come up sooner than later! Hopefully, I can get this other one done!

I've been able to re-ride at Knott's before. I think it basically depends on the ride op and whether or not they're being held to strict rules by the shift leader or not. So basically, my policy is to simply ask, and if the answer is no, then so be it.

A Maverick is most definitely not any wild animal I've ever heard of. Don't let the Dallas Mavs logo fool you. (unless I'm the one in the dark)

t'was wondering wtf happened. Sucks that they'd low-ball you like that. Makes me a little apprehensive myself, since I'm using them right now. The fortunate thing for me is that I don't really take up a lot of resources and I don't need anything advanced, so I doubt I'd even be able to cause a problem, but this is still something annoying to know. Guess I'll be looking at another host when my plan expires. Lypha was the cheapest place that seemed good out of all the places I checked a few months ago. Anyway, good to hear things are being straightened out.

That just reminded me of the Simpsons ep where Mr. Burns was shot, and Kent Brockman reported, "Montgomery Burns was shot dead this evening. He was taken to Springfield Hospital where his condition was later upgraded from dead to living," or something like that.

You'd think that after looking at these pics for a while, you'd get tired? Nope. This baby gets juicier and juicer. Seriously, and I repeat, coaster track shouldn't be able to bend like that.

I never realized Anaconda had that self-twisting section of track after the MCBR. That's pretty convoluted! I love the early pics. Always enjoy looking back in time and seeing how parks used to be. Very nostalgic, even if it's a false nostalgia (since I wasn't actually there...or born).

Because Six Flags has done this for years, and it's put them way in debt. Basically, a super coaster brings in money for one year. Overall improvements and lesser expenses for park maintanence, beautification, and one or two minor rides a year for a few years keeps guests coming back.

oooooooooooooohhh! That's to add on my long term wish list. I'd assume it'll drop below a thousand within a few years. An HD camera like that looks quite nice! As for the Yeti, very cool. I hope you do end up seeing him for more than just a couple of seconds though.

Would this be referring to Astroworld and New Orleans, or would this be in addition to those two? That's what I wonder. Altho if I had to speculate, it'd probably be two underperformers, like Elitch Gardens and, I dunno, Kentucky Kingdom? I think Fiesta Texas has also been a rumored name recently.

Many thanks to the both of you. Loopy, I definitely understood and enjoyed the VH1 style pop-ups. Quite humorous.

Hey, Wes, what's the song (and artist) of the music you used? I think the people who voted for you really loved the editing and music-syncing. Very fun, energetic, and cool. Loved the "Roller Coaster 2" idea of a trailer. Good stuff. LOL LADY GAY. Loopy, I loved those little "Blind Date"-esque popups and random facts. Very funny stuff. What program did you use for all of that? Just wondering if you custom made all of that or if it was part of whatever program you used. JMan, love the horror trailer type of thing. VERY fun to watch for a horror fan like me.