Hey everyone, Thomas (halfbike) and I made a movie. It was for Thomas’ Advanced Placement (AP) English Comp. class (in which I am the teacher’s aide). The class was charged with making a creative project having to do with the terms and techniques of the AP English class. Thomas chose the theme “follow the prompt,” that is, the act of following the essay prompt on the actual AP test itself (e.g. “In a well-organized essay, discuss how Woolf’s diciton adds to the meaning of her work as a whole…”). Thomas chose to make it a metaphoric exploration of that theme, which happened to take the form of a unicycling video. Let me stress here that the video is not about doing tricks, but rather is a sort of “unicycling art film.” And it may also be the first filmed unicycle chase scene in the history of cinema. But I digress. Here, without further ado, is Follow That Prompt.
Well, actually, Thomas attends an “alternative education program,” which is kind of like a place where homeschoolers can take classes, so grades aren’t often given out. However, his English teacher gave it an A+ in a half-joking way (and it was a higher-quality project than many of the other creative projects).
When I was watching this movie… it took me a minute… but suddenly I remembered this commercial that contains juggling
so was this music some hit I missed?
Hmmmm. Interesting. Thomas actually got the music from the Koxx video, but could find no information on the particular song. I wonder of Koxx got it from that commercial, or if they’re unrelated?
how come u (or halfbike), the main rider (the prompt guy) wears a full 661 body armor torso suit for riding around on the street, especially without wearing even a helmet, seems like overkill
I could understand it for the hardest of muni (like INSANE) or the craziest street/trials lines, but jumping up curbs? isn’t it a little much?
That’s me wearing the pressure suit. I did buy it for MUni and street/trials, after my friend Scott cracked his rib doing MUni and I was faced with enormous potential for serious injury (I really don’t want to harm my back, that would take me off unicycling -and maybe walking- forever). I know some of you people would scoff at me for wearing it, but I happen to UPD a lot, and make spectacular ones when I do, and I’d rather be wearing a pressure suit if I fall down a mountain. As for wearing it in the video, Thomas made me do it 'cause it looks cool. I ended up glad that I did, too, after my biff off the bench (you can’t really tell from the video, but that was an amazing fall that hurt me a lot less because I was wearing protection). Moral of the story, you wear what you want to wear when unicycling, and I’ll wear what I want to wear and we’ll leave it at that (and for the record, I don’t wear any protective gear when riding distance on my 29er, which some would regard as foolhardy).
Cool, i was just curious not questioning your judgement.
I was thinking of something to protect my back but thought i would probably be scoffed at.
I think i’d only wear one for the hardest of muni on not too hot a day.
Okay, I hate to be a party pooper and sound mean, but I didnt get it. I didnt understand how that was artistic. I thought it was boring, and pointless. Dont get me wrong, I know its not supposed to be action packed or anything like that, but I just dont understand the novelty of a chase scene I guess. While watching it I was thinking “huh…?”. Call me illiterate.
All I can say is become an AP student. My brain is way too dead from my AP History test to explain it to you. Maybe Nathan or some other smart type guy can explain it to you. Oh my gosh! My brian is leaking out of my ears! I better go call 661… I mean 911!
Yes, forrestunifreak, it is symbolic, but to truly understand it, one must first understand exactly what the prompt means to AP students. The prompt is the set of instructions that you must respond to when writing essays. The prompt is iron-clad. The prompt is not to be trifled with. It is your creed, your code, your guiding light in the AP test. When you sit down in the AP test to write those essay, you must read the prompt, pick it apart, understand its depths, and go from there. In short, you must follow the prompt. That above all is drilled into AP English students from the get-go. Essays which do not follow the prompt are dismissed as chaff, drivel unworthy of even a numbered score. They are zero. Nothing. And so, one must learn the prompt, follow its ways and paths through all the twists and turns that it may take you, until your goal is achieved: an essay that is on-topic and brilliant. As for the symbolism, it is essential to understand the meaning of the video. I won’t explain it, for art cannot be explained (for example, a poem, whose meaning cannot be thought through, but must be felt). However, some pointers: think of what exactly is being said through certain things, such as the fact that the prompt is armored, or that Thomas follows the prompt while adding his own style, or that he loses sight of the prompt near the end, but pulls it back together, or the fact that he never actually catches the prompt, but instead catches up to it, and then rides parallel with it. Much meaning is contained in this video, so I say, bravo Thomas. I actually didn’t have that much to do with the video, other than riding in it and subitting it to Google Video.
P.S. I hope you do not feel I am talking down to you. I tend to adopt a tongue-in-cheek overblown pedantic tone when discussing art because it amuses me, and keeps me from getting to stuffily academic.
