The Global Paddling Community

Video Review of "Frogs", a new video featuring the best of the french paddling scene. Good action, great editing and a good soundtrack, read on to discover Frogs ! This review contains 5 video clips in RealVideo format.

You need Real Player (or Real One) to watch the video clips in this article. You can download it for free from www.real.com. Choose the FREE player. To watch the video extracts, click on the links in the text or on the pictures. The file sizes range from 319 kb to 1.04 Mb so be patient if you have a slow connection.

"Frogs" is the first film production with David Arnaud and Pierre Villecourt as editors. David is one of the best freestyle paddlers in France and finished 5th at the 2001 Worlds in Spain. Pierre is a die hard squirtboater, graphics designer and is also responsible for the judging at rodeos in France. They compiled a lot of footage collected amongst the French paddlers, spent a large amount of time editing in front of the computer and the result is quite a success. The editing is great, the paddling awesome and this video is really different from the other alternatives on the market. That is something that I really appreciated. The video is in French but that should not put anyone off as subtitles are used during the few spoken bits.

The action in details

The video starts with a 3 minute section that could actually be a trailer. There is a lot of action packed in three minutes. There aren't any indications of the locations but I recognised some rivers like the middle Guil and the Ubaye in complete spate. The water flows chocolate colored. Quite impressive.

After this, Hawaii sur Rhone is introduced. For those who have never heard of this spot, please read the PLAYAK description first. This is an amazingly steep and fast wave/hole combination and the water levels were particularly good in 2001 when the footage was taken. To get an idea of what I am speaking about, have a look at this small extract from the video (RealVideo Format, 356 kb). Hawaii sur Rhone will come back two more times in the movie, showing other parts of the spot at different water levels. In all cases, the footage is excellent and paddling amazing with boats that spend more time in mid-air than on the water. The editing of this section is particurlarly good thanks to the use of rotoscopic effects where some frames are colored to emphasize the amplitude of the moves. Combined with some replay/slow motion, this gives some freestyle footage that is really nice to watch.

After this comes a section entitled "The French Touch". This is a commpilation of some great moves and is also used as a presentation of the paddlers. The action is very fast and the editing still very good. I particularly liked the presentation of the young elite called "ze little frogs" (RealVideo, 776 kb). Watching these kids pulling flip turns, space godzillas and other aerial loops was really entertaining and I think is a first in a paddling video where the emphasis is usually put on superstars. Well, I am sure some of them will be superstars in a couple of years considering their level today. This section ends up with a rather fast stroboscopic type sequence that I would not recommend to epileptics. Watch this extract (RealVideo, 318 kb) to see what I am talking about.

The action carries on with some footage of Nepal. David and Pierre have been pretty daring with this section as the film features a slow motion section which is more than 3 minutes long ! But it works very well. The slow motion combined with an appropriate soundtrack makes this section a mystic experience, which I think is what Nepal is about. Actually, this is called "Zen Frogs" (RealVideo, 1.04 Mb) in the video. Big thumbs up for being daring and doing this guys. But soon the rythm accelerates again with some big holes, nice waves and a couple of trashings (RealVideo, 914 kb) that will be remembered... This is the only serious river running section of this video which is more freestyle orientated but it has been done really well.

The next section is already known by PLAYAK readers as David gave us a quick idea of what he was doing in Hawaii sur Rhone during spring 2001. Again, this is great wave action although some people might think that it is a bit long. Believe it or not, one can get bored of reverse aerial blunts ...

Follows some action of the 2001 Worlds in Spain where David finished 5th and fellow paddlers Nico Chassing 4th (read their PLAYAK interview). The footage is a bit different from what I had seen in other videos or on the web but at the end of the day, this is still all about some people throwing cartwheels in a hole...

Pierre could not have done a video without a squirt section and he did include a nice series of mystery moves. I have to say that I like that; all the old school type of videos used to feature some squirtboating but it seems to slowly disappear. Watching the "Underfrogs" getting some downtime is quite entertaining. The footage was taken on the Chassezac in southern France and also on the Nogera Pallaresa in Spain.

The film finishes on yet another Hawai sur Rhone play section. This time, it is a 2 meter high vertical wall of water that our Frogs are playing on. This is just amazing, the boats jump high and spin in the air till dizzy. This really makes you want to go there and try it now. I think this is the best of the 3 Hawaii sur Rhone sections.

Conclusion

"Frogs" is a good video. The paddling is very good and it is nice to see less known paddlers ripping it up. The locations were carefully choosen but what I enjoyed most was the editing. David Arnaud and Pierre Villecourt have really put the video editing software through its pace to reach a level of editing unmatched in any paddling movie I reckon. For a first "try" at video editing, this is absolutely brilliant.

As for the bad points, this is a hard call. I would have liked to see the location printed on the screen for other places than Hawaii sur Rhone. Which rivers are those Nepalese gems for instance ? Apart from that, I haven't got much to say. This is an interesting and refreshing addition to the ever growing collection of paddling movies.

Review by JP Renaud for PLAYAK.COM, March 12 2002.

---

For more information about Frogs and some trailers, please visit http://www.frogs-video.com. Frogs can be bought online at Wonderland. Find out more about Pierre on his squirtboat site or on his professional site.

The video clips featured in the review have been slightly edited.