We reconnect with our old friend Pip Andersen on Nokia Connects today. Since the start of the year we have been going freerunning crazy, first we were in Barcelona @ CES and now we are in London. We started this ‘PureView Freerunning’ four part series last week, launching this 3D video by Claudiu Voicu and having a chat with world freerunning champion Tim Shieff.
This week Pip and Kie Willis are going to speak to us about shooting with PureView technology and what it’s like to be at the top of their sport.
Hey Pip, welcome back to Nokia Connects. What were your first thoughts when you heard you would be using the 41MP PureView technology to capture your sport in this video?
I didn’t believe it at first, the most megapixels I’ve heard a phone use is 5. So my next thought was, hey is this phone going to be massive and really bad looking or have they somehow compressed it to a good size!
Would you ever use a phone camera to improve your technique?
My current phone camera isn’t good enough to use for improving my technique but with the PureView it’s like taking my DSLR out with me. So I think moving forward I will definitely be using this phone for capturing my tricks and improving my technique.
If I told you to make full advantage of the PureView’s 4 x zoom in full HD by taking a photo of a busy scene somewhere in the world where would you go and why?
My wife went to India recently and said how hectic the streets were over there; full of people, cars and animals etc. So I would probably head over to India to capture the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. It would be great to see how far away you could be above the streets to make use of the zoom in high quality.
PureView Pro Imaging Technology gets rid of all distortion in photos, would this be helpful for any of your friends who shoot freerunning for a living? Do you get annoyed when you pull off an amazing trick and the photo is distorted?
Yea definitely, this is a lighter version of a professional DSLR camera and the PureView still has tonnes of settings to get the desired shot you like, I know plenty of mates who would happily ditch their DSLR to save lugging all of the equipment around on shoots. I definitely get annoyed when the photo is distorted, if you are trying to land a trick over and over again and the one you land looks distorted on the camera then it can really get you down.
You can crop and frame images on the spot with PureView Pro Imaging, if I took a photo of you, Kate Middleton and the Queen and you had to crop one of them out, who would it be and why?
Ah that’s easy. I would ditch Kate Middleton, any excuse to be left on my own with the Queen lol.
When shooting a video the PureView handles a staggering 1 billion pixels per second through its processing chain. If I gave you a billion pounds now to make a film about your life who would you cast to play you and where would it be set?
I would pick Tom Hardy from The Dark Knight Rises, apparently we look quite similar. Lots of the comments I get on my YouTube videos say how much we look alike, so I would probably choose him. The film would be as extravagant as possible, with lots of boats and set in LA.
How many phones have you broken performing your sport?
I have smashed a few screens and broken three phones doing freerunning, but I now have a phone that is relatively indestructible. I’ve also learnt to start taking my phone out of my pocket when training because it usually ends in disaster!
Do you think this technology will start moving even more ‘dedicated camera’ users into mobile photography?
I definitely think so; if the phone comes out a reasonable price with a contract then everyone will start picking up this phone. When they see the quality of pictures on their friend’s phone I’m sure it will inspire them to go out and buy it.
How do you think freerunning can change or improve someone’s life for the future?
Well it has improved my life for starters. I think the sport can help you get over the obstacles that life throws at you, if you put hard work and dedication into jumping over a huge gap between two walls then you can channel that dedicated energy into doing whatever you want to do in life. If I keep trying at something then I will be able to get past it, that’s my philosophy.
What advice would you give to someone trying to make a living out of freerunning?
Well don’t bother because then I will get less jobs! No only joking. I have done lots of stunt doubling and most of the jobs I do are classed as stunt work, so I would say its great as a stepping stone up if you want to work on film stunts or adverts that need stunts performed etc. Recently I was in a music video for Jennifer Lopez called ‘Follow the Leader’, shot in Mexico, so it’s also a great way to paid to work with Jennifer Lopez ha! The best advice I can give is for people to create a buzz around their name, get their videos out there on YouTube, hang around the right kind of people in the industry and keep up the hard work. Ultimately you want to pull of tricks and stunts that will make people go wow, then the money will hopefully come in.
Have you met lots of women who perform freerunning?
Luci Romberg is one of the top athletes in freerunning and I have met her a few times, at the moment she is in LA. When you look at Parkour videos it’s often about this ‘explosive movement’ and really, when females are going to get into it, it’s less about the explosive movements and more about the techniques and kind of making everything flow together well, which a lot of the Russian women have started to do. It’s hard to find videos of women freerunning online though, so the overall coverage of female freerunning needs to improve.
What does being a professional in the sport really mean to you?
Well I pretty much get paid for everything I do now, which hasn’t always been the case. So I guess to me it means I can see the world and do what I love everyday. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I actually had to pay to go abroad which is amazing, I’ve been to 20-30 countries and never paid a penny for travel. In many sports moving from amateur to professional general means you get more money and of course you become more recognised on global scale.
Finally, if I sent you to an island to survive on your own for six months what three items would you take with you?
Item 1 – shoes, because I wouldn’t want to tread on anything sharp
Item 2 – the PureView so I can make an awesome freerunning video
Item 3 – a pillow
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It was great to catch up with Pip again. Have a look at my last chat with Pip to find out more info about him.
If you have any questions about the interview above, the Street Games video (available in 3D or 2D) or freerunning in general then please leave your comment below or tweet us @Nokia_Connects.