trains | a whip cracking video

“trains” is a 5 minute short film that was heavily influenced by the works of some of my favourite jugglers and flow artists. While exploring an abandoned train yard, a man finds a pair of sunglasses that allow him to bend physical laws at his will. With these new found powers the man spends a lifetime exploring the possibilities of a world only dictated by the rules of his imagination. After an eternity of exploration, our protagonist only finds one thing: boredom. The man realizes that meaning comes from the way that we take on the challenges that face us in our regular lives, and removing these roadblocks only destroys our ability to learn and grow. In a final hurrah, he uses his newfound powers to destroy the glasses, and happily returns to his regular, challenging, meaningful life.

…Just kidding. That would be cool though, right?

The idea for “trains” came from the works of many contemporary jugglers, including Wes Peden, Tony Pezzo, Zak McAllister, and more. I wanted to create a whip cracking video that emulated the videos that I love so much. I reached out for help from Zak who spent an hour coaching me on video creation and trick exploration. I also got a lot of help early on from Nick Schrader, who sat down with me and went over my camera and how to take high quality whip cracking videos (I am still working on figuring out all of the camera settings!).

“trains” was also heavily inspired by multiple podcasts and videos featuring Jay Gilligan. Jay’s mindset about juggling really pushed me to view myself as an artist and to be intentional with every part of my whip cracking. I am super thankful for his work and his willingness to share his ideas. If you haven’t listened to “Object Episodes,” his podcast with Erik Aberg, you really, really should.

My favourite part about whip cracking is the amount of potential for trick creation. Many of the tricks in this video were variations of tricks from other art forms like poi, contact staff, cigar box juggling, rope dart, and more. Some of the tricks I have been working on for months, and others I created while filming. I plan to make a video about my creative process in the coming months, but for now I’ll just say this: go out, goof around, and ignore all of the rules that you think exist!

Finally, a big thank you to all of my friends who have supported me through the creation of this project. “trains” is the product of LITERAL blood, sweat, and tears, and I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s encouragement. I have never felt such drive and urgency to create something before, and while I had an incredible amount of fun making it this video also brought a lot of challenges and stress. I had to learn how to film with an actual camera, be intentional with my shots and trick presentation, figure out brand new editing software, and perform over thirty new tricks and concepts under time, weather, and life constraints. I am so proud of this work, and so happy that it is done!

Anyway, if you read this far, thanks for sticking around and checking out my video. Hope you liked it!

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SONG: Love, Sex, and Fancy Things
ARTIST: The Floozies
ALBUM: Tell Your Mother
YEAR: 2014
BUY IT HERE (I did): flooziesduo.bandcamp.com/album/tell-your-mother