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Stop Thinking! – BMX aus Dänemark

Denmark always has had a very active BMX scene, especially for being such a small country. However, never before a full-length BMX DVD has been released. A group of BMX enthusiasts from the small city of Aalborg decided to change this released „Stop Thinking“. The main man behind the lense, Lasse Christensen, took two years to film his friends and the result speaks for itself. Mange tak!

LASSE CHRISTENSEN INTERVIEW:

Hey Lasse, what’s up? To start things off, please introduce yourself and your crew.
Hey, my name is Lasse Christensen, I’m 25 years old and I’ve been riding BMX for 7 years. Before this project I’ve made some smaller BMX edits. Other than BMX I work as a bike mechanic in Aalborg, I also love taking photos and making videos. My crew is some of my best friends, more like a family, we ride on a daily basis and do everything together.

Whats the scene like in Aalborg these days?
It’s alright, we are a lot of younger riders sessioning on a daily basis. The old boys come out from time to time, not as much as they used to. They are still shredding, though.

And how about Denmark in general?
Denmark is awesome! A lot of people riding all over the country, of course in the cities like Copenhagen, but also in the smaller towns. You often find a guy with a BMX and a car ready to drive anywhere to meet and ride new spots.

„Denmark is awesome!“

How does everyone stay connected?
First of all we have a lot of Facebook chat groups, where everyone is welcome, and we also text daily about sessions going down. Besides that we have the street jams and other small competitions, where people show up and get to know each other. CPH Street Jam is the place to be, that’s where you meet new and old friends.

Where does your crew go to ride?
In Aalborg, we mostly ride or meet up at Sauers Skatepark. It’s an old skatepark in the middle of Aalborg. Even though it’s old, we still love to go there. But we’re also often packing the car and going to a lot of different skateparks and spots around the country.

What made you decide to film a full-length video?
It was something we talked about in the group a few times, but we have always wanted to do something like this. It just never worked out, but this time we all agreed that we would give it all we had, so we set a date for 2 years of filming.

„We have always wanted to do something like this.“

When is the last time a full length came out of Denmark?
I’m actually not sure, haven’t seen any in my time. The only one I can think of is the “Holdfast BMX” DVD.

What makes a good BMX video for you? What are your influences?
A good bmx video for me is a good balance of editing and music, so you get the feel of a music video, but still keeping it true to the tricks. Like when watching a good movie where all your surroundings doesn’t matter. And of course 100% passion.

Is this the first full-length you made?
Yes, this is the first time ever, and it was really tough. I have only made shorter edits from trips and what not before. Such a fun project to do, though.

„This is the first time ever, and it was really tough.“

What equipment did you use?
I have a small Canon EOS M50 that I bought, when we started filming, and my friends have some other cameras we used for some second angles. For the editing I upgraded from iMovie to Final Cut Pro, so I could make the best video possible and I just scouted YouTube to learn how to work with it.

Where did you film and how long did it take to make the video from start to finish?
We filmed a lot in Aalborg and around the country in Denmark. We also went on some longer trips to Copenhagen, Barcelona and Madrid.
The filming From start to finish took around 2,5 years and then I was editing on and off whenever I had the time for about a year after that. So 3,5 which was longer than we set the deadline to be.

Favorite place you guys visited for the video?
Of course the Barcelona trip was awesome as always, but I really liked our one week trip to Copenhagen. The start being CPH Street Jam, and then riding all the best spots of Copenhagen the rest of the week with our CPH local homies.

How did the title come about?
“Stop Thinking” is because in these days people overthink a lot, also when all BMXers try new tricks.
So it more like “STOP THINKING, START DOING!“

Did you encounter any unforeseen problems while making the video ?
YES, it was a struggle at times. I never expected it to end up with 1,500 clips or that it took me over a year just to edit the video.

How did you pick the riders that are featured?
That wasn’t really a choice, it just came naturally, because it’s my best friends. For the friends part everyone who wanted a clip was more than welcome. I only asked them to bring their A game.

Who else was involved in the making of the video?
Actually, no one. I made everything on my own, of course with some ideas from the riders.

Did you guys have a premiere? If so, how did it go?
Yes there was a premiere at our Street Jam in Aalborg last summer. We rented a local bar and showed the DVD at the after party of the event. It went amazing and everyone was super hyped. Naturally we celebrated with an absurd amount of beer.

„Naturally we celebrated with an absurd amount of beer.“

Do you guys get any support from BMX brands?
No support at all, it’s just a self-made, non-sponsored video for the people.

What was the sketchiest situation you guys encountered while making the video?
When I nearly got hit by at truck in my part, one of the riders breaking his arm in Germany on a road-trip and locals in Barcelona throwing rocks from balconies at a street spot.

Best memory while filming?
Probably the Barcelona trip, which Andreas Bank set up for his 30th birthday. It was a one-week birthday party with BMX and beers every day.
While filming, for me personally, it was when I did the banger for my part, because I have ridden by that place so many times before I started riding, and I always thought it would be awesome to jump that.

Speaking of bangers: How does Marcus Tindal stay alive with such a banger attitude towards riding?
I really don’t know, I often think the same thing, Marcus struggles with manuals and grind combos, but he knows how to jump, even though it looks gnarly from the sideline. Marcus once told me that it’s too hard to try tech stuff over and over. He would reather just send it on a gap one go and then you’re done.

Stop thinking at its finest. Do you guys have any plans for a follow-up video?
This summer we’re just having fun and enjoying trips, street jams and just pure riding. But we’ll most likely start a new project in the future.

Is the annual X-mas jam in Aalborg coming back?
Not right now, but me and my friends that are hosting the annual street jam in Aalborg are trying to figure out, if it could be possible again.

Nice! Anything you’d like to add?
I would just like to thank everyone who supported me and kept waiting for the video, that’s finally here! If you want to sesh with the northern Danish BMX scene, keep the 3rd of September free and come to Aalborg Street Jam 2022. It will for sure be rad again this year!

Shout-outs?
Markus Wilke, Keno Röller-Siendenburg and all full-length BMX videos, which gave us inspiration. And last but not least, I wanna thank me.

The Stop Thinking Crew from Aalborg at the CPH Street Jam 2022

Video: Lasse Christensen
Intro: Keno Röller-Siedenburg

Themen:

Lasse Christensen Stop Thinking DVD

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