With fewer and fewer BMX DVD’s being produced every year, it’s getting more and more exciting when an actual BMX video comes out in a hard copy form that you can pop into the DVD player and watch on your TV. What’s even better is when a brand is putting heavy time, energy and resources into producing a video that is worth watching it in that format versus online. Over the course of the past three years, The Shadow Conspiracy team have been busy bouncing around the world stacking clips for their “What Could Go Wrong?” DVD that we have been hearing about since they initially started working on the video. After three years, countless trips and a lot of ups and downs, the video was finally premiered this past weekend in New York City at the House of Vans. Approximately the same time that premiere was going down, we popped open the mailbox to find a copy of the video waiting for us to enjoy. After watching the video, we decided it would be a good idea to get a review out before you drop some money on a copy…
All right, so let’s talk a little bit about “What Could Go Wrong?”. As we stated above, this video has been in the works for the better part of 3 years. If we can put that into better perspective, Mark Burnett was a pretty much unheard of 14 year old kid from the Northeast that has turned into a 17 year old street assassin that was recently added to the Shadow Conspiracy Pro Team that has fans all over the world. That’s how long this video took to produce.
Now days with profit margins for videos not being anywhere near what they used to be prior to the internet really taking precedence over the video production of the world, it’s pretty rare to see a brand, or really anyone, investing 3 years of their time, lives and money into a project like this. But, if there’s one thing we know about The Shadow Conspiracy and really Shadow’s owner, Ronnie Bonner, it’s that if they’re going to do something, they’re going to do it right. That’s why this video took this long to produce and the project was fully supported from start to finish despite a pretty unlikely chance that the video will sell enough copies to cover all the plane tickets, hotels, and every other cost acquired while working on this video.
With a time span of 3 years, there had been ups and downs like team changes, injuries, life taking twists and turns and more for everyone involved and despite the hurdles, it looks like this project did nothing but bring the team closer together and really push each of these guys to produce their best possible parts. We’ve seen guys leave the team mid project, we’ve seen guys get the well deserved bump up to the pro team and everything in-between. It’s no surprise they went with a title like “What Could Go Wrong?” since we’re positive there were plenty of unexpected hurdles that presented themselves throughout.
So, going into the video, we knew that Ryan Chadwick was at the helm of this project managing pretty much all of the filming, with the help from a handful of others, and all of the editing. If there’s one thing we know about Ryan, it’s that he’s one of those guys that puts everything he has into a project and it’s clear he did just that. Between being team manager and handling this project, it would appear he was able to keep his sanity and ultimately create a project that not only represents Shadow Conspiracy, but his talent as a filmer and editor, which really got his start in the BMX industry years ago. We has 0 doubts in our minds that this video would not disappoint in the filming or editing department.
With that being said, the filming and editing for this project is definitely on point. There was a good balance of filming styles from fisheye to long angle with second angles and more that really helped give a clear look at just what was going on and how gnarly it is… Especially for some of the huge bangers in this video. When it came to editing, Ryan kept it pretty simple and clean with graphics that go with the whole project from titles to DVD cover and more. There was some extra film burns and mixed in footage to fill some gaps that probably didn’t need to happen, but it went well with the feel and look of the whole video, so we’ll let it slide, haha. The music in the video was awesome. They went with music that we are sure most of you haven’t heard. It’s all pretty chill to medium pace, with a little heavier music for guys like Johnny Devlin that went well with the video. There wasn’t any rap or crazy heavy metal which was kind of nice since it seems like most of the music these days showing up in videos are for rap songs that the pace doesn’t match the riding at all.
In short, we were stoked on the filming and editing of the video…
As for the riding, well, I think it’s safe to say that you knew we could expect to see some damn good riding. The video features full sections from Lahsaan Kobza, Seth Kimbrough, Mark Burnett, Simone Barraco, Trey Jones, Joris Coulomb, Eric Bahlman, Scott Ditchburn and Paul Ryan (Split), Albert Mercado and Johnny Devlin with a Family section from some of their international and flow team connects like Kevin Kalkoff, Matt Ray, Jono Hopping and more.
This video is 99% street from start to finish with about 45 seconds of trails mixed in from Longwood Trails and Massachusetts. There were no skateparks harmed in the making of this video, but the streets… They’re still bleeding from this one. The crew which is pretty diverse in styles and age range (Mark Vs. Seth) makes for a good watch. If we had to break down each riders section in a few words, we could say it’s rad seeing Seth Kimbrough still killing it after all of these years and that effortless style that he brings, Mark Burnett bringing his very technical style to grinds and lines, Lahsaan Kobza bringing his fast paced racing background to the street spots, Joris Coulomb’s very chill, but dialed style, Eric Balhman’s freecoaster magic, Scott Ditchburn’s grind technician skills, Paul Ryan’s almost park influenced style, Albert Mercado’s unique bag of tricks, Simone Barraco’s unreal riding abilities and guys like Trey Jones and Johnny Devlin absolutely sending it. Each section had their fair share of amazing riding and it’s safe to say that the bangers in each section will blow your mind. I think Trey Jones had the gnarliest banger out of all the sections, but that’s just because what he does is absolutely dead man style.
If we had to pick a favorite section, that would be hard. I think it’s a three way tie between Simone, Albert and Mark, but that’s just a personal preference to the style.
So, if you haven’t caught on by now, we were completely stoked on “What Could Go Wrong?” from start to finish. The video runs for just over one hour from intro to the end of the credits and it’s worth watching every second of it. Do we think you should pick up a copy? If you’re int street riding, yes… You will want this in your collection. If you’re into park or trails, this won’t be for you since it’s full street. But, it’s fair to say you will probably be stoked on quite a bit of riding in this video.
The “What Could Go Wrong?” DVD is available now through all BMX shops and mail-orders that carry The Shadow Conspiracy worldwide or direct from The Shadow Conspiracy Webstore for $15.99. This video comes with a coffin shaped case and a little coffin shaped book that is filled with words and a ton of great photos that were shot throughout the filming for this video!
You can find out more about The Shadow Conspiracy and their products by visiting their website — TheShadowConspiracy.com
Have you seen the video? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Check out the trailer below for a taste of what this video has to offer!
