19.2.2013 / The first season of RISE UP’s instructional ultimatevideos has been released. You can read more about it in our review (in Finnish). The next season will begin on the 25th of February under the theme ”Point of Attack” and the first episode is already available on YouTube. We decided to sniff behind the scenes of the project and caught ourselves one of the founders: Mario O’Brien (picture).
Ultimate.fi: Hey Mario! Could You tell us your background with ultimate.
Mario O’Brien: Absolutely! I am currently the Producer and Creative Director of RISE UP. In the past year I’ve coached at 9 Ultimate clinics in 7 different countries, commentated for the Nexgen Network, starred in “Chasing Sarasota”, and led Portland Rhino to USAU Nationals in his 4th year as captain. I currently coach the men’s Ultimate team at Lewis and Clark college.
As a player, I was invited to help captain Rhino in 2009 despite playing only one year of competitive club, and having minimal competitive college experience (2 years at UW –Eau Claire). I also have significant international playing experience, with gold medals at the Pan American Ultimate Championships (Sockeye 2011) and Paganello (Scandal 2012).
U: What is your role with RISE UP and who are the other ”big players” and what’re their roles?
M: Elliot Trotter is the Business and Marketing Director, Andy Lovseth the IT Director and Gil McIntire the Video Editor.
U: The first season of RISE UP has been released, what are your feelings?
M: We’re really happy with the quality of the product we put out, but we still see tons of room for improvement.
U: What have been the biggest hurdles of the project?
M: The biggest challenge is keeping all areas of the business moving forward at once, yet keeping priorities straight. Our number 1 priority is releasing high quality videos that will hold their value for the next 5,10, even 20 years.
U: What kind of equipment do you use for filming?
M: We film with 2 different cameras: Panasonic AG-HVX200 Camcorder and Sony HDR-FX1000 Handycam HDV. The Panasonic captures on P2 cards and the Sony captures on MiniDV tapes. We use Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.5 to edit.
At a RISE UP shoot we typically have a crew of four. This has most commonly included me, 2 camera operators (Elliot Trotter and Gil McIntire), and 1 coach (Ben Wiggins). Depending on the content of the episode we are shooting, we also will have anywhere from 3-14 players.
U: How quickly can you produce an episode?
M: We don’t produce 1 episode at a time, it’s more of a ”batch” process, as this is the most efficient way to work, given the time constraints of our 2 video editors (me and Gil McIntire). We typically are working on anywhere from 3-5 episodes at a time, with all moving forward steadily at the same time. That said, we think if we sat down and tried to crunch 1 episode at a time out from start to finish we think a 10-minute episode would take anywhere from 12-16 hours, for a ballpark average of about 80-90 minutes of editing per 1 minute that you see in the video.
U: Which is the most time-consuming step, e.g. writing the lines, editing?
M: Editing is far and away the most time consuming aspect of this project. Lucky for me, Gil McIntire is a pro and he’s also fun to work with. We’d be lost without his expertise.
We stumbled upon a happy accident with Ben being so pro at his job as a coach on camera. As for writing scripts… we don’t write them. We wrote part of the first episode out completely, but after that, we decided we didn’t need to. We exchange a couple emails, make a bullet list of topics, bring a few notes to the shoot, and knock it out together on the spot. At the shoot, we bounce ideas back and forth and I sometimes give him ideas to fill in gaps on topics I think players may have questions about, or phrasing something in a better way. Credit goes to Ben though, it’s terribly impressive how many takes he does flawlessly on his first try.
As for where our other time goes, I take a lot of pride in guiding the vision for RISE UP, and making sure we’re not only setting goals, but taking the right steps to make them happen. Andy, Elliot and I communicate constantly, despite the fact we live in different cities. We challenge each others’ ideas and hold each other accountable to do our best. We’re constantly trying to get better. It’s easy to have ideas. The real work comes in taking the right actions to make ideas happen in a way that moves the whole project forward. I love this challenge, and am thankful that I’ve had so much opportunity to get good at it in the past 5-10 years.
U: What has the response been from the consumers?
M: The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s been pretty humbling. People generally say things like ”This is awesome!” or ”I was not expecting this level of professionalism.” or ”I wish something like this was around when I was learning to play”.
U: Which video do you personally find to be the best so far and why?
M: There’s no video that I really like best. I get the most satisfaction out of little things in the videos that people probably don’t notice. I like when Ben catches a teachable moment and gives really solid feedback and has the player correct it and do it again. I like when I find the perfect game footage to match what the video is trying to teach. I like when Gil, our primary video editor, is able to bring my thoughts to life using his video graphics expertise. I like when our camera men have captured the perfect shot. I like using slowmo instant replay to really break-down mechanics and timing. I like when the background music accidentally (and sometimes intentionally) lines up with the video in a way that makes it more engaging or seem like a music video. I think all of this combines to make each episode awesome.
U: Have people worldwide bought season passes to RISE UP?
M: Yes. Over 25 countries!
U: 2nd season’s theme is ”The Point of Attack”, why this topic?
M: We chose our first 2 season topics based on what we thought all Ultimate players would want to improve on. We guessed that no matter who you are, you probably want to get better at Handler Offense (Season 1) and Marking/Breaking the Mark.
U: Are there going to be any changes in the style/content of a single video (structure, camera angles etc.)?
M: From season 1 to season 2, there may be some slight visual changes, but my goal is for the feel to be consistent for both. We’re constantly trying to improve the quality of our videos. As we learn more and gain more experience, I’m sure there will be things that change. In fact, we won’t be pushing ourselves hard enough if we DON’T change.
M: What’s your opinion about Finns in general and in ultimate (if any)?
M: I haven’t had the chance to meet too many Finns, but I’ve seen them play on a few occasions. My impression is that they’re just as passionate about Ultimate as I am.
U: RISE UP’s camp in Amsterdam isn’t too far from Finland, how about coming over here one fine weekend?
M: Sweet! Let’s talk. That might be hard to arrange, as my summer schedule is already filling up, but maybe!
Look up more info on RISE UP at their website or Facebook-page!
Want to brush up on your Finnish?
Text: Ultimate.fi / Ari Ojanperä
Pictures: RISE UP Ultimate