US Nationals, so what did you think, how did you do?

[Rdutch 0]

So there was a lot of new cameramen to Nationals this year, as is every year. In the interest of all next years cameramen, please post your experiences so that everyone has an idea on what to look forward to, expect, and maybe pick up some helpful hints/tips based on that. I remember my first Nationals, it was an awesome experience and learned a lot, now Im on year 6 for Nationals the feeling is still the same, I still enjoy every minute of it, especially after a years worth of training with a team.
I think this year made such a good point that a cameraman is definitely a huge part of the team, there was a lot of teams final results decided by the Cameraman this year.

I'll start: This year was definitely the worst as far as Camera steps/handles, you couldn't get any more different between planes with the set up. Most humorous thing was the meet director determined that all the planes were identical as far as the camera step. Lucky my team jumped all the planes before competition so I had an Idea what to expect but still had to improvise each round. Round 1 we jumped the Arizona otter and I literally fell off the step when I exited. I use two hands until I see the shake then I drop one hand and hang as low and as far as possible, unfortunately It was hard to grip that handle with only 2 fingers and slipped, but it was the same time my team exited so it worked out. After that is was an uneventfull meet, I scored 0 Nj's and overall was pretty happy with my work minus round 1's exit which was a 10th of a second too early. I was glad to see that after a whole year of training different things for 12's I ended up doing nothing and it worked out great (do a search on 12's if you dont know or Pm Quade)
I had fun meeting a lot of the Dz.com people that I knew from here but not in person. A lot of people took the time to come introduce themselves and say hello and I want to thank all of them, it was a pleasure. Nationals is a lot of fun, and I would like to encourage all of you that are thinking of doing a team this year to do it.

So what was your experience this year? And what was your overall thought on Nationals, most of all what did you learn?

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[Brains 2]

I know tht you are mostly talking about FS videographers but this was my first nationals and i filmed a skysurfer. I thought overall the meet was a tremendous amount of fun. We had only one problem with someone trying to use a remote near the dubbing station on the first round of artistics. I think four vidiots yelling "Who has a fucking remote?" was enough to stop that. Exits for us were out of the skyvan, other than not having a lot of practice out of one, they seemed to be fine. I was really excited to meet and talk with other videographers for suggestions and tips etc. It is great that in this sport, everyone is willing to help each other out even while competing against them.

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Nationals is a lot of fun, and I would like to encourage all of you that are thinking of doing a team this year to do it.

I couldn't resist, can i sign up for Fox Force 4 ?? Ooh, or that Russian womens team??

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[DaGimp 0]

i wonder are they usally in need of videographers? like a videographer show up and get put with a team? Just curious.

"Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas

[Brains 2]

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i wonder are they usally in need of videographers? like a videographer show up and get put with a team? Just curious.

I think there were a few teams that had needed a videographer, FF4 had lined Deuce up prior to showing up at Perris. I know there were a few pickup teams that competed and they needed to find videographers also i guess. There were a few threads on here about people looking for vidiots specifically for nationals also.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[DaGimp 0]

hmm something for me eto think about next year

"Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas

[psw097 0]

I slipped in the wet grass and dislocated my right shoulder on round one. So, I'll sum it up by saying - it sucked. I've been injured a couple times before and can say I earned each one, this time blew chunks.

I spend the first day of 4-way dubbing video so I did get to watch almost every round before they were scored. I spend the second day with a sippy cup mixing vicadin, redbull and voldka.

[Kwoo 0]

The last nationals I attended was Eloy 2001. I did video for an advanced class guest team.
I spent this year training with Fox Force 4 and should have gone to nationals with them as video but, my husband broke his back 2 weeks before and was still in the hospital when the team left for Perris. I love 4 way video and was looking forward to learning from and sharing with other videographers at the meet.
If the Foxes attend the 2005 nationals the line for videographer starts behind me. Those girls rock.
thanks again Duese
karen

[linestretch 0]

It was my 4th, but by far my worst. In 4way, I NJ'd twice, and was not happy about that. But in all, I was very happy to participate. Perris is an awesome host, and I plan on being back next year too.

my pics & stuff!

[Deuce 1]

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I couldn't resist, can i sign up for Fox Force 4 ??

No. And I can't either. Karen will get to go next year, and I look forward to meeting her then.

Ray, very nice to meet you.

I thought the video dumping setup was exemplary. Very cool, professional, and well done.

I had a great first 6 rounds, but had trouble exiting from Shark. The two rounds I busted exits were from the two times we jumped from Shark. I like Arizona's planes better for exiting simply because I have way more jumps out of them.

Organization and facilities were first rate. We were joking that it had all the vibe of a super good boogie, and hardly anybody was getting drunk, most were in bed early, and load one was full of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed jumpers.

I'll go again next year and fly camera for four way and then get on pickup 8 way and 10 way teams.