The Risk Of Living In “Daredevil On A Snowmobile”
Life is inherently dangerous. Some things maybe more dangerous than others, but everything has risks. “Daredevil on a Snowmobile” is a short film that is a part of the “New York Times Op-Doc” series that was made in 2013. This film directed by Lucy Walker is the story of two Texan brothers who ride snowmobiles. Both brothers’ crash, and it leads to one of them, Caleb, passing away due to his injuries. But the other brother, Colton, continues to ride snowmobiles. The film also looks at the brothers before and after the accident that lead to Caleb’s death. Lucy Walker aims to show that it is worth taking risks if it means doing what makes a person happy and to motivate people to take these risks in their lives to make themselves happy. She achieves this by the use inspirational music, dramatic voiceovers, and firsthand interviews. During the majority of the film there is not much music present. However, when there is music it changes the mood of those scenes.
For the first half of the film there is not much music at all. Within this quiet stretch it shows the brothers doing all kinds of crazy tricks. Things that would be far too crazy for other people to consider trying. Every day people go about their lives without any spectacular reaction. They just do what they must, there is no reward or recognition. The lack of music relates this epic sport of extreme snowmobiling to everyday life. This shows how the part that makes this sport different is not the crazy tricks that cause risk; everything has risks. This silence highlights a connection between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Most risks are not viewed as special, but everyone must take them, there is no music for most people.
There is finally music in the film when Caleb crashes his snowmobile. This shows how the extraordinary part, the part that deserves the music, is the crash itself. This is because people are always forced to take risks, without any crowd to cheer them on for succeeding or to gasp if things go wrong. There is no reward just for putting something on the line. The inspirational music that is playing shows that that chance at failure, and even past failures, is exactly why anything is worth doing. If something is guaranteed then there is no point in doing it, the risks are what makes it worth doing. As the music keeps playing Colton crashes and then continues to ride. The epic music continues to play, it creates a feeling that of course he would get back up and ride more. This is because that is what he loves to do. It connects to normal life too, because if Colton, who watched his brother die from a crash while doing the sport he loves, can continue to snowmobile; then other people can approach a smaller risk, one that is not life threatening, and overcome that to find their own happiness.
Another element that plays a role in this film is voiceover, the announcers from when the brothers were competing. The announcers are dramatic with their commentary to create more emphasis in real time when the events took place. This is important because it shows that they were competing and it is not just characters in a movie. This highlights a connection between the extreme sport and regular life yet again. It adds a sense of realism. The announcers also make it clear that Caleb and Colton are not the most experienced but are still doing some of the most advanced tricks. The lack of experience creates a sense that the brothers might be in danger. It shows this before anything even happens. Once the brothers are more experienced is when things go wrong. What they are saying foreshadows what inevitably happens towards the end of the video, being the crashes. It connects to just an everyday person because it highlights that just experience alone cannot protect you from risks, yet this does not mean risks are worth taking. The announcers also show that those risks can be worth it. They commend the brothers for what they did in the sport. They also commend Colton for going back out to ride again after the death of his brother. This gives Colton reassurance for what he is doing, it shows how for him it is worth doing what he loves despite seeing first-hand what can go wrong
.One last element that has importance in this film is the interviews that walker uses in the video. Throughout the film there are a lot of different people interviewed. One thing that stands out is that none of the interviews are showed. They are all just voices in the background of the video clips. This is interesting because it keeps them from being personal. It creates a feeling that there is separation from the viewer and the people talking. This also creates a feeling that what the brothers do in the video is not special. It makes it feel like this extreme sport is just a metaphor for smaller everyday things that people do. This is because the way the people react it is not how you would imagine people talking about an extreme sport, but about something that would apply to anyone. It highlights the way that the risks both in this video and in the rest of life are just ossicles that people must overcome to be able to do what they want to do. In the videos that also have parts where Colton talks after his brother has already died. These post-crash interviews are where Colton explains why he continues to ride. These interviews add a human aspect to the film. They make it clear that although the risks he takes are like other things in life, they are still different. With these differences he continues to do what he loves because he doesn’t want to be held back by fear of failure.
Another aspect that is present in this film is the bias that Walker showed. One way that she showed bias was that she did not talk to anyone who was the one that was seriously hurt, to the point of life altering injury, while snowmobiling. This would have changed the film because had she talked to someone in that situation then they might have said that it would not be worth taking risks this big, even if they enjoyed it beforehand. Another bias she had was she did not talk to any professionals that could comment on the true danger of the sport. Had this been included in the film then it would again illustrate the true danger of the risk of snowmobiling that would then apply to risk in general. If the risk was shown in a way that it was more dangerous than it would change the underlying message. The viewer would see risk as less worth taking, even if it means being less worth taking. One last bias that was showed was the lack of talking to anyone outside of Colton and his friends. This could change the film because there might people other people involved that were more hurt by the accident. They may have called for Colton to stop snowmobiling.
The music, voice over, and interviews in this film play important roles in understanding the message that Walker is trying to convey. These aspects of the filmography allow the viewer to understand that life is full of risks, whether they are riding a snowmobile and doing tricks, or just something that most people encounter. Anything in life that is worth doing has risks, and if something makes a person happy it is worth doing.
