Ride the Rooftops of Gran Canaria, Spain with Danny MacAskill

Pros Dec 08, 2015

Cascadia, the breathtaking GoPro production, showcases Scottish trial cycling legend Danny MacAskill's spectacular riding where no one has ridden before across the rooftops of picturesque Gran Canaria in Spain.

As Danny makes his way from the highest rooftop across all sorts of obstacles all the way to the ocean, we are treated to some incredibly immersive and vertigo-inducing action.

We spoke to Danny and asked him to tell us a bit more about this passion project:

GoPro: Why did you choose Gran Canaria?

Danny: First of all I wanted somewhere that would be nice and sunny, as the weather in Scotland has not been that good. Also somewhere nice and colourful that works really well on camera. We needed to find all this with nice, flat roofs, so I could ride atop of them and do gaps between the buildings.

GoPro: You did some huge tricks in this video, how do you estimate the risk you're taking?

Danny: The rooftop video I knew would be fairly high risk, but I have been riding trial for the last 18 years and you obviously start small, at curb height, with small obstacles and improving your skills to gradually move up on higher and higher walls. Then basically I tried to find riding in Las Palmas that was probably up to 80% of the difficulty level I could do low down. In the video, I am often riding on three or four story drops to my side but I am completely comfortable while I am up there.

GoPro: What's the biggest difference in shooting with GoPro compared to ordinary cameras on this type of project?

Danny: I'd say one of the big differences shooting with GoPro compared to an ordinary camera is ease and versatility. With the bigger cameras and rigs, the filmers are setting up all the time, deciding what lenses to use time goes into that. We are obviously set with what we had, a versatile little camera that you can put all over the place. Because the weather was really good it is kind of straightforward, the whole process was actually really fun. I am very pleased with what we've made, it's just been a fun time.

GoPro: What's the biggest advantage of shooting on GoPro?

Danny: When I first thought of this concept, GoProwas the first partner that came to mind because it would feature so heavily especially with the POV riding. Right when I thought rooftops' I thought, go to GoPro'. I know from past projects that viewers respond to POV footage, especially when you've got that sort of risk or height, POV really emphasizes that and takes viewers along for the ride.

At the same time, it was cool using the camera to really capture the lines in a sort of cinematic way with a lot of movement in them, we could get really creative with it.

GoPro: Any advice for ambitious GoPro filmers?

Danny: I'd say the camera is so versatile, just go ahead and play with it, see what works for you, it is fun trying to mount it all over the place! For my general riding I use a lot of straight POV because not many people have seen that angle of trials. I also love trying to find new places for the camera and that's also the easiest way to avoid jump cuts in your edit. Just switch angles a few times while you're riding and experiment with new angles. I'd just say play with it and have fun, see what works for you!

LINK:	http://gopro.com/news/ride-the-rooftops-of-gran-canaria-spain-with-dan...
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