I don't have anything to talk about other than I am hard at work putting together the footage I am going to be entering into the film competition at UNICON.

This includes, of course, the great stuff Andrew has supplied to me from Down Under. Crazy mofo's down there, I tell you what!

So yes, just like I had 100% confidence he would do, Andrew returned my camera to me with about 5 hours of footage to go through.

Tell me one other sport where a transaction like this would have taken place between two people who have never met!

Long time no post.

I have recieved the Low Mode Adapter from Glidecam, now my setup is PERFECT

I had to create a box to mount the camera using two base plates and some bolts, as my camera does not have a handle on top that the Low Mode extension is designed to mount to, but this works fine.

A small cut out in the bottom plate will allow me to operate the bottom loading tape mechanism in the camera (stupidest design ever) without having to remove the camera from the plate.

The angle on the monitor also keeps the sun glare off it, which is a nice feature as well.

















I find that this setup is much more controllable when I am riding with it. (and using the SmoothShooter)

On a movie note, I have gotten some bands lined up for this movie, and they are great 'unicycling' tunes, I'm excited about the music as it is such an important aspect in these movies. I'm gonna keep those bands on the downlow until I get out a trailer for it, not sure when that will be though. This movie will be winning (fingers crossed) the Unicycle film competition at UNICON this summer in Switzerland (unfortunately the only thing related to me that will be attending this event)and I cannot have published any footage previously.

Here's the set up :)

It looks big, bulky, and very cumbersome, but it takes fingertip effort, it's truly incredible!




















The helmet mounted L7 monitor I showed you previously will still work when I am using the filming method I came up with before, where I 'simply' ride my unicycle and have the camera mounted on a tripod, this way I can still see what's in the monitor when the camera is facing behind me, or whereever I need it to be :)

The online unicycle community is realistically what made TWNR possible. I had an instant global market for the movie as soon as I put the word out that it was available in these forums.

Add to that the 'actors' for the movie. I was able to post a filming date and location, and organize riding/filming sessions with people, many whom I had never met.

And when my movie was about 75% edited, I was able to contact well known members in the unicycling community, from a wide range of skill levels and areas to critique the movie, and what it might be missing. These people included John Foss, Sarah Miller, Nathan Hoover, Raphael Lasar, and Andrew Carter. Their input had a great affect on the final movie (although all the footage had already been shot, their input allowed me to clean up several of the scenes)

I originally approached Andrew Carter about his feedback, knowing that as well as a superb unicyclist, was also a drummer in a jazz band, Dancing About Architecture and might be able to pick up on some audio tweaks needed, and he certainly did. (Especially in the shots including Grassy Knoll &the Magic Bullit playing on the stage during the riding)

Although me and Andrew have never met, we have established quite an online friendship and working relationship (I take care of his band's website and hosting). I am excited to announce that Andrew Carter has now joined Team Inner Balance and will be adding Australia (and potentially New Zealand) not to mention his sick trials and aggressive MUni style to the movie! He has made a lot of great online videos, and I am anxious to see what he has to add to Inner Balance.

Oh, by the way, I won't be traveling to Australia to film him and his Aussie counterparts, I mailed him my #2 Sony HDV camcorder! (gotta love that global-unicyclist bond!)

On a side note, I got my Glidecam Smoothshooter and just about have it set up correctly (or so it appears). Turns out a guy named David who posted his testimonial on Glidecam's website about his Smoothshooter also lives in London, we're meeting on Wednesday to talk shop, and I'm sure he has a lot of tips and techniques to show me.

I'll bring an extra unicycle for him to try!

I took the glidecam 4000pro and L7pro monitor out today for my first test spin.
What I knew before going out was that there would be a lot of times the monitor would be out of my line of sight, so I came up with the idea of mounting this to my helmet.

(Don't worry, I ride like I am trying to avoid a $1000 accident)











It's quite a bit heavier than a normal bike helmet, but the counterweight distributes the weight nicely.

While the image appears upside down as of right now, I probably won't get around to an upright mount fix, as I really am only using the monitor as a guide (as I still need to be aware of my surroundings, and will still use the camera LCD screen when it's in easy view.

Here is a video (music by: D Trevlon ) from the first time taking it out. A lot of the footage is quite shaky still, but more saddle time (with both the Glidecam, and riding with the Glidecam) will fix that. This also isn't my ideal 'filming unicycle', it would be much faster and much smoother. It's 36" wheel rolls over everything quite easily. Uphills seem to be my arch nemesis, ones that I really need to power up, but again, saddle time will remedy that.

Some shots I left in, as shaky as they were to show the range of the possible shots, the ability to flow in between things, and the speed in which you can recover from a shot (spinning around after the recumbent bikes passed)

The biggest issue seems to be the horizontal balance when I am changing direction, I figure this must be a counterbalance/issue, while my setup appears fine, I'm sure it would offend seasoned Glidecam operators! (Is swiveling of the camera taken care of the same way horizontal balance is set? Mine seems to swivel ever so slightly when I do the 'pick up from table' test)

If any venterans want to jump in with some beginner tips, I'd love to hear them.

Welcome to Inner Balance: Behind the Scenes.

My name is Brian MacKenzie, and I am currently filming my second extreme unicycling DVD called Inner Balance. This will be available in standard DVD format as well as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. I'm looking at September 2006 for a DVD release, and around Xmas for the Hi Def version to be out.

My first unicycling DVD was Training Wheel Not Required (TWNR)
View Trailer

There is a great story to tell, as I make the movie, and I think you will be interested in following along. I will talk about the people I meet, and the technology involved in making it. I have come up with a revolutionary way of filming, and I would like to invite you along to watch as I figure out how to best use the technique/technology.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the sponsors of the movie. Without these people being as excited as they were to help out with movie, I would not be putting out the movie I am.

Glidecam Industries was excited to hear about the 'filming-while-unicycling' techniques I came up with for TWNR, and have sponsored the movie. During the filming of TWNR (as well as the shots already gotten for Inner Balance before I got the Glidecam), there were so many shots that I could have used, had the footage not been so shaky.

Schlumpf Innovations is on the leading edge of unicycle technology, and I am quite excited to feature the shift-on-the-fly unicycle Florian Schlumpf has come up with.

Municycle.com A German unicycle distributor, Roland has been a big part in getting my movies across Europe, and is anxious to be a part of this one. This is where the Qu-Ax unicycle equipment Joel Burgess rides comes from.