Otherwise chill training getting derailed by filming
Hey everyone!
I've been training parkour for a while—since before cell phones could take HD footage. In that time, I've watched the culture surrounding training shift as access to filming technology has become more widespread and, recently, it has got to the point where most sessions have at least a little filming if not a lot.
This change over the years has jaded me a bit as the sessions have shifted from skill development to skill performance, and I find that the act of filming causes most participants to stop training and watch (or get roped into filming.)
This has gotten me wondering if other veterans are feeling a bit jaded about training with folks who make a big part of every session about filming clips. Within my community, it's something we older folks talk about from time to time, especially when the things being filmed are unnecessarily dangerous, but I don't see it get discussed online.
I was at a session the other day where two of the participants decided to film a big standing precision and asked us to stop what we were working on (a big stride precision challenge) to come and get a second angle. Of course, being agreeable and friendly is important in situations like that, but we stopped what we were doing, stood around for 3-5 minutes, and then the moment of what we were working on had passed. It bummed me out because I was working with another participant on it and I feel like we were about to break the jump for him.
Back in the day, when everyone released a sampler once a year, you might grab clips a few sessions here and there, but generally speaking a "filming session" was more of a rare thing. I feel like everyone was a lot more conscious of what the group was working on and generally I enjoyed those sessions a lot more because of how collaborative they were. The lack of the camera kept the really good traceurs in the trenches with the newer people and everyone kinda just worked together until we were too tired and ended the session.
Anyway, I don't intend to start drama. Obviously so much of this sport relies on filming and sharing things online. I've benefited from that as much as anyone else. I'm just curious if anyone has any insights or solutions on how to build better sessions where everyone is hanging out together rather than inviting the "viewer" into things.
Thoughts?