It's hard to keep up with Casey Neistat's daily vlogs, but today's stands out in particular for its special ingenuity and because it's Halloween. Thanks to a little creativity with an electric skateboard, some red cloth, and an Aladdin costume, New York City has Neistat and his buddy, Jesse Wellens, to thank for a truly epic Aladdin and Magic Carpet sighting. Go behind the scenes and see how they filmed it.
While the final video (above) is on Wellens' PrankvsPrank YouTube channel, it's Neistat's daily vlog that ended up being the behind-the-scenes video. With his usual, high-energy, no-nonsense charm and humor, Neistat shares some moments of the making of the carpet and how they got those silky smooth shots (looks like one of MōVI's rigs to me).
As always, sound is behind a great video. This video is no exception, with an impact-driving electro-swing remix of "Friend Like Me" from "Aladdin" (done by Sim Gretina). The remix of Robin Williams' voice is yet another warm addition throughout the piece, serving as a reminder of what a dynamic character he was, especially as Genie.
Yet again, Neistat and Wellens have created a video that's both endlessly entertaining and simple. Go create something. And Happy Halloween!
Check out the behind-the-scenes video here:
I do like the video. I like the concept.
But I am disturbed to the fact that creativity should be done responsibly.
I've never been in NY so my judgement might be wrong. But to film a proto type "magic carpet" board on the roads of a busy place like NY is dangerous (common sense?). I was amazed how the video was done but was more disappointed to see that it was done without any safety properly considered.
In example, there was this shot that he was skating via a road and where there was a car just behind him - what could have happen if the board failed or the skater ran into an unseen road hazard. He could have been hit by that car. (Assuming it's not one of theirs)
The drone flying part is subjective, though Casey himsef mentioned that it was illegal plus the pilot did also noted that he had a hard time flying it. Accidents can happen - lucky for them it didn't.
I do believe permits and rules were imposed not just to annoy creative people, but help us to be safer and organized. People might object to what I'm pointing out here. But other creative artists can get affected due to irresponsible content creation.
I lived in NYC and got around everywhere on a longboard, along with thousands of others who use longboards, skateboards, inline skates, roller skates, bikes, unicycles, etc to get around the city. Cars can share the road with a magic carpet if they can also share the road with the rest of us who get around in the city on non-motorized vehicles.
For how fast-paced the city is, I the pace on the roads is quite slow. Don't get me wrong -- taxi drivers (and others) can be insane. But at the same time, a 25mph speed limit and a general understanding between everyone to just go slower because of bikes/pedestrians/wandering tourists...it all adds up to a relatively safe (safer than you might normally think) environment for the type of riding portrayed here. In many cases, NYC streets can have a feel very much like the one felt throughout the video....
I've been watching Casey's vlog since day 1 and he's always working on something awesome!
I wonder if they got inspiration from this Vine...
https://vine.co/v/eYrl3nI5UZT
you will never know....MUHAHAHAHHA....sorry It's halloween and only time i can use my villain laugh
They had the idea before that vine came out, you can go back to Casey's vlogs from 2 weeks ago and Casey shows himself buying the frame for the 'magic carpet' and putting it together without revealing what it's for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAGuZPEPp24