On Oct. 31 a documentary movie project that Torstein Horgmo and filmer/editor Tobias Frøystad have been working on for two years will hit the digital shelves. It's called "Horgasm: A love story," and though the word from those who've seen the footage is that the riding will definitely put him in contention for "Rider of the Year," that's not the only reason to get excited about it.
In a world where everyone who doesn't want to become a pro shred wants to be a filmer, the viewing choices available each year for extended snowboarding montage videos set to music are infinite. This is not to say that the movies aren't good -- many are great -- it's just that there are a lot, and though styles vary, they vary within a pretty predictable range.
Very few video editors can tell an actual story. Frøystad is one of them. And while there isn't a snowboard crew on Earth that hasn't claimed that their movie project is "all about fun," Frøystad's edits are, literally, funny. Really funny. And we all know the only thing better than snowboarding, is laughing about it. This movie can't come out soon enough.
ESPN: When and why did you decide it was time to do your own solo movie project?
Horgmo: Right around this time two years ago. We were going to be filming a lot for my website regardless, and thought it would be cool to see how much footage we could stack up and save. Personally, I just wanted to try something new. After three really good years with Standard Films it just felt like the right move.
What is going to make this movie different than any other movie we've seen before?
Hmm … The recipe we had going with the video blog definitely turned out to be something new. The movie is an extension of that. We only saved the footage we thought was good enough, instead of putting it online right away.
“I just hope they watch the 360s, the 5-0s and the pow turns too, and realize there's more to snowboarding than triple corks.
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I have to give a lot of credit to Toby [Frøystad] for the way he sees things and puts them together. It's hard to explain exactly how, but as far as snowboard movies go it's gonna be nothing like you've ever seen before.
You're calling this a documentary. So is the "behind the scenes" stuff the focus of the movie, or is it just the glue that holds the hammer drops together?I would say its gonna be around 50 percent snowboarding. Toby has kept the camera on me in a lot of weird situations through these two years so there's going to be a lot of behind the scenes. We're not digging too deep into the old stuff, but we definitely do a lot of digging! And, just to be clear, after the movie release I'm dropping a full part that's 100 percent shredding too.
Are there any movies that you are looking to either for inspiration, or as an example of what not to do?
We don't have a formula on this. I think we're just avoiding anything that's gonna make it boring.
What friends get to make cameos? Just riding or behind the scenes, or both?
We have some of both and I definitely want to put as much as possible in there -- no names yet, though. Toby's got that one covered and it's all going down on the timeline these days. I'm pretty excited, myself …
On top of this you're releasing a full part with DC. Do you sleep?
Well that project started a year after mine and I think that just helped the filming for the regular snowboarding more. I definitely got more shots filming with that crew as far as bangers go, and it was really fun to spend more time with the team.
When it comes to videos, usually people are either old school, like Travis Rice, keeping all footage a secret until the movie releases, or are new school, putting out a ton of online edits, but not having enough left over for a legitimate full part. Few people pull off doing both. How do you live so well in both worlds?
All I've focused on really is staying healthy and not getting broke off. Snowboarding is way more fun than sitting around thinking about snowboarding. I figured if I could do that and have a filmer on me at all times, there would be a lot of footage to deal with. After filming with Standard for three years I definitely learned the importance of stacking shots, but also that sometimes it can take a little bit too long before people can see them.
Do you think that the old school way movie making is going to go the way of the dinosaur, and soon it will all just be web edits? Or will there always be a place for the traditional movie model?
Hard to say … People will always enjoy bigger projects that you have to wait a bit for -- more impact! And people still go to the cinema you know, maybe more than before, even. But the Internet isn't going to stop growing either. Its wide open to me, really, what's going to happen …
Last question: You know that when you do a trick like a triple cork, and then take it a step further by doing variations, all the kids coming up after you who are watching your movie are going think that they have to learn triple corks to be pro. How do you feel about that?
That's just progression I guess. I was a lot like that growing up too, only they have coaches telling them what to watch now. I just hope they watch the 360s, the 5-0s and the pow turns too, and realize there's more to snowboarding than triple corks.
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