Magic Flashlights brings a playful glow to snowboarding at Mount Hood. In the Knife Show production, riders move through recognisable snow and park features while added visual effects make the scene look as though ordinary light has acquired unusual powers. The real riding gives the fantasy something physical to follow; the effects give a familiar camp-film setting an unexpected direction.
Mike Benson's Mount Hood snowboard short
Mike Benson shot and edited the film, which the original introduction placed around Timberline Lodge and High Cascade Summer Camp. That combination of location and production credit is useful: this is a crafted snowboard short made in a real riding environment, not footage of an unexplained event discovered on the mountain. The joke works because the setting is ordinary enough to recognise.
The riders behind Magic Flashlights
The credited riders are Brendan Hayes, Scott Stevens, Chris Beresford, Matty Mo, Jesse Burtner and Casey Wrightsman. Their physical performances give the visual effects their energy. The glowing elements attract attention, but their effect depends on a rider's timing, position and movement through the shot rather than replacing the snowboarding altogether.
Explore more: landscapes constructed for the camera; a ski film with a more natural visual approach.
Video: Magic Flashlights (published by Mike Benson).
How the glowing effects guide the eye
Notice where the added light directs your eye. A glow can pick out a path, emphasise a gesture or separate the rider from a busy background. Compare that with the board and rail, which remain the physical reference points. The two layers have different jobs: the action makes the scene readable, while the effect makes it playful and slightly impossible.
A real snowboard setting with an invented twist
The still photograph captures one of those combinations, with a blue glow suspended around a snowboard moment. The moving film adds the timing that a single image cannot show. For another look at how much work can sit behind an apparently magical scene, the linked Matthew Albanese feature explores miniature landscapes built for the camera. Both reward a little attention to how the image was made.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Snowboarding
- The Balance of Powder - An Amazing Ski and Snowboard Movie
- Don't Panic Snowboard Clips
- Chile Snowboard Freestyle and Freeride
- Valdez, Alaska - Helicopter Skiing And Snowboarding
- A Really Good Snowboarding Video at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
- Visit Finland - Snowboarding And Freestyling
- landscapes constructed for the camera
- a ski film with a more natural visual approach
- Magic Flashlights
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