Imaginative videographer Vania Da Rui is as delicious as her name and as beautiful as the morning sun. Her latest production, Out of the Blue, showcases the amazing, gymnastic and artistic flying of extremely talented Turbolenza athlete Rafael Schwaiger. We interviewed Rafael and Vania to find out what went into their creation…
RAFAEL SCHWAIGER
How long have you been body flying and how many thousands of hours do you have?
It’s about 3 years since I started jumping, 2 years since the first time I flew in a wind tunnel. I started to work in Windoor in June 2013. I don’t think it’s even in the thousands. Probably around couple of hundreds of actual flying hours.
How do you choreograph your routines? Do you sit with a doll and a biscuit barrel?
Something like that. The doll is usually replaced by an iPhone though, haha. But it’s not only the time that all of the people I know in flying including myself spend with a doll, its about the countless hours of watching videos and getting inspiration from the brilliant people that already came up with amazing techniques and moves in the past and all the time we spend just zoned out, trying to visualize others and ourselves in the Tunnel in 3 dimensions. And then trying if it really works.
So to answer your question, I guess yes I sit around with a doll and stare at the tunnel for hours. Usually a routine needs much more than just one person’s ideas. It’s good to have 4 individuals with a similar understanding of how flying works to discuss ideas of moves and work on them together.
Did you choreograph this for Vania, or did she aim to capture your spirit for us?
Haha… This actually makes me laugh! Vania was quite structured in what she wanted. But in the end it was just flowing around at night, super nice.
The whoop at the end … surely that was spontaneous?
I always come out of the Tunnel screaming with excitement. That’s the beauty of this sport.
What does Out of the Blue say to you?
I think it’s a bit because I am still fairly new in the sport and very obviously because of the blue LEDs.
How was it working with Vania?
Awesome, of course! Vania has amazing plans for the future and she is super passionate about what she does and how she does it. It’s always nice to work with passionate people, no? She sees the good in people and tries to use it, an artist at its best.
What was your favorite project you did together and why?
This was the first of many to come. I loved it, because it was easy and clear, with good mutual understanding.
How much was generated by Vania, how much together?
Vania sees me fly a lot, she has a pretty good idea of how I fly and told me what she believed was best to show in the video.
I aways come out of the Tunnel screaming with excitement!
The walking part – that’s the bit everyone’s going mad for! – is that as crazy difficult as it looks?
Of course it’s difficult, but I did not come up with it. Like with many things I got inspired watching all the best flyers perform; for the walking part, it was a flyer from Russia, Mikhail, an unbelievably amazing ‘neo-freeflyer’.
You are a textbook flyer with very visible inputs (whereas some flyers move but you’re not sure how), is that from teaching or just the way you fly?
I think it’s just the way I fly, I guess everyone just has their own way/style, while some are more and some less efficient. In the end that’s what it’s all about, how efficiently can one use the air in the tunnel or the sky.
How important is body position?
Very important. In order to be as powerful as possible, a certain body position and body tension is obviously required. I would say that a certain position is needed for a certain line or move, but at the same time there is an ‘ultimate’ body position that is adjusted to certain moments. Then everyone adds a little of their own style to that. And then there is a certain style that is just the most efficient.
It makes me imagine a huge music festival, with a stage of dancers framing wind tunnels lit up with bodyflyers ‘dancing’ in 3D, what do you think?
Fu**ing awesome!!! Depends on the music played at that festival of course… If the music would match the rhythm of the flying or the other way around.
What does Turbolenza mean to you?
Turbolenza was one of the first things I knew when I started skydiving. I knew it because the best athletes wore the logo in many of the videos I watched then. I even put the logo on my first ever suit just because I thought it was cool. Now actually representing the brand as one of 12 awesome athletes means a lot to me, makes me happy, they are all amazing people and flyers, and bring their own skill-set and style to the group.
You won the Wind Games, are you entering the World Challenge?
No I won’t. Unfortunately my new teammate David Petracco and I don’t have enough time to train for the World Challenge. However, we will participate in Charlewars. Airspace Charleroi, Belgium is hosting a dynamic) 2way and 4way event for their opening at the end of May. It’s likely we will also do the ‘Extreme Barcelona’ – Windoor, Spain. And of course we will be at World War XP –Paraclete XP, America – to compete in their 4way dynamic competition.
What’s next?
More and more flying every day, lots of travelling to different Tunnels and share my joy with others, and now with the summer several boogies. Let’s see what this year has to offer. Hopefully something good ☺
VANIA DA RUI
What gave you the idea for the movie?
One day Rafael mentioned the possibility to switch off all the lights in the tunnel, leaving it just lit by the LEDs. I wanted them blue. One evening I took some test footage while Raf was flying and after that I started to plan the short movie with him.
How difficult was it to get the lighting right for the cameras, and vice versa?
In this case I wanted to use only the blue led lights around the tunnel, so we switched off all the others. At this point was just matter of choosing the right settings on the camera, according to the lens I was using.
What was the concept?
I wanted to create a solo performance that focused on Rafael’s flying style, with a mood that would reveal his personality. Raf is young, he appeared on the flying scenario just recently and he’s extremely talented. Turbolenza wants him to be a stage where he can express himself.
What is the music?
I asked Rafael to point me out a song that inspires him flying. He picked one, I agreed straight away. Ultraísta – gold dayzz
How much was generated by your ideas, by Raf, and together?
I love to plan my movies very close to the performer. According to me, my job is to try to understand the essence of the personality of the athlete and to create the best conditions for him or her. When I am filming, the movie is already in my mind but at the same time I am open to listening and ready to improvise where it is needed. I search for inspiration continuously and when I find people that are driven by passion, they amaze me. It’s a pleasure and an honor to work with them. I feel like I have the privilege to see a bit into their soul and this has a precious value to me. The final edit produces a very short movie but all the filming process is actually where I get to know the people I work with better. Creating together is wonderful.
Out of the Blue portrays a secret, undercover life; it makes me think everyone you pass in the street could be just amazing too, is that intentional?
Yes, definitely. The night represents in general a moment where everything is quiet and where we dream. And I think that sneaking inside a tunnel in the night and taking control of it, flying as much as you want… well, it sounds like a secret dream, doesn’t it?!!
It makes me imagine a huge music festival, with thousands of people around a stage on which are dancers framing wind tunnels lit up with bodyflyers ‘dancing’ in 3D, what do you think?
I think you have a remarkable imagination. Perfect to start a brainstorming session. Music Festival with body-flyers dancing… No doubt the public is going be blown away!
Body flying would make a fantastic music video, do you have any plans for that?
I would love to make a music video about flying and in that case I would make tunnel flying certainly a part of it, but I would include much more. Just need to find the right song that inspires me, or even better a composer/musician that can create the song with me while I am describing the possible flying scenario.
Can your movies be interpreted in different ways to your intentions as a filmmaker?
I am happy if there can be different interpretations. My goal is to give emotions and good entertainment, possibly inspire. If on the top of that, people can see more than one message in it, even better!
How long have you been working with Rafael?
This is the first project we have done together and I think we make a great team. Communication is fundamental to me and Rafael always speaks his mind, I find this a great quality. Plus he is full of ideas, and I love it!
Raf is a ‘Turbolenza sponsored athlete’, what does that mean?
It means that we think he is a talented flyer with a great future ahead and we encourage him to do what he does at his best. Turbolenza is under re-styling right now, so I cannot disclose too much information. Certainly we want to create a special relationship with our athletes, where they can feel free to express their talent, while Turbolenza supports them.
Who else is in the Turbolenza family?
Considering Turbolenza has been silent after December 2012, we are restyling everything. That’s why we are promoting a new generation of flyers that in the last 2 years have attracted quite some attention because their incredible skills. I am referring to Rafael Schwaiger, Ty Baird, Inka Tiitto, Ben Roane, Lika Borzova, Fabian Ramsayer, Alex Duncan.
Then we got involved some athletes already well known on the world scenery for their hunger for podiums and medals (Roy Janssen, Julian Guiho); and we confirmed some of the previous line up like Noah Bahnson and of course our great Maurizio di Palma and Roberta Mancino), with Turbolenza since the beginning. There is also another girl and later we want to involve more people of the flying community. But hey… Let me leave you at least with something to guess about!
When you say, re-styling Turbolenza, what are the plans?
It’s a surprise. Everything is still under development and it takes a bit of time. But I can assure Turbolenza fans: you will finally get the online store of our products that you asked about for so long!
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