At long last, I’ve located a high quality upload of the infamous Spike Jonze Fully Flared video.

Saki Knafo (of the NYTimes) wrote of Jonze’s short video work:

“There are no clear motivations driving the people in these videos, no explanations for their absurd predicaments, and when you watch them, you might wonder whether Jonze’s own creative decisions were motivated by anything other than an impulse. An implicit question precedes his artistic choices: Wouldn’t it be cool if . . . ? Wouldn’t it be cool if we made Christopher Walken fly? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we rigged a staircase with blast caps?”

Yet I’d argue that this is more than a particularly well-executed Jackass vignette by the co-creator of Jackass. Yeah, it’s cool.  But it is the simplicity and restraint–seven tricks in four minutes–that gets me.  Unlike Jackass, this isn’t just “wouldn’t it be cool if…” with the cameras rolling; the success of the work is in its execution.  The slow motion does triple duty: it cranks up our level of anticipation before the trick, revels in the elegance and grace of movement during, and, after, allows us to examine the shades of exhilaration, determination, and surprise in the faces of the skaters.  Credit Lance Accord if you must–certainly, don’t deny him his due–but remember that, in the midst of such chaos, it takes a director of vision to create something beautiful.