'PLATFORMER' - AN INSIGHT: With Dan Foley

With the warning shot of 30 in the rear mirror and the dawning of middle age at 40 soon approaching, Dan has recently committed himself to a new phase, one in which the pressure of being a professional doesn't exist. While he might not be operating under the controls of a biker-sponsor agreement, the drive for continuing to ride remains. Most importantly, this is fuelled by a desire to do things on his own terms, in seeking excitement and joy as well as striking a balance with the role of BMX amongst lifes many responsibilities.  

Soothing as it's uttered, Dan highlights that he wishes to continue to ride at a high level, despite the act of 'stepping down'. 

A level of which is displayed most effectively in his latest video project, 'Platformer'. 

Whether it's simply a human condition or the bent of a neophiliac, either way, the process of moving through a new phase of ones life is often an uncomfortable exercise. As Dan does so eloquently with bike underneath, he does equally with his outlook and decision-making; intentionally and composed.

"I usually end up riding 1-2 times a week nowadays, which I'm super grateful for. The weeks where I get to ride more definitely feel more balanced, so I do everything I can to get on the bike. I want to do everything in my power to keep it a regular thing and a big part of my life as long as possible."

So with managing freelance video work, shooting real estate, physical health, a relationship with his partner and allocating more time to a childhood passion for drumming, finding time to ride requires much more discipline. 

"I sneak in BMX whenever I can. A lot of times that'll be weekends and/or weekdays where my schedule ends up being slow. It's always fluctuating, so I try to adapt accordingly with riding. I'll usually try to get at least one day of riding in a week even if I'm super busy." 

As Dan describes in his approach to stepping down as a pro rider and as the essence to working on 'Platformer', it is the quest for pure enjoyment that supports the way he arranges his life and makes decisions in prioritising BMX. 

Chatting with Dan helped tease out what it is that he means in reference to 'enjoyment', in what makes BMX so rich and important to maintain. A topic which I'm always interested to explore and hear new perspectives.

"It just always checks all the boxes for me. It's equal parts physical and creative. You get to use your whole body to express yourself every time you get on your bike. There's the whole explorative aspect with finding new spots. Then you can add filming into the equation which unlocks a whole new side of it. BMX is all of these things to me and there's nothing else quite like it."

While Dan has reached his influential position largely through his riding abilities, the latter part of his biking career introduces another badge to his uniform through videography. As he touches on, and not that it's unique, developing a passion for filming/editing is such a wonderful accompaniment to biking. 

"You get to choose what you shoot and how you shoot it. It allows you to portray your vision of BMX to others however you want."

And for Dan, the beauty of the craft is weighted in intuition, something that you hear alot from with creative heavyweights, for good reason. And in this case, an intuition that's led by the chase for stoke. 

"It could be a trick that's hard, something that feels cool, a visually appealing spot, a unique setup, a potential camera angle, whatever really. If there's some aspect of it that gets me excited, I'll do my best to capture it. I'll try to use the camera angle, editing, sound, etc accordingly to serve the clip. If all goes according to plan, it hopefully becomes a visual representation of what I love about BMX."

As mentioned, having been in the game for almost 2 decades and now transitioning away from the pro life, I was curious as to whether the 'feeling' towards producing video parts remains.

"It definitely does. If anything, the feeling is stronger now. My motivation is to try to create something where I can express my love for riding visually. I want to motivate others to pick up their bikes, mess around with cameras, and do the same."

From my point of view, this video watches as well as any other Dan Foley video. You know what to expect and you'd be disappointed if it was less than premium. Beyond the obvious theme of it being self-filmed, what's striking with 'Platformer' are the combination of signature Dan Foley traits, including:

• an audio balance favoured to give the sounds of the spot and clip as much justice as possible
• a backdrop with no people, moving objects or visual clutter, giving it an eerie, end-of-the-world atmosphere. A proclivity Dan possesses which requires a lot of intention and patience
• excellent use of still fish and the timing of cuts to bring about a sense of pace
• finally, well composed angles which beautifully depict the spot while also accentuating lines and shapes
• as a consequence of the self-filmed approach, the tripod extinguishes any shaking. Meaning that the whole video is perfectly still.

In combination, these factors are what help to generate the unique 'brand' associated with a Dan Foley video. 

In a more 'Platformer' specific sense, I spoke with Dan about some of the more memorable spots and clips, which I reflect upon as a genuine privilege when working on these projects. To be entrusted with the background details is a special thing, the way videos are put together is such that you see what the editor wants you to see, everything else remains unknown. Fleshing out the gaps is a really cool way of being invited into the more personal aspects of the project, to more closely connect with the raw experiences of putting the video together. 

Anyway, as Dan explains:

"I had tried to get a clip at the last clip spot for a previous video in 2020, but walked away unsuccessful after two visits. It felt nice going back 5 years later and making something work on it. 

The triple ice bench to manual 180 was probably the hardest clip of the whole edit. I shot it late in the summer during a heatwave. It was only cool enough to ride/shoot for about the last hour of the day. I had to go back 3 separate times, since it kept getting dark before I could piece it together. Luckily the 3rd time back it cooled off a bit and it worked out before I sweat through everything."

In closing this one out, the final topic I was hoping to discuss with Dan was his undeniable influence in BMX. I personally know a lot of dudes in my small world that would reference Dan Foley as one of their favourite riders.

Funnily enough, when working on this interview, I sent through a link to the Mir Ng Journal article as an example of what the final product might look like. Coincidentally, Mir was quoted as saying:

"My favourite rider is Dan Foley. All time steez lord and absolutely no wasted movements on the bike. His cinematography skills and editing are beautiful, whilst at the same time, the riding is doing all the talking."

That take is pretty common. I was then curious around Dan's awareness to the concept of him having influenced BMX culture. 

"It's always pretty wild when someone who I've never met who lives in another part of the world mentions my riding having an impact on them. After doing this for 15+ years, I'm aware I've had at least some sort of an impact on certain people, but never fails to trip me out."

To exist in that upper echolon of dudes who have genuinely shaped how we practice biking is highly respectable. True to the rites of someone bestowed in this admirable position, Dan does it with complete modesty. 

Long live the foundational values of core BMX.