Splitting the majority of their time between the Los Angeles area and Bear Mountain, Mike Benson and Casey Wrightsman have seriously made a name for themselves with their editing, special effects, riding, and entertaining cameos of dinosaurs and dogs. This two guys took some time to talk with GrindTV about their new vid, summer shredding, and what they hope to get into next season.
Mike Benson
GTV: What's up guys! So, your newest video, "Gnarcade" just dropped on the interwebs, what kind of response is it getting, other than the fact that it's epic...?
Mike: It's already up to 700,000 views which is really cool. We were lucky enough to premiere it at High Cascade, which is the snowboard camp where we filmed it. The kids there seemed to love it, and people were asking for Casey's autograph, which is always fun. He signed the back of someone's iPhone!
Casey: It's really awesome to think about how many people saw our video in just one week. I would never think in a million years we could get that many views on one of our videos. When we were up in Mt Hood it seemed like everyone up there saw it and loved it.
GTV: On your site, you mentioned that it's been a full year since you shot this. What went into producing this video, editing the special effects along with the riding, and what sparked the genius video game theme?
Mike: Well, I had wanted to do something videogame-themed for a long time. But the scary thing was, I didn't know how to do effects this complicated before I started editing. So as we were filming it, I had no idea how that stuff was going to come together in post.
GTV: Mike, have you always been ridiculous with special effects? How did you get so legit at things like magic flashlights, Nintendo graphics, and cloning Casey Wrightsman? Are there more people involved in that editing area?
Mike: Prior to this video, it was 90 percent me doing the special effects. But this was such a big project we had to find people to help out with more complicated 3D elements. For example, the ghosts in Pac-Man and the jumping frog in the Frogger section are WAY beyond my abilities. I have to give props to Chris Cordingley, Jordan Shipman, Kyle Brown, Brian Babbitt, and Skyler Riley. Those guys fired up their computers and made this video possible.
GTV: I know you guys have been up at Mt. Hood this summer, is that your plan until winter rolls around? Stay up there and film or do you guys miss the babes in So Cal too much...?
Casey: I wish we could stay up there all summer but I don't think I would be able to do it. I would miss my family and girlfriend too much and I don't think Mike would ever be able to miss that much work without getting fired, haha.
Casey Wrightsman and their latest pup addition, Fuzzy
GTV: Is it fair to say you guys have an obsession with your dogs? How big of a role will they start playing in your future videos?
Casey: Well, the first time we put my dog (Scruffy) in Knife Show Volume 2 I thought it was a little weird and thought maybe people would think we were weird, but then everyone seemed to like her and it was everyone's favorite part. When we were up in Mt Hood everyone was asking "Where is Scruffy?" I think she has more fans then Mike and I put together, haha.
GTV: Along with your pups adding to the Knife Show crew, how many consistent riders do you have filming with you guys? Or does it differ depending on the project?
Mike: It's always a bit different. It's whoever's riding we are excited about, plus they obviously have to be nice folks.
Casey: Ya pretty much what Mike said.
GTV: What's your favorite mountain and/or spot to film?
Casey: Bear Mountain! But I would like to travel more and see new mountains and parks and start doing more street rails.
GTV: I pretty much see you guys every day I ride up at Big Bear, will you guys continue to film and ride there this upcoming season like you have in the past?
Mike: I worked for them last season, but this year I would like to concentrate solely on stuff for Knife Show. It's kind of more gratifying to do your own thing. (But I love the people there, obviously).
GTV: Do you have a new project in the works or did Gnarcade take all your editing energy out of you for a while?
Mike: I have to admit, I don't want to jump into a big project like that again. But we did film some tests for a new video and we are going to have a meeting with a pretty huge company about turning that into a fully-sponsored web edit.
GTV: Well shit guys, I think it's safe to say that Gnarcade blew the minds of many and set the bar high. Way to go and can't wait to see what Knife Show puts out next.
Mike: Thanks for spreading the word! Keep it up!
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