Drop-off
Also known as: drop, rock drop
A sudden step down in terrain that a rider rides off rather than around, and a feature whose scale is notoriously hard to film.
Updated
What it means
A drop-off is a vertical interruption. The ground stops and resumes lower down, and a rider crosses the gap in the air rather than following the surface, which is what makes it Peak action rather than a transition.
Its defining filming problem is height. A drop that is intimidating in person reads as a small step on any wide lens, which is the single most common disappointment on a card.
It is different from a jump in that there is no takeoff. Nothing launches the rider upward, so the shape of the movement is a fall rather than an arc, and it reads differently.
How it works in practice
A side angle with a vertical reference is the only reliable answer. A tree, a person or the face of the drop in frame gives the eye something to measure the height against.
Low at the landing shows the impact. A camera on the ground where the rider touches down conveys the force, and a Low-angle shot there is worth more than a view from above.
A longer lens from further back compresses less than people expect. Shooting from distance with Focal length rather than from close with a wide lens is what keeps the proportions honest.
What to watch out for
Filming from above destroys it completely. A High-angle shot of a drop removes the one piece of information the shot existed to convey, which is how far down it goes.
The landing is where cameras get destroyed. Anything placed in the impact zone is in the path of a bike and a rider, and the shot is worth the risk only by prior agreement.
One attempt is common. Many drops get ridden once, which means a camera that was pointed wrong or not recording has removed the only coverage that was ever going to exist.
How RawClip handles it
Scoring reads the motion rather than the height, so a drop filmed from a flattering angle and one filmed from above both register as action. Including a side angle with something vertical in frame is what makes the result convey the scale.