News and views on visual communications from the writers of Creative Review

BMX mounted soundsystems: Made In Queens

Gavin 01/08/08, 11:16

Basszilla 2

Made In Queens is a short film that lifts the lid on an underground scene emerging in the outskirts of New York’s Queens borough. Directed by Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens, the film looks at a small crew of Trinidadian teenagers, led by Nick Ragbir, who are obsessed with customising their bmx bikes with the fattest soundsystems they can possibly hook them up with.

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“In this age of obsessive video sharing and social networking, nearly every action is designed and packaged for public consumption. Especially with young people,” says co-director Joe Stevens. “The immediate charm of Nick and his crew is that they’re the exact opposite of all that. There is nothing calculated or self-conscious about who they are. They’re just a group of friends doing something to challenge themselves and have some laughs. It’s a story which would have never come from kids who were born here.”

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Group photo

Here’s the official trailer to the movie:

A copy of the film was delivered to cr in a case with a fold-out, double-sided poster and a Made In Queens sticker designed by Randall after much BMX sticker research. The red disc enclosed even has a BMX wheel printed on it - here are some shots of the packaging:

Made In Queens - front
Made In Queens - reverse of case
Made In Queens - open
Folder poster and sticker

Made In Queens insert poster

Made In Queens poster

To find out more about the project, visit madeinqueensfilm.com

Posted in Graphic Design Photography Film

(17 comments)

Can’t wait to get my hands on it, nice packaging to, loving the disc!

Was lucky enough to see and hear these guys first hand on my trip to NYC in May. Lets just say LOUD doesn’t really cover it, although they were playing early 90’s dance act ‘2Unlimited’, not sure what that was about?

Maybe I should get one for the back of my Skyway, hmmmmmm?

Posted by Chris Hilton on 01/08/08, 12:32 pm

I’m gonna soup up the Tuff Burner, and see how long it lasts in the real ghetto ‘Middlesbrough’

Posted by Mr Page on 01/08/08, 4:37 pm

I used to live in a neighborhood in Hillsboro, Oregon where we had a lot of young adults and teens who were in gangs (unfortunately). The leader of the most notorious gang in my neighborhood had an incredibly tricked out BMX bike with a chain steering wheel and an impossibly huge trailer on the back with a big sound system mounted to it. He used to ride all over the neighborhood, blasting whatever he felt like listening to, and I thought it was the oddest thing. I also thought that it was pretty creative! It’s cool to see that it wasn’t just an isolated thing, either! I bet seeing these dudes ride by together is a bit like watching a small parade of hot rod cars.

Posted by melanie on 01/08/08, 7:26 pm

Oh great, just what the world needed…more pinheads making WAY TOO MUCH NOISE to call attention to their sad little empty lives. Jesus F**Kin’ Christ, I hope some SUVs run over their putrid little noisemakers and pulverize them into debris and twisted metal.

Posted by John Smith on 01/08/08, 10:01 pm

Your wishes for them are worst than what they are doing… I think your mind is a lot more twisted than this kids’ mind. I LOVE the idea… even thou I don’t think is nice to hear their loud music but at least it is a proof that they have the creativity to do whatever they like. I would love to see this short film!!

Posted by Giselle Madera on 02/08/08, 6:06 pm

fantastic. loving this.

is there a link where we can see these guys playing some tunes?

Posted by Creepers on 02/08/08, 7:17 pm

I’d like to see this done where it actually looks cool, too. These kids look like they are hauling junk off to a storage building. Integrate it and balance it so it sounds good & you can actually ride the bike. *Then* I will be impressed.

Posted by Demetrius on 03/08/08, 5:50 pm

I saw the doco and annoyingly there’s been more effort put into the packaging than the story. NIce graphics, but very ordinary filmmaking. The characters don’t have anything to say about the reasons behind what it is that they do so it becomes purely a visual exercise. The trailer contains everything worth gleaning on the subject.

Those BMX stickers are pretty cool but as for the “much sticker research” line, well just type “80s BMX stickers” into google images and see what you get on the front page:

http://flickr.com/photos/34428338@N00/384886226

lol

Posted by Jase Chisholm on 04/08/08, 9:26 am

Oh Demitrius, it hardly looks as though they’ve a ‘Pimp My Ride’ budget. How much of a step-up is this over some shit at the back of a bus playing his mixtape from a Nokia?

Awesome, who needs Wes’wood eh?

Posted by Ed Wright on 04/08/08, 9:51 am

Jeez, talk about negative Mr Jase Chisolm. Your comment makes clear
that you are one whom spends too much time in the Tool Shed.

I just saw this film at Edinburgh Film Festival and thought that for a short the film was spot on.

Considering the bikes are ALL about the music, to me it made sense that
this film in short form lived somewhere between a documentary and a
music video.

If you did your research, you would find this project is in fact a prequal to a feature on the entire subject of the bikes and the kids, due out next year.

Posted by Mark Thompson on 04/08/08, 2:02 pm

Off topic a bit but check out the photoshop nightmare on the “held up poster image” (last pic). This technique of documenting poster design is so mind-numbingly tired I can’t believe anyone is still using it, but when the image is photoshopped on?! Laaaazy. When will this scourge end?

Posted by AAA on 04/08/08, 5:40 pm

I love how all the geek-freak-design-nerds come out of the woodwork on this blog with such inane comments. Put a bullet to my head PLEASE…

This project looks really great, thanks for posting!

Posted by Bonjourx on 04/08/08, 6:43 pm

Would just like to ask John Smith why he thinks it is bad for people to try and gain respect/attention in their, and I quote, “sad empty lives”.

You would rather them not be there hey? Lovely.

Posted by Chris Barrance on 05/08/08, 12:27 pm

i want one

Posted by jane on 07/08/08, 3:24 pm

i want one

Posted by jane on 07/08/08, 3:24 pm

PURE RADNESS!

These kids are doing something really postive -
Teenagers are ment to be LOUD AND MAKE NOISE
Don’t you remember what it was like to be young or have you always been boring ???
Fantastic package.
www.microtrix.net
www.myspace.com/microtrix

Posted by kyan on 07/08/08, 9:11 pm

no, i mean i REALLY want one

Posted by jane on 08/08/08, 9:35 am