December 8, 2024 • 48 mins
Join us for an exhilarating episode as we welcome the extraordinary Jon Moore, an airsofter, talented photographer, and passionate documentarian, to share his journey with us. Jon's airsoft adventure began with a spontaneous decision inspired by a YouTuber, leading to countless backyard target practices and journeys to the store with friends. We reminisce about the early days of airsoft in Ontario, the thrill of discovering fields like Flag Raiders, and how those experiences unknowingly connected us long before we met.
We'll dive into the dynamic evolution from casual games to engaging storytelling within the airsoft community. From fast-paced skirmishes to strategic MilSim events, we discuss how these games offer unique opportunities for creativity and narrative. Inspired by a podcast with Can Do, we explore the drive it takes to produce compelling content and the excitement of attending events like Nightfall. Our conversation expands into the challenges of adapting gear to suit different game styles and the creativity required to capture the essence of each exciting moment.
Looking to the future, we explore how the Ontario airsoft community continues to thrive despite challenges like Bill C-21 and COVID-19. We discuss the importance of educating the public, expanding into similar sports like mag-fed paintball, and documenting this vibrant community through a potential documentary. Our conversation is filled with gratitude for the camaraderie and unforgettable adventures that airsoft brings, and we express our deep appreciation to Jon for his invaluable insights and contributions. Get ready for an episode packed with excitement and anticipation for more epic airsoft escapades!
Instagram jondoesairsoft
jondoeslifestuff
Youtube Jon Does
Action Airsoft Club
www.actionairsoft.ca 905-615-7757
Ballistic Prints
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089181244866
SlingX
www.slingx.ca
Lightfighter Milsim Airsoft Team www.facebook.com/lightfightersmilsim
Nsceibelab Laser Designs
www,facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089285134479
Army Issue Surplus Inc.
www.armyissue.com 905-271-1665
Thank you for listening to the podcast.
check us out on Facebook and Instagram for all your upcoming episode information.
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088900910305
Instagram @the_airsoft_experience
Want More Content?
check out our awesome friends at THE CANDO EXPERIMENT podcast.
these guys are always having a great time listen to there antics on all your podcast streaming platforms.
https://linktr.ee/TheCandoExperiment?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=5c7718e1-98db-4eaf-bbba-6cf3f8cc19a6
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We'll be right side, got him.
They're pulling back now.
All right, and welcome to theAirsoft Experience.
(00:33):
I'm your host, michael Mascott,also known as Magic in Ontario
Airsoft, and today we're superlucky to have a great dude
badass all around, an amazingairsofter and photographer and
documentary docu documentarian.
Got it, got it.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcomeJohn Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hey guys, how are we today Thankful for you bringing
me out here, man, I've beenexcited for so long.
We just haven't made thishappen.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Honestly, I think we were talking about it last year.
For a really long time, yeah,for a couple of years.
Maybe we have started a journeytogether, haven't we?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, man, Like I mean this journey really started
listening to you talking aboutyour past and your adventure
into Airsoft.
So my journey really only beganhalfway through, or even
starting your journey.
So I've been really gratefulthat I've been a part of this
experience really for sure, forsure, actually.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Uh, we did play together a bit.
We'll get into that a littlelater.
Um, you took my nose off with asniper shot that's actually.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I think that is the yeah, we'll get it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, I think that's where it really started yeah,
that was awesome, but we'regonna rewind things because the
uh listeners want to know aboutyou, so let's pretty much start
with where, when and how didairsoft start for you, like?
Where did you get the bug?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think much.
I think the more people I talkto it's.
It's very similar.
So you know, you find you watcha youtuber and all of a sudden,
like that peak interest justplants a seed in your brain.
You're like you know what that?
That does look pretty cool.
Like how do I get involved?
So I was watching Dutch theHooligan and this guy is a very
(02:15):
good airsofter and I was likeyou know what I'm?
I didn't even text my friends.
I was like I'm just going to goto the store and pick up an
airsoft gun, nice.
And I grabbed the vfc uh v16mod 2 in bronze and I was like
this thing is badass oh yeah,good choice, really cool, yeah,
okay so I go home and I'mplinking in my backyard.
(02:37):
I got some decent space in thebackyard.
I'm plinking, send a textmessage, put the bat signal up
in the air for the boys.
Guys, this is sick, come overto my house right now.
This would have been sevenyears ago, nice, right around
when I started yeah and uh,they're coming over.
We're planking cans in thebackyard from like maybe like
100 feet, 150 feet.
(02:57):
They're like dude, we need toget into this too.
Now, all of a sudden, we goback to the store everyone comes
back with.
We got a g16, we got an mpstore.
Everyone comes back with we gota G16.
We got an MP5.
We're coming back.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Was this the same day ?
This is the same day we wentback to the store twice.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Holy, and they must have.
I mean, I don't know if theyget commissioned, but they were
just like dude, these guys aresick, these guys are crazy Nice.
So we come back with all guns,we're back with all guns, we're
planking, we're like man, andthat's how it started right, and
that's how, I mean, airsoftstarts for a lot of people.
You, you do something, youthink it's cool, tell your
friends about it, they thinkit's cool, they're in, and
that's that's how it's genuinelythe moment I started.
(03:33):
So there's, there's some photosof just me in my backyard, no
idea how to hold a gun, becauseI've never actually held a gun
in my life or shot a real gun.
I'm not cool, but you know thatthat's how the bug started for
me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Did you guys actually end up maybe by accident or
purposely shooting each other?
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
We put some cans on the end of the fence, yeah, and
we're just plinking away and Iremember like having to pick up
like thousands of BBs in mybackyard Just trying to like
rake them away.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Oh yeah, I was like.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I can't be bothered.
But yeah, it's like I can't bebothered.
But yeah, no accidental stuff,and we're like, okay, what is
needed to go play at a field?
Right, so we're doing ourresearch.
My friends are from Waterloo,I'm from Toronto, you know like,
where can we go to play?
And that was really our nextadventure trying to figure out.
Like this was before things hadreally made their way to
YouTube in Ontario and passedoutside of Facebook.
(04:22):
So there were a few forums.
There were really nodiscussions about Airsoft and
where to play at the time, so itwas just a matter of making a
calendar and figuring out wherecan I go and play, and that was
convenient for all of us.
So, yeah, that was essentiallythat week of us getting heavily
(04:44):
involved in spending thousandsof dollars just to get into the
game, right.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Do you remember the uh, the first field that you
actually played at?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Ooh, um that.
I would have played flagRaiders.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh yeah, I do remember seeing you there.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I see, I don't remember you at that field.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I was running an AK 47 and I had like the absolute
Amazon special face mask.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I definitely wouldn't notice you because you're not
like that now.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That's so sick.
Yeah, I was covered up field.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, that field was awesome.
Me and the guys like in theearly days of life fighters, we
would go there every Sunday Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Either Saturday or Sunday.
Definitely we would have beenin passing because we were there
so often, probably three timesa month, 100%.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Us too, like we started going and going and
going and then obviously Joegave us the bad news like the
last weekend that we were there.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, that still guts me because I miss that field
all the time, all the time whenwe play skirmish games or
outdoor field, because thefacility was incredible, the
people, were awesome, made theplace awesome, so, and that's
what kept us going back.
The other field that we allalso, uh, contemplated in milton
I think was devil dogs devildogs no longer there.
(05:56):
Yes, yes, and that we missedthat as well.
Uh, community also, I meaneverywhere.
The community in airsoft is sosick for outdoors, it's, it's
fun.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I know, know Milton had a place recently called the
Farm.
It was a private field.
Oddly enough, it's for saleright now.
I've seen it on FacebookMarketplace.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't have any money.
I spend it all on camera stuff,so it's not happening.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I'm not 100% on the zoning.
It's something that I wouldn'tlook into.
100% on the zoning, so it'ssomething that I wouldn't look
into, but yeah, it just seems alittle too close to a general
population to be allowed kind ofdeal.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I see what you mean.
Yeah, okay, you kind of wantAirsoft to be out of the way but
also accessible to people thatlike Airsoft.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
For sure, like even at the compound, we're out of
the way, but yet our neighborsstill hear us.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Right, right, you have at the compound were out of
the way, but yet our neighborsstill here, you're.
You have this, this weird sortof system going and it works
where it works which is greatlike and also comparatively like
flag raiders was in and out ofthe city at the same time with
so much space, like, yeah, thefields it was, it was fields, it
wasn't just a field, it wasthere's so much space great
layout too.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I loved playing there .
That's actually where we firstlearned about prc it was
actually there.
I believe that I same same withme actually so your first
actual replica was the m16 or m4platform, and you use that for
a while.
What made you decide to switchto what you actively use now?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
once again it's back to youtube.
Yeah, we're following.
So I think, uh, kicking mustangobviously is a staple in the
sniper community, whether youlike him or not.
Yep, he's good at the game.
Yeah, absolutely great at thegame.
And same with novritsch.
Novritsch is and at the timethis is before he started coming
out with his own replicas aswell yeah, so, following them,
and he used to throw like acamera, like literally a zoom
(07:44):
camera, on the top of his scopeand physically zoom in and focus
on his own.
I was like, dude, that that isreally cool.
So I mean, after doingextensive research for the
platform for snipers, this wasthe time when the ssg 24 came
out, so the sniper rifle and Iswitched immediately to that
platform.
And you know, and and snipersare tough because they're not
(08:05):
forgiving.
Once you get them out of thebox, especially at the time you
got to, there's a lot of tenderlove and care, parts, testing,
like you have to make itlegitimately good, because it's
a bolt action.
You shoot once you watch ittravel, does it hit your target,
yes or no?
Repeat, rinse and repeat, andit is not forgiving for people
(08:25):
that are new, and so I'mthankful that I did play the M4
platform first before gettinginto the sniper.
But I, man, I'd never go back.
I'm contemplating selling my M4because it's just, it's too fun
, like I love it so much, andit's not like I'm one of those
chair soft snipers that sits inthe back.
I'm with the boys Like we are.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Like and that's.
And that's what makes theplatform so good, because it
gives you it's not it's not toomuch of an edge but it.
But it is an edge because youknow you're shooting four, fives
for BB weight.
Sorry, compar Average it'sthrees or three, twos for
outdoors yeah, I would say that.
Yeah, so you know heavier BBstravel further if you give it
(09:08):
enough energy.
So it also cuts the wind.
So you know what you're moreeffective at range comparatively
to your M4 equivalent boys nextto you 100%.
So it's extremely valuable onthe field, especially outdoor.
Indoor it's whatever, butoutdoor it really does come as a
benefit.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So for players that want to get into sniping, is
there more of, maybe a warningto let them know that snipers
out of the box aren't going to?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
For the majority of them.
Now they've come up with someplatforms that are actually
pretty good.
If you're getting into it.
As a recommendation, the StyrScout is fantastic.
It's really good.
I haven't done anything to mineand it's good.
But it's no comparison to mySSG-24, which is completely
gutted.
It just has the externals of anSSG-24, mod 24 platform, but it
is gutted because I made it asgood as it is.
(10:02):
Do I recommend the Sniperplatform for people that are
getting into Airsoft?
I only say no because if you'regetting into the game, I want
you to understand the flow andhow Airsoft plays before you
dive into a platform thatencourages you to be sitting in
the back because you don't wantto get hit.
(10:23):
You have to understand how theother platforms play, so the
best way to understand it is bybeing in it with the other
people.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
That's great advice.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I mean comparatively to, I know, with video games and
people hate talking about videogames comparatively to actually
being in the field.
You understand the flow of thegame, how people move, how
people peak, how people move,how people peak, how people
coordinate teamwork with eachother in video games as well,
comparatively.
But the best way to do that inthe game is by being up there
(10:54):
with the boys yourself.
And yes, maybe you can do thatwith a sniper platform.
It's possible, but I highlyrecommend getting into the M4
platform first so you can trulyunderstand how the game works
For sure.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
For sure, the M4 platform or AK platform,
depending if you're Rush 4.
And also, probably, if you'regoing to think about, you know,
jumping into the sniper end,think about getting proficient
with a pistol and a sidearm,because you do have a med that
you have to work around.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I also think legally, you need a pistol as well for
that Exactly, I mean minimumengagement distance as well,
because the last thing you wantto do is we don't.
We don't want to hurt eachother, we want to have fun and
we just like the sniper platformbeing as shooting heavy BBs as
they are, it hurts.
Up close to that, I mean I'vehit you, oh yeah, oh yeah.
I mean I've hit you, oh yeah,oh yeah.
(11:43):
At the time I was shooting 1.1joules, even in the cold, but
four fives in the cold feel likethrowing ice at people.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Took off the tip of my nose it was yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So, yes, safety first , but yes, you need a pistol as
a requirement to getting intothe sniper platform Also.
It's just there's so many goodones out there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
There's so many good ones and it's cool to be able to
change between a primary and asecondary and changing mags and
just getting into that groove.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
That engagement is fun, you feel activated.
Oh yeah, With more stuff on you100%.
Sick.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So when you shifted into the sniper end, would you
say that kind of started thephotography end for you.
I noticed you started usingscope cams.
Uh, we started getting, uh, youknow, footage from youtube and
and stuff like that.
Like is, is that where it kindof started for you?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
it's exactly actually where it started, because I was
like man, after following theseyoutubers, okay, what is
actually involved in being aquote-unquote airsoft YouTuber?
Right, everyone in theirmothers has a GoPro now.
So, yes, you can rock a GoProand just kind of show your
experience.
But I was like, okay, I wantpeople to see the BB travel in
(12:58):
the air, let's get a scope cam,let's get a selfie cam, let's
get another GoPro and throw iton the head, let's.
And then that sort of propelledme to learn how to edit, how to
create story out of these,these events, because I was
having so much fun and I wantedother people to see and
experience that, whether they'rethey are there or not, and that
(13:22):
is a really cool thing.
That came out of myappreciation for not necessarily
the sniper platform, butairsoft in general and, uh,
that's, that's how I got intothe airsoft youtube space.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
we'll call it so when you first started getting into
that, what, what was your, yourpreferred game type?
Were you more of, uh, you know,walk-on type airsoft, indoor
airsoft I guess not with asniper, it's really not the best
practical use for it or justright out into the big games?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I won't bash indoor airsoft.
I like indoor airsoft for thespeed and practicing the
fundamentals of the game Forsure, really good.
But a lot of times I want tohit you without hitting me right
or trading.
I don't want to do that Airsoftindoors because it's such close
quarters.
Oftentimes at best you trade asa sniper platform.
(14:14):
I don't want to trade with youat all.
I want to make sure I get youand get out.
That is how I play, so outdoorspreferred I really enjoyed
skirmish games.
Skirmish games were how I gotinto Airsoft.
I appreciate the speed of,especially when you got like 40
guys on each side come out for aweekend game and man, it's just
(14:37):
such fast paced games for maybelike 20 minutes, or even what
we did at PRZ were like an hourlong games and man, those were
the most fun I've ever had.
Awesome games.
Oh man, like some of the beststuff, because the flow is
constant.
You know, spawn in, maybe youdie on your own, you walk back,
you come back into the gameswift, right, it is not
(14:59):
especially as a sniper, and I'vegot a good spot and I can hit
people without them hitting me.
It is nonstop action.
Yeah, and that's what I, Istill love that stuff and yeah,
it's so Skirmish Games for me,top tier, s tier.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Did you record when you were playing at Flag Raiders
?
Or was that more of a shout outto Teddy and Patricia Games,
because their games were justabsolutely excellent at PRZ?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh no, no doubt yes.
But I had when I were justabsolutely excellent at PRZ.
Oh no, no doubt yes.
But when I had just startedfilm I'll call it filmmaking for
YouTube in Airsoft, I was stillrecording on my M4, a little
bit on my Sniper platform, Iliterally just started getting
into it.
So, yes, I think I have acouple on my YouTube channel
from PRZ and it's like defendingthe castle or just like playing
(15:47):
in some of the paintball-esquesort of buildings.
Yes, that is where I started.
Yeah, Nice.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So we've touched into where YouTube started.
For you, I would say, you'vetaken it to a whole other level.
So when did that transitionsort of take place in the
Airsoft community for you tokind of I'm going to say, step
(16:15):
up your game, for lack of abetter term.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I'll say where the interest sort of peaked for me.
The interest sort of peak forme.
So all of a sudden I'm startingto play more of the longer form
games and Milsims Causeactually you're like you're the
one who invited me out to theselonger form games.
Nightfall was actually the oneyou you recommended I come to
after meeting you and hangingout with you at was Sega.
Yep, you're like, just come.
I'm like I don't, I don't dothat stuff.
(16:39):
I don't know what Milsim is.
I'm just a guy who got nervouswhen I went to go pick up a gun
for the first time at an Airsoftstore I'm not that cool.
So I went.
I met a whole bunch of reallycool people at Nightfall it was
my first one Two years ago, Iguess At Piercy, yes, was it the
(17:00):
last Nightfall at?
Piercy, no, no, it was number 10.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yes, no, 11.
Yeah, sure, 11, 12.
It's one of them.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I met a whole bunch of really cool people, and
that's actually where I metMunch.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Nice Great guy.
Call sign midget.
There he is, yeah, but at thetime he was just Alex.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and him and I had a great time actually.
We actually had a really goodbond because we'd cover each
other the whole time and I wasrunning my sniper platform but I
had to crank down my jewels tomeet the whatever the nightfall
rules were at 1.5.
And I was like, that's fine, Ionly play sniper.
(17:38):
So it just is what it is.
John, you're going to play witha worse sniper rifle today, but
we still slapped, so it didn'tmatter, right?
I threw all my night visionscopes.
We were great, anyways.
So that appreciation for Milsimsall of a sudden got me to not
only just record, but I wantedto capture the entire storyline
of various games.
(17:58):
Because you know what?
There's just so much drama thathappens.
There's so many interestingparts that are required to make
a milsom work.
Can you build a story out of it?
Absolutely dude, it's on thetable, but you go find youtubers
online.
Nobody's talking about thisstuff, maybe, now, but this is
this at the time.
This was two, three years ago.
Yeah, so there's so much on thetable for possibly creating a
(18:20):
story out of something like that, but that was something that I
didn't necessarily dive into atthe time, but it was.
It was definitely on my mind.
I was like, okay, this, thiscould be very cool.
Actually, the moment that gotme into more or less
storytelling was your podcastwith can do.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
You.
He had invited you out and youwere.
You were talking about how yougot into airsoft and you opened
up at that moment and I was likeyou know what?
This guy has so much potential?
He has a really interestingbackground.
He is drive, and that's whatcreates really good stories.
Folks, you cannot find a storythat the main character doesn't
(19:00):
have drive.
It is not a good story.
So that immediately lit a firelike lit a match, there's a
little flame.
Now I'm like this guy is cool.
Now, what made the story reallypop was the fact that he was
interested in starting a field.
This is, the field had justbeen in theory created, the
concept anyway.
It wasn't fully fledged yet.
I was like, dude, the onlysomebody has to get, get this
(19:23):
story out, because there's somuch potential now for this to
really pop off.
Like what if this place becomesthe next PRZ right?
The story in airsoft has gonethrough so much stuff, so many
problems.
So this is this are the turningpoint for airsoft.
These are opening questionsthat create incredibly driven
stories.
For sure that is that was thetipping point for me to push
(19:47):
myself to shoot story-basedcontent.
So now for this whole year I'vebeen following you, um, the
compound, the story of it comingtogether and the airsoft
community coming together tomake this really incredible
place that the future reallyisn't ready for it's.
It's going to be amazing andI'm thankful that I was able to
(20:11):
to see and and man that thefuture really isn't ready for.
It's going to be amazing andI'm thankful that I was able to
see and man, like I don't know,just the opportunity to listen
to your story, dude.
And then like it gave me somuch drive and also pushed me to
become a story-basedstoryteller on YouTube, beyond
just Airsoft as well.
And yeah it, it changed.
It changed my life genuinely,like I would quit my job to do
(20:33):
what I do for documentdocumentaries.
I would.
I would do that in a heartbeatnow because of our interaction,
my interaction with justlistening to you Actually that
is.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I am definitely not a special shape or form.
I appreciate the, the kind words, but I had the same situation
when I first was introduced tothis community and at that time
you know, after a couple ofyears being in, and then C21
attacking us and then gettingclose with the owner of PRZ and
knowing that like well beforethe community, that it was gone
(21:05):
and going like two years beforeanybody else, that just
literally gave me a heart attack.
It's like everything that I'veknown Milsom-wise to this date
was at that field and, not totake away from any other fields,
there's some great rock inMilsom fields in Ontario.
This year I'll be traveling toOttawa to play, know, uh, to
(21:28):
play out there and and see thoseguys.
So they're a good group of guys, but we needed to do something.
And, uh, just seeing thecommunity and and the
connections I've made in thecommunity and just the, the, the
way people's eyes light up andand the joy and the, the
enthusiasm and just the artisticexpression that you get out of
(21:50):
people when they're creatinggames is it's fun, it's
everything to me it's fun and,trust me, I wish I could quit my
job, just do what I'm doingairsoft wise but it's just, it's
just not feasible at this pointand uh, yeah, I appreciate the
kind words, but let's uh let'sread he's a really modest dude.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Folks like you don't truly understand.
But yeah, no, this guy, thisguy means a lot to a lot of
people and he doesn't take thankyou very well.
So just so, just hear me out.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
He's, he's a sick dude all right, all right back
to what we're talking about.
I I want to.
This is focused on you and whatyou're bringing to the
community, which is justoutstanding quality.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
We're getting there Movies?
Yeah, we're getting there, man.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I am blown away.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah that that that go to video was sick.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It was.
That was insane.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
I had a great time with that one.
Yeah, it's that, it was insane.
I had a great time with thatone.
Yeah, that's come from practice.
When I started photography evenI had started in the car scene.
Everyone's modding their car,showing them off.
I request somebody to takephotos of my car and they're
like especially when I was 19,.
(23:05):
They're like, yeah, it's goingto be $500 for three hours,
three hours.
I'm like dude, I don't have 500bucks to give you for three
hours.
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (23:12):
yeah, I spent it all on the car time.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
So I I picked up a camera and I learned how to do
it on my own.
I took, learned how to takephotos.
People were, people wereinterested and I was like, okay,
well, now I don't know what wasthe turning point for me, but
all of a sudden I was like man,photos are cool but like cinema
is really cool and I juststarted to learn how to like the
cinematic eye, how to makebeautiful images, what looks
(23:38):
good, and started reallyanalytically diving into what
makes movies good and Iappreciate that.
But, thank you, I'm gettingthere and it's been a really
really sweet ride.
I'm still in the learningprocess.
I guess we're always learning,but my skill we'll call it has
(23:59):
come a long way this yearbecause the best way to practice
is by doing it.
And every weekend I was out withyou or the boys or the crew,
and we were just shooting, likeyes, we're shooting Airsoft, but
I was shooting them and they'relike literally just letting the
story unfold, and that's whatmade me so much better.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
So your interest really is in the cinematography
and definitely not into thestills in any way.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You're not.
I don't take photos, my camerasdon't take photos.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
You do have a lot of nice, very nice stills, for sure
.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I kind of just literally screenshot them and
then just post them out.
People are like, oh my God,these feel like film.
I'm like, good yeah, Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Like, even like the lingering shots, like I can
remember the war wagon justrolling down one of the roads at
the compound and it's just likesome smoke lingering, it's like
wow, I was like that, thatphoto by itself, just it moved
me.
I just I was so pumped the oldschool day.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Some of the frames really tell a story, right Like,
and uh, man, like we just youguys have just been through so
much and I'm glad I can at leastcapture some of it, right Like
gosh.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, we're very thankful for you, for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Well, thanks, dude.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
So your views and thoughts on the Airsoft
community, because you came inas fresh off the boat, for lack
of a better term, no joke Like Ihad never picked up a gun shot
anything.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
All of a sudden I'm like I think this is really cool
.
And then all of a sudden, Iwalked into an Airsoft store,
right.
So, yeah, no, you're right,like that's fresh, that is fresh
, I get nervous.
I got nervous.
Walking into it was AirsoftDepot.
That's my first store that Iwalked into oh yeah, we've all
been there.
My knees were shaking.
I'm like what am I getting into, dude?
yeah, it's usually really busyin there too, so you just, I
(25:54):
mean I didn't know what I wasgetting into yeah until I got
there and then it just kind ofpropelled my, my, my
appreciation for the communityby playing games, meeting people
.
But really it was this it wasprz's final year, we'll call was
when I'm starting to meet allkinds of people, because people,
especially with recording andI'm posting videos and the views
are starting to come in.
People are starting to come upto me like are you, john Does?
(26:16):
I'm like, yes, they're likedude, I love your shit.
I'm like, wow, that's crazy tome, that idea that people
recognize me because I'm notcool folks.
I wear a dye mask when I'moutside.
Um, it's not cool, but you knowwhat people recognize me?
It's.
That's a really neat feeling.
That means I at some point Iimpacted you for that moment,
(26:38):
like that's really cool 100.
I love that and that's exactlywhy I'm doing what I'm doing,
because, like if someone likedutch, who got me into the sport
because of a video man, if if Idid that for so many people,
that would be the that thatwould.
That would actually justcomplete me.
That is exactly why I'm doingwhat I'm doing.
I can.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I can tell you we have a, we have a team chat,
obviously, and, uh, when yourvideos or content comes out like
that entire week, it's justlike snippets here, check this
out, check this out, check thisout, and then it just goes
beyond that group chat and thenit's just such a buzz in the
(27:19):
community because I have mythumb on the pulse of the
community so everything is justcoming back, radiating back for
me and it's just like did yousee this, did you see that, did
you see that?
And it's just like it'ssomething that the community
really appreciates and it'ssomething that I think we really
need, because, even talking tothe, I had to take a car service
here this morning and, talkingto that driver, he has no idea
(27:43):
what airsoft is was blown away.
But for the 40 minutes or the50 minutes I was in that vehicle
, I educated that guy and thensent him your links because that
way he can actually physicallysee you know what it's about,
what we've elevated, I would saythe sport too.
And that kind of goes back toto my last question is you
(28:06):
started as just a walk-on player, but you've kind of seen how
things have turned.
So how has that been for youseeing the community grow, excel
and just develop from behindthe camera.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, it's, it's, it's crazy.
It's crazy because the story of, like our airsoft community in
Ontario has been through so muchLike, as you've said, bill C-21
, covid, people's businessesshutting down needed a
turnaround point.
You're a big part in what thatturnaround point was and diving
into.
Obviously, this documentarythat I'm working on shows me
(28:43):
what the birth of this nextphase for the Airsoft community
will be, and it's only going toget better.
Folks.
There is so much potential onthe table.
I know there's stuff that Magichasn't told you that's coming.
There is so much on the tablefor what this community will be
(29:03):
in Ontario.
Seeing the growth of evenindividuals throughout the story
not just magic, but everyonegrowing on on their own is such
an incredible thing to see andbe a part of.
I'm super grateful that I getto be a part of this.
It's, it's truly incrediblebecause you know, like I, I
(29:24):
could just tell you it's goingto be so good and my goal is to
get more people to see exactlywhat I see that this is just
going to be such a good time.
We want to educate people thatdon't know about airsoft so that
they don't think that this is aviolent sport that creates
quote-unquote psychopaths.
I mean, we are a little bitpsychopathic, but only on the
(29:44):
field.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, and in a good way.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
So we want to educate people to understand that we
are a good community of peopleout there having fun playing
with little toys.
But ultimately airsoft itself,like, helps people grow as
people.
It gets people comfortable withleadership roles.
It gets people out there facingfears, gets people to work as a
team.
There's so much that airsofthas to offer individually, so
you will grow as a personplaying the game.
(30:15):
I've seen it firsthand and I'vedocumented it.
It is.
There's so much on the table.
We can't wait.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
That's it, you just summed it up.
We have so much planned nextyear.
We are, you know, bracing outinto a whole other genre of
action, sports this year at thecompound.
Uh, we, we touched on it lastyear, but we're going to get
into the mag fed paintball end,which is very similar to airsoft
to a degree, which is kind ofcool.
(30:43):
But uh, this episode's notabout that.
So tune in maybe for a laterepisode and we'll talk about
some upcoming things.
But I want to get back to you.
What is your goals for thefuture of what you're doing now
in the documentary scene ofOntario Airsoft or of anything
period Like?
We went to TACOM earlier.
(31:05):
That was cool as hell too, andit opened up some possible
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
So what's the goal, which is actually all part of
the doc, but the doc, what I'mworking on with the doc, is the
story of Magic, the Compound,and actually it ties into all
the different aspects of theAirsoft community and what makes
this place so cool, whatexactly I'm doing next and I've
been documenting as well youknow my process of me going
through it what I'm keepingpeople updated on the events
(31:31):
that have gone on.
Maybe the people I've talked towhat to look forward to in like
episodic sort of series.
I had a recent like like mentalbreakdown where I was like what
do I do with my documentarywhen I'm done, you know, do I go
to Netflix, which I've been intalks with people?
But the problem is with Netflixis that you have to and not to
bash Netflix.
(31:52):
It's not off the table, it'sjust you have to follow the ups
and downs of the storyline to aT of time.
So I almost lose the creativesort of flow of my own product.
I would like to have completecreative control from shooting,
creating the story, editing.
I do it all.
I have an idea of how everyepisode or the entire
(32:15):
documentary, like in a long form, like a movie, will be in my
head.
So my breakdown was do I gomaybe the film festival route
and you know it comes out inlike two or three years or do I
put episodes maybe half hour to45 minute episodes on YouTube?
Not only do I draw people intomy YouTube, which is great, but
also to the airsoft communitywhere potentially more eyes get
(32:37):
to see it, and that and thissort of just crushed me Cause I
was like what like?
What do I do?
Like, if I go to the filmfestival, no one's going to see
it, maybe, or like professionals, or because they may or may not
like the idea of airsoft intheir little internally, they
may not want people to see itand I don't know until I get
there, yep, and it's going tocost me loads of money to go
through all the festival routeof multiple festivals in Ontario
(32:58):
or Canada wide, I don't knowRight.
So I was like what do I do?
So I made a, made a video aboutit and actually talking to
YouTubers, other documentarians,to get their professional
advice, and I'm leaning towardsthe YouTube route for a
docuseries.
So it'll incorporate a lot morepeople.
It'll also be a lot longer, Imean in a sense, rather than
(33:18):
like an hour and a half moviethat I make of the year.
I get to make like four to tenepisodes that are 45-minute
bangers of like the communityand how badass everyone is.
The our go through the wholeyear as to what it is that we've
done, you've done at thecompound.
Sick, that sounds like that is.
That is the progression for mydocumentary.
It's going to be on YouTube.
Realistically, we'll be comingout in like June, because I'll
(33:42):
probably be done shooting inlike March or May.
Adversely, like if I were to dothe the festival route,
genuinely it would come out inthree years because we'd go,
we'd show up, well, I wouldactually be submitted for next
year, so 2026, they may or maynot approve it, and then I
bounce around between festivalsand then you actually only get
to see it after the festivalshave seen it.
(34:03):
So three years from now isreally like how that works,
which sucks.
So it's not that way.
As a result, too, with thedocumentary I'm going to pursue
other storytelling methods,whether I'm going to make my own
stories of various games thatare coming up next year.
I mean, we talked about itbefore we started the pod was
(34:23):
you know?
We're going to go find, maybe,individuals in Airsoft and what
makes them special during thegame?
Going to go find, maybe,individuals in airsoft and what
makes them special during thegame?
Maybe commanders, maybe maybeplayers, teams, uh, people
commanding certain vehicles,like whoever it may be.
I want to know your story inthat game.
Right, it's fun.
I mean it popped on uh on myyoutube for following you at um
(34:44):
go to right and, yes, we didjump out of a helicopter, yes,
we did command this warthogvehicle the entire time.
But that means that I can alsooffer more stories throughout my
youtube career we'll call itand my youtube career goes far
beyond just airsoft.
I love action sports, I lovegetting into it.
(35:04):
I want to do car stuff, I wantto do airsoft stuff, maybe
military stuff, trying to reachout to whoever wants to do
something.
Dude, I'm in, and so that'sthat's what the future looks
like for me.
I am so jacked up to to go film.
I love it.
But I also love thestorytelling aspect, because
that's what people.
That's what people want to see.
They want to see people develop.
They want to see your drive,what, what happens when you're
(35:27):
you know how does your story end.
That's that's what people wantto see.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's.
It's honestly, the quality ofwork that you're bringing to the
community is is justoutstanding and we're very lucky
to have you and I'm I'mextremely lucky that you shot me
in the nose and we have thisrelationship now cause like we
have done some Epic things,things.
But I just want to rewind alittle bit before we start
talking about the season andsome cool stuff that we've done
(35:52):
together.
Say, a community member wantsto follow your footsteps.
Do you have some advice forthem to get into the game and
maybe a small cost breakdown andsome into?
filming you mean into filmingand some do's and don'ts action
filming, I mean and maybe givethem a small crash course on
what they would need to juststart coming out and doing what
(36:14):
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
That's a good question.
I'm a Sony shooter, if thatmeans anything to some people,
so I switched from Nikon, whichis also the equivalent of a
potato.
So these new Sony cameras haveincredible autofocus and that's
essentially what I was missingout of my previous cameras.
So let's just assume you'regoing to spend two grand on the
new I would say new, but theFX30 has been out for like a
(36:38):
year and a bit.
It's great.
It is my workhorse.
It was my workhorse.
I won't get into my new camerabecause it's got me so jacked up
, but it is a workhorse in thefield, right?
So, yes, you're going to spendaround $2,000, $2,500 to get
started on filming.
It is inevitable for some toget through the front door of
(37:01):
filming, whether it'sdocumentary work or just like
action sports.
And then you're going to getall your equipment, like your
handles and whatnot too, so thatyou're not just running around
holding a camera with two handsLike it's.
You need a little bit more andthen a lens, which I I'm a I'm a
budget baller when it comes tobuying equipment.
I'm on Facebook marketplaceevery single day.
I'm a psychopath.
Another $500 for for a wide totight lens you can find.
(37:26):
I won't get into the specifics,but maybe we put it in the
description of the stuff thatI've got.
Or if you also want to check myYouTube channel, you'll be able
to see.
I describe everything that I useto get up and running.
But to start, look at $2,500.
It's just, unfortunately it'sthe way it is and that's.
Yeah, it does gatekeep peopleto get in.
You can probably do it with alot less, but it's just my
(37:47):
recommendation, because thesecameras now are getting so good
and you can basically doanything with them.
So that is my recommendation tostart.
Besides, obviously you've gotyour Airsoft protective
equipment to get out there andgo.
But yeah, that is more or lesshow you start getting into
filming.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Do you suggest maybe that it'd be for sure a player
if they were trying to capture acertain genre, like say, they
wanted to get into what you'redoing with Airsoft.
Would you suggest them being aplayer and maybe doing some
GoPro footage, some scope camfootage, stuff like that to kind
of get into?
it learn how the game the feel,some of the shots that people
(38:25):
are looking for and stuff likethat.
To kind of get into it, learnhow the game, the feel, you know
some of the shots that peopleare looking for and stuff like
that.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Um, there are some, definitely some, great courses
online.
I know one that's that's verynew and recent and black Friday
sale, by the way, uh, and I'mdefinitely not sponsored is the
art of documentary, and Markbone um, who has partnered there
.
He has an incredible uh seriesof videos that you can go on to
that describe what it takes tobe a documentarian the cinematic
(38:52):
eye getting into even sales.
Post your documentary.
That's one way to start and tolearn actually just how to use a
camera, especially in adocumentary space.
Next, for filming airsoft,let's say, if you're down to
film airsoft, the best way tolearn how airsoft moves and
works is by playing the game.
Start by playing the game,Enjoy it.
(39:13):
The only reason I say that isbecause I can bet you someone
else who hasn't played airsoftwill not shoot the type of
content I shoot when I'm on thefield, because they don't know
where to stand when a guy peeksa corner on the field, because
they don't know where to standwhen a guy peeks a corner.
I am not going to peek thecorner not knowing what's on the
other side of that corner.
I am not going to be on therevealing shoulder side of
(39:34):
someone when they peek thatcorner because I know if
someone's shooting at that guyI'm also going to get shot.
You just got to know.
But also this goes back to alsoreviewing and really analyzing
your favorite military movies.
You know, going back, maybesaving private Ryan, what's like
.
That epic movie You're shooting, that handheld, that first
(39:56):
beach scene, oh my God Like.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
I'm.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I love handheld, by the way, um, because it's it's
efficient, but um, it's really.
It really comes down toresearching and analyzing,
learning your fundamentals fromyour camera and then also
playing the game and those threethings.
If you can master those threethings, or just be really good
at those three things, I thinkyou will.
You will start to learn to beable to create your own story at
(40:20):
your own field, wherever youmay be, and there's a lot, of, a
lot of that stuff on the tableright now.
I know I'm talking to some guysfrom BC on Instagram.
I know there are a lot of greatstuff out of California that
are that are in like NilssonWest there there are guys that
are out there filming that stuff.
But I was like, I send me theinvite, boys, I'm going.
I would go and film, film yourstuff.
But I'm glad that more and morepeople are coming out with
(40:43):
their own footage and contenttoo, because that's what we want
to see.
Much like the Airsoft community, the film and documentary scene
, we want more people to tellstories, because there's so many
stories on the table, so manyinteresting people out there.
Sure, do you do any, or do youuse any sort of protective
lenses on your lenses?
Yeah, just maybe a single stackof UV protectors Like a UV.
It's a UV lens essentially.
(41:04):
Maybe a single stack of UVprotectors like a UV, it's a UV
lens Essentially.
It just helps block out alittle bit of the flares or like
light coming in.
Have I broken anything yet?
No, that's me knocking on wood.
So I kind of raw dog it quitesome time.
Also, because I know I'mconfident, I know where to stand
.
So I put myself in a positionwhere, obviously with outdoor
airsoft, I can see the flow inadvance.
(41:25):
I got my.
I got looking around with thecorner of my eye.
Yes, I got something in frame,but I'm also looking to see
where am I expected to seesomething happen?
A guy's rolling up around acorner, where is he going to get
shot from?
I'm going to stand somewhere ina way that this guy looks
really good but also out of thefucking way.
Oh yeah for sure have you beenlit up pretty bad.
Yet, god, dude, what was itlast game?
(41:46):
I'm following you guys.
You guys are pushing.
This is after the helicopterdropped.
Yeah and uh, I'm pushing, I'mstanding behind you guys and you
guys are facing technicalnumber one right coming in
around the corner and, forwhatever reason, the guy is
shooting into the, into thewoods.
I'm great, I'm not in the woods.
I'm like, I'm like, 100 feetbehind you, okay, this guy snaps
to me and chucks an LMG justmaybe 20 BBs, my way, I'm like,
(42:12):
and I it's in the video, by theway, it's of me just getting
absolutely obliterated.
And I'm like, and I'm just, I'mnot mad because, guys, you just
, you can't be mad.
You expect to get shot, but I'malso.
I'm the only one on the fieldwearing red.
I am standing still in an openfield.
I have no reason.
I'm looking around.
There's nobody around me.
(42:33):
I'm like, oh, wow, I just, Ithink I just got, I think I just
got targeted.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Dude, like, I don't, I don't, I don't appreciate that
so let's put it this way don'tshoot at the camera, men or
women, please I try so hard toget out of the way.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
But especially with indoors and stuff like people
get jump scared right.
You pick a corner like ah snapsnap, snap, snap.
I'm like, ah, it's fine, but Imean, I put myself into this
position.
But I'm also like check yourfire, friend.
Come on, dude.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Revert back to your training, ladies and gentlemen,
ladies and gentlemen, all right,so let's just quickly touch on
some cool ass stuff thathappened this summer, where we
just got out and had a blast.
What tops it for you?
And I know that the answer isdude, it was the.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
It was the story of the build-up of goda.
Yeah, dude, like we did thetraining yep, that was cool I
mean, it was a scare tactic toget there.
Yep, we also bonded by justcompleting that task of learning
how to do it Right.
So when we left that place, weall felt a sense of community in
(43:39):
that moment 100%.
We're like guys we rappelledout of a helicopter from like 60
feet.
It was badass.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Okay, no protective gear in the sense of just like
there's no like hooking on, andit's all about efficiency and
speed I think we are the firstand I'll get obviously fact
checkers can check it, but Ithink we're the first civilians
to ever do that.
I think, uh, an airsoft gameever I think.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I think D mentioned that People don't just do this.
So, yes, the buildup of thetraining and then getting to the
event and you're just likeantsy, you're like when do we go
?
When do we go?
It's 10 am.
You've already been out forlike six hours.
(44:23):
So you're just antsy all morning.
So finally that moment comeswhere, all right guys, you're
just antsy all morning, right.
And so finally that momentcomes where all right guys
circle back.
We got, uh, you're going up,all right, sick Me and the boys,
six of us, seven of us hop inthe chopper and I'm I'm hanging
on the edge here literallybecause, uh, when we did
training, there were seats andseatbelts.
Um, I get into the chopper and,uh, there are none.
(44:44):
Now I'm like, oh okay, I gotyou guys holding my chest plate
making sure.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
I don't slip out of this thing and kill myself.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
I'm just trying to take it in as best I can.
In that moment, everythingslowed down because I was like
dude the buildup.
I've already gone through thestory in my head.
I'm like this is it.
This is our moment right now,and it's not just our moment in
the sense that we did this thing, but it's also for the sake of
the compound.
This is just the start of howcool this place is going to be,
(45:15):
folks.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
This is really the first year that we operated a
full working year and we jumpedout of hell.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
And literally the goal, goal, and if you go check
out the video.
But we, we jumped, well, we gotput into a place where it was
already gunfire happening, right, quote, unquote, and we stopped
play so that we can repel out.
And then the game continued.
So we, we had been insertedinto enemy territory.
Yeah, we all got dropped in andthen obliterated.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Oh yeah.
It's hard to tell, or it's hardto not let the enemy know where
you are when you're coming outof a massive moving bird.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
Okay, guys game's off for a sec while the helicopter
comes down and everyone startsto migrate over and all six of
us drop and it was like sixversus 40 people.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
So yeah, like drop, and it was like six versus 40
people.
Yeah, so yeah, like I mean itwas, it was a blackhawk down
moment.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
It was pretty bad.
It was uh, you know what it wasworth it pain's always worth it
.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
It was such a great time just some of the coolest
stuff you'll ever see and thecoolest stuff you'll ever do.
And go check out the video,dude, it was sweet.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
It was awesome.
It was a great season and agreat time and we really
appreciate you joining us on ourjourney.
Thankful, we really appreciateyou being part of our community
and we look forward to many,many, many more movies and
documentaries and cool shootscoming out of you.
(46:48):
I just I can't thank you enough, man well, thank you, dude.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
I owe it to you guys for what it is that I do, and
now that I've kind of got up andrunning, I owe it to you guys
to push myself to continue togive you guys that content,
because you guys deserve it,that's awesome it's, we're in a
great space.
It's only going to get better.
Let's fucking go.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Let's fucking go.
Words from John Moore.
Thanks a lot for coming on theAirsoft Experience.
I really appreciate you comingout.
I've been trying for two yearsto get you out here, but now
it's done and, just like yousaid, let's fucking go, let's
fucking go and with that we'llsee you guys.
We'll be right side, got him.
They're pulling back now.
All right, and welcome to theAirsoft Experience.
(00:33):
I'm your host, michael Mascott,also known as Magic in Ontario
Airsoft, and today we're superlucky to have a great dude
badass all around, an amazingairsofter and photographer and
documentary docu documentarian.
Got it, got it.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcomeJohn Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hey guys, how are we today Thankful for you bringing
me out here, man, I've beenexcited for so long.
We just haven't made thishappen.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Honestly, I think we were talking about it last year.
For a really long time, yeah,for a couple of years.
Maybe we have started a journeytogether, haven't we?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, man, Like I mean this journey really started
listening to you talking aboutyour past and your adventure
into Airsoft.
So my journey really only beganhalfway through, or even
starting your journey.
So I've been really gratefulthat I've been a part of this
experience really for sure, forsure, actually.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Uh, we did play together a bit.
We'll get into that a littlelater.
Um, you took my nose off with asniper shot that's actually.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I think that is the yeah, we'll get it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, I think that's where it really started yeah,
that was awesome, but we'regonna rewind things because the
uh listeners want to know aboutyou, so let's pretty much start
with where, when and how didairsoft start for you, like?
Where did you get the bug?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think much.
I think the more people I talkto it's.
It's very similar.
So you know, you find you watcha youtuber and all of a sudden,
like that peak interest justplants a seed in your brain.
You're like you know what that?
That does look pretty cool.
Like how do I get involved?
So I was watching Dutch theHooligan and this guy is a very
(02:15):
good airsofter and I was likeyou know what I'm?
I didn't even text my friends.
I was like I'm just going to goto the store and pick up an
airsoft gun, nice.
And I grabbed the vfc uh v16mod 2 in bronze and I was like
this thing is badass oh yeah,good choice, really cool, yeah,
okay so I go home and I'mplinking in my backyard.
(02:37):
I got some decent space in thebackyard.
I'm plinking, send a textmessage, put the bat signal up
in the air for the boys.
Guys, this is sick, come overto my house right now.
This would have been sevenyears ago, nice, right around
when I started yeah and uh,they're coming over.
We're planking cans in thebackyard from like maybe like
100 feet, 150 feet.
(02:57):
They're like dude, we need toget into this too.
Now, all of a sudden, we goback to the store everyone comes
back with.
We got a g16, we got an mpstore.
Everyone comes back with we gota G16.
We got an MP5.
We're coming back.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Was this the same day ?
This is the same day we wentback to the store twice.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Holy, and they must have.
I mean, I don't know if theyget commissioned, but they were
just like dude, these guys aresick, these guys are crazy Nice.
So we come back with all guns,we're back with all guns, we're
planking, we're like man, andthat's how it started right, and
that's how, I mean, airsoftstarts for a lot of people.
You, you do something, youthink it's cool, tell your
friends about it, they thinkit's cool, they're in, and
that's that's how it's genuinelythe moment I started.
(03:33):
So there's, there's some photosof just me in my backyard, no
idea how to hold a gun, becauseI've never actually held a gun
in my life or shot a real gun.
I'm not cool, but you know thatthat's how the bug started for
me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Did you guys actually end up maybe by accident or
purposely shooting each other?
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
We put some cans on the end of the fence, yeah, and
we're just plinking away and Iremember like having to pick up
like thousands of BBs in mybackyard Just trying to like
rake them away.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Oh yeah, I was like.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I can't be bothered.
But yeah, it's like I can't bebothered.
But yeah, no accidental stuff,and we're like, okay, what is
needed to go play at a field?
Right, so we're doing ourresearch.
My friends are from Waterloo,I'm from Toronto, you know like,
where can we go to play?
And that was really our nextadventure trying to figure out.
Like this was before things hadreally made their way to
YouTube in Ontario and passedoutside of Facebook.
(04:22):
So there were a few forums.
There were really nodiscussions about Airsoft and
where to play at the time, so itwas just a matter of making a
calendar and figuring out wherecan I go and play, and that was
convenient for all of us.
So, yeah, that was essentiallythat week of us getting heavily
(04:44):
involved in spending thousandsof dollars just to get into the
game, right.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Do you remember the uh, the first field that you
actually played at?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Ooh, um that.
I would have played flagRaiders.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh yeah, I do remember seeing you there.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I see, I don't remember you at that field.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I was running an AK 47 and I had like the absolute
Amazon special face mask.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I definitely wouldn't notice you because you're not
like that now.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That's so sick.
Yeah, I was covered up field.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, that field was awesome.
Me and the guys like in theearly days of life fighters, we
would go there every Sunday Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Either Saturday or Sunday.
Definitely we would have beenin passing because we were there
so often, probably three timesa month, 100%.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Us too, like we started going and going and
going and then obviously Joegave us the bad news like the
last weekend that we were there.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, that still guts me because I miss that field
all the time, all the time whenwe play skirmish games or
outdoor field, because thefacility was incredible, the
people, were awesome, made theplace awesome, so, and that's
what kept us going back.
The other field that we allalso, uh, contemplated in milton
I think was devil dogs devildogs no longer there.
(05:56):
Yes, yes, and that we missedthat as well.
Uh, community also, I meaneverywhere.
The community in airsoft is sosick for outdoors, it's, it's
fun.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I know, know Milton had a place recently called the
Farm.
It was a private field.
Oddly enough, it's for saleright now.
I've seen it on FacebookMarketplace.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't have any money.
I spend it all on camera stuff,so it's not happening.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I'm not 100% on the zoning.
It's something that I wouldn'tlook into.
100% on the zoning, so it'ssomething that I wouldn't look
into, but yeah, it just seems alittle too close to a general
population to be allowed kind ofdeal.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I see what you mean.
Yeah, okay, you kind of wantAirsoft to be out of the way but
also accessible to people thatlike Airsoft.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
For sure, like even at the compound, we're out of
the way, but yet our neighborsstill hear us.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Right, right, you have at the compound were out of
the way, but yet our neighborsstill here, you're.
You have this, this weird sortof system going and it works
where it works which is greatlike and also comparatively like
flag raiders was in and out ofthe city at the same time with
so much space, like, yeah, thefields it was, it was fields, it
wasn't just a field, it wasthere's so much space great
layout too.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I loved playing there .
That's actually where we firstlearned about prc it was
actually there.
I believe that I same same withme actually so your first
actual replica was the m16 or m4platform, and you use that for
a while.
What made you decide to switchto what you actively use now?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
once again it's back to youtube.
Yeah, we're following.
So I think, uh, kicking mustangobviously is a staple in the
sniper community, whether youlike him or not.
Yep, he's good at the game.
Yeah, absolutely great at thegame.
And same with novritsch.
Novritsch is and at the timethis is before he started coming
out with his own replicas aswell yeah, so, following them,
and he used to throw like acamera, like literally a zoom
(07:44):
camera, on the top of his scopeand physically zoom in and focus
on his own.
I was like, dude, that that isreally cool.
So I mean, after doingextensive research for the
platform for snipers, this wasthe time when the ssg 24 came
out, so the sniper rifle and Iswitched immediately to that
platform.
And you know, and and snipersare tough because they're not
(08:05):
forgiving.
Once you get them out of thebox, especially at the time you
got to, there's a lot of tenderlove and care, parts, testing,
like you have to make itlegitimately good, because it's
a bolt action.
You shoot once you watch ittravel, does it hit your target,
yes or no?
Repeat, rinse and repeat, andit is not forgiving for people
(08:25):
that are new, and so I'mthankful that I did play the M4
platform first before gettinginto the sniper.
But I, man, I'd never go back.
I'm contemplating selling my M4because it's just, it's too fun
, like I love it so much, andit's not like I'm one of those
chair soft snipers that sits inthe back.
I'm with the boys Like we are.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Like and that's.
And that's what makes theplatform so good, because it
gives you it's not it's not toomuch of an edge but it.
But it is an edge because youknow you're shooting four, fives
for BB weight.
Sorry, compar Average it'sthrees or three, twos for
outdoors yeah, I would say that.
Yeah, so you know heavier BBstravel further if you give it
(09:08):
enough energy.
So it also cuts the wind.
So you know what you're moreeffective at range comparatively
to your M4 equivalent boys nextto you 100%.
So it's extremely valuable onthe field, especially outdoor.
Indoor it's whatever, butoutdoor it really does come as a
benefit.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So for players that want to get into sniping, is
there more of, maybe a warningto let them know that snipers
out of the box aren't going to?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
For the majority of them.
Now they've come up with someplatforms that are actually
pretty good.
If you're getting into it.
As a recommendation, the StyrScout is fantastic.
It's really good.
I haven't done anything to mineand it's good.
But it's no comparison to mySSG-24, which is completely
gutted.
It just has the externals of anSSG-24, mod 24 platform, but it
is gutted because I made it asgood as it is.
(10:02):
Do I recommend the Sniperplatform for people that are
getting into Airsoft?
I only say no because if you'regetting into the game, I want
you to understand the flow andhow Airsoft plays before you
dive into a platform thatencourages you to be sitting in
the back because you don't wantto get hit.
(10:23):
You have to understand how theother platforms play, so the
best way to understand it is bybeing in it with the other
people.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
That's great advice.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I mean comparatively to, I know, with video games and
people hate talking about videogames comparatively to actually
being in the field.
You understand the flow of thegame, how people move, how
people peak, how people move,how people peak, how people
coordinate teamwork with eachother in video games as well,
comparatively.
But the best way to do that inthe game is by being up there
(10:54):
with the boys yourself.
And yes, maybe you can do thatwith a sniper platform.
It's possible, but I highlyrecommend getting into the M4
platform first so you can trulyunderstand how the game works
For sure.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
For sure, the M4 platform or AK platform,
depending if you're Rush 4.
And also, probably, if you'regoing to think about, you know,
jumping into the sniper end,think about getting proficient
with a pistol and a sidearm,because you do have a med that
you have to work around.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I also think legally, you need a pistol as well for
that Exactly, I mean minimumengagement distance as well,
because the last thing you wantto do is we don't.
We don't want to hurt eachother, we want to have fun and
we just like the sniper platformbeing as shooting heavy BBs as
they are, it hurts.
Up close to that, I mean I'vehit you, oh yeah, oh yeah.
I mean I've hit you, oh yeah,oh yeah.
(11:43):
At the time I was shooting 1.1joules, even in the cold, but
four fives in the cold feel likethrowing ice at people.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Took off the tip of my nose it was yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So, yes, safety first , but yes, you need a pistol as
a requirement to getting intothe sniper platform Also.
It's just there's so many goodones out there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
There's so many good ones and it's cool to be able to
change between a primary and asecondary and changing mags and
just getting into that groove.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
That engagement is fun, you feel activated.
Oh yeah, With more stuff on you100%.
Sick.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So when you shifted into the sniper end, would you
say that kind of started thephotography end for you.
I noticed you started usingscope cams.
Uh, we started getting, uh, youknow, footage from youtube and
and stuff like that.
Like is, is that where it kindof started for you?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
it's exactly actually where it started, because I was
like man, after following theseyoutubers, okay, what is
actually involved in being aquote-unquote airsoft YouTuber?
Right, everyone in theirmothers has a GoPro now.
So, yes, you can rock a GoProand just kind of show your
experience.
But I was like, okay, I wantpeople to see the BB travel in
(12:58):
the air, let's get a scope cam,let's get a selfie cam, let's
get another GoPro and throw iton the head, let's.
And then that sort of propelledme to learn how to edit, how to
create story out of these,these events, because I was
having so much fun and I wantedother people to see and
experience that, whether they'rethey are there or not, and that
(13:22):
is a really cool thing.
That came out of myappreciation for not necessarily
the sniper platform, butairsoft in general and, uh,
that's, that's how I got intothe airsoft youtube space.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
we'll call it so when you first started getting into
that, what, what was your, yourpreferred game type?
Were you more of, uh, you know,walk-on type airsoft, indoor
airsoft I guess not with asniper, it's really not the best
practical use for it or justright out into the big games?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I won't bash indoor airsoft.
I like indoor airsoft for thespeed and practicing the
fundamentals of the game Forsure, really good.
But a lot of times I want tohit you without hitting me right
or trading.
I don't want to do that Airsoftindoors because it's such close
quarters.
Oftentimes at best you trade asa sniper platform.
(14:14):
I don't want to trade with youat all.
I want to make sure I get youand get out.
That is how I play, so outdoorspreferred I really enjoyed
skirmish games.
Skirmish games were how I gotinto Airsoft.
I appreciate the speed of,especially when you got like 40
guys on each side come out for aweekend game and man, it's just
(14:37):
such fast paced games for maybelike 20 minutes, or even what
we did at PRZ were like an hourlong games and man, those were
the most fun I've ever had.
Awesome games.
Oh man, like some of the beststuff, because the flow is
constant.
You know, spawn in, maybe youdie on your own, you walk back,
you come back into the gameswift, right, it is not
(14:59):
especially as a sniper, and I'vegot a good spot and I can hit
people without them hitting me.
It is nonstop action.
Yeah, and that's what I, Istill love that stuff and yeah,
it's so Skirmish Games for me,top tier, s tier.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Did you record when you were playing at Flag Raiders
?
Or was that more of a shout outto Teddy and Patricia Games,
because their games were justabsolutely excellent at PRZ?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh no, no doubt yes.
But I had when I were justabsolutely excellent at PRZ.
Oh no, no doubt yes.
But when I had just startedfilm I'll call it filmmaking for
YouTube in Airsoft, I was stillrecording on my M4, a little
bit on my Sniper platform, Iliterally just started getting
into it.
So, yes, I think I have acouple on my YouTube channel
from PRZ and it's like defendingthe castle or just like playing
(15:47):
in some of the paintball-esquesort of buildings.
Yes, that is where I started.
Yeah, Nice.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So we've touched into where YouTube started.
For you, I would say, you'vetaken it to a whole other level.
So when did that transitionsort of take place in the
Airsoft community for you tokind of I'm going to say, step
(16:15):
up your game, for lack of abetter term.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I'll say where the interest sort of peaked for me.
The interest sort of peak forme.
So all of a sudden I'm startingto play more of the longer form
games and Milsims Causeactually you're like you're the
one who invited me out to theselonger form games.
Nightfall was actually the oneyou you recommended I come to
after meeting you and hangingout with you at was Sega.
Yep, you're like, just come.
I'm like I don't, I don't dothat stuff.
(16:39):
I don't know what Milsim is.
I'm just a guy who got nervouswhen I went to go pick up a gun
for the first time at an Airsoftstore I'm not that cool.
So I went.
I met a whole bunch of reallycool people at Nightfall it was
my first one Two years ago, Iguess At Piercy, yes, was it the
(17:00):
last Nightfall at?
Piercy, no, no, it was number 10.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yes, no, 11.
Yeah, sure, 11, 12.
It's one of them.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I met a whole bunch of really cool people, and
that's actually where I metMunch.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Nice Great guy.
Call sign midget.
There he is, yeah, but at thetime he was just Alex.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and him and I had a great time actually.
We actually had a really goodbond because we'd cover each
other the whole time and I wasrunning my sniper platform but I
had to crank down my jewels tomeet the whatever the nightfall
rules were at 1.5.
And I was like, that's fine, Ionly play sniper.
(17:38):
So it just is what it is.
John, you're going to play witha worse sniper rifle today, but
we still slapped, so it didn'tmatter, right?
I threw all my night visionscopes.
We were great, anyways.
So that appreciation for Milsimsall of a sudden got me to not
only just record, but I wantedto capture the entire storyline
of various games.
(17:58):
Because you know what?
There's just so much drama thathappens.
There's so many interestingparts that are required to make
a milsom work.
Can you build a story out of it?
Absolutely dude, it's on thetable, but you go find youtubers
online.
Nobody's talking about thisstuff, maybe, now, but this is
this at the time.
This was two, three years ago.
Yeah, so there's so much on thetable for possibly creating a
(18:20):
story out of something like that, but that was something that I
didn't necessarily dive into atthe time, but it was.
It was definitely on my mind.
I was like, okay, this, thiscould be very cool.
Actually, the moment that gotme into more or less
storytelling was your podcastwith can do.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
You.
He had invited you out and youwere.
You were talking about how yougot into airsoft and you opened
up at that moment and I was likeyou know what?
This guy has so much potential?
He has a really interestingbackground.
He is drive, and that's whatcreates really good stories.
Folks, you cannot find a storythat the main character doesn't
(19:00):
have drive.
It is not a good story.
So that immediately lit a firelike lit a match, there's a
little flame.
Now I'm like this guy is cool.
Now, what made the story reallypop was the fact that he was
interested in starting a field.
This is, the field had justbeen in theory created, the
concept anyway.
It wasn't fully fledged yet.
I was like, dude, the onlysomebody has to get, get this
(19:23):
story out, because there's somuch potential now for this to
really pop off.
Like what if this place becomesthe next PRZ right?
The story in airsoft has gonethrough so much stuff, so many
problems.
So this is this are the turningpoint for airsoft.
These are opening questionsthat create incredibly driven
stories.
For sure that is that was thetipping point for me to push
(19:47):
myself to shoot story-basedcontent.
So now for this whole year I'vebeen following you, um, the
compound, the story of it comingtogether and the airsoft
community coming together tomake this really incredible
place that the future reallyisn't ready for it's.
It's going to be amazing andI'm thankful that I was able to
(20:11):
to see and and man that thefuture really isn't ready for.
It's going to be amazing andI'm thankful that I was able to
see and man, like I don't know,just the opportunity to listen
to your story, dude.
And then like it gave me somuch drive and also pushed me to
become a story-basedstoryteller on YouTube, beyond
just Airsoft as well.
And yeah it, it changed.
It changed my life genuinely,like I would quit my job to do
(20:33):
what I do for documentdocumentaries.
I would.
I would do that in a heartbeatnow because of our interaction,
my interaction with justlistening to you Actually that
is.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I am definitely not a special shape or form.
I appreciate the, the kind words, but I had the same situation
when I first was introduced tothis community and at that time
you know, after a couple ofyears being in, and then C21
attacking us and then gettingclose with the owner of PRZ and
knowing that like well beforethe community, that it was gone
(21:05):
and going like two years beforeanybody else, that just
literally gave me a heart attack.
It's like everything that I'veknown Milsom-wise to this date
was at that field and, not totake away from any other fields,
there's some great rock inMilsom fields in Ontario.
This year I'll be traveling toOttawa to play, know, uh, to
(21:28):
play out there and and see thoseguys.
So they're a good group of guys, but we needed to do something.
And, uh, just seeing thecommunity and and the
connections I've made in thecommunity and just the, the, the
way people's eyes light up andand the joy and the, the
enthusiasm and just the artisticexpression that you get out of
(21:50):
people when they're creatinggames is it's fun, it's
everything to me it's fun and,trust me, I wish I could quit my
job, just do what I'm doingairsoft wise but it's just, it's
just not feasible at this pointand uh, yeah, I appreciate the
kind words, but let's uh let'sread he's a really modest dude.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Folks like you don't truly understand.
But yeah, no, this guy, thisguy means a lot to a lot of
people and he doesn't take thankyou very well.
So just so, just hear me out.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
He's, he's a sick dude all right, all right back
to what we're talking about.
I I want to.
This is focused on you and whatyou're bringing to the
community, which is justoutstanding quality.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
We're getting there Movies?
Yeah, we're getting there, man.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I am blown away.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah that that that go to video was sick.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It was.
That was insane.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
I had a great time with that one.
Yeah, it's that, it was insane.
I had a great time with thatone.
Yeah, that's come from practice.
When I started photography evenI had started in the car scene.
Everyone's modding their car,showing them off.
I request somebody to takephotos of my car and they're
like especially when I was 19,.
(23:05):
They're like, yeah, it's goingto be $500 for three hours,
three hours.
I'm like dude, I don't have 500bucks to give you for three
hours.
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (23:12):
yeah, I spent it all on the car time.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
So I I picked up a camera and I learned how to do
it on my own.
I took, learned how to takephotos.
People were, people wereinterested and I was like, okay,
well, now I don't know what wasthe turning point for me, but
all of a sudden I was like man,photos are cool but like cinema
is really cool and I juststarted to learn how to like the
cinematic eye, how to makebeautiful images, what looks
(23:38):
good, and started reallyanalytically diving into what
makes movies good and Iappreciate that.
But, thank you, I'm gettingthere and it's been a really
really sweet ride.
I'm still in the learningprocess.
I guess we're always learning,but my skill we'll call it has
(23:59):
come a long way this yearbecause the best way to practice
is by doing it.
And every weekend I was out withyou or the boys or the crew,
and we were just shooting, likeyes, we're shooting Airsoft, but
I was shooting them and they'relike literally just letting the
story unfold, and that's whatmade me so much better.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
So your interest really is in the cinematography
and definitely not into thestills in any way.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You're not.
I don't take photos, my camerasdon't take photos.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
You do have a lot of nice, very nice stills, for sure
.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I kind of just literally screenshot them and
then just post them out.
People are like, oh my God,these feel like film.
I'm like, good yeah, Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Like, even like the lingering shots, like I can
remember the war wagon justrolling down one of the roads at
the compound and it's just likesome smoke lingering, it's like
wow, I was like that, thatphoto by itself, just it moved
me.
I just I was so pumped the oldschool day.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Some of the frames really tell a story, right Like,
and uh, man, like we just youguys have just been through so
much and I'm glad I can at leastcapture some of it, right Like
gosh.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, we're very thankful for you, for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Well, thanks, dude.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
So your views and thoughts on the Airsoft
community, because you came inas fresh off the boat, for lack
of a better term, no joke Like Ihad never picked up a gun shot
anything.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
All of a sudden I'm like I think this is really cool
.
And then all of a sudden, Iwalked into an Airsoft store,
right.
So, yeah, no, you're right,like that's fresh, that is fresh
, I get nervous.
I got nervous.
Walking into it was AirsoftDepot.
That's my first store that Iwalked into oh yeah, we've all
been there.
My knees were shaking.
I'm like what am I getting into, dude?
yeah, it's usually really busyin there too, so you just, I
(25:54):
mean I didn't know what I wasgetting into yeah until I got
there and then it just kind ofpropelled my, my, my
appreciation for the communityby playing games, meeting people
.
But really it was this it wasprz's final year, we'll call was
when I'm starting to meet allkinds of people, because people,
especially with recording andI'm posting videos and the views
are starting to come in.
People are starting to come upto me like are you, john Does?
(26:16):
I'm like, yes, they're likedude, I love your shit.
I'm like, wow, that's crazy tome, that idea that people
recognize me because I'm notcool folks.
I wear a dye mask when I'moutside.
Um, it's not cool, but you knowwhat people recognize me?
It's.
That's a really neat feeling.
That means I at some point Iimpacted you for that moment,
(26:38):
like that's really cool 100.
I love that and that's exactlywhy I'm doing what I'm doing,
because, like if someone likedutch, who got me into the sport
because of a video man, if if Idid that for so many people,
that would be the that thatwould.
That would actually justcomplete me.
That is exactly why I'm doingwhat I'm doing.
I can.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I can tell you we have a, we have a team chat,
obviously, and, uh, when yourvideos or content comes out like
that entire week, it's justlike snippets here, check this
out, check this out, check thisout, and then it just goes
beyond that group chat and thenit's just such a buzz in the
(27:19):
community because I have mythumb on the pulse of the
community so everything is justcoming back, radiating back for
me and it's just like did yousee this, did you see that, did
you see that?
And it's just like it'ssomething that the community
really appreciates and it'ssomething that I think we really
need, because, even talking tothe, I had to take a car service
here this morning and, talkingto that driver, he has no idea
(27:43):
what airsoft is was blown away.
But for the 40 minutes or the50 minutes I was in that vehicle
, I educated that guy and thensent him your links because that
way he can actually physicallysee you know what it's about,
what we've elevated, I would saythe sport too.
And that kind of goes back toto my last question is you
(28:06):
started as just a walk-on player, but you've kind of seen how
things have turned.
So how has that been for youseeing the community grow, excel
and just develop from behindthe camera.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, it's, it's, it's crazy.
It's crazy because the story of, like our airsoft community in
Ontario has been through so muchLike, as you've said, bill C-21
, covid, people's businessesshutting down needed a
turnaround point.
You're a big part in what thatturnaround point was and diving
into.
Obviously, this documentarythat I'm working on shows me
(28:43):
what the birth of this nextphase for the Airsoft community
will be, and it's only going toget better.
Folks.
There is so much potential onthe table.
I know there's stuff that Magichasn't told you that's coming.
There is so much on the tablefor what this community will be
(29:03):
in Ontario.
Seeing the growth of evenindividuals throughout the story
not just magic, but everyonegrowing on on their own is such
an incredible thing to see andbe a part of.
I'm super grateful that I getto be a part of this.
It's, it's truly incrediblebecause you know, like I, I
(29:24):
could just tell you it's goingto be so good and my goal is to
get more people to see exactlywhat I see that this is just
going to be such a good time.
We want to educate people thatdon't know about airsoft so that
they don't think that this is aviolent sport that creates
quote-unquote psychopaths.
I mean, we are a little bitpsychopathic, but only on the
(29:44):
field.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, and in a good way.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
So we want to educate people to understand that we
are a good community of peopleout there having fun playing
with little toys.
But ultimately airsoft itself,like, helps people grow as
people.
It gets people comfortable withleadership roles.
It gets people out there facingfears, gets people to work as a
team.
There's so much that airsofthas to offer individually, so
you will grow as a personplaying the game.
(30:15):
I've seen it firsthand and I'vedocumented it.
It is.
There's so much on the table.
We can't wait.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
That's it, you just summed it up.
We have so much planned nextyear.
We are, you know, bracing outinto a whole other genre of
action, sports this year at thecompound.
Uh, we, we touched on it lastyear, but we're going to get
into the mag fed paintball end,which is very similar to airsoft
to a degree, which is kind ofcool.
(30:43):
But uh, this episode's notabout that.
So tune in maybe for a laterepisode and we'll talk about
some upcoming things.
But I want to get back to you.
What is your goals for thefuture of what you're doing now
in the documentary scene ofOntario Airsoft or of anything
period Like?
We went to TACOM earlier.
(31:05):
That was cool as hell too, andit opened up some possible
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
So what's the goal, which is actually all part of
the doc, but the doc, what I'mworking on with the doc, is the
story of Magic, the Compound,and actually it ties into all
the different aspects of theAirsoft community and what makes
this place so cool, whatexactly I'm doing next and I've
been documenting as well youknow my process of me going
through it what I'm keepingpeople updated on the events
(31:31):
that have gone on.
Maybe the people I've talked towhat to look forward to in like
episodic sort of series.
I had a recent like like mentalbreakdown where I was like what
do I do with my documentarywhen I'm done, you know, do I go
to Netflix, which I've been intalks with people?
But the problem is with Netflixis that you have to and not to
bash Netflix.
(31:52):
It's not off the table, it'sjust you have to follow the ups
and downs of the storyline to aT of time.
So I almost lose the creativesort of flow of my own product.
I would like to have completecreative control from shooting,
creating the story, editing.
I do it all.
I have an idea of how everyepisode or the entire
(32:15):
documentary, like in a long form, like a movie, will be in my
head.
So my breakdown was do I gomaybe the film festival route
and you know it comes out inlike two or three years or do I
put episodes maybe half hour to45 minute episodes on YouTube?
Not only do I draw people intomy YouTube, which is great, but
also to the airsoft communitywhere potentially more eyes get
(32:37):
to see it, and that and thissort of just crushed me Cause I
was like what like?
What do I do?
Like, if I go to the filmfestival, no one's going to see
it, maybe, or like professionals, or because they may or may not
like the idea of airsoft intheir little internally, they
may not want people to see itand I don't know until I get
there, yep, and it's going tocost me loads of money to go
through all the festival routeof multiple festivals in Ontario
(32:58):
or Canada wide, I don't knowRight.
So I was like what do I do?
So I made a, made a video aboutit and actually talking to
YouTubers, other documentarians,to get their professional
advice, and I'm leaning towardsthe YouTube route for a
docuseries.
So it'll incorporate a lot morepeople.
It'll also be a lot longer, Imean in a sense, rather than
(33:18):
like an hour and a half moviethat I make of the year.
I get to make like four to tenepisodes that are 45-minute
bangers of like the communityand how badass everyone is.
The our go through the wholeyear as to what it is that we've
done, you've done at thecompound.
Sick, that sounds like that is.
That is the progression for mydocumentary.
It's going to be on YouTube.
Realistically, we'll be comingout in like June, because I'll
(33:42):
probably be done shooting inlike March or May.
Adversely, like if I were to dothe the festival route,
genuinely it would come out inthree years because we'd go,
we'd show up, well, I wouldactually be submitted for next
year, so 2026, they may or maynot approve it, and then I
bounce around between festivalsand then you actually only get
to see it after the festivalshave seen it.
(34:03):
So three years from now isreally like how that works,
which sucks.
So it's not that way.
As a result, too, with thedocumentary I'm going to pursue
other storytelling methods,whether I'm going to make my own
stories of various games thatare coming up next year.
I mean, we talked about itbefore we started the pod was
(34:23):
you know?
We're going to go find, maybe,individuals in Airsoft and what
makes them special during thegame?
Going to go find, maybe,individuals in airsoft and what
makes them special during thegame?
Maybe commanders, maybe maybeplayers, teams, uh, people
commanding certain vehicles,like whoever it may be.
I want to know your story inthat game.
Right, it's fun.
I mean it popped on uh on myyoutube for following you at um
(34:44):
go to right and, yes, we didjump out of a helicopter, yes,
we did command this warthogvehicle the entire time.
But that means that I can alsooffer more stories throughout my
youtube career we'll call itand my youtube career goes far
beyond just airsoft.
I love action sports, I lovegetting into it.
(35:04):
I want to do car stuff, I wantto do airsoft stuff, maybe
military stuff, trying to reachout to whoever wants to do
something.
Dude, I'm in, and so that'sthat's what the future looks
like for me.
I am so jacked up to to go film.
I love it.
But I also love thestorytelling aspect, because
that's what people.
That's what people want to see.
They want to see people develop.
They want to see your drive,what, what happens when you're
(35:27):
you know how does your story end.
That's that's what people wantto see.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's.
It's honestly, the quality ofwork that you're bringing to the
community is is justoutstanding and we're very lucky
to have you and I'm I'mextremely lucky that you shot me
in the nose and we have thisrelationship now cause like we
have done some Epic things,things.
But I just want to rewind alittle bit before we start
talking about the season andsome cool stuff that we've done
(35:52):
together.
Say, a community member wantsto follow your footsteps.
Do you have some advice forthem to get into the game and
maybe a small cost breakdown andsome into?
filming you mean into filmingand some do's and don'ts action
filming, I mean and maybe givethem a small crash course on
what they would need to juststart coming out and doing what
(36:14):
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
That's a good question.
I'm a Sony shooter, if thatmeans anything to some people,
so I switched from Nikon, whichis also the equivalent of a
potato.
So these new Sony cameras haveincredible autofocus and that's
essentially what I was missingout of my previous cameras.
So let's just assume you'regoing to spend two grand on the
new I would say new, but theFX30 has been out for like a
(36:38):
year and a bit.
It's great.
It is my workhorse.
It was my workhorse.
I won't get into my new camerabecause it's got me so jacked up
, but it is a workhorse in thefield, right?
So, yes, you're going to spendaround $2,000, $2,500 to get
started on filming.
It is inevitable for some toget through the front door of
(37:01):
filming, whether it'sdocumentary work or just like
action sports.
And then you're going to getall your equipment, like your
handles and whatnot too, so thatyou're not just running around
holding a camera with two handsLike it's.
You need a little bit more andthen a lens, which I I'm a I'm a
budget baller when it comes tobuying equipment.
I'm on Facebook marketplaceevery single day.
I'm a psychopath.
Another $500 for for a wide totight lens you can find.
(37:26):
I won't get into the specifics,but maybe we put it in the
description of the stuff thatI've got.
Or if you also want to check myYouTube channel, you'll be able
to see.
I describe everything that I useto get up and running.
But to start, look at $2,500.
It's just, unfortunately it'sthe way it is and that's.
Yeah, it does gatekeep peopleto get in.
You can probably do it with alot less, but it's just my
(37:47):
recommendation, because thesecameras now are getting so good
and you can basically doanything with them.
So that is my recommendation tostart.
Besides, obviously you've gotyour Airsoft protective
equipment to get out there andgo.
But yeah, that is more or lesshow you start getting into
filming.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Do you suggest maybe that it'd be for sure a player
if they were trying to capture acertain genre, like say, they
wanted to get into what you'redoing with Airsoft.
Would you suggest them being aplayer and maybe doing some
GoPro footage, some scope camfootage, stuff like that to kind
of get into?
it learn how the game the feel,some of the shots that people
(38:25):
are looking for and stuff likethat.
To kind of get into it, learnhow the game, the feel, you know
some of the shots that peopleare looking for and stuff like
that.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Um, there are some, definitely some, great courses
online.
I know one that's that's verynew and recent and black Friday
sale, by the way, uh, and I'mdefinitely not sponsored is the
art of documentary, and Markbone um, who has partnered there
.
He has an incredible uh seriesof videos that you can go on to
that describe what it takes tobe a documentarian the cinematic
(38:52):
eye getting into even sales.
Post your documentary.
That's one way to start and tolearn actually just how to use a
camera, especially in adocumentary space.
Next, for filming airsoft,let's say, if you're down to
film airsoft, the best way tolearn how airsoft moves and
works is by playing the game.
Start by playing the game,Enjoy it.
(39:13):
The only reason I say that isbecause I can bet you someone
else who hasn't played airsoftwill not shoot the type of
content I shoot when I'm on thefield, because they don't know
where to stand when a guy peeksa corner on the field, because
they don't know where to standwhen a guy peeks a corner.
I am not going to peek thecorner not knowing what's on the
other side of that corner.
I am not going to be on therevealing shoulder side of
(39:34):
someone when they peek thatcorner because I know if
someone's shooting at that guyI'm also going to get shot.
You just got to know.
But also this goes back to alsoreviewing and really analyzing
your favorite military movies.
You know, going back, maybesaving private Ryan, what's like
.
That epic movie You're shooting, that handheld, that first
(39:56):
beach scene, oh my God Like.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
I'm.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I love handheld, by the way, um, because it's it's
efficient, but um, it's really.
It really comes down toresearching and analyzing,
learning your fundamentals fromyour camera and then also
playing the game and those threethings.
If you can master those threethings, or just be really good
at those three things, I thinkyou will.
You will start to learn to beable to create your own story at
(40:20):
your own field, wherever youmay be, and there's a lot, of, a
lot of that stuff on the tableright now.
I know I'm talking to some guysfrom BC on Instagram.
I know there are a lot of greatstuff out of California that
are that are in like NilssonWest there there are guys that
are out there filming that stuff.
But I was like, I send me theinvite, boys, I'm going.
I would go and film, film yourstuff.
But I'm glad that more and morepeople are coming out with
(40:43):
their own footage and contenttoo, because that's what we want
to see.
Much like the Airsoft community, the film and documentary scene
, we want more people to tellstories, because there's so many
stories on the table, so manyinteresting people out there.
Sure, do you do any, or do youuse any sort of protective
lenses on your lenses?
Yeah, just maybe a single stackof UV protectors Like a UV.
It's a UV lens essentially.
(41:04):
Maybe a single stack of UVprotectors like a UV, it's a UV
lens Essentially.
It just helps block out alittle bit of the flares or like
light coming in.
Have I broken anything yet?
No, that's me knocking on wood.
So I kind of raw dog it quitesome time.
Also, because I know I'mconfident, I know where to stand
.
So I put myself in a positionwhere, obviously with outdoor
airsoft, I can see the flow inadvance.
(41:25):
I got my.
I got looking around with thecorner of my eye.
Yes, I got something in frame,but I'm also looking to see
where am I expected to seesomething happen?
A guy's rolling up around acorner, where is he going to get
shot from?
I'm going to stand somewhere ina way that this guy looks
really good but also out of thefucking way.
Oh yeah for sure have you beenlit up pretty bad.
Yet, god, dude, what was itlast game?
(41:46):
I'm following you guys.
You guys are pushing.
This is after the helicopterdropped.
Yeah and uh, I'm pushing, I'mstanding behind you guys and you
guys are facing technicalnumber one right coming in
around the corner and, forwhatever reason, the guy is
shooting into the, into thewoods.
I'm great, I'm not in the woods.
I'm like, I'm like, 100 feetbehind you, okay, this guy snaps
to me and chucks an LMG justmaybe 20 BBs, my way, I'm like,
(42:12):
and I it's in the video, by theway, it's of me just getting
absolutely obliterated.
And I'm like, and I'm just, I'mnot mad because, guys, you just
, you can't be mad.
You expect to get shot, but I'malso.
I'm the only one on the fieldwearing red.
I am standing still in an openfield.
I have no reason.
I'm looking around.
There's nobody around me.
(42:33):
I'm like, oh, wow, I just, Ithink I just got, I think I just
got targeted.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Dude, like, I don't, I don't, I don't appreciate that
so let's put it this way don'tshoot at the camera, men or
women, please I try so hard toget out of the way.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
But especially with indoors and stuff like people
get jump scared right.
You pick a corner like ah snapsnap, snap, snap.
I'm like, ah, it's fine, but Imean, I put myself into this
position.
But I'm also like check yourfire, friend.
Come on, dude.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Revert back to your training, ladies and gentlemen,
ladies and gentlemen, all right,so let's just quickly touch on
some cool ass stuff thathappened this summer, where we
just got out and had a blast.
What tops it for you?
And I know that the answer isdude, it was the.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
It was the story of the build-up of goda.
Yeah, dude, like we did thetraining yep, that was cool I
mean, it was a scare tactic toget there.
Yep, we also bonded by justcompleting that task of learning
how to do it Right.
So when we left that place, weall felt a sense of community in
(43:39):
that moment 100%.
We're like guys we rappelledout of a helicopter from like 60
feet.
It was badass.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Okay, no protective gear in the sense of just like
there's no like hooking on, andit's all about efficiency and
speed I think we are the firstand I'll get obviously fact
checkers can check it, but Ithink we're the first civilians
to ever do that.
I think, uh, an airsoft gameever I think.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I think D mentioned that People don't just do this.
So, yes, the buildup of thetraining and then getting to the
event and you're just likeantsy, you're like when do we go
?
When do we go?
It's 10 am.
You've already been out forlike six hours.
(44:23):
So you're just antsy all morning.
So finally that moment comeswhere, all right guys, you're
just antsy all morning, right.
And so finally that momentcomes where all right guys
circle back.
We got, uh, you're going up,all right, sick Me and the boys,
six of us, seven of us hop inthe chopper and I'm I'm hanging
on the edge here literallybecause, uh, when we did
training, there were seats andseatbelts.
Um, I get into the chopper and,uh, there are none.
(44:44):
Now I'm like, oh okay, I gotyou guys holding my chest plate
making sure.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
I don't slip out of this thing and kill myself.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
I'm just trying to take it in as best I can.
In that moment, everythingslowed down because I was like
dude the buildup.
I've already gone through thestory in my head.
I'm like this is it.
This is our moment right now,and it's not just our moment in
the sense that we did this thing, but it's also for the sake of
the compound.
This is just the start of howcool this place is going to be,
(45:15):
folks.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
This is really the first year that we operated a
full working year and we jumpedout of hell.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
And literally the goal, goal, and if you go check
out the video.
But we, we jumped, well, we gotput into a place where it was
already gunfire happening, right, quote, unquote, and we stopped
play so that we can repel out.
And then the game continued.
So we, we had been insertedinto enemy territory.
Yeah, we all got dropped in andthen obliterated.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Oh yeah.
It's hard to tell, or it's hardto not let the enemy know where
you are when you're coming outof a massive moving bird.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
Okay, guys game's off for a sec while the helicopter
comes down and everyone startsto migrate over and all six of
us drop and it was like sixversus 40 people.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
So yeah, like drop, and it was like six versus 40
people.
Yeah, so yeah, like I mean itwas, it was a blackhawk down
moment.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
It was pretty bad.
It was uh, you know what it wasworth it pain's always worth it
.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
It was such a great time just some of the coolest
stuff you'll ever see and thecoolest stuff you'll ever do.
And go check out the video,dude, it was sweet.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
It was awesome.
It was a great season and agreat time and we really
appreciate you joining us on ourjourney.
Thankful, we really appreciateyou being part of our community
and we look forward to many,many, many more movies and
documentaries and cool shootscoming out of you.
(46:48):
I just I can't thank you enough, man well, thank you, dude.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
I owe it to you guys for what it is that I do, and
now that I've kind of got up andrunning, I owe it to you guys
to push myself to continue togive you guys that content,
because you guys deserve it,that's awesome it's, we're in a
great space.
It's only going to get better.
Let's fucking go.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Let's fucking go.
Words from John Moore.
Thanks a lot for coming on theAirsoft Experience.
I really appreciate you comingout.
I've been trying for two yearsto get you out here, but now
it's done and, just like yousaid, let's fucking go, let's
fucking go and with that we'llsee you guys.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.