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UPDATE : Episode II now out - vimeo.com/35626914

The first in a series of short documentaries focusing on the culture of Urban Exploring, those who risk it all to access and infiltrate closed or forgotten spaces.

Not much else to say, watch it for yourself.

Produced In Association With :

silentuk.com
sub-urban.com
placehacking.co.uk
prourbex.com

Filmed Using :

Canon DSLR : 550D / 5D
GoPro Hero HD

UPDATE : Episode II now out - vimeo.com/35626914
  • Patch 7 months ago
    Off to buy more Kleenex.
  • brilliant!!!
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  • Nezih Savaskan plus 7 months ago
    Guys, this is excellent! Really nicely put together, so much better than the teaser suggested it might be!

    Cool to see 2 familiar faces in there :-)
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  • CphCph 7 months ago
    We like it!
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  • Alex Printz 7 months ago
    better than expected. I'll endorse it.
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  • 2wid 7 months ago
    props to you guys! great work.
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  • crazytrain1978 7 months ago
    Super :)
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  • DBOY INFO 7 months ago
    big up from spain
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  • Max Leonard 7 months ago
    Absolutely excellent. I've been anticipating this for ages! The scene desperately needed a 'state of the union' film, made from the inside. Not seen anything decent done since that melody gilbert film from about 4 years ago. Looking forward to part II.
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  • stefaan beernaert 7 months ago
    :)
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  • Sean Galbraith 7 months ago
    Great work, guys.
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  • ektopia 7 months ago
    Liked it? Loved it! The best of its kind I've seen.
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  • Sam Morrill staff 7 months ago
    The shot at 12:40 is unreal.
  • Niels.Pikker 7 months ago
    awesome, made my palms sweaty!
  • Shaun Tollerton 7 months ago
    Wow, that's from the top of the Shard! (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shard_London_Bridge) I'm so intrigued as to how you guys gain access to these areas undetected. Looking forward to seeing more with perhaps a look at gaining access to these places and near misses with the law and other dangers.
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    Will definantly be including these aspects in some way or another, although actually showing the access routes within the film, that's a bit of a touchy subject, especially within the Urban Exploring community. We would end up getting our asses kicked or be on the recieving end of a series of strongly worded emails. :)
  • Alex Printz 7 months ago
    "We would end up getting our asses kicked or be on the recieving end of a series of strongly worded emails..."

    thats to say the least
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  • jesse hegney 7 months ago
    werd!!!!!!
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  • Chris Luckhardt plus 7 months ago
    Great job...this was really well done! Also, check out this other urbex video I saw just yesterday, filmed in Germany and Bulgaria: vimeo.com/21423144
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  • joaquin gonzalez 7 months ago
    really sweet and interesting.

    some parkour skills would be useful =P
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  • Jeffrey C Packard plus 7 months ago
    Nice job! Props on the intro tune! (every piece needs a little amens)
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  • billy congo 7 months ago
    Qu'est que c'est infiltaite?
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  • abduallah 7 months ago
    الى اللقاء
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  • Oblivion Studios plus 7 months ago
    Real Nice work! Boring question but what audio set up did you use?
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    We used a Zoom H4N with a Sennheiser MKH 416 Mic for the interviews, and any audio on the cutaways was from the 550/5d's onboard mic.
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  • Recentzie 7 months ago
    Amazing, really looking forward to upcoming episodes. Shared on recentzie.nl/.
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  • Chris Koelsch plus 7 months ago
    Great work guys, love the shots and it looks like a ton of fun. Shared on my blog, This 'n That: tandtfy.blogspot.com/
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  • Ben Halnan 7 months ago
    Wow! Nice job! Great storytelling!
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  • vital-fedotov 7 months ago
    Great! Here is some Urban Exploring in Tokyo and Japan:

    vital-fedotov.livejournal.com/54588.html

    vital-fedotov.livejournal.com/53040.html
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  • Joseph Phillips 7 months ago
    My friends and eye used to visit abandoned structures in Atlanta. We also, because of our delivery work, learn the entry codes to nearly all buildings in ATL. We knew how to get in, where to go once in, where to explore, when to explore. There's something amazing about lounging in a ballroom with vines spiraling down Doric columns, doing sound recordings of wire tossed down a 15 story laundry chute, being on the other side of the wall, the floor, the street. I totally appreciate this film.
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  • Marie-Agnès Michel 7 months ago
    Better than an adventure movie !
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  • Lite Werk 7 months ago
    the third rail makes my willie tingle!
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  • Klustre 7 months ago
    Awesome, greatly reminiscent of graffiti flicks. The jungle/dubstep works well on setting the vibe.
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  • Alec Goodner 7 months ago
    Can how did you change the font for the worlds?
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  • Filipe de Carvalho 7 months ago
    If you ever come to Lisbon, count me in!
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  • balkon_gegenüber 7 months ago
    This is really inspiring Stuff! :)
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  • Jacob S 7 months ago
    soundtrack start to finish, excellent choice's perfect vibes for the scenes.

    This was the most interesting incredible vid' i've seen in a while!!! keep them coming!
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  • Álex 7 months ago
    Nice lights!
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  • Marko Soto 7 months ago
    Great! Very nice documentary!!! ;o)
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  • Arijit Dasgupta 7 months ago
    Great! :)
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  • The Unseen Sydney 7 months ago
    very interesting, would love to see more places!
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  • Andrew Kniskern plus 7 months ago
    I like what you are doing,I think its cool.Any caves in your future?I may suggest not to carry the tripods into Germany they may think you are a terrorist,and Polizei have been known to shoot.
    Not that I would want that but I think you have a great idea,but be careful dude.Also if you purchase a gas meter you might save a life while getting into the subterranean tunnels.Ask a phone man about swamp gas.
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    There will definantly be some caves in episode II. We always carry gas meters on our expeditions underground, especially in sewers and less ventilated power tunnels!
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  • Yago 7 months ago
    Hey guys!!!! You appear on Antena 3 televisión [tv], in Spain. Did they pay you?
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    Payment, wasnt even told about it haha, do you have a link or anything to this?
  • Alex Printz 7 months ago
    wow, thats crazy.
  • Alternative Silence 6 months ago
    Hahaha, this is Spain has more front than Brighton :) , i'm spanish but take vids or whatever the other people saying nothing is normal , this vid i have not seen, but other old works of others if and put as new national :S...incidently... Awesome work!! I follow for a while and I've seen your sites and am a fan of this type of work and video is much better, even if a work of ninjas and apologies aside as I read, everything has a demonstrated effort and here you have a big enough.

    I'm anxious to see the next chapter.
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  • FFaruq 7 months ago
    Great stuff!
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  • Alex Sky 7 months ago
    I want to be like you guys when I grow up. ^^

    Don't worry I'm very reprehensible I mean responsible.
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    We await tales of your adventures.
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  • Andrew Emond plus 7 months ago
    Amazing stuff. Good to see more explorers taking the initiative to do things like this on their own rather than waiting for the media to do it for them.

    Technical question: what are you using for noise reduction? It's been a big issue for the stuff I've been filming underground using a 7D.
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    We didnt end up using any noise reduction software. The project was shot using the Canon 24mm F1.4, this meant we could use relitively low ISO ranges (400-800 Average) and keep noise to a minimum.
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  • Nick Sheehan 7 months ago
    How often are you guys going to be putting out episodes?
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    I think we're going with the "When its done, its done" mentality. There's no real rush for us and no deadline we have to adhere to, as such we're happy to relax and spend our time making them to the highest standard we can.

    Originally we had planned to release them quaterly and to a certain extent this will still be our own personal deadline, but should everything run smoothly then hopefully every 6-8 weeks.
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  • Kevin Arnold 7 months ago
    It isn't beneficial to urban explorers to make our hobby known in my opinion!

    Amazing video! However, I would rather leave the hobby to the people who are naturally drawn to it rather than convinced that it is cool.

    Great video though, and it really describes one of my greatest loves better than I could.
  • SilentUK plus 7 months ago
    I was wondering when this topic would appear. To a certain degree I can understand where your coming from, but have a few issues with it.

    Firstly, if you truly believed that the advertisement of UE was a bad thing you wouldn't be promoting what you do on forums, Flickr and personal websites. As such the statement you made just comes off slightly ironic.

    Theoretically I can see the negative outcomes that ''could'' arise from an increased knowledge. Maybe some locations might be sealed up, maybe not. Somehow I doubt this, if the threat of metal thieves and vandals isn't enough to prompt a landowner to properly secure his premises, I doubt the knowledge of explorers with camera's will be.

    Maybe it could be beneficial, take Australia for example. There the Cave Clan is widely known mainly due to the promotion it had in the media and other mediums. Its because of this that when members of the public see individuals crawling into manholes, windows and other bits and bobs they don't immediately assume terrorists, something which is instantly assumed here in England. Due to a lack of knowledge? Maybe.

    At the end of the day, what's better, letting those who are a part of the community spread the right message to the public in what seems to be an enjoyable form, or, leave it in the hands of journalists who are looking for a quick “Break & Enter, Dangers to themselves” shock story.
  • Kevin Arnold 7 months ago
    "Somehow I doubt this, if the threat of metal thieves and vandals isn't enough to prompt a landowner to properly secure his premises"

    I had never looked at it in such a way. I always assume that we are grouped with the vandals and junkies when caught, but experience tells me otherwise.

    Man, good points all around! It just pains me to have these places, which are dear to me in a way which I cannot explain, be sealed up.

    Besides, if ONE kid is inspired to get off his couch to go explore, it would be completely worth it to loose a good spot.

    Sorry for being a negative "hipster" type and saying "it was better before it was cool" ha.

    In the end, I can always keep one or two spots a secret ;)

    The places you have to explore are AWESOME. So great.

    I'll be in Buenos Aires for a year, hope to find some good stuff there. I live in Tucson, so no subways here! It will be my first subte drop in!
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  • Greg C 7 months ago
    Really great video, I really enjoyed watching it, like I enjoyed reading your post about the Mail Rail on your blog. Nice music tastes too!

    Cheers!
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  • Matías Zemljič 7 months ago
    You inspire me! this is the prove that my works and falls weren't vain!
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  • David Crossman 7 months ago
    Apart from the deeply interesting reflections of the interviewees this film is wonderfully crafted - in construction, use of the right music and the sound mix. Brilliantly accomplished.
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  • Kristafer Vale 7 months ago
    so cool! keep it up!
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  • amazing. i really need to start filming some of my urban exploring. . .
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  • manusainz 7 months ago
    Really good stuff guys! loved it!
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  • Joey Bike 7 months ago
    Nicely Done.

    I have participated in some steam tunnel exploration under the city of Baton Rouge, LA USA and the college campus there about thirty years ago. Quite an extensive system of underground corridors. Easy to get "lost" only to pop up out of a manhole or drain somewhere and still not know where we were.

    Recently a friend of mine explored a 100 year old abandoned power plant in New Orleans, LA USA and brought back some amazing photos as well as stories of people "living" there that he encountered.

    Very interesting subject matter and very intriguing images. Thanks for taking the time and effort filming it all.

    Cheers!
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  • Ed Scrivens 7 months ago
    Sick work guys! Looking forward to the next one. When is it out?
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    Now, sorry for the delay :D
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  • dariocovarrubias 7 months ago
    excelente chicos

    saludos desde chile
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  • Eric Goodman 6 months ago
    fun. i do this sometimes with my child. He calls it Paint Tunnels... he's 3
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    That sounds very irresponsible taking a three year old? :(
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  • like your stuff guys , we are on the same wavelength . your ethics and ours are very close the enjoyment we both get is same only our death count is higher but we understand that before we start and it is worth it for the things we see and the feelings we get .
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  • Steven Bley 6 months ago
    great job on this guys, I hope to see more of these sometime soon.
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  • Mike Sprigmore plus 6 months ago
    Be careful in the sewers, you can die in 10 seconds from disturbed gasses. Great video though.
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    Always! We never go into a sewer without gas meters and rescue gear ready should things go wrong. We tend to stick to the storm drains which are well ventilated and have exit points every 100 meters.
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  • Will Burbage 5 months ago
    This is amazing!!
    Can anyone tell me the song that comes on at the end?
    Thanks
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  • Airborne Mark 4 months ago
    Crazy
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  • L Aeckerlin 4 months ago
    Awesome video, I've done some urban exploring myself, but never on such a scale like the people depicted in the video. I was wondering though what font you are using at the beginning? It looks a lot like the one from Hogs gone Wild, but can't find it anywhere.
  • SilentUK plus 4 months ago
    Couldn't tell you i'm afraid, the graphics weren't handled by us, we just added them into the film when they were done. Your right though, it does look like that font but i wouldn't know what its called. Sorry!
  • L Aeckerlin 4 months ago
    Oh never mind then, thanks for the fast reply though! Looking forward to more episodes, if you ever need someone to make graphics/animations feel free to ask me!
  • Alex Printz 2 months ago
    whoever does the graphics for that discovery show didn't put much effort into looking very hard for ideas outside the concept title... :p

    new.myfonts.com/fonts/aerotype/hogwild/
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  • James Rudge 3 months ago
    is this gopro full hd? How do you get so much light in your filming, mine are always so dark


    awesome btw!
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    Yes, its the Full HD Hero. The GoPro really isn't suited for low light obviously due to the sensor size, but when on a crane, or bridge with lots of ambient light we were able to pull out the quality and brightness somewhat using Final Cut and Color in post processing, pretty much doubled our exposures.
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  • Johnny A! 3 weeks ago
    DAMN! that was epic! So dope. Definitely recognized a few of those places!! Sick yo!
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  • Will J Carman 3 weeks ago
    Absolutely amazing! What lenses did you use to film?
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! We primarily used the Canon 24mm f1.4 and the Sigma 10-20mm for the wide shots.
  • Will J Carman 3 weeks ago
    Thanks, did you mainly use the 5D for filming the explorations?
  • SilentUK plus 3 weeks ago
    The reverse actually, for the first episode the 5D was used for the interviews and a limited number of explorations >15%.

    We went for the 550d most of the time as it was smaller, lighter and cost much less with only a slight decrease in overall quality. We could basically throw the camera around and abuse it till breaking point as we knew if we were to break it, we could easily replace it. A 5D on the other-hand, bit more of a strain on the budget should it break mid-shoot!
  • Will J Carman 2 weeks ago
    Oh right interesting to know, did you just use the natural light available when filming the explorations or did you sometimes use some external lighting like an LED light? Sorry for all the questions, just really curious to know because the 550D is the same camera I currently use.
  • SilentUK plus 2 weeks ago
    Ha, don't apologise, we like questions, it shows that people actually care and are genuinely curious in what we do. Its kind of the whole point of the series in a way!

    Whenever it was available we would use natural light. This wasn't always ideal but the problem with using on-board lights is it dramatically increases the chances of being caught.

    We did however use small LED packs with colour correction filters in locations like sewers, caves and tele-tunnels, basically anywhere we were sure it would be safe to cut loose with a torch or two.
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