ESC Net Article - "Parkour"

SUNY Empire State College was up in the air on June 29 when Saratoga Springs-based Elevation Films captured footage for the college's newest television commercial.
Filming at several locations in Saratoga Springs – from downtown to Saratoga Spa State Park -- from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the production company shot the fluid movements of a professional performing "parkour," intense physical activity that includes jumping, climbing, back-flipping, cartwheeling, hopping, dodging and gestures that resemble martial arts, to maneuver through, past, over and around obstacles in an environment.

A crowd gathered to watch as Travis Graves, the lead stunt man in the commercial -- playing the part of a student -- leaped from rooftop to rooftop, overcoming real and symbolic barriers, to earn a degree from SUNY Empire State College. The 30-second spot end with Graves landing on the rooftop of Mrs. London's restaurant and bakery in the heart of Saratoga Springs, where he opens his laptop and starts to work.
"It was an excellent shoot," said Special Events Coordinator Susan McFadden, who helped to arrange the day-long event. "It was an amazing group of people from different specialties that all came together and worked as a cohesive team. It's going to be an accurate representation of SUNY Empire State College.
The Saratogian, the area's daily paper, got wind of the production and made it front-page news with great photographs, viewable at  http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2010/06/30/news/doc4c2a993c80f9f116562495.txt.

Several college employees served as extras, playing the roles of students. "Working as an extra was great," says Edward Cagé, who works in Human Resources. "Travis was awesome!
The commercial will air this fall on cable stations such as Bravo and MTV as well as on networks, including NBC.