Most would assume that, since the gun came along and started shooting up the place, archery is basically dead. Yes, it's a big part of The Lord of the Rings movies and a surprising number of video games today use it as a power weapon...but when it comes down to it, bows and arrows are simply less effective than their more explosive counterpart.
Nowadays, the only thing people know about archery is from what they've seen in movies - how many little kids learned archery from Legolas or Hawkeye or Robin Hood? Aside from Olympic-level archers, very few people still practice with a bow and arrow...but how hard could it be to replicate the techniques of yore? It's just pulling the string back and letting it fly, right?
As with most things in life, it's not that simple: competitive and Hollywood archery is basically the most backwards way to go about it. As it stands, it seems that only one man knows what he's doing:
First things first: Lars Andersen's video is both hilariously under-produced and amazing at the same time.
This is the sort of video that deserves true slow motion and fantastic voice-over, and let's be honest: it doesn't have either of those things. It's a huge deal, and the video is still incredibly entertaining, but there are definitely moments in the video that feel like a high-school video project instead of a showcase piece.
Otherwise, this is basically a montage of Andersen absolutely destroying it with a bow and arrow. There are some ridiculous shots in here, and while some are more impressive than others, watching someone pull a bow back, fire an arrow and hit a target in midair - all within a span of seconds - is pretty outstanding.
There is one shot that's a little troubling, and it's the shot in which Andersen catching an arrow that's been fired at him. There's clearly a cut in the shot (look at the archer's arm for reference), and considering that catching an arrow is already near-impossible, this particular feat is a bit harder to believe.
If there's any one thing missing from the video, it's a sweet '80s hair metal soundtrack. The video already looks like it was filmed inside someone's garage, why not go the whole nine yards and just make it look like some kid's old VHS project from the '90s?
Then again, maybe it's not the best idea to criticize the video when the whole thing is about a world-class archer with a lot of free time on his hands...