Trigger Warning : I'm Drunk and Stoned - What is filmer culture like?

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

finally! Tracer admits why he's here!

[Deucifer]

finally! Tracer admits why he's here!

I like Tracer a whole lot better than you.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Has anybody ever cared about what you think? Oh no, a super bland poster who doesn't contribute anything here doesn't like me!

[botefdunn]

Ridiculously underappreciated discipline:

you have to be a very good skateboarder and also creatively and technically proficient to do it well

and then most people only bother to comment on the filming when they don't like it.

shout out to all you filmers, making some of the best art of my lifetime, or whatever you want to call it.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Not to mention 99% of "professional" filmers have day jobs but still get it done, do it well, and do it with the kind of passion most don't have.
They also take shit from more than just the people complaining it looked bad, there's also....
When are you going to finish that edit with my clip in it?
Where is my clip? Can you e-mail it to me/some random guy for me?
skaters getting pissed and yelling at everybody there....except the only person there is the filmer

[h00man]

Ridiculously underappreciated discipline:

you have to be a very good skateboarder and also creatively and technically proficient to do it well

Not really true.

I'm not a good skateboarder. I mean, I'm not HORRIBLE. But I do know what I'm doing on a board. It just depends on how well the filmer knows their angles/history/equipment/skate videos.

[beat!]

honestly the only thing that really bothers me is when im injured and people still ask me to film and get mad when i say i cant

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Expand Quote

Ridiculously underappreciated discipline:

you have to be a very good skateboarder and also creatively and technically proficient to do it well

[close]

Not really true.

I'm not a good skateboarder. I mean, I'm not HORRIBLE. But I do know what I'm doing on a board. It just depends on how well the filmer knows their angles/history/equipment/skate videos.

Depends on what they are filming. Ryan Garshell bombs bigger hills than I would while he's filming somebody. That's like a trick itself. If somebody filmed him filming dudes downhill like he does, they could probably put together a rad part.

[Hannity]

Disclosure: Long term filmer here, not so much in the past few years, but I've been slowly working on a new video.

As for being drunk / stoned, it is a method but it makes it a lot tougher to stay on top of footage, making backups, not missing the shot, and actually giving a shit about the trick the skater is done. I've been a lot more productive as a filmer when I'm not fucking with alcohol or getting stoney baloney. It also comes out in the editing, more killer, less filler.

One thing to realize is a large majority of filmers are doing it as more of a creative endeavor, and not a business one. Perhaps that has changed, but if the passion to document isn't there, you should probably put the camera down and skate. Skaters can tell whether or not you are into their trick. Needless to say, I've reached a breaking point where filming your typical skater doing a typical trick down a typical obstacle is almost torture.

Creativity, style, and flow outweigh the boring robot shit. If you are a skater and are subconsciously forcing your filmer to stand in one place for hours on end while you try to learn a trick, that shit is whack. Move on and do something you can bang out in a few tries. It will look better. Think Tommy Guerrero skating down the street versus some one jumping down a set of stairs for hours on end. Which filmer do you think had more fun in the process?

I could rant for hours on this shit, but these days I'm more interested in documenting skateboarding where the skater is pushing themselves in a natural trick selection. Not trying to conform to a style or process.

this. all of this.

i love filming and am still saving up for a real pro camera, right now using a handicam long lens style. but i been filming my one friend for years now. and he's gotten good as fuck and is in it for the right reasons. it's one of the most fulfilling things ever building edits and seeing good shit come together. and just having a good time with my boy finding some street spots all over our city.

[companguero]

Ron and Tracer make reading these boards worth it. Their post/status bizarro mirroring should prove that.

As for the drunk/high preface title, inebriation got me to post the topic after 3am. I'm not a dysfunctional alcoholic, I'd just gotten home celebrating my brother's 29th.

I'm aware of the legitimate issue of triggering, also my buddy's been in my ear about Milo Yiannopoulos lately, I'm gonna tag along (as an observer) with him to hear Milo at UCLA next week. I'm not well-versed but buddy's looking forward to a shitstorm.

I'm not looking for advice, I know I can only learn this stuff in the wild, the post is here to discuss the lives of those behind the lens - from the people documenting the pros to local scenes.

I've gotten impatient with the growth of creativity in filming/editing. Ironically, still photographers do better justice to skateporn yet I prefer video.
I wonder what's kept innovation down, industry heads dictating style? masses of unoriginal skaters?
Where is someone who can wield a camera/edit bay that has blown minds like Jimi Hendrix?

[Charbroil]

10+ year self funded filmer here.

being able to actually skate helps. knowledge of industry standard cameras is a must. It's not really worth doing if you don't have the equipment to make it worth while.

networking now a days is key. Again it's not really worth doing if you don't have a shop or company backing you. I mean sure "for the love" I get it. But I'm 30, I've done my local videos and that doesn't mean shit. It's more of a creative release in my situation with a shop and shoe shoe flow program backing (which is nice).

Earn your keep. Get a camera, no one is going to take you serious if your filming serious skateboarding and not taking it serious. That sounds fucking stupid but it's true.

[tzhangdox]

Save up for quality equipment, learn how to use it, lots of resources like Skateperception or just by trial and error. Torrent premiere pro and after effects. Film your homies and have fun. Filmers are generally pretty happy to help each other, give advice and what not. Once you get into it, filming is pretty fun, though very frustrating when trying to film a clip for hours on end.

 Get used to skating around with a heavy ass backpack, having to put it down everywhere, taking ages to set your shit up, thats probably the worst part about being a filmer/photographer. You'll be saying "next try bro/you all good man/you got this" a lot. Also try to make sure your posture when you're not filming is as good as possible, filming really fucks your back up, especially if youre 6 5 like me.

[wario]

I've gotten impatient with the growth of creativity in filming/editing. Ironically, still photographers do better justice to skateporn yet I prefer video.
I wonder what's kept innovation down, industry heads dictating style? masses of unoriginal skaters?
Where is someone who can wield a camera/edit bay that has blown minds like Jimi Hendrix?

Yes, there is. Watch this trailer, I think this is going to blow people's minds onto the wall

[Charbroil]

Expand Quote

I've gotten impatient with the growth of creativity in filming/editing. Ironically, still photographers do better justice to skateporn yet I prefer video.
I wonder what's kept innovation down, industry heads dictating style? masses of unoriginal skaters?
Where is someone who can wield a camera/edit bay that has blown minds like Jimi Hendrix?

[close]

Yes, there is. Watch this trailer, I think this is going to blow people's minds onto the wall



That was done well, but spinning the cam, com' onnnnnnnnnn

[companguero]

Oh yeah, just the trailer itself is something I'd consider a milestone in real creative filming/editing.
We're probably seeing something very unique developing in Colin Read's ideas and abilities.

I love the transition from the stone sphere ride to the dude's bald head - also, at :33 the guy laying on his back, setting up the crossfade into the nollie flip filmed upside down followed by the camera rotation.

At :52 the second rail hop should be considered magic, it's sleight of foot.

The wipe at :55 is cool

1:02 is where the kickflip cam flip happens. It's interesting to watch the board isolated in frame while the camera moves.
It creates a different effect from sticking a gopro to a deck and showing the footage without any style.
Means so much more to watch how well timed the cam spin happens and he still gets a well framed focused image.

The double cam chameleon setup struck a nerve. I've wondered what could be done with that.
~
I immediately ordered Thomas Campbell's Cuatro Suenos Pequenos when it premiered on Thrasher.


It was the cinematography and arranging of fades that blew me away.
wow ... I just found out he did A Love Supreme ... not suprised.

Which segues to Bill Strobeck's Supreme stuff. I like his style and music selection.
~
Jon Miner and Mike Manzoori's stuff made dudes cry. Their art direction is probably why I've worn Emericas for so long ... but also cuz I loved the toe caps on Ed and Heath's shoes.
~
I could never find the quote, I think it was in The Skateboard Mag, Stacy Peralta mentioned something prophetic. The cumpilation editing style of tricks would only satisfy for so long, he knew stuff like Raw Files, the fun of Oververt, and early Girl Films would win my heart.

Welcome to Hell was prophetic, too.

[HoudiniXLogic]

Hmmm well I dont know but its pretty much the same.

If I'm gonna skate, I'm gonna skate. I'm not gonna bother trying to skate if I got my camera with me, especially since filming lines over and over cramps the fuck out of your arms and you get worn out.

Security guards always talk to you thinking you're the "voice of reason" when in reality you're an even bigger cunt than the dude ignoring the guy and nosegrinding the handrail.

Arguements with photographers on angles and lens and etc.

[concerned_parent]

quotes you need:

"yeah dude you got it this try lol"
"dude thats so gnarly you totally should do that"
"lindsey robertson heelflipped this i think, you should fakie heelflip it"
"wheres the closest burrito shop?"
"dude that bianca chandon guy could do it, you could definitely do it"
"dude i need to go home i forgot to water my plants"
"yeah that new thrasher part was sick, but your new part is gonna be better when you LAND THIS FUCKING TRICK YOU'VE BEEN TRYING FOR THE PAST 3 HOURS"

[yungthug]

Where is my clip? Can you e-mail it to me/some random guy for me?

I film a decent amount for fun and I hear this so much haha. The struggle is real.