Was T-Funk's Ollie Filmed / Documented as Well as it Could Have Been?

[Tear Up a Trick]

This is not intended as a criticism, just a genuine question for people who know the spot well.

I've never been to SF but have heard so much about how difficult China Banks are to skate, and T-Funk's ollie seems superhuman.

To those who know the spot: would there have been an alternate angle that would have captured the bigness of it better than what we saw in the video?

Like should there have been a stationary camera from a distance to show the distance to scale?

Just wondering if anyone can give pertinent commentary or opinion?

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Go to SF and measure the bigness. Problem solved.

[sometimeperhaps]

Seems well documented to me. Having never been to SF the cover photo helps put the steepness into perspective. Add that to the footage which shows the speed, pop and distance required and it’s all packaged nicely.

I don’t think fisheye would have done it justice.

[sizzle_chest]

That would be sick if he ollied and landed on the bank and then like jammed it onto the bench and Beagle filmed it with a drone

[goodatmeth]

I wish there would be way more angles. I'll probably never be there and just don't get how huge that ollie was

[Síota]

Never been there but thought the footage was good. We all have seen that spot 1,000s of times so it's clear how insane it was.

[Giftedly Hater’d]

Maybe if it wasn’t one of the most well known spots in the most documented skate city on the planet.  If aliens came down and said “show me something gnarly”, then, yeah, a little more context would be helpful. But in this case, for such a venerated spot, leaning on a little in-group knowledge is a feature not a bug. Piers Morgan don’t know!

[JANUS]

[behavioralguide]

still bummed he ollied after the bench started and didn't jam onto it

[apply today]

Pretty sure that spot is coming down soon.  If you've been there you know how bonkers that is. The banks are steep and that bench is loooooooong

[doublesteveburger]

there’s been decades of documented footage there that can confirm how bananas in pajamas that Ollie was otherwise I’d be on the same sinking boat as you with this


would have been sick filmed wes anderson style minus the Easter basket color palette

[Mark Renton]

I’ve been there 10+ years ago and what he’s done is totally insane, pure madness.

It’s baker and beagle my friend not lakai and Ty evans (thankfully) so it was documented as good as it gets. For baker standards.

[Theme For A Jackal]

With as narrow as it is there that's really the best you can do, you can't fit the entire bench in view if you film it straight across from it

[JamesFardy]

Maybe if it wasn’t one of the most well known spots in the most documented skate city on the planet.  If aliens came down and said “show me something gnarly”, then, yeah, a little more context would be helpful. But in this case, for such a venerated spot, leaning on a little in-group knowledge is a feature not a bug. Piers Morgan don’t know!

“Why’d you show us this? That shit is big enough to already see from space…”
          -aliens (probably)

[Francis Xavier]

We DESERVE 6, maybe 12 angles

[LB]

another longshot angle from the street below would be cool to show more context of how scary that place looks/is would have been cool.  but not better.

[$$LESH]

3 angles and a cover seems pretty well documented

[Atiba Applebum]

Just be glad the guy who filmed Masons cover wasn’t involved

[Groondor the Orc]

Should have got Fat Bill to film it for a proper fit check and intimate facial close-ups.

[City of Drunken Totems]

just measure the bigness already

[versacekid420]

Just be glad the guy who filmed Masons cover wasn’t involved

[RoaryMcTwang]

I think they covered it well, but in an ideal world, I too would have loved a long lens shot from an opposite building or some such so that you can see the drop down to the street level and him hovering over the wall. Might not look as dope as I now imagine it would but had they done it I would have been mighty glad to have seen it. (Grammar waves going higher than his ollie!)

[Tear Up a Trick]

I think they covered it well, but in an ideal world, I too would have loved a long lens shot from an opposite building or some such so that you can see the drop down to the street level and him hovering over the wall. Might not look as dope as I now imagine it would but had they done it I would have been mighty glad to have seen it. (Grammar waves going higher than his ollie!)

Yeah this is kind of what I was asking, like maybe something what Mike T did for Sheffey's part where he showed the spot from a distance so you'd be like what's he gonna do on that and then when you see the actual clip from that angle you can really see the scale of the spot

[IpathCats]

You could almost always do more, so no, not technically. But I think it was good enough. There was the clip from behind, and a photo from up front right?

[GardenSkater77]

It would have been more epic in slow motion as the opening trick of 411 issue 175.

[Cool Ceith]

Personally I would've approached it like a bachelorette party and given all the homies disposable Kodaks so they could capture every rapturous moment. Tristan 'smokin' the shit that funked houser' Funkhouser is now forever intertwined with China Banks, til death do they part. You may kiss the bride.

[stevedave]

all you really need to know is this....CARVING the big bench is something 99% of skaters can't do.  Let alone looking at it and saying, "I'm gonna ollie the length of this big bench with some of the hardest transition to skate"

[BartHarleyJarvis]

all you really need to know is this....CARVING the big bench is something 99% of skaters can't do.  Let alone looking at it and saying, "I'm gonna ollie the length of this big bench with some of the hardest transition to skate"

I'm going to amend this and say 'Carving the SMALL bench is something 99% of skaters can't do'. I honestly didn't think carving the big bench was even possible the first time I went to China Banks.

[FROTHY]

Footage of a competent skateboarder attempting a simple kickturn, bashing/chipping their nose into the "transition", and falling into shit would accurately portray what that spot is like.

[lurker_and_poster]

Expand Quote

all you really need to know is this....CARVING the big bench is something 99% of skaters can't do.  Let alone looking at it and saying, "I'm gonna ollie the length of this big bench with some of the hardest transition to skate"

[close]

I'm going to amend this and say 'Carving the SMALL bench is something 99% of skaters can't do'. I honestly didn't think carving the big bench was even possible the first time I went to China Banks.

I´am going to amend this and say "Carving the SMALL bench BACKSIDE is something 99% of skaters can't do!

Carving the bank backside is already a tough job - but frontside is a complete different beast.