The idea that people would get excited about an upcoming O’Shea or Casey project not simply due to the skater’s who will feature but because of the people behind the lens of the camera, or in the case of the editing, the men behind the laptop is a relatively new phenomenon. Skateboard filmmakers are starting to become more and more like filmmakers in the traditional sense. This is true in the sense big “mainstream” videos like Girl/Chocolate’s recently released Pretty Sweet utilises HD equipment and steadicams to achieve an extremely professional look as big budget skate films are starting to look more and more like music videos.
But also in the sense that smaller skate filmmakers are beginning to get recognised for their own singular visions and the wider skateboard community are connecting with their work based on aesthetic concerns not just the skaters. Of course there are some purists who would argue that this sort of sensibility undermines the skateboarding it’s self which should be the primary focus and that showing any interest in the film making side of things is symptomatic of a hipster mentality that is ultimately harming the industry. Though these people are obviously joyless arseholes that don’t appreciate the intricacies of what makes a great skateboard video which for the record have never been just about the skating.
Perhaps the most extreme example of aesthetic being at the fore of an independent video once again, unsurprisingly, comes out of New York and for my money is one of the most exciting things happening in skateboarding right now. Twomanji is a full 35 minute skateboard video featuring fantastic, creative New York skateboarding but a glance it looks a lot more like some sort of trippy art film or sketchy video nasty than it does a “skate film”. Everything about watching something like Twomanji is so much more rewarding than a traditional video though obviously both have their merits. Twomanji is an infinitely more immersive experience, between it’s rough, dated looking visuals and far from easy listening soundtrack Twomanji has an appeal as an audio-visual experience all of it’s own. That of course is without even considering the quality of the skateboarding but in a way, isn’t that the point? For my money the reason skateboarding culture as a whole has become so pre-occupied with aesthetic concerns of late is simply down to the fact everyone has gotten so good.
When there are countless kids in skateparks all over California doing tricks that nobody thought was possible it kind of takes away from the notion of getting a new video to just see tricks, there has to be more to it than that. This new breed of skateboard film makers are a breath of fresh air to an industry that if not in crisis is certainly at a point of change and it remains to be seen how exactly but one can be sure that the changing role of the film maker is going to have an interesting effect on the industry as a whole in the coming years. Sure, just watch the Twomanji affiliated the Bronze 56k video below.
Awesome, right? Right.
