People
Alex Vidal, BRADON WHEELER, CHRIS KEILEY, COLIN FISKE, Dana Ericson, ED DRISCOL, Eric Kaye, Jeff Valcourt, Jon Wolf, MANNY ALDANA, TOMMY WISDOM, TRAVIS REITANO, Trevor White
We caught up with John Wolf, a Boston native to talk about his most recent skate video SUBTERRANEAN. The video features some of Boston’s finest skateboarders. In the internet age where anyone and everyone can post their skate videos the art of planing and thinking through a shot has been lost, John seems to have put focus not just on the skaters but in his composition.
Jon Wolf
Are you east coast born and bred? Do you think that the west coast still dominates skating or is that irrelevant now?
I lived on the east coast for the last 15 years now. I was born in North Dakota and lived there until about the early 90’s. I think skateboarding has got so big now that you can be into different types of skate videos now.
How did you get into making skate videos? Did you go to film school, art school, etc? (What kind of equipment do you use?)
I have always liked skating and wanted to capture that. I went to full sail down in florida. It was sick. I shot Subterranean entirely with a dvx100 and in super 8. I wanted to film the video entirely so i could actually say it was MY video. I wanted the footage to be consistent all the way through.
Eric Kaye
What videos influence you, favorite classic video?
Classic stereo videos, eastern exposure, blueprint videos, anything and everything. I got the idea for the titles in subterranean from watching Jean Luc Godard films.
Why make videos when there are already so many being made?
It’s not about what other people are doing. As of this moment all i know is that you only live once so do what you want. The idea behind SUBTERRANEAN is that its an underground scene video. I wanted people to go out and make their own scene videos.
Where’s your favorite place to shoot?
Barcelona. It’s paradise. If you go there make sure you meet up with Marcos.
Marcos Roberto De Souza Jr.
Do you make other non-skate vids/film/art?
I do it all when it comes to film. I am really into film and film history especially the french new wave period in particular i like Jean Luc Godard.
How do you decide on the riders you shoot with, and what you decide to include on the video?
All the riders in Subterranean are friends of mine. I would notice people that i thought were really good t skating and i wanted to film them.
What’s you’re favorite trick landed in the video?
Chip Ripersons line in the middle of the street near copley. I almost got ran over by a car filming that line.
What matters more, the syle/originality of a video OR it’s just about skating?
The most important thing is the skating. But good skating has to have its own style and originality.
I noticed that you shoot with Super8, that’s awesome! Talk about film!
I like film a lot. It can just get expensive. I got a camera from pro8mm and that’s the one i used in subterranean.
How did you decide on the music you use in Subterranean?
I wanted to make the video have this analog feel to it. It took me over 3 years to find the music for subterranean I have some friends that are real into music so i just started hunting for good music.
What do you think of Sheckler and his whole deal (corporate skating)?
Corporate skating ends up paying for other skateboards to make money they normally wouldn’t make unless they left skateboarding and got a desk job. Life Of Ryan is lame.
Do you think YouTube (online video clips) is/are good for the skate video world?
They are good for the skate world because people get to see the advancement of skateboarding so much quicker than normal. You got “Johnny” here doing something in SF than you got his buddy filming it. That night it gets captured and goes online and people in Boston see it and get to see from that angle of skateboarding. I remember when it was hard to find skateboard videos and you would get stuck watching something like Police Academy and just keep watching the skate scene in that. I believe all they do is bomb through a parking garage. I would watch the movie just for that part.
What do you think of the 1 Million Dollar skate park being built in Iraq?
Never heard of it. I think that they should make a skatepark in boston.
You seem to be largely influenced by Godard and the french new wave. Can you talk about how certain styles of film influence skate videos/films in general, and yours specifically….
I don’t remember how i first found out about Godard. I got the titles for Subterranean from watching his films. My favorite Godard film is Weekend but Alphaville is a close second. I wanted subterranean to be very basic but just right to the point. I wanted it to be like some 60/70s film that you accidently find at the bottom of some 99 cent barrel at the Salvation Army.
I really like the underground skate video ideas, do you feel like there should be videos being made from scenes all over the world… or is that just over kill…
I think that if people want to make videos than they should. There are already scene videos all over the world. There is just no clear way to show it to everyone.
What’s up with Marco from Spain, any good Barcelona stories you want to share…
Marcos is the man. If you go to Barcelona you have to meet up with Marcos Robert De Souza Jr.
Yeah i remember watching Thrashin about 1000 times, Gleaming the Cube was the worst movie ever but i remember going to see it opening night and EVERY skater within 50 miles was at the theatre that night and rippin afterwards in the parking lot. If that was made today who would play the Christian Slater roll and what would they use for grip tape instead of manhole cover?
The oldest movie that got me hyped on skating was one of the Police Academy videos. These dudes bomb through a parking garage and at the end do some Mike Valley type shit.
Besides almost getting run over have you ever gotten hurt while shooting? Or maybe hurt while editting, carpal tunnel (hahaha)
I am skating down this sidewalk in Barcelona. Having a good time, listening to my ipod. Loving life. Than all of a sudden. BAM! I hit this seed thing and flew forward. My camera bag went and pushed my head straight to the ground. My face was the first to hit the ground. I landed right on my temple. Real fun. Thats the closet filming injury i have.
Any new projects you want to talk about? or shout outs….
Nothing worth talking about right now. I am still filming for other peoples videos. Filming for fun basically.
GRAB A COPY OF SUBTERRANEAN RIGHT HERE
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