All Work, No Play

Yesterday it snowed and every skateboarder's heart plummeted to an all time low, all the memories of the brutal winter had come back all too fast. On the other hand, today WAS a new day so the sun decided to come out and warm the city up. A bunch of us met up at the park and decided to head out to do some spot checking. Spot A was a no go. The place needed a little fixer-upper and the owner was not feeling it so we decided to move on. While we drove on Scott scoped a spot with his oh-so-sharp eyes and he got down to business in no time. Unfortunately, it was a church and a guy there wasn't too happy with us shredding for Jesus so we snapped a quick flick and went to meet up with Josh, Rich and Jordan at the parkade. Josh got a quick line an once again, we got the boot. It felt like today was the day to hate skateboarders but the crew did what we do best: kept skating. On the road again, we went to check a new spot where Scott got down to biz(again). Things didn't work out as planned and Scooter broke a board trying a trick. Gary, being the good ol' friend he is, lent him his board and unfortunately, it took the same road and got broke. Everyone decided that the night had come to a close and it was getting chilly. Peep the flicks!

Tools of the trade


Scooter spot


Next spot was pretty good


Scott, warm up frontside 180.


Technical difficulties.


By the way, the play comes later.

Thursday night is party night.

Like usual, I was getting off work and the clouds were just clearing out of the sky. I headed on over to the park to meet up with none other than Scott, Mack and Luc. We went to check out this sketchy bank Scott had been eyeing for some time and snapped a quick flick. Right after, Taig met us at the spot and we decided that for any further skating to take place the bank would need a fixer-upper...moving on. For some reason, the chunk ledge seems to be all the rage lately. I have no idea why because it's exactly what it's named after, chunky as fuck. Regardless, Scott and Mack went to town with wax on that big boy and got it grinding and sliding smooth as butter. Everyone got some goods and were about to head on our way. Little did any of us know, the party was not happening at the spot, but rather across the street. You usually don't expect to be confronted by eight (drunk) university chicks, but we were. What was their mission, you may ask? Well, their good friend needed 'slut' points and in order to get them, she had to make out with random dudes. The rest is history...peep the flicks!

Scott, ollie in.


Mackdawg, lipslide pop-outs like woah!


The Dance Crew.


Scott Varney, coppin' tricks and
chicks.

Learning

The saying is true, you learn something new everyday. Today was the day I learned that I probably won't go back to Guelph. Today was sort of a mess. The sky, clear and blue, was pretty deceiving as it was actually cold and windy out. The spot was rough, the setup was haggard and Byron still had a heel bruise. Byron got his trick and got totally worked. In the end, I drove to Guelph to skate for a couple hours in the cold. Probably never going to happen again. You live and learn!

Falling short...


Perfect ground, bro.


It was so cold Arthur and I had
to hold hands.


"Looks like I'm sleeping on my stomach tonight."


Getting close with the ground.


Shit happens.

The Mack is Back

It was the second last day of March break and looking sort of gloomy outside. I was at work and really fiending to get some some skating and shooting done. After all, this glorious week of skate was coming to a close and I wanted to get something poppin' off. While I was eating my lunch, I got a friendly phone call from my good friend Mackenzie. The young gun told me that he was back in town from his trip and was down to shred. After he hung up, I got my text message thumbs raging and started to get some plans happening. It came time to get off work and a bunch of us went from the skatepark to the downtown core to meet up with even more people. At this point, the crew consisted of Greg, Kody, Josh, Scott, a hungover Columbian(Lucas), Allan, Mack, Gary and myself. Amazingly, we collectively agreed on skating the white bank up in Waterloo so we went on our way. If you've ever skated there before, you can imagine that nine people zipping up and down the hill there is sort of crazy, and it was. After a while, people got bored and it was just a few people shredding around. A bunch of the homies got their flicks so check 'em below.

Allan, switch 5-0 to regs.


Mackenzie, pop-and-lock backside tailslide.


Kody, switch bluntslide shove out.

Night Riding

As I was getting off work the colour of the sky didn't look very promising. That, and it was getting sort of late to meet up and get a session happening. Anyway, thanks to the nice weather we've been having, the night wasn't that chilly so Kody, Scott, Josh and I decided to try and make something of it. On the way to check out a spot Kody had peeped earlier on, we discovered another one that Scott went straight to work on. We even found a good free-running/parkour spot while Scott as getting down to biz. Totally sick...bro!

Anyways, we got to this next grime-time spot that Kody found. Whether he was joking or not, Scott put it best by saying that this new spot was a gold mine. Sketchy banks and shitty ground made this spot awesome, so awesome that we're going to go back. Kody got a quick photo and off we went to the next spot...the night was not done!

Final spot, 10:30pm, middle of a busy road, basically it was perfection. Josh messed around at super-sketchy high speeds(sooo dangerous) until we got a good photo. A good way to end the night, I say. Everyone got photos tonight too which was a plus. Just as we were packing up, a cop rolled up and told us to leave. Too bad he didn't know we were done, fool. Check the flicks below.


The usual suspects.


Scott, back 180.


Scott in the bonezone.


Kody, ollie into the grit bank.


Josh making curb-cut fantasies come true
with this beefy ollie.

A breath of fresh air

It's March break, the sun is shining, the temperature is in the (positive) double digits and everyone is out skating. God damn, it feels good! Snow banks have been reduced to minuscule piles on the side of the road and the only real remnants of them is the sand and salt on the road. It's a nice feeling to step outside and and just cruise down the street, no doubt about it. All the signs are pointing to one thing, and that's the beginning of a new season.

The past few days I've been out and about with the likes of Dalton, Colton, Byron, Arthur, Aaron, Cameron and a few others. Check the flicks below for some exciting, spring-filled photos. Take note of the tshirts and lack of winter jackets as well.

Colton, heelflip up and over.


Aaron, wallride.


Cameron, polejam.




Oh, we caught this hottie outside of the spot.
After Aaron took the picture, she got really
stoked and said, "Fuck yeah bitchez I'm
gunna be famous!" Tres cool.

Cali Clippage

I've been back from Long Beach for about two weeks now and I'm really missing it. -30 degrees Celsius isn't with wind chill isn't helping me case any better either. Anyways, here are some scans from the film I shot down there. Enjoy...or don't, I didn't.

Tom Geilfuss, front smith stall.


Brian Price, frontside carve.


Some foggy trees.


Some foggy Justin.


A foggy baseball field.

So Long California

My great expedition to California has finally come to an end. That being said, I am not stoked to be back home and surrounded by snow. All in all, the week and a bit that I stayed at Paul's with Justin was nothing but total awesome. You really can't ask for much more besides having perfect weather, waking up at 11am, cruising down the street to get coffee, checking out the shops and going skateboarding for the rest of the day. Everyone was really productive, skateboarding all day and playing Grand Theft Auto by night. Justin even had a messed up ankle and managed to get some photos - trooper. Everyone I met was really nice and extremely welcoming to me shoving a camera in their grills: Thanks guys.

In the end, what you really came for was the photos I've posted below so I won't hold you back any longer, enjoy, I know I did.

Justin Bohl skating after 4 months with a broken
foot...a miracle on wheels!


Sesai Parra means business. Ollie through
sharp metal roofing and bushes.


Justin Cefai, halfcab crooks revert. He was
just goofing around with this one.


Sesai Parra again. Hauling ass at a good
12 foot gap.


Hanging out at Justin Cefai's place on the last
night: Michigan dudes. Good times.


Tommy Gilfus getting ready to shred gnar
at Channel Street.


Brian Price, frontside carve of the Buddha at
Channel Street.


Paul Kwon, backside noseblunt at one of those
buttery school yards you see in those videos.


That's it, that's all. Thanks to everyone
for everything.

That's Crackin'

The past couple days here have been a plast. Clockin' footy and meeting people everyday, it's a wonder some people come here and leave. Been checking out a lot of famous spots you see in videos...it's a trip! I'll cut the bullshit and you can get straight to checking out photos.


Brian got this kickflip 5-0 180
out super quick. His first
sequence too, he was stoked.


This is the man Justin and I are staying with. His
name is Paul and he gets nose manual nollie
heel flips really quick. Over gaps to boot.


Jordan and Ben spot checking.


Paul coming through with a backside nosegrind
revert. This wasn't the only thing that was had
at this spot, trust.



All apologies to those wanting longer blog posts...all the days roll into one down here.

Suntime

I'm in Long Beach with Justin from Detroit and his friend that lives here, Paul. There is no snow here and the sun is blazing. Been skating a bunch, here's one sequence for now.

A new friend, Billy, warms up with a gap
noseblunt first try.

Filmer Profile: Ryan Alexander

I've been sort of throwing this idea around with Ryan about doing a little profile on him for my blog which was originally supposed to be a day in the life during the summer. I'm guessing skateboarding happened to be the focus each time we met up so it wasn't always the first thing on our minds. Anyways, here's Ryan Alexander's filmer profile conducted via MSN. Enjoy!

Will:
Okay..let's kick things off with how you got into filming and what your first camera was.

Ryan:
Sounds like a good place to start. I got my first video camera for christmas when i was in grade 7..I think it was a Sony TRV-250.

Ryan:
haha yes! http://uaflibrary.us/media/equipment/images/SonyDCR-TRV250.jpg

Will:
Woah...next level stuff. Were you interested in filming or did your parents just decide it would be cool to give you a camera?

Ryan:
I watched some of the CKY videos at my friend Nic's house in grade 6 and 7 and around this time I started getting into skating and then I saw Girl Yeah Right. I think that was the point when I wanted to try filming.

Will:
Cool. Who did you start filming with?

Ryan:
Ethan Berrouard, Nic Scroggins, Craig Lea. This was way back, grade 7-grade 8 but then I met Steve Hunt and Alex Smith and it's funny now that I think about it but I hadn't met Colton Blight at this time and I used to just hear of the craziest tricks he could do. I would go to "Nowhere" Skatepark too and I met Colton their for the first time.

Will:
Funny you should say that, I would always hear about the crazy stuff he was doing too. Did you film mostly around the Cambridge area or were you guys venturing out into the unknown yet?

Ryan:
Not at this point. The furthest we ever went was downtown Galt. I must have been in about grade 8 or 9 when we first took the bus to Kitchener.

Everyone's Gotta Eat! Chomp on This.

-Ryan pulled a “BRB” on me mid conversation at this point -

Ryan: Hey

Will:
Welcome back. By the time I met you, you had a Canon GL2 and some fisheye lens...when did you hook that up?

Ryan:
I bought that camera in April of grade 10.

Ryan:
April 22nd

Will:
How long did you have that for?

Ryan:
About a year.

Ryan:
It was a quick decision to get a DVX..it was March and I was just thinking of how much better it would be to have a DVX so I tried to sell the GL2 and I knew a guy in London with a DVX that he was selling so I picked it up at the of April..best decision I have ever made.

Will:
Ah, nice. It definitely seems that since getting the DVX you've been playing with the creative aspect of video. Would you say this is just you progressing or because of the abilities of your new camera?

Ryan:
I would say that getting the DVX has allowed me to progress. When I got it I contemplated getting a fisheye but I decided against it because I feel that there is no skill in filming skateboarding with a fisheye. A lot of people will disagree with me. Personally I love wide lenses but I wanted to progress more with composing shots and not just point the camera. Technology is always moving forward
and I think that allows for more freedom but in contrast I was shooting 16mm black and white last week with a camera that you had to crank to load the spring that rolls the film through.

Ryan:
In conclusion to the question I just want to say that new technology has opened a lot of creativity in filming for me but at the same time I feel there is a lot of creativity in shooting film to. I'm sure you can understand in reference to photography. I think I went really off topic there.

Look Close, Ryan is on
some next level shit.

Will:
No dude, go on if you want, everyone wants to see into the mind of Ryan Alexander. I like your idea of quality over quantity though in regard to the fisheye topic. I'm sort of the same where I try to avoid the fisheye if possible...sometimes it's not but mostly it is. I'm going to go back in time a bit before the whole technology question, where did you pick up your knowledge and technique(s) filming?

Ryan:
I will have to give my thanks and appreciation to Skate Perception for teaching me. I would just lurk the forms and eventually start posting. From what I learned there I was able to start teaching myself a lot so I would have to say it's mostly self taught. Now that I go to school for film making. I have to say I have learnt a retarded amount already but Skate Perception was a big influence and just learning from doing it myself, you know what I mean?

Will:
Yeah, definitely. With the internet a fingertip away you can pretty much learn the basics to anything...it's sort of scary in a way. Who do you look to in terms of influences in the filming area?

Ryan:
Well my first influence for filming was Ty Evans, best skate filmer ever. But now that I am becoming more aware of cinema and stuff I would have to say I like the work of Roger Deakins and Robert Yeoman.

The Goods.

Will:
Does Ty come to you with filming questions now or are you guys on a pretty level playing field?

Ryan:
haha, I would be so happy if I could just shake that dudes hand.

Will:
What did you think of Fully Flared? Personally, I thought it was the first real cross over of turning a skate video into a real cinematic production - almost. Thoughts on that?

Ryan:
I haven't seen the entire video yet but I agree, it's definitely a big step towards cinematic skate videos..but you know how Ty is with dollys and jibs and all that fancy equipment us regular filmers can only dream of.

Will:
I guess the fact that he has access to all that stuff really does make a difference. Since you're in film school can you rent any of that equipment out?

Ryan:
Sort of. The first year students are pretty limited in equipment but if you show a lot of interest and become friends with the teachers they can sometimes pull some strings for you which is cool. We have a jib in the TV Studio which is pretty awesome to use and dollies are available to use.

Will:
Interesting...one weekend we should do some high production skate session a la Ryan Alexander. Next question though, what's your thoughts on the RED cameras?

Scopin'

-Long Pause-

Will:
Did that question just scare you or something?

Ryan:
It's funny you ask. Yesterday a third year, media arts student had this big presentation on the Red camera and pretty well explained the entire camera and workflow and just everything you need to know pretty well.

I think it's a big step for digital cinema and the camera is insane, it's essentially a computer, it's really complicated but it's expensive. Lenses, hard drives, etc..plus you need a whole new addition to the camera department.

The whole workflow is intense, it would be awesome to shot with one though

Will:
Do you foresee yourself getting your hands on one anytime soon?

Ryan:
Personally? No not at all, the lenses alone cost more than the camera. I would like to PA on a set of a Red shoot and maybe get in the camera crew for a Red shoot which would be a dream come true.

Will:
Alright, I've finished my bag of crunchy Cheetohs so I'm going to start winding this down. When you're done school what do you see yourself doing? Be specific.

Ryan:
I will always film skating, mainly because of the freedom and I always have a good time when I'm out filming skating, lots of good people and it's always fun. I have no idea what direction my career will take, obviously something in film. I want to work in post-production as an editor, my dream job is to be a colourist. Itt would be awesome to work in the camera and lighting department in film production or dramatic television. Whatever opportunities I'm offered I will take.

Will:
Any last words before we cut this MSN transmission off?

Ryan:
I just want people to know it doesn't matter if you have to most awesome HD camera or a little handy-cam. What matters is how well you compose your shots and thinking about how you want to film some thing. And one last thing..buy a tripod.

Ryan:
Oh, and that you should never stop learning . I learn new tricks and techniques everyday and I don't even think the stuff I shot is good, I'm always trying to improve, it's just a matter of learning as much as you can.

Will:
That it?

Ryan:
I have so much to say haha, but I will stop there, any other questions you can think of?

Will:
Not at the moment. Wise words my friend and thanks a bunch for your time, the blog world is ruthless when it comes to hunger for content!

Ryan has always been a DIY type of guy.
Here he displays his home-made dolly nicely.

A Not So Distant Summer (not June)

Ryan Alexander is one of the few filmers in the area and really knows how to work a video camera well. Not only was he a good enough pal to throw together a bunch of the clips he got from the summer but he let me use it on the blog as well!

I can't speak for the viewers but this clip got me really stoked on how fun the summer was looking at it as a whole. It gave me the warm fuzzies inside and made me really wish that summer was a permanent thing around here...maybe one day.

Hats off to Ryan for this one!


a summer of skateboarding in Kitchener-Waterloo from will j on Vimeo.