Browsing “People”

The Quiet Life’s Facebook photo contest is down to the final six. Go to their Facebook page and vote for your favorite!

I had loosely suspected it before. It became really obvious when I started working on curating the board exhibit for that one show in Paris last summer: in 2011, there aren’t that many skateboard graphics that have something to say. I mean, by “newer” artists -which immediately sets asides the Templetons, Eli Gesners, Mike Hills, Todd Francises, Clivers, McKees and Aly Moores of Droorstalgic times past.
Not to tout the expired stale fart trumpet again, but my theme being called Agents Provocateurs -a journey through offensive/political board graphics- I sadly only had a couple names in mind when time came not to make this an all-90s board exhibit.
Thanks lil’ Baby Jesus though, there’s still a handful of artists who still carry the maculate torch today. Among the Siebens, the Winston Tsengs (enjoi) and the Whoever-thinks-of-these-sick-Skatementals-concepts, Ben Horton has remained one of my personal faves since he launched $LAVE Skateboards.  The brilliance of it all, the video, Ben Raybourn : the guy behind it had to be a Midas of sorts, I thought.  Well, he is. But he’ll never admit it. Enjoy his interview over at Memory Screened.

Tomorrow night this opens in San Francisco. Last weekend I help art director, Porous Walker set up some of the installation and documented the progress. Photos can be seen over on my COLOR blog. More on Porous, the art department and the installation coming soon.

About the installation from the gallery:

FIFTY24SF Gallery, in association with Upper Playground and American Zoetrope, are pleased to announce TWIXT sc. 83, an exhibition and installation coinciding with legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s newest feature film, Twixt. The exhibition opens January 13, 2012 with a public reception at 7PM.

Over his past three films, Francis Ford Coppola, famed director of The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now, has set-out to create self-written, self-financed, self-produced, and self-distributed films with his own intimate crew. Developed through personal experiences, a love of American Gothic, Edgar Allan Poe, and Coppola’s own trials as a horror genre author, Twixt is the story of B-list author Hall Baltimore’s process of writing his new mystery while researching an old murder case in a remote Northern California town. While Baltimore (played by Val Kilmer) is seemingly rewriting history with the help of the an eccentric town sheriff, he finds himself embedded in his most personal, demanding story he has ever written. Filmed around Northern California with locals as actors, as well as sets built on Coppola’s own property in Rutherford, Twixt examines the process of storytelling as it applies to personal experience, artistic influences, and the classic American genres that have become staples of modern cinema.

Working within their own self-financed restraints and freedoms, the team behind Twixt had the unique experience of researching and building sets in and around Coppola’s home in Northern California. Many of the sets were built in Coppola’s backyard, while some required the small town backdrops of Northern Napa and Lake counties. In keeping with the original spirit of American horror, some scenes were created with intentional kitsch, while some dream sequence were shot with highly-detailed, ornate sets and original post-production work.

For TWIXT sc. 83, members of Twixt‘s tiny tiny Art Dept, (Jimmy DiMarcellis, David Hopp, and John Paul Goorjian) will be rebuilding the set of the film’s dramatic climax sequence, scene 83. The center of the gallery will feature a remake and stand-alone installation of the film’s clock tower, shown in the film as an impromptu 3D experience. Also on display from Twixt, will be bat and birdhouses from Nice, California artist John Hathaway, whose front yard/gallery/shop “The Woodpecker”, was a key set in the film. TWIXT sc. 83 will also feature a series of other pieces from the film’s set department that were found around different locations in Northern California and in the Coppola archives, as well as behind the scenes photography by the film’s executive producer, Anahid Nazarian and set photographer, Kalman Mueller. The gallery will run trailers of the film, along with other enhancements to bring Twixt‘s horror scenes to life.

Here is a “Behind The Seams” video that I shot with my wife, Amber B. In it she walks you through the process of creating the stop-motion animation in the Eden video, piece by piece.

Amber and I co-directed the video, which tells the story of Element Eden. The project was a fun break from skate videos, and an opportunity to work together on something creative. I’m really looking forward to see where Amber takes her new found passion for animation and filmmaking.

To view the Eden video, click here. And for an in-depth article, click here.

When it comes to documenting Australian skateboarding in moving pictures, Chris Middlebrook is the most well known and no doubt one of the most devoted. Two of his most recent accomplishments include Nike SB Chronicles #1 and what is arguably the video part of the year: Nick Boserio’s Life Splicing part.

Aside from VX and HD Midds is also a bit of a Super 8 lord. Over at the SbA site we have recently unearthed Chris Middlebrook’s Super 8 reel from 2008. Inside you will find archival footage of: Shane O’Neill, Andrew Brophy Dane Burman, Lewis Marnell, Andrew Currie, Bryce Golder, Nick Boserio, Alex Campbell, Justin Brock, Tommy Fynn and a myriad of other talented rolling units.

Chris Middlebrook is currently working on a part for the next Transworld Video “The Cinematographer Project”: be prepared for some locally spawned lunacy in that one.

Merry Merry Season peoples. See you next year.

TOP 8 from THE ISLAND

1ST: Chima Ferguson ($4000)

2ND: Tommy Fynn ($2500)

3RD: Jack Fardell ($1500)

4TH: Jack Kirk ($800)

5TH: Jake Duncombe ($500)

6TH: Reece Warren ($300)

7TH: Alex Campbell ($200)

8TH: Joel McIlroy ($200)

ISLAND WRAP

Cockatoo Island is not only the largest isle in Sydney Harbour; it has one of the most colourful histories. Prior to being home to the first ever SbA Pro/Am Grand Final it was an imperial prison, an industrial school, a reformatory, a jail and was the site of one of Australia’s largest boat building docks. Cockatoo is also closely aligned with the legend of bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, who was one of two prisoners to ever escape the island. Their escape was aided by Thunder’s lover Mary Ann Bugg who swam through the harbours shark-infested waters to save them. Thunderbolt was given his name whilst on the job: during one of his robberies he knocked on a door as a clap of thunder and lightening ignited the skies. The victim asked who was at the door to which he replied: “Thunderbolt”. Of course prior to the intervention of colonialism Cockatoo was no doubt a sacred stomping ground for indigenous tribes and possibly the odd cockatoo.

During event lead up there were several trips out to the island. My first trip was with Cuzz and we were in charge of surface checks on the heritage-listed ground. After a serious run in with an egg-guarding screech-burger of a sea gull, and several heated discussions regarding the logistical problems of holding a comp on the island, we thought we would calm our nerves with a beverage. Whilst ordering the edge was taking off by a gruff but jovial chinless wonder of a Hungarian tuck-shop manager. He was the kind of odd character you would find in an old Bond film. His vibe somehow smoothed the situation and mid bev we ran back over to the site and finally sussed how the course could work.

Over the months of prep that followed it was no doubt that Logistics Manager Steve Murphy went through the most trials and tribulations. At one point he was heard ordering some fluorescent inflatable tower lights over the phone: “So how big are they mate?“… (pause)… “Oh so about as big as a fat person?” The attention to detail was phenomenal. So how do you get a skate course built on an island you ask? Every element had to come by barge: 24 of them! The course design and construction was a combination of efforts between SbA, Convic and Shane Serena’s Revolution crews. The course housed elements such as the bank to ledge to bank, the out rail (based on Perth’s swing out bar), the doorstop slappy kickers, the wheel chair ramp and the Sydney Harbour Bridge China Bank. (article continued with video over on the sba site)

(link straight to video)

“Eden: The Story of Element Eden” is a short film that captures the story of Element’s women’s apparel brand, it’s family, Advocate program and vision to inspire girls on their own unique paths.  The film itself was co-directed by my handsome husband Kirk Dianda and myself. Over the course of the last two years we documented all the products and personalities behind the brand.  To string the story along, I created a set of handmade stop-motion animations that not only help tell the story of Eden, but also represent the brand’s quirky personality while detailing creativity and fashion.  Original soundtrack by  the Talented Loren Humphry.

‘A to B’ is one of the SbA video regulars. It is a study of the journey from A to B on a skateboard. To instigate the mission I make a map on Google maps, give the map to the filmer and skater. I make sure that the path does take the duo past some good spots, and they are allowed to differ from the supplied route by maximum of one block. Once the mission is completed the filmer completes the edit. I chose Melbourne ripper Jeremy Corea as the subject of the first Victorian ‘A to B’, the filmer was SbA contributor Josh Roberts. Josh is the man responsible for the recent ‘In Good Company’ video from the 4 Skateboard Company, he also filmed the Alex Campbell ‘Three Spots’ from a couple of months back. For now: feast on the A to B with Jeremy Corea and I’ll keep you posted with any further additions.

Just in case u missed the link: A to B with Jeremy Corea

Big bro Julian lives down the street on the Venice side of Dogtown. He’s usually flying all over the world speaking at some something-or-nother conference, but lately, I’ve been seeing him check in on Foursquare at skateparks all over the country. Wasn’t he just at the Venice Skate Park yesterday? There he is, documenting the variety of life that is living and breathing down by our oceanside, outdoor, skatepark capturing everybody: locals, tourists, old pros, next gen’s top skater and their families. He’s even shot us a few times, hanging out.

Julian’s always got some awesome project happening and when he told me about Hello, Skater Girl I got really excited. I’ve always been a fan of the sport. Silvio was the lead artist for the blockbuster videogame, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Lulu’s godfather is a former pro-skater, and much of our community including the one reading this post are life long friends and family from the sport.

It’s no secret that I would love for Lulu to be an astronaut-pro-skater someday. She’s got her first deck, so really, nothing can stop her, right?! I think the Hello, Skater Girl book would be a great addition to Lulu’s bookshelf. I hope you enjoy this interview I put together with my photographer pal:

Tell me, what’s this photo book you’re working on?

I’m doing a photography book project. The subject is girl skateboarders. I told myself I was doing a book project because that was the easiest thing to wrap my head around. What I really wanted to do was understand skateboarding culture more than I already did, and I basically didn’t really understand it at all — so the project was a way get to know what skateboarding was all about.

Why focus on girl skateboarder?

At first I naively convinced myself that no one else was trying to capture and document girl skaters through some sort of visual medium. That was stupid to assume, because of course it’s not true. But — if you look at much of the core skateboarding communities and magazines and the big brands, you don’t see much photography of girl skaters at all. That’s just the way it is and I understand the systemic issues as to why, even if I don’t understand why not — the lost opportunities.

That’s what drew me to the project because I love creative projects that go against the grain — that do something that “no one” else is doing. And, of course I know that’s just a creative start. As soon as you think no one else is doing something you immediately start finding all the people who are doing that thing. The creativity comes in finding a way to do what other people are doing in a unique, individual way. That’s much more fun to be amongst a community of similarly motivated folks and find your own style and technique.

Okay, so..how would you describe your style?

It’s easier to “see” than describe but — what I’m trying to do is a bit photo-geeky and technical but I try to set up portrait-like photos of this very dynamic, very kinetic sport. I’m shooting for a look that is studio-like — something with big, curated light and the background fall-off you might see in a portrait shoot. I think this is atypical in the canon of skateboarding photography where you often have very big compositions: the big skater/ultra-wide/fisheye look; or the landscape shot with a small skater amidst a big street/urban-concrete setting. I guess I was going for something different just to be different — a wide-ish lens with little distortion; no motion blur; strong visual separation between the skater and the background. That’s geeky.

How’d you get into skateboard photography, anyway?

I moved to Venice Beach awhile ago. The town got a skatepark right on the beach a couple of years ago. Going there and shooting was a better way to learn about the history and culture of this place I’m now living in than reading about it or going to town council meetings.

If you’re keen to see Hello, Skater Girl get made, check out Julian’s Kickstarter or Facebook fan pages! And thanks for your support. Sincerely!

This is the trailer for “Eden”, a short-film that captures the story of Element’s women’s apparel brand and the family behind it.

I co-directed the film with my husband, Kirk Dianda. Together, we shot and edited the piece over the course of two years, as we documented all the products and personalities behind the brand. To string the story along, I created a set of handmade stop-motion animations, that not only help tell the story of Eden, but also represent the brand’s quirky personality, while detailing creativity and fashion.

Short film launches on December 1st.

Directed by:

Amber B Dianda

Kirk Dianda

Music by:

Loren Humphrey