Being someone who films skateboarding in 2024 is sort of weird. The benefit of everyone having a 4K camera in their pocket is that we are now exposed to more skateboarding clips than ever before. There’s no excuse for not filming something. The variety of ways in which people can film themselves skateboarding makes it incredibly easy to capture a trick and get it on social media within minutes. Technology has truly democratised the act of filming skateboarding, however it’s also created a bit of a problem.
What is the point of a self-proclaimed skateboard filmer these days? And what separates them from your average person with a smartphone? It seems that almost everyone has an opinion on camera angles and filming techniques, and I think the democratisation of filming has played into a fallacy that filming skateboarding is easy and low effort. I strongly believe that true expertise is knowing just how little you understand about a given subject, and even as someone who has filmed and edited skateboarding videos for over 20 years I humbly must admit that I still have a lot to learn.
With that in mind, I kinda have to laugh when people who have spent most of their time in front of the lens rather than behind it are so opinionated on what looks good in a skateboard clip. Especially as most of us don’t know the limitations a filmer may be playing with: Lighting, the physical space, a skater’s stance, the arrangement of obstacles, pedestrians in frame, etc. It’s like so many things in skateboarding.
We’re almost hard-wired to criticise and downplay the difficulty of something hard to do, and I’ve seen this happen with not just filming, but skatepark design, board graphics, and even skateboard tricks themselves (if I had a pound for the amount of times people have downplayed my daft clown tricks as easy and low effort, only to then see people hesitate and struggle when trying them, I… well, I wouldn’t be a millionaire, but I’d have enough for a nice night out).
The more time we spend on a skateboard, the more we think we are experts in everything within the sphere of skateboarding. But, as I said, there is wisdom in realising how little we know. For instance, I can’t tell you the first thing about making Youtube videos that actually get hundreds, or thousands, of views. It’s a mystery to me. I can definitely point out the differences between my videos, and what makes videos from Get Lesta or Baghead Crew better (the secret sauce is more time, a higher quality bar for tricks and spots, and a willingness to travel further than 30 minutes from your front door), but that also doesn’t meant that I think what Callun or Forde can do is easy. I continue to make videos that aligns with what skateboarding is to me, but I have to admit that’s most likely not the same as most other skateboarders out there – and there lies a lesson to be learnt, and an admission that despite my experience behind the lens of a camera, there’s a lot about making skateboard films that I don’t know.
So, when people start to shit talk Bill Strobeck’s style of filming, there’s a disconnect there. I think what people dislike about his filming is the overblown stereotype that he always zooms right in on a skater’s face, and then films people’s feet way too close as they do a trick. The truth is that what people dislike is the interpretation of Strobeck’s filming style. People see Bill Strobeck’s more subtle version of this, where he pioneered the technique in films like Supreme’s “Cherry”, and then when they film tricks themselves, they attempt to replicate this style by hammering the zoom too much in a misguided impression of Strobeck.
All it takes is for one more high profile filmer to misinterpret Strobeck’s style, and then another, then another, then a kid with a halfway decent understanding on filming does it, then another, until eventually some other random guy who thinks he knows how filming works tries to replicate the 15th amateur impression of Bill Strobeck and you end up with an unwatchable mess where you never see the skater’s full body in a single frame of a clip. I’m guilty of attempting to replicate this style, but as someone raised on the videos of P-Stone and Ty Evans there’s something far too uncomfortable about abusing the zoom function that much – I may be all too aware of what little I know, but with that also comes an understanding that at least I know something about filming skateboarding.
The funny thing is that I am almost certain that a very similar attitude towards filming was present when Spike Jonze brought in a more cinematic, artsy approach to filming with Girl’s early videos. The idea of using anything but a busted VX with a death lens seemed out of the ordinary, but over time it became accepted, and even desired. Maybe it’s just because back then, there were less skateboarders, and almost certainly because every skateboarder didn’t have access to their own personal high definition camera.
I also think the social media focussed snipping of clips from full videos, and re-posting them out of context, doesn’t help. Personally when I make a skateboard film I edit the clips within context. Sometimes I want the trick you are seeing to be a setup for something better, sometimes what you are seeing is a continuation of a particular school of skateboarding as the part evolves. The art of the full length skateboard video is something that isn’t all too present in modern day, and because people have gotten so used to scrolling through a feed of 10 second clips, demanding people take in what they are seeing and work a little harder to understand the trick they are watching can sometimes seem like an insult to the viewer. “Why should I watch this clip? I just wanna see the trick.”.
So what is a skateboard filmer in 2024? I think it’s obvious that I don’t really know. But, if you’ve been paying attention, not knowing is a good thing. The challenges of figuring out what a skateboard filmer in 2024 are exciting – because for people like me, when you are competing with literally every one else who has a smartphone, the only answer is to use what little you know to do better. For me, the question is “How can I make people more excited for my films?”, and making something that makes them break away from Instagram Reels or Youtube Shorts for 30 minutes to engage with something a little bit different. In this day and age, if anyone takes the time to watch what you have made over scrolling through social media clips, it’s a win. The goal remains the same: Get skateboarding in front of people, showcase your friends, have fun being creative.
The Terrible Company 
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