When did you first get interested in filming skateboarding?
Probably from day one. The motion of it was so beautiful to me and I just thought it would be fun to film. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to film stuff, way before I ever picked up a skateboard. I think MTV, watching music videos in the 80s, I was pretty much glued to it. There was something kinetic about the different experimental videos that were shown that were inspiring. Like old R.E.M. videos and Jesus and Mary Chain stuff… as far as just wanting to make videos, that was a big influence. Eventually all those things came together.
Was the intention to make videos originally or was it just to film skaters landing tricks?
I always wanted to make videos; that was the goal. I liked the package deal of everything involved. So a full video was definitely the goal. It didn’t matter how bad they were, it was just friends coming together to make something. I was giving everyone a full part in the early videos and then there might be a montage so the formula was still there in those early days.
What was the impetus to put something like the Absorb series together? When did you originally decide to do ‘episodes’ as opposed to just doing the traditional skateboard video?
It seems like major videos come out and no one really cares any more. I hear more about games of SKATE on the Berrics (www.theberrics.com) than I do about major skate videos. So I wanted to do something here in Dayton, Ohio for the scene and doing another local video just seemed boring. I just thought, “Why not do short documentaries about the scene that come out frequently?”
Somewhere in between being at school and studying film and studying documentary filmmaking, I started using those techniques in the skateboard videos that I was making. And that’s when I started to feel like I was doing something different from the typical skateboard videos that were out there. Now it’s ten years later and I think Absorb is kind of the product of those early experimentations. These videos are like the result of all of that. I wanted to set Absorb apart from professional videos that would be of interest to local skaters. Like just forget about the formula and be more concerned about documenting things and putting them together.
When you work on an episode, do you have a main idea in mind or does it develop as you film?
They mainly find themselves. [The episode] “They Are Wierdos” was planned out for awhile, at least the tone and feeling. But even that one found itself. I just shoot a lot of footage and cut it down. Doing things that are scripted out comes off phony in the end. I actually like capturing things how they are. I might have a small idea and try it but it’s rare.
Do you intentionally keep a regular ‘cast’ of skaters in Absorb or is there any kind of approach to who ends up in it or not?
A lot of it is just the people I happen to be hanging out with at the moment. I would say that the locations are the main characters. Most episodes evolve around the plaza and Mike Mchues’ backyard so the characters are just who is around at the time. I like to bring in new faces and new locations also though, that keeps it interesting.
Who are some of the regulars that end up in Absorb that we might recognize from watching the episodes?
Chaw Chaw, Krohn… and Mchue seems to be a main character. Ben Story is in there a lot. Crabtree and KFC. Nick Daily comes and goes. We don’t have missions to film skating. We just end up at a particular spot. I’m always filming but it’s all spontaneous. If you go to a skatepark and hang out there all day, something is going to happen. You’ve got a bunch of skaters hanging out, they’re going to do something funny. It’s rare that I go out and not get anything. The camera is always with me in my pocket so I just pull it out and get the shot real quick.
Is there a linear progression to the episodes that you want to build on or are they edited to stand on their own?
I want them to be able to stand on their own and build off of each other, I guess. I like when something happens that references past episodes. They work more as a series probably… there is a thread that strings them together… a tone that goes from one to the other or a style that’s consistent throughout the series. I thought it might kind of build and transform as it goes along. My main concern is just to get the next one out and make sure it’s a good episode. Hopefully viewers expect certain changes from one to the next.
As I’ve watched the episodes, I’ve drawn some parallels between the zine-style process of capturing and presenting a local scene of the 80s and what you’re doing now on a more modern level. Was that an intentional approach for the Dayton scene or no?
Yeah, it is like a zine on some levels where it documents what’s going on, but it can also go in any direction. I like what zines were doing back then but I was mostly just doing what I like to do. So maybe on an unconscious level. It’s cool that people have a window to see what’s going on in this area from anywhere in the world. Maybe more of a casual documentation of what could be going on in any scene across America.
How much does the traditional documentary style of filmmaking influence the way you put videos together?
It doesn’t develop like a straight narrative like documentaries do. You see certain things building off of each other and it’s more of a character study. But at the same time, you’re coming in each episode and learning more about the characters. So yeah… it ends up being almost an ongoing character study in the end, more than anything else.
