April 21 is a long-awaited day for some of us. No, it’s not 4:20, that was yesterday. Today, Credits goes live. Since Vans’ first announcement of the full-length womxn skate video two weeks ago, it’s been hard to stay patient. Now more than ever, new skate content feels like food for the soul. With beautiful aesthetics of Super 8 and HD footage, Credits displays more than friendships and skateboarding. It brings to light a part of the community often discredited and shatter these stereotypes. I reached out to know more about the filming of Credits with Shari White.
Interview Emanuele Barbier | Photos Norma Ibarra
First off, congratulations! How do you feel?
I feel a little bit nervous, but overall super excited!
Oh yeah, it’s that nervousness from having a big project out eh. So, how did it come to be?
It came from Fabiana [Delfino], Breana [Geering] and Una [Farrar], who are super good friends. They were skating together and had been on a couple of events for Vans, so they wanted to make a video with the girls. [Vans] somehow knew I would film with them since I had filmed them for Skate Witches videos.
And so when did you start filming?
In April 2019. […] It was originally supposed to be out in September that year. It was meant to be a shorter video envisioned as a montage of travel video.
Do you know why they went on doing a full-length video?
That’s mostly what the girls wanted. We had to delay the Barcelona trip, so we were already pushed back. When we got back, everyone had close to enough footage for parts. So then we decided we were going to do one more trip, which actually turned into a couple more.
Well, that’s nice, can’t complain about that! It seems like you went to quite a few places, could you name a few?
Yeah, I can name all of them. In order, we went to New York, San Francisco, Montreal, Miami, Barcelona and Melbourne. Those were our main trips. We also did a couple ones without the whole crew, two in SF and one in Los Angeles.
“Well, it came from the girls. They thought it was a funny joke because some of them had sent clips to sponsors that just ended up in credits of videos.”
Which one is your most memorable?
Probably Australia […] It was really cool because I’m from [there] and we had the whole crew with some really good friends we met up with. It was just good vibes and really productive.
Did you have local guides there?
Yeah, we had friends we would hit up and they would show us some spots and stuff. Helena [Long] was our guide in Barcelona, Fabi in Miami and Adelaide [Norris] was our guide in Melbourne.
By the way, why did you name the video Credits?
Well, it came from the girls. They thought it was a funny joke because some of them had sent clips to sponsors that just ended up in credits of videos.
That’s pretty powerful considering this is a full-length movie. But before we get into cameras, I’m curious about how you got into filming?
Originally, it came from when Kristin [Ebeling]—who I do the Skate Witches zine with—and I were filming a video with Shane Auckland from Sk8rats in LA. Because [Kristin and I] live in the northwest, we thought we could get a camera and film because we weren’t sure how many times we’d be able to go back. It was a side project and we had full-time jobs. So I got a Sony VX1000 but I wasn’t originally meaning to be a filmer.
So before you got the VX, did you have a passion for videography or photography?
I don’t really think I did. When I was younger, like 15-16, I picked up my parents’ old camera and I found this fisheye that wasn’t meant for it, so I taped it. I would film with my friends and we would go to the school on the weekends and skate street there. Later, I found all these edits on my computer that I had forgotten about. I wasn’t super passionate necessarily but I was like making edits with Windows movie maker.
“I like Super 8 because it feels nostalgic right away. With HD, it feels sort of right there, the Super 8 brings you back to life, to a different space.”
Did you have skate videos that inspired you?
Yeah, I was super inspired by the way [Shane Auckland] films, especially his angles. I was trying to pick his brain for everything, like ‘When someone lands a trick on this obstacle, how should I end it?’ and things like that. Atlantic Drift came about when I was learning to edit. I was really stoked on how they had the two different film formats, 16 mm and VX. So I started using Super 8 and the VX together, I was really into that kind of editing style.
Lately, more so in the last year to six months, I’ve been watching videos like 917 videos, Frog videos and also Isle videos, the “Vase” one is really cool.
So, now we move onto the things I love and I believe you also do love them, cameras! Right off the bat, which is your favourite to shoot with?
The setup I have for fisheye right now is a Sony A7S with a Canon fisheye set up to 4:3, so it’s kind of meant to replicate a VX. I like filming with that, I like the VX too but I haven’t picked it up for so long. HD is nice because it’s way easier to import clips and stuff.
Yeah, exactly. Analog filming is great but then you also have the drawbacks of importing and editing.
Yeah and worries about tapes glitching and things like that.
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So for Credits, it seems you’ve used a combination of different formats, and I’m wondering, what do you think that adds to your video?
I like Super 8 because it feels nostalgic right away. With HD, it feels sort of right there, the Super 8 brings you back to life, to a different space.
“I would be stoked, if more often I saw videos of other groups of people, that aren’t cis-male.”
Talking about feelings, what emotions did you want to convey through Credits?
The friendships and the true sides of people, them being themselves.
It’s interesting you say that because I feel the trailers by themselves already represent that. Now that it’s out and you can take a step back, what does the project mean to you?
I hope it will inspire people. I would be stoked, if more often I saw videos of other groups of people, that aren’t cis-male. […] I feel we’re very lucky because we have the opportunity through Vans sponsoring us to do this. But it would be cool to see womxn and trans [skaters] making their own projects and videos with their groups of friends.
When you film a video, I’m assuming you have a pre-thought, you don’t just dive right into it. Or perhaps you do, and that’s great too! But when you know you’re doing a project like this, what’s your process like?
Well, when I first got the project and they were asking for a trip-based montage, I would film with the Super 8 where I was and things I saw. But then when we started talking more about parts, I started directing it more towards each individual as well. For me this project is super new, I’ve never done something with so much intention before. I’ve probably really over-thought this project in many ways.
Really?
[Laughs] Oh yeah, for sure. It’s just trying to capture the friendships. Then at every spot, making sure I have B-rolls from everyone. So that later on, you have all the pieces of the puzzle to choose from for each skater.
Would you perhaps want to have a project that you come up with and send it to sponsors like Vans?
Yeah, for sure. I’ve found it a little bit difficult to motivate skaters unless they know where the project is going. […] I think it needs to be meaningful to them, to begin with. I worked on this project but I really want to make fun homey videos as well. It’s just less stress, but obviously, if you’re saying that to the skateboarder, they’re going to look at it a little differently.
It seems like all of you are pretty good friends, how was it to tour together?
It was awesome. We were friends, to begin with, I filmed a part with Una for the Skate Witches and I’ve filmed quite a lot with Fabi as well. But spending a lot more time with them on the road was really great to become better friends. They were some tough times as with filming you have to sort through their clips. So that sort of stuff is tricky sometimes, especially when you’re like really good friends with people, you don’t want to hurt their feelings. But really, it was amazing to all be together.
You had this amazing crew in the first place but you also had a bunch of friends appearing in the video right?
Prior to Miami, in Montreal, it was just Breezy and Fabi skating. It was a little tough to skate every day for two people because it’s a lot of pressure. So we wanted to get more vibes and more friends. […] After that trip, we vouched for more people. So when we went to Miami, we had a crew of seven. We got a lot more footage and everyone was happier.
To name a few, we had Clara in Miami. She’s gnarly and skates really big stuff. Also, Helena is a really good friend of ours. It was good to have her around, she makes us all laugh, […] and she just doesn’t stop skating. There is Poppy too, she did animations and music for Credits.
Read More About the Trip to Barcelona in Our Latest Magazine
