Interview by Zach Moeller
A conceptual video featuring mirrored clips filmed around Los Angeles by Elliot Katz.
Featuring Justice Kellenberger, Josue Lozano, Shaun Hover, David Martinez, Antonio Elliott, Matt Orona, Ryan Davis, Elliot Katz, Tristan Sachar, Billy Griffin, Yoshi Tanenbaum, Adam Workman, Tyler Lorenzen, Logan Black, Marc Alvarado, Ant Morel, JJ Meza, Matheo Chavez, Marc Arias, Julian Huckleby, Erwin Jadraque, Andrew Bansal, and Matt Treadway.
Did you start this project with this concept in mind already, or did it start taking shape later in the process?
Yeah, essentially the production of the video had a major influence around the mirror concept from start to finish. Planned that going into this one.
What inspired this concept and how long did you work on this?
I think the inspiration came from some of the earlier 411 videos and Mark Suciu’s Verso part where it was applied within individual skater’s parts, however I wanted to try to expand on that idea and consider implementing it on a larger scale with an entire crew involved. Overall took around three-ish years.
Can you explain the process behind filming? How much directing went into making sure each clip was mirrored?
The process was on the strategic side for sure. During the first year we went out and filmed whatever we wanted and even got some individual self-mirror lines along the way. After we had a good foundation of footage to reference from, we started keeping track of all the clips that had to be mirrored by a check list and began building off of that. We were basically capturing and dropping clips in the timeline immediately after every session so we could ensure that everything was accurate along the way.
Was there a specific trick that had to be mirrored that was particularly hard to get?
A good amount of the mirror pair clips turned into battles. Both Josue and Julian’s inward heel clip battles in the third montage were wild to witness. Also the last three tricks were tough too – my blizzard flip/full cab flip followed by Shaun Hover’s ending fakie flip boardslide. Shaun’s trick took like eight missions to finally get at that spot.
How challenging was this video to make and do you plan on making more conceptual projects down the line?
This video was as challenging as it gets for me, but it was well worth it in the end. As for concept videos in the near future, I’ll probably consider it again but in a short-length form. I might want to stick with the fun Dime-style montages for a while after this haha.
