In this interview I talk to Shawn Karakjozi about his skateboard filming inspiration, the vx-1000 and the technical side of making a skate clip look good.
This is the Second interview of a series where I’ll talk to skateboard videographers throughout the east cost about their scenes, videos, and most importantly the technical aspects of filming.
Interviewed and Edited by : Bryson Sapio
Photography by : Dennis Williford (CHUM), and Mic Don
Videography by : Shawn Karakjozi
Yo, Shawn, what up G, how’s it going?
Chilling, dude. Chilling.
So where are you from and how’d you get into skating and filming?
I’m from Hamilton, New Jersey. Scooped up my first board at toys R us when I was five years old. It was a Pokémon board. Saw someone skating on tv and from there, I just kind of got hooked. Got my first real board when I was like seven or eight and just never stopped. As far as filming, I got my first camera when I was around ten or eleven, just a super crappy flip camera type deal, megapixels, really bad quality.
What was the progression in filming leading up to filming your first full length video?
My first real legit camera was a VX-2000 that was my first real steppingstone as far as learning how to film skateboarding. I had this OG Raynox fisheye, you had to take a filament out of a wide-angle Sony lens and you would hot glue just the filament on the back side so it would give it more of an Mk1 look. Obviously it was nowhere close, but still it’s wider than just the normal fisheye. As far as when I filmed my first video, I ended up using a Panasonic HMC 150 and for the fisheye, I just had one of those Opteka seventy two millimeter fisheyes.
The vx-2000 was definitely my first quote, unquote, real skate camera. I kind of really figured everything out with that camera, as far as the settings. Ya know learning to turn the steady shot off, figuring out all the colors and sharpness settings. It was actually my first camera with a handle built in, so, it was a real steppingstone as far as learning how to film fisheye.
What camera do you think is best for capturing skateboarding?
VX-1000 for sure, that’s why it’s still being used so much today. Not as much as it used to, but there’s still a good group of people like ourselves that keep it alive. It’s definitely a niche community, but it’s a good group of people, and there’s even a small group of people that work on them and fix them. The people are definitely keeping everything going and keeping the community alive, it’s sick.
Do you have a favorite video or videos that have influenced your filming style?
As far as my favorite video, and especially the filming, is “let’s live” Volcom video. There is a lot of really good clips in that video. Just the way it was filmed and how the audio and music went with everything so well. I’ve watched it a million times, so I definitely got inspo from that video. It got to a certain point where I almost stopped watching it for the skating and almost started watching it just for the filming.
I’d be watching the clips, dissecting it, stopping the video and checking their angles, I’ll do that a lot. I’ll watch how they film certain tricks or whatever, so if I ever come across a spot like that, I can get some inspiration to base my angle off of.
When you get to a spot and you’re setting up to film the homie, what’s your process of getting your angle or movement down for the clip?
After deciding on a trick with the skater, I’ll scope the spot out. I’ll look at where we can film, what would look good fisheye, what would look good long lens. And once they start trying the trick, that’s when you really got to kind of dial it in and figure out if you’re rolling with the skater with the fisheye, or if you’re stationary on the spot, if you’re going to move the camera in or out of the skater, how close you want the lens to be on the skater, logistical things, things like that.
Have you been developing your filming style intentionally?
Yeah, definitely, as far as my second full length, “Here We Go Again” is when I was trying to get more intentional with a lot of clips I was filming. Whether it was fisheye or long lens, most of the angles were more intentional and more thought out. Whereas in the first video I wasn’t thinking about clips the same. I was just getting clips of the homies. I’ve been more conscious of how I’m filming clips for sure, trying to get the best angle and best-looking clip I can. It’s still something I’m chasing after today. Every time I film a clip, I’m trying to one up the last one, you know? Just kind of better myself.
Are you focusing on how you’re moving the camera?
Oh, yeah. Definitely. Especially when it comes to fisheye. I’ve been trying to move the camera more creatively, at least in my eyes. Moving the camera into the skater, pulling away from the skater. I’ve been trying to do more of that when I’m out filming. Just kind of spice it up a little, do different movements. And if they’re trying something, I’ll try a couple different angles throughout their tries. If they say they’re trying something down a set and they’re kicking out a lot. I’ll try different angles to see which one looks the best. When you get close like that and move around, it especially looks good with the MK1 because you can get super close. Whereas like a lot of the older videos from the early 2000s, a lot of their fisheyes shots were static without a lot of movement. So, it’s cool that this generation really uses that vx1000 and MK1 setup to push the limits of what can be done with the camera. Yeah. I think that’s one of the big differences between today’s videos and a lot of the classics. I think is how people are being innovative with the movement of the camera. It’s definitely taken a whole step and a half up, from those old videos. But I mean, hey, that’s where it all started and it wouldn’t have gotten to here without it so it all ends hand in hand. It’s just cool to see how far it has come, the things people are doing now with the cameras and skating its just fucking sick.
Absolutely. It’s turned into its own art form. Each Filmer has their own different way of filming a clip, you know?
Oh yeah. A lot of the time you can tell who’s filming in these videos just by how they move the camera. Some people get super close with their fisheye with fast camera movements, some people are further back. Everyone gets their own style, their own lane. It’s sick because you can kind of pick from each one of those and then incorporate them into your videos or your clips, you know? Pulling in different pieces from people’s filming. It’s cool to kind of use inspiration from other filmmakers, pay homage in a way.
Do you watch your old videos back?
Oh yeah. For sure. Like now, I kind of want to do a little better than I did in my past videos. You know, it’s good to watch your clips back, like all right, I can improve on how I filmed this clip. It’s good to pat yourself on the back, but also constructive criticism is good too.
After having two full lengths under your belt, how do you feel about the full-length process?
It’s totally a commitment on everyone’s part. Like, all right, we’re all going to hold these clips, we’re not posting them, don’t do this, don’t do that. We’re going on trips and just constantly trying to keep the momentum and drive. Everyone knows there’s a light at the end of the tunnel to finish the full length. It’s so worth it at the end because you can say I have this video, it’s a piece of art, I always have this to show that we did all this work. It’s almost like a rite of passage. It’s like, all right, sick. I have a full length under my belt. It’s checked off the list.
And then you get to have the premiere and the watch parties, that’s a whole other experience that’s important.
Yeah, that’s the fucking best celebration. Like all the homies are together and they have extra friends that have never been on the sessions or whatever. Everyone’s all there just watching the clips and they’re all cheering as they’re landing, almost like if they were on the session, it’s the coolest fucking experience.
Do you have any tips for new filmers?
If you’re filming fisheye, just speaking from experience, make sure you always turn off the steady shot because for the longest time I never knew that. So every time I’d come back and watch my clips, I’d have super shaky fisheye clips, and it would just look insane. So definitely always turn that off. That’s the main thing if you’re filming fisheye.
Do you have any shout outs for the homies or for the skate shops out there?
Yeah, as far as skate shops, NJ skate shop, Dogwood, Nocturnal, kinetic, all of them, all the local ones that rip. They always keep us hyped up and stocked up on products. Love you guys. Just the whole crew. Tino’s, Ant Mo, Zay, Connor, Todd, Tom, all of them, probably missing a whole bunch, just all my friends, families. And you too, dawg. Appreciate you for doing this.
Thank you Shawn and all the homies that helped on this project!
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