on the bridge when these five Eng-
lishmen jumped off at mid-span with
bungle cords attached to their bodies.
In top hat and tails with champagne
and caviar, they dove off the bridge
and had breakfast hanging from the
bridge at 8 o'clock in the morning.
My shot was picked in 1980 by CBS
Sports as the best photograph of the
year. Spectacular shots have a lot
to do with being at the right place at
the right time.
I
76
When I started filming years ago,
made some stupid films, like "Leader
of the Laundromat." We went around
and tried to find the ultimate laun-
dromat dryer that would spin some
one around as we wired the doors
open. Then my friend and I cut school
and went up to Sun Valley and made
my first ski film when we were 17,
High points were stopping off and
trying to sneak cameras in the
Mustang Ranch whorehouse and shit
like that. The first real thing that I'd
IN THE CROWD
I never showed any films between
1980 and 1983 because I was off
living on other continents and
working on surfing films and other
kinds of movies. I never lost touch
with the industry, I always kept an
eye on it, but at that particular time I
never did any screening of any of my
products. And then I started showing
some skating stuff again in '84 and
I've been showing it ever since.
call a film was my Super-8 film, "That problems. I have warrants out all
Magic Feeling," a skateboard film that over that still have not been cleaned
I shot in 1975. I started filming skating up and they're jive-ass things,
and went on filming other stuff, but trespassing and this and that. All the
I continued filming skating. I was best terrain is really off limits; you've
filming things like the Hang Ten got to be creative to get in and got out.
Championship, the Northern Califor
nia 610 Championship, the event at
California Freeformer, which I co-
directed. I've filmed all kinds of shit
for CBS Sports Spectacular, the
Action Speed Racers, Capitola, on
and on. In the end, the most fun I
have when I'm filming, like in my
movie now, are the sequences that
really make me ring out, that make
me feel good, like Glory Hole.
Working with three guys and a small
crew...I really like the idea of
assault. I like assaulting an area. I
like adventure, I like to go into an
area and do my best to record it on
film. Believe me, skate adventures
or expeditions are frowned upon by
the normal public. I've had lots of
Angling in on Steve Caballero's rocket launch at Grant Fukuda's ramp in Hawall
ON "THAT MAGIC FEELING"
"Magic Feeling" made money
because it was a Super-8 film and 1
used the best possible cameras and
the best projection system and I was
able to film it so it looked like shitty
16mm, which drew a lot of flack from
legitimate 16mm filmmakers. I was
always showing original footage and
I was always upgrading the film. And
the kids wanted to see it. What was
exciting about "Magic Feeling" was
that between 74 and 79 skating went
through so many changes, quantum
leaps, in different kinds of presenta-
tion, tricks...not really lifestyle, the
lifestyle of a skater didn't really
change that much. It was pretty
much blond hair and surf-related,
knee pads and skateparks. But the
maneuvers were always moving
ahead at a very fast pace. I re-
member the introductions of all the
moves. I saw the development and
probably was in contact with or
filmed the very creators of most all
the original maneuvers, up and down
the coast of California, which was
where all this generated from. My
Super-8 film got to reflect that
because I'd shoot something, throw
other shit out and put new stuff in. I
knew that the new stuff I had was
so over-powering...it became like
a magazine.
ON THE HISTORY
I haven't been able to get rid of
some of the more prime moments.
There are things that are just so
archival and so epic that I can't get
rid of them. I could bore people with
ten hours of great Super-8mm film
from the old days, between '74 and
79. There are portions of the film,
about ten or twelve minutes out of
90 minutes, that I enlarged from
Super-8 to 16. Some of the stuff I
just can't get rid of, stuff that will
linger in my life until the day I die,
Some of these moments are a once
in a lifetime thing. Like Ray Flores
at Pacific Telephone, jousting with
the man or some of the old skatepark
stuff. I was one of the only guys who
was going out on a day-to-day, week-
to-week basis travelling all over and
filming the skateparks. And I've got
a really nice library of everything, all
those forms and all those shapes.
There's a couple of guys out there
John Malvino does a porch perch for a
better angle on a S.F. street.
who've gotta be mentioned. They
were working in 16mm when I was
working in Super-8. One of them is
Hal Jepson. He was a 16mm film-
maker that did all kinds of surfing
films, and he made a skate film
called "Skateboard Madness." He
had a different perspective than I
did. He was coming from a real surf
perspective, kind of comedy, not
hardcore. He basically went broke
making this film. Scott Carmichael
is another one....
ON COPYRIGHTS
When I was younger doing Super-8
Inever really cared about rights. And
I wonder sometimes how much this
whole industry cares about copy-
rights. But copyright in motion
pictures and media is also another
name for consideration. Now I'm
concerned about making sure I get
permission to use things from people.
And when I have to do that, it means
that I have to ask a lot of questions
up-front of individual riders that I'm
going to film, because I don't want
there to be any bad feelings. I've had
no problems with any of the skaters
because they believe my product is
honest.
I can't justify filming every single
streetstyle event or every single
ramp contest. Mainly because big
money has entered the skate scene.
Maybe certain powers that be have
seen the potential and when that
happens there's people who get in-
volved, who are money people, that
maybe don't have the soul. What's
happening now is that people are
paying rights for events, people are
buying the exclusivity to present
certain things, so that they can block
out other people who might want to
show them and hopefully have better
marketability with their final product.
Which is understandable, that's just
a typical business trip, but as a film-
maker I just can't go out and do it. I
don't have the damn time.
One of the big reasons is 16mm
filmmaking is so expensive and I am
my own company and have to come
up with the money for all of it. That's
another beauty of my film, I sit outside
of the manufacturers. I talk to all
facets of the industry and try to get
them to work with me. Because I can
film all of their skaters. Whereas with
the company thing you've got politics
involved and can only film certain
skaters. I'm trying to cut through that
bullshit and get an honest view of
everybody and not really take up any
kind of manufactural sides. That's the
beauty of my position, I walk that
line, but I enjoy it a lot. That's also
the quality of my product, because
you get to see all kinds of people at
one time that you might not see any
other way. I'm kind of like a UN
negotiator, able to hop around to all
the little countries.
FUTURE PLANS
One of the plans is to finish this
movie. I have a storyboard I won't
tell you about. There's other 35mm
films coming out soon. I'm warning
you, OK? They're going to be dealing
with skateboarding within what we
call a "narrative" context. I don't work
in that format, my films are documen-
tary. I don't have to ask anybody to
act the way they act. These people
just are that way. That's the beauty
of documentary format. My stuff is
generally live sound, double system,
kids talking, kids acting, and me and
my camera become another person
there and after I'm around them long
enough they ignore me. They just
see my camera as an extension of
me and I get priceless nuggets, won-
derful stuff. That would be my hope
in the future, to get more and more
aquainted with my central players
and get under their skin and just
accurately document their lifestyle.
There wasn't much of a lifestyle in
skating back in 1975 and 76. It was
beach related and stuff, but now there
is something there that these kids
have carved out. I've seen a whole
lifestyle emerge where there was no
festyle per se before. And my film
does speak to that. You're not going
to get Romeo and Juliet on wheels
in my film, it's not a narrative film.
You're not going to get John Cougar
Mellencamp like I did a long time
ago (laughs). You're not going to get
that because, boy, they rage when I
presented the wrong music. I can
take a hint. The music now, I believe.
is socially correct to skaters. To non-
skaters it may be socially incorrect,
but I am directing the film still at
skaters and I feel that it's very, very
accurate and that the skaters can go
away feeling good. That's it. They'll
feel assaulted, but won't feel insulted.
One of the things is a tour that I'm
trying to get together. I want to take
it international. There is a plan to go
overseas and screen the film in cer-
tain pockets. I've been approached
by people in France, Spain, England
and Switzerland, and I think that
would be a good thing to export
some of this attitude overseas.
For bookings write or call: Jon
Malvino, P.O. Box 72, Larkspur, CA
94939 (415) 924-6631.
IN THE CROWD
DAVID ROSS
Interview with David Ross,
editor of Perfect Transition skate
zine, skater and drummer for Vi-
cious Circle, previously in Civil
Dissident.
KT: Where are you from?
Dave: Melbourne, which is down on
the southeast coast of Australia.
What's the scene like back home
right now?
Skate scene-wise it's grown a lot.
We just had a bout of competitions-
the second series of big competi-
tions in the Australian scene. It was
backed by a radio station and a big
milk company. There were two street
style comps and a ramp comp and
they got exposure on television and
radio and the papers, which really
helped the sport.
Is the development of skateboard-
ing in Australia paralleling the
way it has developed over here?
It's different over here because there
are so many people helping out the
sport. In Australia, it's a rarity to see
someone skating down the street.
Here in the U.S. it's commonplace,
Americans take it for granted.
Skateboards are very expensive in
Australia. A complete set-up runs
Rockin' off a street ramp, David Ross.
Tell me about your 'zine, Perfect
Transition...
I started off about a year and a half
ago with a friend, Paul, and we've
put out three issues so far. The
magazine's grown to quite a large
extent.
What's it like publishing your
zine?
We had a good opportunity to use a
newspaper's press since Paul works
for a printer. So we had access to
bromides, negatives, plates, every-
thing at a cheap price. The second
issue was done very, very cheaply.
As far as a cost-effective method of
putting out a zine, it's whatever you
can limit your expenses to. We had
the opportunity to do a good job,
production-wise, and could do the
zine for a reasonable cost, so we
went for it.
Who master-minded the produc-
tion? Did you have design
background?
No, it was just inspiration from read-
ing other things, seeing other
magazines and having ideas. We've
developed our own style of design
and layout and it goes from there.
Do you have advertising?
The only companies that advertise
are Australian. Equipment is so ex-
pensive in Australia and some of the
locally-made equipment is no good.
Guys have gone to making their own
trucks, copers, decks, everything vir-
tually, but wheels. We totally support
those guys because they're doing it
in the best interest of the sport.
With Perfect Transition are you try-
ing to be more regional to Australia,
or do you think it's important to
get out there?
Well obviously it's important to get
about $200-plus and kids just can't out because, as far as I'm con-
afford that sort of money for a cerned, punk and skating are the
skateboard. What they end up doing two independent sort of activities
is getting a cheap board-one that's where you can contact skaters and
not very functional. When they can't express your attitudes about some-
skate it properly they give up be- thing. If you're into skating there are
all the attitudes behind it and it sort
cause they think it's a lot of rubbish.
What about the park scene, are
of gives you inspiration. I get letters
there a lot of council or govern world and no matter what part of the
from skaters from all around the
ment built skateparks over there?
About eight years ago when the big world they're in, they've all got the
wave of skateboarding hit Australia. same attitudes toward skating. We
There were a lot of skaters session- all sort of feel the same way about
ing all the time and the councils built our sport. I don't know any other
a lot of parks. Unfortunately, they sport where there's that element.
never consulted skaters as to what Do you think it's important to keep
their needs were, so the end result Definitely. Skating to me is one of
parks. As a result, we just ditched the most genuine sports around. You
the idea of parks and I think that's can go to a contest and talk to pro-
how a lot of us went on to street skaters, some might be cool, some
skating. If we had good parks, we not, but the fact is they're not like
wouldn't have gotten into streets as football players or something where
much. About a year and a half ago. ers. Everything's still kept in bounds.
the first ten foot transition ramp was I don't think there's too much limita-
built in Sydney, and from there it's
taken off. There's been a couple tion on it. There's not such a single-
more big ramps built since then. A minded purpose, like win or kill or...
lot of guys don't have the initiative is skate and skate forfun. I've made
to build ramps, they sort of stand by best friends from skating...if I wasn't
and let other people do the work for skating now, even though I'm break-
them, then go and skate.
ing heaps of bones and stuff, there
Continued on next page
was a lot of very badly kinked skate
that element?
they're totally out of touch with skat-
77