when skateboarding becomes art.
July 8, 2007 11:06 PM Subscribe
In Yeah, Right! Spike Jonze takes the skateboarding montage to a whole new level. Check out Living Board. Invisible Boards. Slow motion introduction. Owen Wilson.
Really cool.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:22 PM on July 8, 2007
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:22 PM on July 8, 2007
Fun, as always. I think it's strange that Jonze and Michel Gondry, two directors who stand out for their love of spontaneous experimentation and fun for its own sake, were both attracted to scripts by Charlie Kaufman, possibly the most self-conscious, pedantic, and "writerly" of successful screenwriters.
posted by stammer at 12:31 AM on July 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by stammer at 12:31 AM on July 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
I don't know if I'd classify Gondry as a spontaneous type of director. His experimentation is all very meticulous and very very planned. The fact that he can make it look spontaneous says a lot though.
Spike Jonze strikes me as being much more spontaneous, but that probably comes from his background in making skate videos. Just trying stuff out on the fly. I'd never seen Yeah, Right, so thanks for the links phaedon.
posted by bstreep at 12:49 AM on July 9, 2007
Spike Jonze strikes me as being much more spontaneous, but that probably comes from his background in making skate videos. Just trying stuff out on the fly. I'd never seen Yeah, Right, so thanks for the links phaedon.
posted by bstreep at 12:49 AM on July 9, 2007
The slo-mo clip is neat-o. According to the Wikipedia article:
"The introduction credits for the video feature a unique series of shots in ultra-slow motion, been filmed with Jonze's personal camera that is capable of shooting 100 frames per second."
And Owen Wilson could read the phone book and be funny.
posted by zardoz at 1:32 AM on July 9, 2007
"The introduction credits for the video feature a unique series of shots in ultra-slow motion, been filmed with Jonze's personal camera that is capable of shooting 100 frames per second."
And Owen Wilson could read the phone book and be funny.
posted by zardoz at 1:32 AM on July 9, 2007
Cool, typically laid-back, self-referential stuff from Mr Spiegel Jonze.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:35 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:35 AM on July 9, 2007
stammer, I think we are always attracted to people who create art that we like. I think those guys just like Kaufmann's scripts. End of.
Anyway, Human Nature is underrated.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:36 AM on July 9, 2007
Anyway, Human Nature is underrated.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:36 AM on July 9, 2007
Note that in the Owen Wilson video the camera turns away just before "Owen" does his tricky move from the back. Then it cuts to another shot of "Owen" doing the stunt again from the back, camera turns away, and we see Owen walk up. Dunno, could be a coincidence, but it's an awfully convenient coincidence if one wanted to substitute a stunt double.
posted by Blingo at 2:02 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by Blingo at 2:02 AM on July 9, 2007
Blingo, the Wikipedia article linked to even tells you which famous skater actually did the trick. Thanks for this phaedon.
posted by markr at 2:19 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by markr at 2:19 AM on July 9, 2007
I haven't seen Human Nature, but Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine are both scripts that present a lot of creative visual environments which would be enticing to an adventurous director.
/shrug, then again, I'm partial to Kaufman's "pedantic and writerly" style so maybe I'm biased.
posted by Riki tiki at 4:16 AM on July 9, 2007
/shrug, then again, I'm partial to Kaufman's "pedantic and writerly" style so maybe I'm biased.
posted by Riki tiki at 4:16 AM on July 9, 2007
If anyone's interested, you can watch the entire thing on google video.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:17 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by slimepuppy at 4:17 AM on July 9, 2007
The guest MC in the song on the Living Board link (I think it's called Today's Your Day) sounds like Chali 2na.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 AM on July 9, 2007
Also, I never thought I'd hear Interpol in a skating video. Thanks for pointing me to this video, phaedon.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:30 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by slimepuppy at 4:30 AM on July 9, 2007
Sweet.
I was once in a skating video, back in the late 80's, in NYC. My girlfriend at the time and I were waiting for a matinee to start at the Lincoln Center Cinemas. We were sitting on the planters that are kind of back through there, when all of a sudden a guy with a camera posted himself low and kind of in the entryway and then these two other guys came tearing through, ripping all over everything. They flew around for maybe three minutes then someone came out and shooed them away.
It was crazy. We never had to move, they just worked around us and everyone else. We sat there the whole time awestruck and talked about it for months afterwards.
Years later, after we broke up, I came home late late one night and was having some drunken ice cream and watching TV. I don't know what channel I don't know what show. But there were skaters tearing up NYC. And there we were. (for like five seconds.)
To this day the only thing I can really do on a skateboard is fall off but I'll watch 'til the cows come home.
Thanks
posted by From Bklyn at 5:44 AM on July 9, 2007
I was once in a skating video, back in the late 80's, in NYC. My girlfriend at the time and I were waiting for a matinee to start at the Lincoln Center Cinemas. We were sitting on the planters that are kind of back through there, when all of a sudden a guy with a camera posted himself low and kind of in the entryway and then these two other guys came tearing through, ripping all over everything. They flew around for maybe three minutes then someone came out and shooed them away.
It was crazy. We never had to move, they just worked around us and everyone else. We sat there the whole time awestruck and talked about it for months afterwards.
Years later, after we broke up, I came home late late one night and was having some drunken ice cream and watching TV. I don't know what channel I don't know what show. But there were skaters tearing up NYC. And there we were. (for like five seconds.)
To this day the only thing I can really do on a skateboard is fall off but I'll watch 'til the cows come home.
Thanks
posted by From Bklyn at 5:44 AM on July 9, 2007
That Owen Wilson bit was fucking brilliant.
posted by voltairemodern at 7:05 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by voltairemodern at 7:05 AM on July 9, 2007
Cool, but derivative. Paul Pfeiffer has done this kind of video manipulation for awhile, I saw a couple of his pieces at the Whitney Biennial about 5 years ago. There was a boxing ring and fans but the boxers had been erased. The "sound" was done by Chris Kubick of Language Removal Services.
posted by mert at 7:59 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by mert at 7:59 AM on July 9, 2007
Old.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 9:42 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 9:42 AM on July 9, 2007
Good and great.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:08 AM on July 9, 2007
posted by Rock Steady at 10:08 AM on July 9, 2007
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The song in the "Living Board" clip is by Fatlip, called "Today's Your Day". Jonze's previous work with Fatlip includes a great documentary on his life after Pharcyde, that included a music video for his then new song "What's Up, Fatlip?"
You can buy Yeah, Right! at Amazon.
posted by phaedon at 11:07 PM on July 8, 2007