While I continue To get more clips of my friends skateboarding I decided I would spend this week explaining how I film and the materials I use. I would argue this is the most important step in a skateboard movie as it will not look good with bad filming. As well as adding diversity within your clips, if every trick in a skate part was filmed the exact same way the video would began to feel very repetitive.

Each type of camera has its importance and when they should be used, there are two very important factors when deciding which camera I decide to use and these are Lighting and what trick is being preformed.

iPhone 13 Camera

mini edit I made for fun, shot on iPhone

The basic iPhone camera is the most versatile camera that I have, this is due to the ability to zoom far out at 0.5 but as well to zoom far in. The iPhone camera is very good it any lighting giving it the ability to be used at any moment. I would say that this is the only instance the trick doesn’t matter as the iPhone camera is my “default” camera, as my other two cameras have very specific needs to be met before using them is viable.

The iPhone camera is great for long lense videos (shown above), follow cams (where I would follow behind on my skateboard filming), and still shots with different zooms. (shown below)

still shot video

Death lens fisheye

Filmed with death lens

This is not its own camera but an attachment you can place over your Iphone camera giving it a fisheye. The fisheye is very good with most lighting and can be used effectively in the day and night. However, the trick you are filming is very important when deciding to use the fisheye. When having a fisheye you are unable to zoom so tricks where you are able to get really close with are the best option. This means the fisheye is not the best option for lines and long tricks such as manuals. What the fisheye does great on is getting really close to the skateboard, this means the fisheye is best used when someone is doing a gap, grind, or slide.

One thing you may notice if you watch a lot of fisheye videos is that they are always filmed pretty close to the ground. This is because the further you are away from the skateboard the less effect the fisheye has, making high up shots with a fisheye look strange.

JVC Hard Disk Camcorder

My last camera I use is this old handheld camera I “stole” from my parents. This is my favorite camera to use but also the hardest. This is because the lighting really matters, if its at all dark this camera will not be able to pick up anything. This camera has very very good zoom in abilities and is best used in long shots. However the lowest it can zoom in is still very zoomed in meaning this camera cannot be used in shots near the skateboarder.

This is also my favorite camera to film b-roll on as the zoom in is so good and has a grainy filter making the clips look cool.

This is one of my favorite b-roll clips, shows the zoom in ability of this camera.