Thank God it’s Fridave

Serious Art, Skating Photos

Been carrying around a disposable camera in my backpack for the past year and a half. Here’s a handful of photos I got from it.

Max Murphy – Ride on grind
Juke & a juke
Taylor Lalk – Boardslide
Josh in a hole
Max – Cup carve
Crack maintenance
Max – Ollie
Jimmy Brickner – Crook
Ben Narloch – Bam drop for the people
Daves in the city

Mini Video 95 – Bodywork

Skating Photos, Skating Videos

Not since Mini Video 3.1 in 1999 has a Mini Video corresponded to a major Windows release. What does it all mean?

Shot on Hi8, Winter/Spring 2022.

Starring: Max Murphy, Josh Ellis, Vince Stranc, Nick Mistele, Taylor Lalk, Payne Counihan, Gabe Chan, James Brickner, Bradford Bishop, Pat Forster, & Sean Hanley.

Filmed by: Josh Ellis and Hank Scorsese.

Production stills by Bradford Bishop:

Max Murphy – 50-50
Max Murphy – 50-50
Max Murphy – 50-50
Taylor Lalk – Lipslide
“Awww man, my favorite belt”
Chainer navigates the dystopian wastelands of today and tomorrow.
Crewed up at the “Pile of Fuck”.
Vince Stranc – 180 to Fakie 5-0

1:2

Skating Videos

Welcome, latest news from the Päwl Corporation is that the originals and duplicates have been eliminating one another. These two factions will eventually come to peace…or not. Only time will tell. Check the microfiche…

Previous installments: 3, 3.1

1: Max Murphy 2: Vince Stranc Ph: Bradford Bishop
Sean Hanley or his duplicate?, kflip wallride ph: Bradford Bishop
Taylor Lalk, an original 1? ph: Bradford Bishop
Payne Counihan, he teleported from Milwaukee to Philly to UWM to fight the 2 resistance. ph: Nick Mistele
Vince Stranc, they couldn’t duplicate him… ph: Bradford Bishop
Gabe and Max reviewing the evidence, “THEY are watching”. Surveillance ph: Josh Ellis
Guerilla filmmaking is the only way to document the duplicates and originals, Max. Surveillance ph: Josh Ellis
Gabe Chan sw crooks through geometry wars ph: Bradford Bishop

Mini Video 94 – Bushcraft

Skating Photos, Skating Videos


Feeling inspired after making “Blue Building”, I set out to recapture that feeling. For the first video of 2022 I used the same Hi-8 cam I used in the late 90s, fisheye screwed on with step-up ring, and fully auto settings.  Just turn on the camera and go –  caveman style – focus, exposure, shutter speed, and white balance don’t exist in this beautiful world.  

I must admit that the camera did have some downfalls in the harsh Wisconsin winter conditions.  It was in the teens Fahrenheit for some of this, so batteries had to be kept warm in pockets or they’d last approximately four minutes.  All weapons have their weaknesses.

Skating by: Max Murphy, Vince Stranc, Josh Ellis, Bradford Bishop, Sean Hanley, Drew Rickaby, Payne Counihan, Gabe Chan, and Nick Mistele.

The Sony TRV-120. 450x digital zoom. (up to) 12 hours battery life. “Nightshot” 0 Lux. A glorious weapon.

“Bushcraft” production stills by Bradford Bishop:

Max Murphy – Lower Level Wall Plant
Vince Stranc – Wall to Grabber
Josh Ellis – Wallride Fakie
James Brick, up close w/ nightvision. During the day. Think about it.
Drew Rickaby – Backside Kickflip
Sean Hanley – Nollie Backside Kickflip
Vince Stranc – Wallie
Vince Stranc – Wallie Boardslide
Max Murphy – 50-50 Hippie Jump
Max Murphy – Frontside Bluntslide
Payne Counihan – Boardslide
Sean and Drew, Bushcraft Legends

Rewind: Mini Video 01

Skating Videos

Originally posted November 22, 1999. The one that started it all! Big news.

This is a reasonably accurate recreation made using the raw footage. I was too lazy to make a perfect copy of the excellent(?) typography employed in the original video.

Trivia: This wasn’t actually called “Mini Video 01” at the time. How could I know? The file is called “ben vance promo.mpg”.

The original web clip is 320×240 and the frame rate was lowered to 20 fps. The file size was less than one meg.

At the time, it would’ve taken the viewer around 10-15 minutes to download the clip onto their computer. From there they could load it up into their video player of choice. That is, if they remembered where they saved the file on their computer. There was no such thing as a web based video clip player.

A screenshot of some late 90s tech tips. There was a lot more effort involved in this whole thing.
And of course, a quick comparison of how bad the image quality was back then.
Hi! From the 90s.
Enhance! The PC where this video was edited. It was probably something like a pentium 125, and it probably had both Roller Coaster Tycoon and Doom installed.
Enhance! The fuel that kept me fired up for those long editing sessions to make 10 second long videos.

Rewind – Mini Video 44 – Wouldn’t You?

Rewind, Skating Videos

Originally posted June 23, 2008.

“I think uh skate uh boarding is awesome…”, this is it, the big one! My favorite Mini Video I ever made. A lot to take into consideration. First Max Murphy appearance. Stemper had just moved to California, and faxed in a couple of lines. How did we facilitate this file transfer back then? Good question. “It was probably difficult” is the answer. Chad Benson guest spot! I’m not sure how he only ended up with one clip, because he’s never not doing tricks, but there he is! Pizzy on the Pizzy Bank, showing us what it’s all about. Russ in his ceremonial Beezing Shooz. Finally, Jeffrey. I wasn’t even there on that session, but apparently Jeffrey wanted to bang everyone! “That wuz goooood…”!

Period appropriate images to begin below…

Max Murphy – Boardslide. This is the very first photo I ever shot of Max. This is/was at his alma mater and thus holds a special place in his heart. In Latin “alma mater” literally means “nourishing mother”. How lovely.
Wonk! Not just any Wonk, but a Wonk on a log.
Danny Stemper – Frontside Bluntslide. Why wasn’t it filmed? I wish I knew. Also featured in the illustrious Stuck Magazine.
Uncle Will.
Pat Forster – Crooked Grind
Danny Stemper – Frontside Ollie
Pat Forster – Backside Kickflips on his namesake skatespot.
Two friends enjoy a margarita after skating a Pizzy Bank together. Divine.
Pat Forster – Nosegrind Bonk. Destroy the Machines. At a glance it would appear that they were preparing to tear this spot down, but fourteen years later it still stands. I think perhaps even after a global thermonuclear war Dodge City might still stand.
Wonk!
A lot to take in here, but surely I whipped Pizzy’s ass in tennis shortly after this was taken. The bike was Gabe’s childhood Dyno Compe, which I finally returned to him shortly after the pandemic began. I hope he’s been practicing his cherry pickers.
Max Murphy – Frontside 180.
And the flash stand used to create the above photograph. I love when you spot a Sunpak 555 in an old movie or tv show. Most likely to be used by a crime scene photographer in a police procedural.
Max Murphy – Nosegrind Transfer
Pizz in a du, filming Max Tailslide. I got him that du-rag at a gas station because I was worried his head was going to get sun burned.
Max Murphy – Tailslide. Notice lil Pizz in his du back there, just poppin’ out and peekin’. I guess that means he in fact did not film this tailslide.
Tj Bohach – Backside Over Crook. Do people still argue if the over crook exists? I hope so.

I must apologize, for I’m really running out of stuff to say in these posts.

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