Co-written By Andres Alfonso and Chris Castaneda
Andres
Arriving to the West LA Courthouse is like time travel. You’re immediately taken back to the early 90s where the pioneers of street skating where paving the way for those that came after. There are endless ledges of all sizes and nowadays they skate like butter. I heard back in the day was crustier. And if you got the legs you step up to the stage. The same one that was immortalized by Chris Roberts so many years ago with a Switch Kickflip Switch Manual.
For some reason it is also referred as the Santa Monica Courthouse, but it is located in West Los Angeles, not Santa Monica and if you’re not local most likely you’ve gone to the Santa Monica courthouse after getting directions and finding yourself in a random place that looks nothing like the dream skate spot we’ve all seen in skate videos. I know I did when I first moved to LA.
On this particular day I was going to the courthouse as a “filmer”, since I was hurt and couldn’t skate but also because I’m trying to learn how to capture video. Being a skater for over 20 years I’m usually on my board having some fun. But again since I’m learning a new role it was important to dedicate my time to filming only. I did get a phone clip at the end of the day, I couldn’t help myself. But very little skating done on my end. I was focused and determined to capture as many clips as possible. Lucky for me there was no lack of talent.
I had a lot of fun filming all day, it is a completely different dynamic than that of a skater. Because not only you have to be patient with the skater, you have to encourage them to keep trying and at times give them ideas and/or push them to try something they probably didn’t think about themselves. At the same time you have to understand the limits and not make the skater feel like they didn’t try their hardest even if the trick wasn’t landed.
Chris
A dance is carried out. An endless number of moments in which a silence was present to open way to the first dancer. He performed protected by old sages who had inhabited this place longer before the first character who would dare to conquer unexplored lands. The trees that inhabit here had witnessed an innumerable amount of poetic acts parade in front of them. The Sun is still shining! The cool breeze is perceived as if it were the product of an exhalation exerted by the trees making a great power of presence among their attendees. Birds flying over the area indifferent to what was happening others rested on the branches of trees. The subtle song of the birds was rewarded with an exhalation as deep as these old sages. A collective complicity: as much as that of the birds exercising the will to balance on their branches as much as that of the tree raising its branches to the sky waiting for the bird to come rest on it.
“Yeah Right” changed my way of living my passion towards skateboarding. That movie was released in 2003. Girl Skateboards directed by Ty Evans and Spike Jonze. This duo did a great job behind the lens. I did not see the film in that year but one or two years later, I was living in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico. This was a small town and the first obstacle would be the decline of places to practice and improve the skill on top of my skateboard but it was not an impediment to improvise in order to improve techniques. Another obstacle were the rustic floors that added a high degree of difficulty to the scene. None of the colleagues I skated with had access to the internet but Rutilio Gómez did. He downloaded the movie for free from the internet. He spent hours awake making sure it downloaded successfully. Once the movie was downloaded, it felt like it was worth gold for all the time it took him.
The news spread quickly causing excitement and mystery. The premiere of the film was organized amid shouts, mocking laughter, names on the air, an annoying atmosphere! Each scene surprised me by the way the recording formats were combined, the music that was used, the special effects never seen before in a film of that genre. All those images made me dream that one day I would skate with the same skill. I was born in the city of Los Angeles and I also dreamed of skating all those places that appeared throughout the film. In that instant I was deeply immersed in the realm of my imagination. Santa Monica Courthouse is one of the many <<famous>> spots that you can find throughout the city.
Andres: I had the feeling that I experienced several episodes during the same day. Maybe because I dedicated myself to a skateboarder while filming, then I felt that I lived in a separate world with each one. How did you live the day?
Chris: I was very happy because Carlos Zarazua gave me the board that he was using. It was 7.75 ”and I felt very comfortable skating it. Enjoyed it. I had fun. That new (used) board helped motivate me to just have fun. At the end of the day, were you satisfied with the captured material?
Andres: I would say yes, at the same time I was curious to see the final project and watch the videos on a big screen, since during the moment I was focused on recording, not looking, just maybe making sure if the object was inside the frame. How do you choose the moments to work with the skater?
Chris: I choose them based on the performance of the skater. That is, if he/she is resting and has gotten off his/her skateboard that is the right time to capture extra moments. First you have to observe the place. Before and during the session I am already visualizing the backgrounds, whether there are textures on the walls, shadows, colors, light, especially light. So once you have that in mind it’s just a matter of waiting and being patient. I wait for the skater to finish and that’s when I surprise him/her to use the aforementioned details. We should use this same dynamic in a new place, what do you think?
Andres: I totally agree, it was a very fun dynamic where I felt that I lived several moments and each one had something special. It was also fun to see how you work with the skaters while I was filming others.
Chris: A creative complicity
Andres: Many more to come. Thank you Chris.
Chris: Cheers.
