Transworld’s ‘The Cinematographer Project’ and simply buying Itunes instead of a physical DVD

On facebook I like these skateboards pages if not more: transworld, thrasher, NY skateboarding, Alien Workshop, Habitat, DVS, Emerica, Zoo York, 5boro, Quartersnacks, and Naysayer.  Last week or over the weekend the skate world through my facebook feed went all a flutter about the new Transworld video called ‘The Cinematographer Project.’ Apparently there was a premier in NYC and on the west coast. I read enough that my interest was peeked.

I did something that even a year ago I would not do, I simply looked it up in Itunes and bought it that way. In the past I would have called a shop for the DVD and made a field trip to a shop to get the DVD. I got my new Mac in fall, and it is convenient to simply watch the videos on there. Recently I wanted to watch Zero’s ‘Strangeworld’ and I have it on DVD, and it simply would not play. Either the disc is at fault or the DVD player. At least two other of my coveted skate DVD’s no longer function. Granted I might not take the best care of them and sometimes they have fallen out of the covers. But I don’t deliberately destroy DVDs. I think that as long as my computer works I’ll simply download the skate videos from now on.  VHS tapes are obsolete and I think it’s clear the DVD’s will be the same in a few years. There are two skate videos that might come out this year, the Girl/Chocolate video and the Plan B video that up until recently I thought I’d buy the physical DVD, but now I think even with the ones that I really want I’ll get them on Itunes.

One disadvantage to not having DVD’s is you can’t take them to watch on any DVD player.  I rarely lend out my skate DVD’s and somehow at 34 I don’t go to many parties were they would want to view skate DVDs. I miss those teenager days were people would bring different skate videos and video games. But today watching skate videos is a solitary love and activity, so it doesn’t matter if I watch them through a DVD player or my computer.

Briefly I’ll review this video, ‘The Cinematographer Project,’ and it’s a good one. Apparently it’s Transworld 24^th video, and they did something different. They asked 13 prominent film directors in the industry to take a part in this. Each one created a 5 to 7 minute part, so all together the video runs over an hour. What is so good about this is that each film director is aligned with a company or skate team. So having a part from the film directors of different companies like Real, Baker, Habitat, Alien Workshop, Nike, SK8MAFIA, and Zoo York shows a lot of talent from the industry. It’s a good gauge of what these companies and industry leaders are up to today.  The first part shows and interviews the legendary Mark Gonzales a little bit, which is good. The Baker part is a lot of fun because it has a silly funk song, and has good skating. Baker is definitely a bad influence but they make fun videos. The Real part is fantastic and Dennis Busenitz is still skating better after putting out one of the best parts ever in last year’s Real video.  The Alien Workshop part has a lot of good footage, including an impossible over a picnic table by Dylan Rieder. Jason Dill, Jake Johnson, Grant Taylor all end the video well for their team part.

Transworld is doing well. A few months ago they had their 30^th anniversary 30 most influential skaters issue. Slowly online they are putting out the interviews they recorded for that issue, and they might be spreading it out over the full year. Last I checked they were at Stevie Williams who was 27^th. So that is something to look forward to see those clips with the legends. And now they put out a solid and original video. Again I like that different teams in the industry were involved in this.

Thrasher is doing well too.  About a month ago they put free online the new 5boro video. I enjoyed watching that video that highlighted east coast street skating.  In summer they put out an individual part for Torey Pudwell for free. I checked recently on youtube, and that part has a million views. The put out the foundation video for free, and post things daily on their website. They announced that later this year they will put out the new Baker video for free on their site, and that is interesting that anticipated videos are now simply put online. With changing and more available technology it has to effect the skate world too I guess.