Back in October of 2014, Pontus Alv came out with “Manhattan Days,” a six-minute Super 8mm short film of the Polar/CONS crew cruising through NYC with some sketchy portable obstacles: two diamond-plate metal grates to wallie, a pole to jam, and a reinforced shopping cart to grind and carry around the rest of the stuff from spot to spot.
The final edit makes it look like a super fun and easy project, but this behind the scenes footage we just got proves otherwise. Manhattan traffic, nosey bystanders, the limits of Super 8, and the sheer difficulty of hauling hundreds of pounds of metal around made for plenty of difficulties in production. Check out how Pontus and Co. overcame these hurdles to make one of last year’s best clips.
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May 19, 2015 4:31 pm
I like the idea of having a concept behind a skate video.
Pretty sure I’ve said this before, I can’t watch skate videos on the internet anymore. It’s not that I don’t like to see skating anymore, but that it’s all starting to move too fast, and every single video looks the same. 3 minute clips with the best tricks, without any feeling of storytelling or even time passing, everything is starting to feel mechanical. The interview with Greg Hunt about the Vans video kind of hit the nail on the head on that one, skateboarding needs to continue telling stories, not to just be a sport-showreel of best performances.
I never thought I’d be getting bored of watching skate videos, but I could write an essay of why I’m starting to hate the internet and what it’s doing to skate culture (to some extent). Thanks to all you guys at Jenkem for bringing out actually interesting content, and thanks for all of you being super nice dudes.
May 19, 2015 5:15 pm
Took the words out of my fingertips
May 19, 2015 6:39 pm
Well said Sebastian, I agree.
May 20, 2015 8:30 am
weird, i feel quite the opposite way. look at skatevideos 10 or maybe 15 years ago: 10 skaters, 10 parts, every single one with a similar song, depending on which company was invoved and little to no editing apart from stringing together the clips.
nowadays theres way more creativity and diversity in terms of songs, editing and format: you still have the classical 10-parts-video but also a lot of “travel documentaries” if you will, portraits of individual skaters, behind-the-scenes clips on both skaters and the industry, much more videos from companies outside of the USA, etc. I say it has gotten a lot more interesting. if anything the sheer abundance of clips is a problem and the fact, that in between videos hardly any progress is visible, because there is so little time in between them. cheers
May 19, 2015 6:20 pm
First song?
May 19, 2015 6:48 pm
This is so awesome. Very eye opening all the work that goes into these films. I really appreciate what work you guys put into this shit. Amazing; skaters, filming, locations, sick ass skating and most of all the final edit leaves you wanting more and wishing you were there with everyone.
I watch Manhattan Days multiple times a week, its that good. I feel a great disconnect with much of the skating that’s out there in the internet(and its all amazing!) for the most part. But these Polar films have some magic in them. So even though I’m old and in the Corporate rut( grave, they look the same) I still feel a stirring in my heart watching these videos from Polar, that magic comes through to me.
So I thank you guys again for making these rad videos and inspiring an old man to get out, push around, and for just a fleeting time…feel some magic for a bit.
June 3, 2015 8:15 am
That SeenMr Track is goddamn nice! And you can get all his stuff via Bandcamp for the price you wanna pay.
That making-of really reminds how a friend of mine and me made a short film about skateboarding in the ancient villages we’re from. We wouldn’t have all those metal plates and stuff but carrying all that camera equipment through all those fields and woods was a nightmare too. But I’m hyped to watch that video in 30 years and have such a fluid reminder of how we used to see things then. Here it is, feel free to speak your mind: http://mpora.de/videos/AAdx28p6urua#jvyKcOXBwuiAoIW5.97