My fellow readers, what do you know about Manchester, England? If you follow soccer (“football” for the fancy boys across the pond), you might know they’ve got a couple of pretty good teams, if you like Arto Saari or Supreme you might know that the Smiths are from there, or that they have one of the most inventive skate scenes around. And if you didn’t know that before, consider yourself schooled now, because we’ve got proof in the form of a new video we’re proud to premiere: Seven, by Jim Craven.
Jim, who’s filmed for the Heroin Skateboards videos, gives us a great full-length to start off our spring with. Kind of like a European Fancy Lad with more heavy skating and cool animated segways, Seven is a real treat. It’s soundtrack is even as eclectic as it’s skaters’ tricks – Moondog, John Maus, Yamasuke Singers to go along with inconceivable wallrides and tag team combos on seemingly unskateable spots. Enjoy the fun while it lasts, and then go out and make some of your own.
Is SEVEN your first full length feature?
Yeah, this is my first ever full video. It’s been the goal since picking up a camera, but I always struggled to find the confidence to go through with it. When I moved to Manchester in 2009, there were 4 different full videos being filmed at once. I was always filming, but I never knew what for, I ended up contributing quite a lot of my footage to those videos instead of trying to make something of my own.
What finally gave you the confidence to produce something that was purely your own?
After I finished university, I was working as an editor at a corporate production company making training videos for salesmen. It was fucking horrible. Long days, tight deadlines and awful pay. It was in the depths of the English winter and the days get really short, so you would go to work when it was dark, and leave work when it was dark. I started going skating in the city after work – I would head to NOTE skateshop for closing time and then head out with whoever was keen pretty much every evening to film. I filmed solid for about a month and then put out an edit filmed entirely at night called “SOLSTICE” on YouTube. It was the first time I’d ever made something completely independently; not for a brand or with somebody else’s direction, just by myself for myself. The response was so much better than anything I had done previously, which gave me a lot more confidence in my own decisions. It was pretty much the day that edit went online out that I started taking the prospect of a full video seriously, based around the main guys in that edit.
You filmed this video with a Panasonic DVX1000b, giving it a very distinct look. Why this camera and what are some differences from using a VX1000?
I think it was the last MiniDV camera any of these companies made before they started with HD. There’s no good reason why I bought one, other than that I liked the way Tom Day’s mate Andy Rayner filmed with one, and he knew somebody else who was selling one. I’m not sure about benefits as opposed to the VX1000 – the main disadvantage is that it’s about twice the weight of one and the fisheyes are very hard to find for a reasonable price. I’m always stoked on the way stuff looks with it though.
If you’d like to pick up a physical copy of Seven and support the skaters and Jim Craven, check out these shops:
@noteshop
@thepalominoclub
@parlourskatestore
@focus_scotland
@skate_attic
@welcomeskatestore
@fiftyfiftystore
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March 9, 2016 2:18 am
I just quit skateboarding. And it’s this video’s fault. I hated everything about it. The music. The filming. The skating. The clothes. England.
“Oh, I’m just soooo artsy and creative I’ll do no comply-to-ruin-everybody’s-day-with-my-Jean-cuffs-rolled-up.” I hope you all get ran over by a Vespa
March 9, 2016 5:12 am
Yeah, really. OOH LOOK, I’M DOING THINGS ON A SKATEBOARD THAT A 7 YEAR OLD WOULD DO RIGHT BEFORE HE CHUCKS THE SKATEBOARD INTO THE BACK OF HIS CLOSET BECAUSE LEARNING TO OLLIE THE LITTLE CRACK IN THE DRIVEWAY IS TOO DANG HARD. I’m so fucking sick of these assholes trying to “reinvent the wheel” and then get praised for creativity, but the absolute worst part of it is their constant attempt to reassure us that they are, in fact, being creative and don’t actually suck by dressing like jerkoffs. All you have to do to get featured on jenkem these days is to skate like Daewon while dressing like Dill, but with none of the skill and talent of the former and none of the originality of the latter. Oh, also all the footage has to be filmed with an obscure eastern european video camera that was made right after the iron curtain fell, and preferably shot through the prolapsed rectum of a homeless Honduran gay prostitute.
March 9, 2016 6:02 am
Biiiiiiitches! There is an abundance of Nyjah, Shane O’niell and other robotic skaters’ footage out there. If you don’t enjoy watching homies have fun and enjoy skateboarding with one another then you simply don’t know understand the essence of skating. In your perfect world skateboarding would be tightly confined inside a box, everyone should have the same style everyone should do the same tricks everyone should wear the same clothes and film with the latest ‘4K action cam’ innovations. This video gets me stoked as fuck, why do you bother checking Jenkem or even skating when you are so uptight and serious, I wonder if you have ever even enjoyed skating.
March 9, 2016 4:06 pm
Put on some cure and go cut yourself with a rusty kingpin. Nowhere in my critique- which is awesome btw, do I imply that nyjah or Shane are the epitome of what I enjoy. Different moats for different boats and all that, but this ship has sailed and is sinking, so swash around that month old load in the back of your throat, put on that purple and black striped long sleeve, and try to live through another year of seasonal depression. There is a reason it’s called Jenkem- because its huffing a bag of shit, and this was straight doo doo
March 10, 2016 1:04 am
*Do tricks no normally seen doing
*Film a part doing those tricks, put it on the internet for everyone’s viewing pleasure not asking anything in return
*Gets hated from some random guys online
Gotta love the skate community.
March 10, 2016 2:30 am
1) the tricks are not normally seen because they are garbage
2) asks for people’s time to watch by showcasing it on an online magazine
3) not hate- just a lesson in etiquette.
For instance, if Jenkem can do articles on why the mall grab is so terrible (it is) or if you cringe when you see a long boarder step down to push like he’s on a stair master, or if some kook pushing mongo annoys you, or you are just plain tired of Emo fucks with their tight jeans and fake artistic creativity that is really just laziness, then I see no problem with a lesson on etiquette from your peers. Besides, if you did anything to support a SKATEBOARD company called Heroin- you deserve some negativity in your life. Fucking terrible company name, and the lifestyle it invokes is way more destructive than any words I type here.
March 10, 2016 11:21 am
HEY LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK HEY HEY
haha, ruined your day.
March 10, 2016 12:53 pm
God.damn.it.
March 9, 2016 6:32 am
Go wallie off a cliff
March 9, 2016 11:38 am
PHAT JIM IS THE GREATEST FUCKING BASTARD IN THE WORLD
March 9, 2016 11:44 am
Fucking so sick!!!!! Phat Jim, you did it again! Love your shit man!