Or bits of skin a la Biebel…
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Music was well studenty.
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I get that it can leave you cold…but that’s Mark Suciu…he’s not an entertainer or a relatable skater or whatever…he’s that guy at the skatepark on his own working things out in secret. I think that’s why everyone finds it so weird that he’s in Street League…but he skates that the same way. Will spend the whole session trying to land some obscure trick that won’t even earn him a 9.
I think this video part is a good way to represent him. Yuto seems similar would like to see a part like this from him.
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I think there are flaws or not so much flaws but things that people will not resonate with.
Style: he’s hunched, clinical, not noticeably fast, too technical, not enough passion or passion is not visible (because he is clearly insanely passionate about what he does)
Filming: pedestrian, ABD, not a focus, simple. All those can be positives too.
Music: Bland, flat, too whimsical, uninspiring… Subjectivity gives all these an opposite though.
I have issue with all of the above. His style is not as enjoyable as many of the skaters I like to watch but other details in his style in the way he exits tricks blows my mind so I decide not to even compare his style with anyone elses, he is just him.
Filming for me does it’s job, it comunicates his skating perfectly, it does not push any boundaries or have it’s own ego or agenda, I really appreciate this on this part. That can leave it feeling impersonal maybe, people might be left cold, whatever.
Music is usually a big problem for me and can make me watch a lesser skaters part or shun a favourite skaters part. I don’t mind the music in this but it does not do much for me either. Beirut are always hit and miss. Overal, for me, the skating totally overshadows any other aspect that I would usually criticise. Just the choice and thought which has gone into every trick, I can’t not admire it even if on the whole it’s a fairly narrow vision of street skating, it’s also a perfect example of streetskating.
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That Jenkem article was nauseating
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Also on a rewatch I agree about it leaving me feeling cold. Skating wise one of the best parts of all time but the edit failed to give me any sort of enjoyable feeling and wouldn’t be something I’d ever put on before a session
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Same here, you could possibly say some clips did not look fast, perhaps, but slow? Not for me, but we’re all entitled to an opinion!
I kind of like that some elements are a bit ‘Marmite’, I loved the Air track for instance.
I’ll second that. Air track was dope and I’m not into the others but it works with the skating. I like the rhythm it creates.
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I can’t stop watching this, I’m easy on 8/9 now.
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Most skaters will watch both this and Bill’s videos for sure.
Now let’s look at the average skater that will watch Blessed 6 times the week it comes out and the average skater that will watch this 6 times the week it comes out. Do they seem like similar kinds of skaters? Not to me.
Had my 3rd watch just now.
I have nothing bad to say about it.
Music wise, I quite like how it sits in the part although I wouldn’t go out of my way to discover who the tracks are by and then go buy some.
Skating is incredible and it is the main point of the video.
Filming captures the skating nicely.
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Blessed is an hour long, no ones watching that 6 times a week
Individual parts off YouTube? Yeah sure, wouldn’t say there is that much difference between someone watching Vincent Touzery or Sages part from Blessed and the Verso part. Both amazing skating, I’d say Blessed editing makes me want to go skate more, sure zoom ins can be a bit gratuitous but the friends celebrating and emotion shown in in Blessed appeals to me far more.
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Same, 3rd time just now.
Familiarity will iron out many doubts like music.
I love how you assume that you’re getting a second angle of the same trick and it’s a different trick. Only repeats I noticed are the two tricks on blubba.
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I really like the thought that has gone into Verso and this Jenkem article. I found this talk about composition and form really intriguing, like the section was a riddle or equation to be solved. For me, however, one major thing that Suciu’s sections have often lacked, including this one, is interesting music choices. Don’t get me wrong, I like Beirut, Air and Elliott Smith but they are all very safe choices, both from a skate video perspective but also an academic perspective. Those songs scream humanities undergraduate to me. If Mark’s really going to be ambitious about the choreography of his videos, then he needs a fitting song to go with it. His Sabotage 3 part stands out to me mainly because the Jay Z song is so jarring.
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Those weren’t the songs that were supposed to be on it. So if all anybody can find fault with is the music, do be aware that these weren’t all the planned songs.
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What was planned? I imagine some previously unreleased Cocteau Twins track that was deemed too cerebral.
Absolutely. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bill’s work. I just think the face-zoom-trick-shoe-zoom thing gets a bit over the top these days. The fact that some people emulate his style is a compliment for his work but also brings less diversity in skateboarding, and I’m all for diversity. I absolutely love the stuff he did for AWS and all that back then.
So do I!
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I was thinking from my point of view, seeing what I see around me.
I remember hearing kids at the park saying they were watching Blessed every day around the time it came out, and I thought it was kinda crazy as it is a long video. Most of these kids have quit skating since.
Kids don’t tell me about Suciu, my older skate mates do.
Supreme vids are Supreme vids, they’re made to represent a shop or a company that sells clothes. They’re built around an image, they sell you an image. Street life, fashion and that, we all know what Supreme is.
Verso is a skate video project or whatever you’d call it. It wasn’t backed by Habitat or adidas or any brand as far as I know. It focuses more on the skating as the skating is it’s only reason to be.
Just pointing out the differences I see, not saying anything bad.
Just to state, when I moan about the face zoom thing so aggressively, I don’t actually lump Bill in with the culprits. I actually praise him for his style and how he executes it. The hundreds of filmers copying that style badly are the problem.
Watching it again now.
