When we were kids we never dreamt of being a firemen, a pilot or superhero. We always wanted to be skateboarders, jumping up curbs, down the stairs and filp our boards as many times as we could. This has not changed until today.

. Skateboarders: TOM KLEINSCHMIDT, RICHARD NAUMERTAT, ERIK GROß, OCTAVIO TRINDADE, DAVID RADERECHT, SEBASTIAN LINDA
. Directed & Edited by Sebastian Linda

Music by
. Giselle - Silk Ianborg Remix / Download here
. Portugal the man - So American Woodkid Remix / Pls support if you like and buy their original music on Itunes.

. Special Thanks to Ralph Ruthe. He provided the camera for 3 days and this video came out of all the testing.
. Still photos in the slideshow by Erik Groß: hr200.tumblr.com/
. Ending Title by Frank Sauer.
. Filmed with Red Epic, Tokina 11 - 16 2,8 / Pelang Fisheye 8mm, Canon 28, 50, 85, 100, Gorilla Tripod

Check the exclusive interview with the video director Sebastian Linda on the second page.

Introduction: Hi my name is Sebastian Linda and I am an independent filmmaker, currently living in the beautiful city Dresden. 

How and when did you get in contact with Skateboarding the first time?
When I was 6 years old I saw the movie Police Academy with the Bones Brigade. Since that day I thought, it would be the coolest thing to be a skateboarder like they are. I tried it, but to this time I was living on a small village, did not know how to start and Youtube Tutorials were't existing until that day.
So at the age of 12 I finally left my local soccer club to skate every day and nothing has changed ever since.

What's your background?
I started to film half a year after I started Skateboarding. At first I just wanted to see how I look on my skateboard to improve myself and have a look if I look cool. After I had done this I slipped into doing short films with my friends, doing horror movies, funny breakdance battle on our balcony and document funny situations in my family. 
When I was 19 I got into the studies of Media Production at the University Darmstadt. There we had some professors teaching film, but I rather would say, I am an autodidact, learning from movies I watched and liked but also learnt how I did not want to produce when looking at german television. That's why I try to go my own independet ways, trying to produce free projects beside my commercial work earning money.

What editing program did you use?
Haha, it is so funny that this is the question I get asked every day via Facebook or vimeo. The answer is generally: It does not matter at all. I can edit with any editing program out there and the movie will look the same. I started editing in the linear area, which means there were no editing programs like today, but you had to forward the tape to the scene you want to have, record it on an video recorder, put in another tape, forwards or backwards it, record again and so on. So when editing today, I never forget where I did come from and that editing today is with any program so easy. Ahhh, but I edited with Premiere CS6 due to the fact that it can edit Red Footage in Real time.

What was the most fun of the video production?
The video was more like a test with the Red Epic camera with which I would shoot a music video a few days later. I got the camera for testing and making all the mistakes that you could do (and really I had to learn a lot).
The most fun was that we were free to do whatever we want. The guys were super-motivated because they knew our last spot which we shot in about 2 days was very successful and this time they wanted to give everything they could and so did I. We were just creative, free, jumping from spot to spot, having fun, being creative, filming different shots and tricks than usual and everybody was so positive and happy about being able to do this. I think this can be really seen in the movie and this passion is also one factor that makes it unique. 

Which trick was the hardest to film?
The hardest trick was definitely Richie's Ollie to Rock over the gap. This trick was so hard cause the curb to land is so tiny and small which is hard to see in the video. It is also super hard to show which impact this trick has so we filmed it like 5 times and Richie totally destroyed his board in the tries because the impact was so strong. I think in the end it worked out just fine.

Which was the general idea behind the project, where did you want to make a difference?
I wanted to tell a story of guys coming together, having the time of their life on their skateboards. Because that simply is the plain reality. That is what they and I am living for and that makes us happy every day. So I thought about a classic dramaturgy, simple, not too pathetic and only audiovisual without any further elements. It is so funny that some people say: Good film, but no story. That is simply not true. Look at the clip and you will see that we establish at first the characters. We get very close to them, everyone has his own move. Erik photographing, Octavio waving his lion hair, Richie being alternative in his tricks. Then we go into the scene with the kids, which is a perfect metaphor for the playground of skateboarding and the attitude towards skateboarding. Richie's falling, breaking his board, goes to the ground, gets back again with his friends and so on. You can see it yourself and I think it works on everyone except the skateboarding scene. 

Why do you think it is so interesting for people not skateboarding?
The skateboarding scene was giving the only negative feedback, which is very sad, but I knew this was going to happen anyways. You know the skateboarding scene is no different in it's competition than any other scene. We just talk about the new hard guys, with ball's of steel having done a new trick that was not already been done. If you put tricks in a movie which are not relevant for this kind of progress you will always have haters.
Skateboarder's are just interested of seeing the crazy new trick and if it is not, they are thinking, why I am wasting my time with this movie. 
Tricks have always been secondary in skateboarding for me. A simple kickflip will always be beautiful and it does not matter if it is switch or down a million stairs. It is important for me to see the beauty of skateboarding in the happiness it creates and put this emotion in a film. Because that is what makes us all happy and what I think is generally missing in many movies. Every other Extreme scene is very progressive in this development. 
But in skateboarding people are complaining why I film in HD or with a Red Epic. They really want to film me on Mini DV VX-1000 with Century Fisheye, because only this is real skateboarding. It is like a religion. 

For me it does not matter, how it is filmed, I am just happy to see something that is inspiring, touching and individually. But most people are just thinking about copying their idols without thinking: What do I want to tell, what is my perspective?

Words of Wisdom: Don't be a copycat, be brave, be individual and people will never forget whatever you will do.

itv. jk / thanks to Sebastian for his time and Erik for the photos