Skate videos drop everyday, all the time. Because of that, I feel like lots of videos quickly come and go, they’re appreciated for a day and then forgotten about. the pearl promo felt different to me, it was very clearly worked on with intention and focused on details. I’ve rewatched it a handful of times since it’s release, so it was only right to interview Griffin Gass & Alex Cooper, who filmed/edited the project, to dive into it. Give it a watch, then enjoy our conversation –

🌀: First off, congrats to you both on the video, and thank you for taking the time to chat about it. I want to start out by talking about the VX1000. Did one of you push harder to use the VX for this project, or are you both big fans of it?

AC: I think it just came naturally. We have both filmed other stuff together with the VX. I love the HPX and HD videos as well, but that fisheye is $1 million (laughs). Obviously, I love the VX1000; I love the 4:3 aspect ratio. I think it’s more exciting; it’s definitely my preferred camera. But, I love all types of skate videos. I know Griffin is also partial to the VX as well…

GG: I would second that and say, 4:3 is definitely more exciting for the most part. There are people who can really use the Extreme Fisheye well and make it have that feeling, but for the most part, I think the Mark 1 Fisheye shows skateboarding in a way that I prefer to see. With who I skate with in Seattle, it’s just natural that we film VX; that’s just what everybody likes to use, it just keeps things feeling organic.

AC: It’s a pretty VX-friendly scene, and it does have the best microphone of any camera, I will say. Nothing sounds like that.

🌀: Yeah, that all makes sense. Alex, I saw some comments from people complimenting the VX footage in this. It definitely looked much better quality than other VX footage that’s on YouTube. If you have a secret you want to hang onto, that’s fine, but is there anything you want to say about that?

GG: Gatekeep! Gatekeep! I’m kidding, just don’t give them the secret (laughs)

AC: I won’t protect it too much, but yeah, a lot of work goes into processing that footage. There’s some other software used for sure, aside from just Premiere. This is obvious, correct camera settings, shutter speed, all that. There was a lot of sharpening and up-resing involved. Most filmmakers know this nowadays: you’ve got to have that footage upscaled onto an HD timeline, or YouTube just compresses the shit out of it, and it’s not going to look good. You want it to look a little more like how we remember watching stuff on TVs back in the day, on TVs that were made to play that kind of footage. It did look a lot better than it does on modern screens. You have to do a lot of work to it to make it match that.

🌀: That’s cool to hear, because the effort you put in for sure paid off; it does look really good.

AC: Every single clip individually had different settings for all that stuff. I went through once the edit was done and did every single clip individually, and I’ve seen it done by other people, too, like that level of detail involved. The Tightbooth LENZIII video, I know that guy Shinpei was doing some crazy shit to that footage, because it looks incredible.

“‘Why would he bother filming it when he’s like the greatest ever and can do anything that I’m struggling to do?’
But, over the years, we’ve become close friends.”

– Griffin Gass on Cory Kennedy

🌀: Cory Kennedy filmed some clips in this. Griffin, what’s it like trying a trick with him behind the lens?

GG: Oh, wow. There’s the aspect of little kid me being like “Oh, fuck.” and also having the feeling of like “Why would he bother filming it when he’s like the greatest ever and can do anything that I’m struggling to do?” But, over the years, we’ve become close friends. So, little kid me has that “Holy shit, this is crazy.” But, the reality is, we’re friends, there’s no pressure at all. Maybe the least amount of pressure, because it doesn’t feel like “I’m out with a filmer and trying to film something.” It’s more like we’re just fucking off.

🌀: Sounds like exactly the vibe you want. I just had to ask, since CK1’s one of the sickest ever.

AC: He’s the best, he’s the coolest dude. Shoutout to Cory.

GG: For a minute, I felt like I got in a rut of just being uninspired to film. We went on a few camping trips, and he brought the VX on the camping trips and would randomly pull it out at skate parks or wherever and be like, “Oh, let’s film something real quick.” And it’d be him, chasing you around in his Birkenstocks. Inevitably, we would then get back into the city, and I’d be out skating, and he’d be like, “I’m gonna roll with and film second angles” or whatever. So, yeah, just super natural.

🌀: Pearl’s been around for a few years now, but this is the brand’s first video offering, right?

AC: First proper skate video, yeah.

GG: Exactly, the first video that’s focused on skateboarding.

🌀: Did either of you feel any extra pressure because of that?

AC: No pressure, but I was like “Let’s make this as good as we possibly can.” But I wasn’t stressing or anything. It was just fun, honestly. We did trips, we filmed a lot at home, and we had other people on the sessions.

GG: To add to that, ever since we started the idea of Pearl, and started actually doing things, Alex has been with it from the beginning, so he understands the vision and ideas that we’re trying to get across. So, when you’re the one behind the skate video, there’s not really any kind of direction that needs to be given, because you know just as well as we do what we’re trying to get across.

AC: Yeah, we’re all friends. We’ve all been working on it together, every step, like you said, so it’s pretty natural.

“I really like videos where it looks like the people
who made it have their hands on every single frame.”

– Alex Cooper

🌀: Skate videos come out all the time, people constantly talk about how quickly videos come and go, but this one really stood out to me. It feels like it has a theme and a certain look. Alex, is that something you put a lot of thought into?

AC: I really like videos where it looks like the people who made it have their hands on every single frame. I think it’s cool when you see the people on screen, like the skaters expressing themselves, and you want to see the person making the video doing the same. Whether it’s Greg Hunt, Jake Harris, Yoan Taillandier, or Takahiro Morita, just as examples, that stuff’s just awesome. I like taking inspiration from skating and outside of skating, and just trying to make something cool. You just hope that people are going to watch it, and maybe they remember it because everything’s coming out constantly. There’s a lot of cool stuff coming out, too. I just want to make something I’m proud of, that all of us can be proud of.

“I think, honestly, it was a bit obsessive with how
much care went into just about every part of it.“

– Griffin Gass

🌀: Griffin, this is obviously a bit different than having a part for a sponsor; this is a part for a brand that you’re an owner of. Because of that, was the overall look/creative direction of the part on your mind, or were you just focused on skating, like normal?

GG: It was a bit of all of it. Obviously, like the actual tricks of it, I’m pretty particular about certain things; I try to only skate spots that are pretty urban or in a downtown setting that look a certain way. But, even down to the B-roll, there were a lot of days of going out and very intentionally shooting specific B-roll, like, “Okay, we’re going to go downtown at this time and shoot this building and this lighting and have this look.” Like Alex said, going down to every frame. I think, honestly, it was a bit obsessive with how much care went into just about every part of it.

AC: Yeah, I’d go back multiple times for some B-roll shot of a building or something. But I also love that shit, so that’s fun. The winter Pearl collection that came out when the video came out is kind of based around architecture, so it made sense for a lot of that to be in the video.

GG: It was definitely an obsessive passion project.

🌀: With being so obsessive and detail-oriented, was it hard to get to a point where you said, “Alright, we’re done, we’re putting the video out how it is.”

AC: That’s why we gave ourselves a deadline (laughs).

GG: Good answer. I think that kind of came onto Alex, because for me personally, we set the deadline for skating, and I was like, “Ok, I feel good with what I have.” We’d gone out and shot the B-roll and stuff, so it just came down to whenever Alex felt like he had put it together in a way that he was happy with. Once we shot everything, I was pretty hands-off with it, I was like, “Alright, work your magic.”

AC: I also have to give a special shout-out to Ben Ericson, he helped out a lot with shooting 16 millimeter. There were a lot of filmers that shot skating on the VX, but all the other like B-roll stuff was just me and Ben; Ben helped a lot. He’s like an incredible local cinematographer from here (Seattle) and just a rad dude. He’s made a lot of skate videos, and he’s really good with the Bolex, like unreal talent.

🌀: I’d like to talk about some specific tricks from the part; curious if either of you has a clip that comes to mind that you want to dive into?

GG: I do a line in Puerto Rico. It’s right when the second song changes in, and I do a Nollie 180 Switch Manny revert, then like a slappy 5-0 on a little curb, and then Bigspin some stairs. The entire reason I wanted to do the line was just for that Slappy 5-0, though. Something about it just gave me the best feeling. Just like, “Yeah, I like this.” Not much of a story, but that one stood out to me. I was like, “Yeah, this feels good.”

🌀: Sometimes you just gotta do what feels good.

AC: So many people mentioned the Front Blunt to Hurricane to me, which I love that clip too. That was the last thing we filmed for the part, and it’s cool, you can see all the fall colors, you can tell it’s the last days. I like the Backside Flip Switch Manual on the tile bump to block at Westlake because it just reminds me of a certain era of skating, or a certain scene. Our friend Dane, who co-owns Pearl with Griffin and Andrew, was there too, trying Frontside Flip Switch Manual, and I think he tried it for six hours straight, which is not how that guy normally skates at all. He’s like 40 years old, and afterwards he was totally fine, and he was like, “I guess that means I’m pretty healthy.” But yeah, I really like Griffin’s Backside Flip Switch Manual; that one came a little quicker for Griffin. That clip is just so sick, that’s why it’s earlier in the part. I do really like the glass Wallride too. We also filmed that pretty close to the deadline, and it was just a whole mission, but it was cool. We kind of randomly found that thing and just decided to try to get that

🌀: One that I’d like to hear about is the long Front Nose, and then you whip around to Lipslide down. What went into that one?

GG: Oh, good God. That spot is just horrible. I look back, and I almost wish I didn’t do it. Just in the aspect of nothing about it is fun, it’s not enjoyable to skate. It’s on the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Seattle, which is a major freeway on-ramp.

AC: In the center of Amazon-ville, that part of Seattle where their headquarters is. There’s just like a billion Teslas around you at all times.

GG: That part is completely terrible. It’s kind of hard to tell, but the whole thing is a double-sided curb, so you can’t get as comfortable as you would if it were just a normal ledge. I went back a bunch of times trying to do Front Nose to Switch 50 down through the kink. I had gone there maybe three times trying that. I’d try it for a few hours, get only maybe 30 tries or something because of the traffic, so it’s just annoying. I ended up giving up on doing it to Switch 50 and started turning into the Lipslide, but not really wanting to do it because my buddy Noah Holmes had tried it, so I was like, “I’m not trying to steal his trick.” So I kept trying it to Switch 50 for a little bit, just being stubborn, then going to Lipslide just ended up happening, and I was like, “Well, sorry, Noah.”

AC: You’re gonna take Noah out like that (laughs)? I like the Lipslide. I didn’t know you were trying it to Switch 50. The Lipslide is really smooth, the way you did it.

GG: It kind of bummed me out because it was the only trick where I used the middle part of my board. I try not to do that.

🌀: The forbidden 14 got put to use

GG: I like Lipslides, it’s more just looking down at my board afterwards, I’m like, “Ah, fuck.” I’ve definitely changed a board because the middle looks crazy.

🌀: Did you give Noah a call? Or how’d you break the news that you did his trick?

GG: Funny enough, I rolled away, grabbed my phone, and called him. I was like, “Hey, sorry, fucker.” But it didn’t actually matter; it was just funny.

AC: Nah, there’s beef now (laughs).

🌀: Noah’s gotta go do a trick you’ve been trying to even up the score. Anyway, onto the next. The Suski to Switch Front Crook Half Cab on the curved ledge. What was the process like on this one?

GG: We went there to skate another spot at that school, got kicked out, and it was the classic; no one else wanted to go there, but I kind of dragged everybody to the curved ledge, because I was only in town for a couple of days and I was like, “Hey, I like ledges.” So we get over there, everyone’s pretty not psyched because I think they knew what was going to happen. It’s like, “Alright, we’re going to sit here for four hours or until we get kicked out.” I kind of started trying it, but I didn’t pick that trick immediately. I was thinking of doing Shuv-it or maybe Flip out, but then I just started thinking how you never really see it all the way around.

AC: I’ve never seen it.

GG: But, that one turned into the worst suffer session battle ever because it’s so rounded, it’s not even rounded, there are weird levels of beveling, I just kept getting in the wrong pivot point. There’s also one knob at the end of the ledge. I kept basically doing it, but I’d clip that knob when I’d start to turn. So it kind of became this thing of just trying to maneuver around the knob to make it out. Shout out to Tom K for de-knobbing it so that I could do that, because I knew it was knobbed pretty recently before that. He had fixed it and made a funny Instagram post, being like “Go get it, everybody.”

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🌀: That sounds like Tom, he’s always hooking up spots.

AC: He’s the sickest. I love Tom’s skating.

“‘I don’t know, am I going to cry? Am I gonna shit my pants? Am I gonna vomit?’ You’re just done, your body’s cooked.“

– Griffin Gass

🌀: Griffin, after rolling away from the Fakie Front Crook Fakie Hardflip you say “Dude, that one brought tears to my eyes.” Is that the first time you’ve teared up from landing a trick?

GG: It is not. I’ve had it happen, I want to say three times, but I’m going to stick with two. I did a line years ago in Germany that just took way too long, both times, it’s just simply from being completely exhausted. I roll away, and you just get that euphoric feeling, but your body is so depleted that you’re just like, “I don’t know, am I going to cry? Am I gonna shit my pants? Am I gonna vomit?” You’re just done, your body’s cooked.

AC: That’s that Fully Flared mentality.

GG: Both times I was trying lines with a trick I’ve never done before.

🌀: I’d imagine that this video introduced a lot of people to Pearl, did you guys notice an uptick in shops reaching out or people hitting you up after the video release?

GG: Yeah, definitely. That was kind of the whole hope and idea behind it, aside from just putting out something that we’re proud of, and what we’re going to do either way. But, having it be like a skate focused video definitely brought more eyes to it, that weren’t aware of it before. Yeah, a bunch of shops reaching out, wanting to place orders. Different distributions, so that we can just, get it out there more, so, yeah, I would say it was really good for brand awareness.

AC: Yeah, we just want to keep making stuff and doing more with Pearl. So it’s been a good thing, having more eyes on it.

🌀: Well, congrats, you guys have a cool look and are making great things, video and product-wise.

GG: Thank you!

🌀: I know you guys just wrapped this project up, but do either of you or Pearl in general have any upcoming projects that you’re working on now?

AC: I think we’re taking a couple of weeks to chill first (laughs). There will definitely be some new things coming in the future, without a doubt. Skating and just other creative stuff that we want to do.

GG: I would say just moving at the same pace we have been, where you can’t force things you actually care about. You could shit out a bunch of things and be like, “Cool, we did something.” But it doesn’t actually have any feeling behind it, so I think just continuing to take the time that’s needed to make something we actually care about.

AC: Right, it’s not in our DNA to pump out “content” as they say. But we do love making stuff, and there will be more.

🌀: Looking forward to it, thank you guys!

Learn more about pearl here