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Yves Marchon has shot a lot of the sickest skateboarding to go down in Europe as you may have discovered in his member interview.

It was interesting to find out how he started skateboarding and found his handle on filmmaking but we had more questions about the other standout short films, documentaries, edits and banging clips he’s captured. So we hit him up for a chat about them.

Read Yves’ In Focus interview to find out his experiences documenting Volcom’s BigWest SouthDown edit, filming Chris Pfanner, Daan Van Der Linden and Eniz Fazilov throwing down next level bangers for Holy Stokes, his short film Second Nature about Janne Saario, his documentary SPITSBERGEN 78º41’N – 16º24’E, featuring Karsten Kleppan skating the northernmost mini ramp ever and his favourite skaters, styles, videos, photos and spots of all-time and more.

 

 

Yves, Kickflip Wallride: Shot by Alexis Zavialoff

 

 

You shot some of the sickest footage in Holy Stokes. How did you start filming for that video project?

Thanks! I did three filming trips with the Volcom Europe guys in 2014 and 2015 and they were some of my best times on the road. Probably because I had done so much with Element and it was refreshing to be with another crew.

First trip was a road trip across the American southwest. I made a video called BigWest SouthDown and then two other trips: two weeks around the UK and a trip to Tenerife.

 

 

 

Cool. How did Chris Pfanner’s Kickflip over the channel go down?

It was one of those banger tricks that you knew was going in the video no matter what. So the pressure to film it right was real. It took a while, maybe two sessions actually, but he did it so clean it was unreal. Chris Pfanner‘s skating is so explosive.

 

 

Eniz’s Hubba Front Blunt is sick. What was it like seeing it go down?

Watching Eniz Fazilov do that was scary. Frontside Blunt at that speed, if you get stuck on the top of the ledge, you are done…But he did it with such confidence, it took him maybe 15-20 tries. It was insane.

 

 

 

Daan’s Back Smith on the bank to roof ledge was next level. What did you think while filming that one?

Oh! Daan‘s Backside Smith Grind on that was nuts!

 

 

Agreed. What’s your favourite video you’ve made for Element?

It is hard to pick one.

Rise Up came out in 2005 and is the one people get back to me about the most. I think it came out at the right time where European skate videos were rare. 16 years later I still get love from it, it is amazing.

Then there was Get Busy Living that came out in 2010 and was one of the first full-length videos shot on HD.

 

 

 

 

 

There were major team changes happening during the filming of it and I was bummed some of the guys were not included in the project. It was a tough one to make towards the end because of that but I travelled the world doing it, it was epic.

Maybe my favourite project for Element was Second Nature, the documentary about Janne Saario that came out in 2012. I got endless support from Element on that one and it seemed that people appreciated it.

 

 

 

 

Finally there is this short documentary I made with Karsten Kleppan skating the Northernmost mini-ramp in the world in Spitsbergen that is about a 1000 Kilometres from the North Pole. It was insane.

That one got a Vimeo Staff Pick which I am very proud of.

 

 

Which skate filmmakers do you look up to?

Greg Hunt is the man.

 

 

 

Where’s your favourite skate spot in Fribourg?

None of them are that great really. There is a bunch of stuff to skate around the University that is pretty decent. People get stuck at the skatepark though.

 

 

Favourite place to skate in Europe?

I’d say Athens. I am connected to that place and people. The people are genuinely nice, the weather, the food, the spots. There is a special energy there.

 

 

Favourite skate spot in the world?

Not one spot in particular some of those LA spots back in the late ’90s and early ’00’s.

I moved there for 3 months the day I turned 21 in 1998 and went back in the winter of 2000.

Lockwood, Chaffey High, the Venice pit… also meeting and skate with some of my heroes.

 

 

What’s your favourite skate photo of all-time and why?

That’s a tough one. There are many great ones.

For some reason I really enjoy looking at this Dan Sturt photo of Pat Duffy back 50-50 that rail that’s in Questionable. It really brings me back to my teenage year memories of being so obsessed with skateboarding.

 

 

Patt Duffy, 50-50: Shot by Daniel Sturt

 

 

Who’s your favourite skater?

Growing up, I would say Mike Carroll had the most influence on me.

I also was heavily influenced by Mark Gonzales in Blind Video Days.

 

 

 

 

Rick Howard in Questionable

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Wray in the Color video

 

 

 

 

Also Tom Penny in ’95, those Radlands clips of him still gives me the chills.

 

 

 

Who has your favourite style on a board?

Mike Carroll

 

 

 

 

What’s your favourite skate video?

Some of my all time favourites are Hokus Pokus, Video Days, Ban This, Questionable, Virtual Reality, Goldfish, Paco, Mouse…

I thought about it a lot and to me it’s Plan B Questionable. It’s the near-perfect video.

The filming and editing is impeccable and with the tools from that era it is very impressive. It really set a standard of producing a skate video.