william phan

Here comes an improbable U.F.O.! If the name of filmer Franck Pierron doesn't ring a bell to you, you don't necessarily have to question your street cred: Franck was always the man in the shadows, masterfully documenting skateboarding from afar out of pure passion without ever feeling the need to put himself out there, as to keep it all nothing but pure fun. From the nineties to the mid-naughts (the era of the French Chill Magazine, for those who remember), Franck has been shooting every format from VX-1000 video to Super 8 or 16 mm film. His eye is of the kind that cultivates the detail and celebrates the energy; and his genuine excitement seems to translates over into the resulting footage, as his drawers are full of tapes and film imprinted by timeless stylings performed by some of the most classic skaters. The years went by and Franck ended up pursuing an audiovisuel career in the television field, but thankfully for us he never shed his youthful first love for skateboarding away and last month after we asked him if he had any unseen footage to contribute he would be sitting on that we could screen at the (now recent) Das Days Movie Night in Paris, he did not hesitate once. #Fortheculture! What this whole exchange eventually resulted in is this clip: "Tracked Movements", an improvised project title reflecting the process of that quest for lost footage, but also the one of the basic act of filming skateboarding to begin with as well as many more, even deeper meanings we will leave up to your imagination as you duly deserve. Regardless of its designation, what counts is how Francks's passion and enthusiasm have survived the past fifteen years time span and today, LIVE Skateboard Media is proud to get to present it to you under the form of this time capsule of an edit, timelessly tracking the movements of many a Parisian skate activist who eventually contributed a lot to the local culture, history and scene, each in their own respective ways. And of course, we caught up with Monsieur Franck long enough to introduce him to our classic "5 W's" treatment!