Togo’s first skateboard video shot on Lumia 1020
Ready, skate, Togo! Boris Proust, a pro skater and filmmaker from Montpellier, France, recently made filming history with a Nokia Lumia 1020.
Accompanied by the world’s best camera smartphone as well as two friends and fellow skaters, Maxine Géronzi and Flo Mirtain, he jumped on a plane to Togo, his country of birth in Western Africa. Boris’s video of their epic adventure became the first skating video ever to be shot in Togo. You can check it out below.
Cool video, but how was the experience? We got in touch with Boris to find out.
Firstly, could you tell us a bit about your background and your passion for skating?
Some friends of mine lended me a skateboard 13 years go and it became an addiction. I started my filming career with skateboarding videos, and though I do other lifestyle stuff these days, too, I always want to dedicate some time for shooting skateboarding.
What made Togo your location of choice for the video?
Well, I was born there, I lived there for nine years and I began to skateboard there. I’ve always wanted to film something there, a skating clip or a personal project … Then Guillaume Le Goff from the Nokia Pureviews creative platform contacted me about doing the Nokia Lumia 1020 clip and that was it, I had the opportunity to do it.
What is the skateboarding scene like in Togo?
There’s no scene there, no one skates! Even when I began, there were only five of us skating at the Lycée Français in Lomé. I heard about some kids skating there now, but that might really mean two or three people. We only saw one when we were there, just rolling around.
What were the highlights of the experience for you?
Every day was a highlight for me, rediscovering all those places I went to years ago. But if I had to choose one I’d say the section in the video in front of this garage where our car had broken down. We made lots of people try to skate, and they took the hard slams in the sand with a smile.
Why did you choose the Nokia Lumia 1020 for filming the video and how did it fare?
Guillaume told me this is the best Lumia for the video. I filmed everything in auto to see how the phone would do, and it was a pleasant surprise! Another good thing about filming with a phone is that you can use tripods, a steadicam or sliders, but you can also just have it in your hand and film in secret if you hide it a little bit. You can go everywhere with it, nobody will make you pay to enter somewhere ‘cause you’ve got a professional camera or tell you to not film, ‘cause everybody thinks you’re just taking pictures like a tourist.
What tips do you have for someone who wants to make a skateboarding film on their smartphone?
It depends on the kind of film you want to do. But yeah, try to film as many things as you can and choose the best footage, and be ready to press record, ‘cause the craziest things to film are the things you don’t expect.
The guys’ skateboarding trip was clearly full of those things you don’t expect, from multiple burst tyres to scorpions. And that, along with Boris’s awesomely crisp footage on the Nokia Lumia 1020, makes for great viewing. Once you’ve watched their gorgeous film it’s easy to see why the Nokia Lumia 1020 really is ideal for action clips. So, what adventures have you captured with your Lumia? Tell us in the comments section below.