Community Spotlight: Piktro

PIKTRO

Vitals:

Name: Steve
Age: 20
Hometown: Norfolk, MA
Current Location: Hawaii



Cuz: First things first...do you look anything like one of these guys? 



Every time I see your name it conjures up these guys.  Explain yourself about the name.  Did you adopt that tag to make me think about how Shingo wups my ass every time I use Olimar in Super Smash Brother's Brawl?

Piktro: Actually I don't look like any of those guys, but I would like to get my hands on that schnazzy helmet. The name really doesn't have any meaning, but it has a history. A friend and I were starting up a website about 3 or 4 years ago, and we couldn't think of a good name. We needed something that would allow us to make the website anything we want, so I went to a random word generator, chose 6 letter random word, and hit "Go". That's how the name came about. It was not related to Shingo's ass whooping in any way.

 

Cuz:  OK...with that important piece of journalism out of the way, let's talk a little background here.  Do you skate IRL and consume the culture like any good skate nerd?  Or, did Skate teach you to rip and become insanely good at filming?  S omeone on the team wanted to know if you work at Pixar...

Piktro:  At the moment, I do not skate "IRL". I picked it up when I was younger for about 3 years. Never did anything amazing, just cruised around and hung out at the local skate parks. I ended up snapping my deck one day, and just never got around to fixing it. After playing Skate, and having all these new fancy features in the filmer pack, it really made me want to get back out there and learn again. It's just a matter of time. With my filming in Skate, I just like to stick with the longer lenses and get as much in the shot as I can. It's not the most realistic style, but I think it makes for a good watch when you can see everything that's going on at once, with minimal camera shake...and I do not work at Pixar, although that would be pretty sweet.

 

Cuz:  What's your position on the use of the word "collabo"?  Do you think it is a sign of the lazification of our youth when they can't type out a whole word?  Why don't they just make up words like lazification...but with all the proper prefixes and suffixes?  Damn.  Wait...this was supposed to be about the collabos you've done.  You've done a few, and they're sick.  Are you on a team?  Or are you a freelance heavy hitter...skating, doing collab os and editing sick videos?

Piktro: You say collabo, I say... collabo? Well, that didn't work out like I had planned. Anyways, people always try to invent their own splendifurous words nowadays, It's just what they do. They'll eventually make it into Webster's dictionary. I've done a couple collaborations (switching it up) recently, but I'm not currently on a team, I'm more of a freelance guy. I like to do my own thing when I wanna do it. Wouldn't want to hold up any of those team videos or slow them down, but I love to sesh with some of the teams out there. Helps to learn a lot of new tricks and tips you'd never even think of on your own.





Cuz:  The other day I was talking with a film editor that works here at EA and he said that Skate has basically created a bunch of people that could be gunning for his job pretty soon.  He had a point.  He said we basically are giving people the tools to make and edit solid videos (to the point where many are true art) and there's a community of people more than willing to share knowledge and teach proper film and editing skills.  (Some are gnarly when they "teach" but it's there if you want it)  He said it was like going to film school, but the problem with film school is they teach you theory, give you edit techniques, but having actual, viable, interesting, cool cont ent was always the hardest part.  Nothing practical to work with.  With Skate, you've got the content....just play the game, have fun, see what happens, capture replays, then get to work.  What do you think about being one of the Professor's at Skate's School Du Film?

Piktro: Film school, something I've thought long and hard about. Once I can get my stuff together (Just moved to Hawaii in March) I plan on going to school for something multimedia. I've been interested for years. I did a lot with Movie Maker, worked up to Premiere, then learned a bit of Vegas when Skate came out, because someone shared their Render Settings and I was hooked on the quality. I went to After Effects about a month ago, used a few tutorials to get some of the effects down and learn my way around the program, then I applied them to Skate, came up with a few of my own, and so far I really like what you can do with such powerful applications... and Skate has a School of Film with Professors?

 

Cuz: Professor Piktro, let's talk the state of the Skate film scene.   I'm totally frickin' blown away by so much stuff getting dropped these days.  What trends do you see that you're liking?  Disliking?  Where are things heading with the videos?  You working on anything right now?

Piktro: There a re SO many great videos being dropped every week. There are a few that come out each day. It's very hard to keep track of, but I do the best I can. The thing I like most about all of the videos, is the creativity that's going into them. Some people have been so consistent from the start, you can see a video without a title and know exactly who made it. To me that's mind blowing. The only trend I'm disliking is the whole battle of realism and arcade skating. Although I have my own style I like to keep up, I look at everything and try to appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into any of the productions. Things really have endless possibilities right now in the video world of Skate... if only there were some dancing animations and a few more options for movement rather than just arm gestures. I am working on a few projects, actually just sent some clips over to one of the guys from Triple Threat for a quick video. Doing a session vid with Team Free Agent soon. Probably another collabo with Pwnography from Gold Standard. The Community Workout. Let's just say I have a lot planned, and I hope I can get my filming and editing done in time for all of it. Sorry I wrote so much by the way.

 

Cuz: We have to deal with licensing likenesses, songs, and other crap when making Skate.  I noticed you got some pretty substantial names in your Movie Magic sho rts...Mario, that big-ass Transformer dude, etc.  Where did you get the cash to pull that?  Or, are you close, personal friends with Optimus and Mario?  That must be rad.  Got any stories about hanging with either one?


Piktro: I do have a few of the big names in there. Optimus is a good friend, always has my back, but when he gets angry I have to hide for a while. Mario likes to jump in any video game he can get his hands on. I stomped out the damn goombas that jumped on my deck mid trick, did a shuv late-shuv and bailed, and Mario got me. Held me captive in some castle and gave me a tape, and a tape player. All it said was "Those who do not appreciate Mario, do not deserve Mario". I wasn't sure what it meant so I put him in the video.

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/5394/goombaq.jpg
 

Cuz: OK, time for some 3's:

• Top 3 non Piktro Skate vids out there...(link us up)
  
  It's so hard to pick 3 videos, with all the ones being released right now. OATS just released volume 4 of their team vid. Amazing skating, full of creativity.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glZP5a8lnd8
  
  Catface just surprised us all with a20great edit out of nowhere. The time is MEOW!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=210xEyzgogM
  
  If I had to pick a third, I'd probably say San Van 09.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjU8TVpVCww
  
  I mean really, there are so many good videos out now. I can't even begin to pick 3 favorites. I've had so many videos on repeat for weeks it's insane.
• Top 3 RL skate vids of all time...
  
  My top 3 RL videos would probably be Cheese and Crackers, for all the crazy mini ramp stuff I could never think of. Almost Round 3, Mullen vs Daewon, can't really go wrong there, and probably a video I found of Reda going nuts on people that try to tell him he "can't film here."
• Top 3 pros that should be in Skate...
  
  I'd have to say Mike Mo, because I love Mike Mo, Andrew Reynolds, because he's a Boss, and Donovan Strain, because he's just straight up badass.
• Top 3 community members that should replace Cuz as a character in Skate...
  
  I'd have to say Amp, Demz, and Pawn. All of them brought their own style to the table, and served it to us on a silver platter for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• Top 3 skate spots in New San Van...
  
  My top 3 spots in New San Van... CC, Oliver Elementary and Parkade? They're revamped, they'r e new? Right? If those don't count... Lately I've been hitting up the mini a LOT. I like the atmosphere of that place, and the fact that no AI goes there. GED High has some great stuff to skate, and the little spot above the Boneyard with the red rails and boards leaned up on the wall.
• Top 3 edit effects you're loving
  
  My favorite edits would have to be the simple but effective ones. In my last solo I had the text moving with the camera, but it went behind objects, that's become my new favorite. The Sin City Effect is nuts when people do it, and of course the Movie Magic masking trick with the barriers and cloning.
• Top 3 clichéd skate vid transitions...
  
  I'd have to say the most cliched skate video transitions are the crossfade (but I don't think that will ever get old), the white flash, and the cross zoom.
• Top 3 things Professor Piktro wishes were in the filmer pack...
  
  Oh I've been waiting for this for a while. There are more than 3 though, here's my small list ;)
  - Ramped Slow Motion (Maybe have an "Advanced Speed Edit" and give a second timeline with speed keyframes).
  - The ability to edit replays online, so I know whether my tricks look good or not, and can see whether I need to re-do them.
  - An easier/less glitchy way to turn off the watermarks. Maybe have the option during the upload process where it allows you to choose trick type, etc. That way it's all post processing and people won't have to worry about it as much.
  - Fix the camera glitch at the Training Facility. 90% of the time it only allows you a minimum of 8 or 9 second uploads. It'd be amazing to have a minimum of maybe 1 second for any replay. It would make video cuts a lot easier.
  - Bring some of the OG effects back, with the B&W, Sepia, 80's style, etc.
  - Eliminate transparency when the skater gets too close to the camera.
  - Make it so the camera can't move through the skater, just like it can't move through a wall.

Checkout PIKTRO's YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Piktro