SKATE PERCEPTION - John Evans (Filmer/Cinematographer)

Interview and article by Derrin Thompson

Courtesy of Ravish Norfolk Art Collective

03/01/2022

Based in North Carolina, John Evans is a filmmaker with a brilliant eye for perception and great angles. From skateboarders such as; Kevin Love, Chris Wimer, Pat Burke, Jaimel Bryant, Stephen Mullin, Collin Crockett and a few others who’ve made names for themselves in some way. John Evans isn't just someone behind a lens, he’s a passionate, hardworking, and dedicated person. He’s put out multiple projects that have hyped people up to skate including myself. One that has caught the attention of Thrasher, the Mecca of skateboard mags.

“bump to bar - kf off the curb:

this spot is right next to a skatepark that team pain built a few years back and so we’d been eye’ing this thing up for quite sometime. the patch of concrete that you land on is really quick and i wasn’t sure if Nick would be able to setup for the kick flip off. he actually ended up doing this line first go & then proceeded to kick flip it afterwards right before it got too dark!”

DT: What drives and motivates you?

JE: being on sessions with all of the homies! Also, the open road really motivates me a lot! seeing new spots and going to new areas

DT: When did you get into filming? How long have you been doing it?

JE: I got into filming around the age of 14 i’d say? I didn't really fully take it all that seriously and really started critiquing my stuff until a few years later when I was probably 18 or 19. so overall i’ve been filming around 19 years total

DT: Who are your influences?

JE: Matt Winterberg has been a big influence of mine. For those that don’t know who he is, he worked for black box and filmed a lot of the Zero & $lave videos. Jon Miner, who worked for emerica, also has been a big influence. Both of these dudes really struck me and have always held it down with the VX1000

DT: What are some of your favorite skate videos?

JE: Zero - Strange World

Fallen - Ride The Sky

Emerica - Stay Gold

Toy Machine - Brainwash

DT: what is an important / fundamental pointer you’d give someone that’s interested in doing what you do?

JE: First off you have to love skating! you’ve got to be willing to put in a lot of time and effort into it. also always striving to get better & be patient. The skills don’t come overnight!

“big spin - fakie heel line:

Patrick Lusk had previously tried this line a few weeks prior to getting the make. he’d been dealing with some ankle problems and he could really only skate one day out of the week so he tried to make it count the best he could. i remember when he told me he wanted to go back and try it again i was just sincerely hoping he’d get it quick so his ankle wouldn’t take so much punishment. needless to say i was so relieved when he landed it & he could barely walk afterwards. we proceeded to reward ourselves with some barbecue at one of the best spots in durham, Q-Shack! look that one up if you don’t know anything about it”

DT: what is your go to camera setup?

JE: VX1000! i also use the Panasonic HPX170

“alley oop pop shuv over the rail:

this day was so hot! all i remember from this spot was trying to avoid all the flies & nats that were in the grass. Mikey ended up kf’fing over this rail in a few goes & tossed out the idea of trying pop shuv since the rail is so low where you go over. he definitely battled this one but it was well worth it in the end!”

DT: how many lenses have you had to replace?

JE: I can't even recall how many it’s been… haha!

DT: Do you ever use high def cameras or do you stick to the vx nostalgia?

“this was on a 5-6 day Florida trip! i believe this was our 2nd to last day and we ended up at this spot probably around midnight or so? we’d been skating pretty much all day long at this point and i was surprised people still wanted to keep going. Sam ended up slamming on his hands a couple times to the point where they were both bleeding. so after every try i’d have to pick his board up for him and put it back on the loading dock. after he landed this we all thought the night was over but nope, he wanted to keep going! haha”

JE: Yes, I've used several HD cameras throughout the years. I had the HVX200 & extreme several years ago and then I ended up upgrading to the HPX170 which is just an updated version of the HVX200. currently i also have the Panasonic GH5 which i’ve grown to really like

“alley oop 180 fifty:

this was the first day i’d ever skated with alex hancock before. he had hit me up about coming out to film in NC & a trip to Baltimore came about somewhat out of the blue. i told Alex he should come with us, and he was down! i think this was 5th clip we got and it was only the 2nd day of a 4 day trip, haha! needless to say Alex rips!”

DT: Can you tell me about a time where you had to improvise to get a good shot / angle?

JE: None off the top of my head that I can recall. but i’ve definitely envisioned filming tricks from certain angles or fisheye vs long lens. and when it comes down to the time when i’m at the spot i’ll notice a different angle or different way i want to film that certain trick than i originally had envisioned

“Julian Lewis met me in Atlanta while i was on a trip with a couple local homies. We were skating the infamous abandoned triple set rail right before this & one of my friends hit his head and got a minor concussion. Julian ended up back 5-0’ing that rail and on the way out we happened to stop at this spot. we instantly recognized it because Ducky Kovacks had smith grinded it in the first am scramble. Julian ended up getting the back grind first go & my friend who hit his head the spot before still to this very day doesn’t remember watching it go down”

DT: Do you ever run into problems dealing with security while filming? How do you deal with that?

JE: I remember when I first started filming you could go skate colleges and none of them had security guards and very little campus police so it was a whole lot easier to get away with. nowadays you can hardly go anywhere without security unless it’s abandoned, haha! sometimes you get lucky and you come across those people who really don’t care and just have to do their job. luckily i’ve only gotten in serious trouble for skating once out of all these years (knock on wood!)

DT: Are you ever in front of the lens skating?

JE: Very seldom these days

DT: What was your reaction to having your work on thrasher?

JE: it was an honor

DT: Did you know it was going to happen?

JE: Yes I did. i had been talking to Mike Burnett, who is one of their staff photographers, throughout the filming of Cinco and he put me in contact with someone at their media department who helped me get everything in order for it to go on the site

DT: Let's wrap this up, any shoutouts!

JE: All the homies! my parents! skateboarding! VX1000’s! Kerry at Video Electronics!