“Sound of the City” marks the second release from the guys at 90East. Everyone put in a lot of effort on both sides of the camera. The end result is a video that makes you want to hop and the bmx and cruise down the street. Lino Gonzalez was nice enough to answer some questions about his latest endeavor. Be sure to check out the video available both in “hardcover” and digital formats here on the 90East store.
The crowd at the "Sound of the City" premier
At the premier you said the sort of video you enjoyed and wanted to make is something that you put in before riding. Growing up what were the videos that you were watching?
Yeah if it gets people excited to go out and ride and explore their surroundings then that’s great. That’s definitely how videos that i always watched effected me. For bmx videos Standard “Domination” was a big one for me. The music and the riding formed a great vibe in that video, and I especially liked all the lines in Moliterno’s and Bobby Fisher’s parts. A lot of my friends were skateboarders growing up so I was heavy into skate videos also. Some big skate videos for me were Zoo York “mixtape” and the EST (Eastern Standard Time) video series.
The EST series was awesome because the issues would have sections for each major east coast city, Boston, NYC, Philly, DC etc. That was cool because people really repped their cities and you would get a good look into the individual scenes going on in them. You would see the guys that were really out there skating and putting in work and not just the common guys you saw in magazines. Tons of spot oriented skating and night footage in those would get me hyped to go ride.
This is assuredly going on instagram.
Did they effect your editing and filming style?
I don’t consider myself to be a “filmer” or “editor” anything like that. I kinda just figured out how to make the footage look decent and the rider handles the rest, anyone can do it. The rider is always the most important part of the equation. One thing that did influence me though was seeing a lot of night footage in those EST videos. Riding at night is the best, it’s just a completely different vibe than the day time and that can be seen in the footage. A lot of our crew works during the day so we end up with a lot of night footage which works out perfect. As for editing those videos all had a simple style and format, that’s just what I’m into. Keep it simple and let the riding and vibe speak for itself.
“Sound of the City” is the second 90 East video. After this you are going to start shooting hdslr. Do you think the VX is really dead after all these years?
Nah I don’t think it’s dead yet and it won’t be until they stop making mini dv tapes which I imagine wont be a while. It’s not really so much about the format for us as it is about the actual convenience of using the dslr. It’s much smaller,lighter, doesn’t use tapes and it just generally works better with how we ride. I can carry it in a small backpack and I don’t even notice its in there. we don’t go overboard and carry all there rigs and steady cams and crap, nothing kills a good session more than waiting for someone to set all that stuff up or looking at them running around with all that nonsense. Plus you really don’t wanna be riding some joints in the hood carrying all that stuff.
As for the actual HD format I do like the way it looks, especially when it’s not over sharpened which is a common problem. At the end of the day though what really matters is the riding and the vibe of the production regardless of the format. Message over medium….always.
working the crowd at the premier.
What is next for 90 East?
Right now were in the process of relocating our shop so that’s been a major thing. The Sound of the City DVD will be out soon, and also spring/summer clothing releases as well as some other releases that are in the works. We are definitely keeping very busy this year and can’t wait for people to check out the new stuff. Thanks to all the crew and those who have supported 90East, never forget who your friends are.
