Skateboarding
Skateboarding
From Stalin Plaza to the world with David Chvatal's Czech skate Videofolio!
Meet David Chvatal, the man behind two decades of Prague skate scene documentation.
An interesting fact about the Czech skate scene: one of the original guiding lights of the early days was the son of acclaimed film director Miloš Forman, who made, among other famous films, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
So to say that Prague has a rich, intertwined history of skateboarding and videography is no real stretch. The city was fairly made to be filmed.
Both those cultural strands dovetail in the story of David Chvatal, who's been the pre-eminent Czech skate filmer for the last 20 years.
From the first instalment of his Black Rabbit scene video series in 1998 until 2014’s most recent release Black Rabbit 4ever, David has filmed every Czech trailblazer worthy of the name – including, but not limited to, Marek Zaprazny, Petr Horvát, Max Habanec, Jirka Hronek, Martin Pek, Michal Suchopar, Tomáš Stejskal, Tomas Vintr, Honza Minol and Roman Lišivka.
His professionalism and hustle in learning his craft during that time means that when he's not skating these days you'll likely find him directing TV commercials for car industry giants.
Despite his success in the ‘real world’ of production, David never forgot where he came from and continues to skate and film (including many of your favourite contest edits of recent years) as and when his ‘proper job’ schedule allows. Not all skateboarding success stories happen in the usual, predictable places.
Meet David Chvatal, and see where vision and being low-key can take you.
Tomáš Stejskal – Nollie Crooks
© Kubo Krizo
Jirka Hronek – No Comply
© Kubo Krizo
Maxim Habanec – Kickflip
© Dan Vojtěch
Martin Pek – Backside Nosegrind
© Kubo Krizo
Ahoy, David! So let's begin with a straightforward early question, here: how did you get into filming?
It was in 1997 when I began. I used to love watching 411 and Transworld videos. We played them on VHS, over and over again. I got slightly injured skating and was thinking what a shame it was that there wouldn’t be any memories left.
So, I decided to make my first video called Black Rabbit – after my pet rabbit – with my friends that I used to skate with back then.
I didn’t have the budget to edit on computer, so I connected two VCRs and made the edit by hitting play, record and pause!
Next I would run the final edit through a music mixer and record it back onto another VHS again. Petr Horvát had his first part in that video at around 13 years old.
Later, I made Prague 99 with Tomas Vyhnanek and edited that one using a computer, finally. We sold VHS copies of that in skate shops.
If you were going out filming skating today, what rig would you run?
I use a handle-gripped Fuji XT3 with Atomos Ninja Recorder for 4K/P50, with both fish-eye and long lenses. I don’t like to use tripods, or ultra-wide lenses without the barrel distortion.
You've delivered some great contest edits – do you have a favourite event?
My favourite is the CPH Open (in Copenhagen) but at the same time its the worst one to film. There are no rules, anyone can film there! As a filmer you have to push through and hope for a good spot, but the event is amazing and the city is perfect for it. I love riding the bikes from spot to spot and the parties are amazing as well.
Your Black Rabbit video series currently spans a 16-year period in the Czech skate scene. Who's the best Czech skater you’ve ever filmed?
I made the early Black Rabbits and the Praha 99-2003 series at the same time. It was all just about that period of time, really. Every year there would be a new amazing talent coming through. The ones who made it worldwide, to my mind, are Petr Horvát, Marek Zápražný, Honza Minol, Maxim Habanec, Martin Pek, while today my favourite Czech skater would be Jirka Hronek. Always fun to shoot talents like those guys.
How does making car commercials compare to making skate videos?
It's very different! When it comes to doing car commercials, I want to use the latest technology. Everything needs to look perfect. There's a huge crew involved. I need to work with the production crew, marketing agency and client all at once. When I shoot skate videos, I like to keep it simple and classic – almost the opposite way.
What’s the current situation with Stalin Square?
I think its looking better now. We created a petition to keep the place as it is. Thanks to everyone who signed it online! There are still politicians who want to build a museum there, but fortunately Prague 7 District Council is helping us and the technical condition of the space is better than expected and was claimed to be previously by some of those politicians.
So the biggest opposing argument, that it's dangerous to skate there, is out of the way now. Hopefully it will last many more years to come.
The last question is one that we always ask. If budget were no issue, what skate project would you like to undertake?
Oh, just some crazy travelling with friends – getting the best tricks while keeping it fun. Just living the moment and exploring.
