Check out a little Q&A with Marco Svizzero, the dude behind a bunch of BMX videos, as well as the current Lotek SF project.

Keith Romanowski pic.

Full name and age?
Marco Svizzero- 23 years old

How long have you been into filming, and what sparked your interest in it?
I began filming when I was in the 6th grade. I would make stop motion movies with my friend Taylor Valentino. We would combine our star wars action figure collections and animate the figures battling on cardboard sets. We got really into it and made some really cool videos. That is when I became interested in visual story telling, and when bmx came later in my life it seemed natural that I started to film.

Within BMX, is there anyone whose videos you always look forward to?
I always look forward to Navaz’s videos. His videos are always really good. The selection of riders, filming, music, editing and direction always make me want to go film and ride.

What camera and equipment are you using now?
I am using a Panasonic HVX200, 32gb & 16gb p2 cards, 16:9 fisheye and editing on a mac pro tower.

Which do you enjoy more, filming or the editing? Or are they both equally satisfying?
I enjoy both filming and editing equally, but for different reasons. I love filming as I get to be on the field. A lot of people don’t make the connection that when watching a clip, you are seeing more than just the action, you are seeing it from the filmer’s experience. Editing is a lot of fun as you can be really creative and it tends to be more collaborative than filming. With the Lotek SF dvd I will be shooting the entire video and Rich Hirsch will be editing it. Working with Rich is great as we tend to see pretty eye to eye on a lot of creative levels. Also being into editing, I tend to picture the final product as I film and it is always interesting to see how someone else will either share that vision or create something totally new out of the footage I provide them and open my eyes.

Was Summer of Fit your first major project?
My first major project filming for a company was the Mosh San Francisco trip web video. I shot the video and Rich edited it. The Mosh team at the time was made up of all friends, half of them I had been friends with before filming the trip video, so I felt very comfortable working with them all and it was a lot of fun. Before Mosh SF, the only project’s I had worked on were Cuttin it Deep, a local friends video, and some Solid commercials. Summer of Fit was the first major video project that I would film and edit.

When I met you at that S&M party you were psyched up for it, How did that trip go?
I had a lot of fun on the Fit trip but it was a lot of work. There were like 15 guys on that trip. We would roll to a spot and I would be filming tricks the entire time. I felt understaffed and I wasn’t able to get as much lifestyle footage of the team as I wanted, but the video is packed with really good riding. I was really psyched to meet Van Homan. He was my favorite rider when getting into bmx. I ruined my Criminal Mischief VHS because I rewound it too much watching his video part a million times. So that was pretty rad to hang out with him and see him ride in person.

That team is full of heavy hitters, was there anything you didn’t catch on film that you wish you did?
I had never seen Mike Aitken ride in person before that trip and I was completely blown away. Many of Aitken’s clips were shot back to back as he would just session a spot, landing stuff perfectly first time every time. Our coverage was pretty solid and we didn’t miss any riding.

Lately, you’ve been working on the Lotek SF vid. How is that coming along?
The Lotek SF vid is coming along very well. Team riders are getting flown into San Francisco in groups of 2-5. I will be spending 7-14 days with each group, hitting spots all around the San Francisco Bay Area. Its nice to focus on small groups of riders as we can really ride whatever spots they want, get around quicker, and there is less pressure on both them and me. We are also going to do a lot of fun stuff off the bikes as well possibly for bonus features.

Who are you currently filming with?
Riders are going to start flying in in June, but Ian Schwartz came out for 3 weeks and Jesse Whaley, Hoang Tran and Dirt Ron were up here putting some work in as well. SF locals Eddie Cleveland, Jackson Ratima, Wolfman and the new flow team additions Sean Parker and Dustin Mata have been filming the past 2 months and will have the entire film period to shoot their stuff. Eddie is moving into my house and is determined to film a full section.

The promos have a cool feel to them. What do you envision the final edit looking like?
The final video will be almost like a blend of Lotek Mixtape Vol. 1 and Lotek Vancouver. The video will have the format of Lotek Mixtape Vol.1 but with more consistent camera work like the Vancouver DVD. Our biggest goal with this video is just to make something fun and different.

How much longer are you going to accumulate footage before its a wrap?
We are aiming to have the video done in late August or September, but we don’t have a fixed deadline.

Are there any other projects you are involved in?
I have recently been working as a second cameraman on the Official 2008 Beijing Olympic film. As many people know, bmx racing is being introduced into the Olympic games. I was selected and sent to Texas for 9 days to film bmx racing with Kyle Bennett, Tai Kwan Do with 2 time gold medal winner Steven Lopez and some 400meter dash with Sonja Richards. Sonja Richards is engaged to Aaron Ross of the NY Giants football team and I was able to hang out with him for a little at his home outside of Austin TX. I told him of Aaron Ross the bmx rider and he already knew of him. I thought that was pretty cool. Other than the Olympic film and Lotek, I am just shooting videos for Vimby and picking up gigs here and there.

What is your stance on the ever popular web edit VS actual video debate?
Web videos and DVD’s both have their roles. Web videos from companies have taken a more marketing approach, but still like other web videos are very temporary. They are put up, people watch them, then they are forgotten as the next thing comes up. I feel the web video thing is maturing as people are getting tired of watching and commenting on poorly filmed and compressed videos. I mostly watch web videos put out by companies or those by Big Daddy and have given up watching the endless videos put out by anyone else. I still enjoy and buy DVD’s. Maybe I am old fashioned or I just enjoy making or owning something tangible. DVD’s also tend to have a lot more thought and effort invested in them which comes out in both the production of the video and in the riding. There is also the whole collaborative element of a dvd that web videos lack. In a DVD, all the riders film for their own segments working toward completing a single project which is something thatI have yet to see in a web joint.

If you could make a video using any 5 riders, who would they be?
Ryan Navaz
Keith Romanowski
Adam 22
Myself
Glenn PP.
Jeff Z.
Harrison Boyce
Rob Dolecki
Big Daddy
Sorry I picked 9, but with a cast like that it would be a bmx blockbuster.

List off your favorite bmx videos past and present.
Little Devil- Criminal Mischief (reasons above)
Left/Right
Lotek Vancouver
Ride: Turbulance

Thanks, anything you would like to add before we end this?
Just want to thank Mike Ardelean, Eddie Cleveland, Rich Hirsch, Robbie Morales, Mike Krnaich, Aaron Huff, Ronnie Bonner, the homies and Zosimo Maximo, Dean, Jordan and Adam Reno at VIMBY.

Courtesy of SF Chronicle.

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