Swedish art director/designer Joakim Ekstroem fuses his passion for skateboarding with magic realism in this short film exploring how the obsessive search for spots to skate “ultimately shapes the way you perceive the world.”

Joakim Ekstroem: “Skaters possess a unique perspective on the world. Our constant quest for new skateable locations encourage us to explore and pay attention to our surroundings. What others might overlook, we embrace. Benches, ledges, stairs, rails; these seemingly inconspicuous elements are the building blocks that fuel our lifestyle, art, and creativity.

“I started the film at the end of 2021 and worked on it in between jobs, but it wasn’t until early January this year that I went into full lock down mode and pushed through it. I knew from the beginning that I wanted it to be truthful to skateboarding, featuring multiple locations, much like how a skate film would be structured.
 

“Visually I wanted to avoid the piece coming across as a typical skate film so the art direction was pushed in a more cinematic manner mixed with a blend of playful motion design and dynamic camera work.”

 
“This resulted in a massive number of shots, many based on real life locations, that had to connect both conceptually and technically. Puzzling them all together was definitely the most challenging part of the process. For software, I leaned heavily on Houdini for design, previs, and final animation. Everything was then lit, textured and rendered in Redshift.

“Visually I wanted to avoid the piece coming across as a typical skate film so the art direction was pushed in a more cinematic manner mixed with a blend of playful motion design and dynamic camera work.

“Another aspect of the project that I knew would be critical was the auditory experience. For this, I was very fortunate to collaborate with the talented team at Zelig. Together we embarked on a journey to try and define what this piece would sound and feel like in conjunction with the overall creative.”
 
 

 
Director/animator: Joakim Ekstroem

Music/Sound Design: Zelig Sound