What can honestly be said about Mike Mastroni that hasn’t been said in the last year or so, he’s done a ton of press on our ‘The Finer Things’ video than most riders do in a lifetime. It’s always a slippery slope when a filmer is also a badass rider but prefers to film his friends/ team instead of focusing all the attention on himself. We finally got Mike to sit down and write down a quick THEN (past 5yrs) and NOW for your reading pleasure. Hit more to see what he says:
Motivation in BMX
Then: Make things happen.
Now: Make better things happen.
What gets you pumped to film
Then: New Spots, the right trick, the right song, making it look good, and using our urban environment in ways that are invisible to most people.
Now: The exact same really. I definitely analyze filming a lot more thoroughly now though and strive to get better at what I do. These days it’s all much more of an artistic pursuit for me vs just filming something to “get the trick.”
Filming Inspirations:
Then: At the time really anyone doing quality web videos. I also used to watch a lot of street snowboarding videos around that time.
Now: Buster & Hunter O’Shea, John Miner, Greg Hunt, Myself.
Filming style (or way you like things to look)
Then: Cinematic with little fisheye.
Now: After being so heavily fisheye focused over the last 3 years, I’ve almost come full circle and become much less interested in stock fisheye stuff again. Lately I’ve been really focused on composition, experimental filming techniques, and interesting angles that make the viewer think twice.
[pullquote]These days it’s all much more of an artistic pursuit for me vs just filming something to “get the trick.”[/pullquote]
Camera Gear:
Then: 2 Panasonic DVX100’s, Century Fish, Homemade dolly.
Now Panasonic HPX170, Panasonic HVX200, Extreme Fish, Manfrotto 503 fluid head tripod, Generay on camera light, External mic.
Favorite DVD or Section (could be non bmx)
Then: Football.
Now: A Happy Medium 2 & 3.
Transportation
Then: Pushing a 15.
Now: Pushing a 15.
Approach to riding
Then: The beginning of my more spot focused / selective approach.
Now: Happily continuing down that path of discovery.
Tim Mathias
i love it