PASS~PORT: CAMERON SPARKS (AUSTRALIA)
WORDS / Mackenzie Eisenhour

How has it been filming this?
It’s been amazing! I’m still under the impression someone at TWS accidently emailed me, was too embarrassed to say anything and now my involvement with this project is purely based upon “dumb luck”. I guess I should say “amazing and somewhat surreal!” I can now push the little red button without looking at it first so, it’s been quite a journey filled to the brim with self- improvement.

What was your guys’ plan going in?
We didn’t really have a plan. Initially, a few ideas were put forward which were fairly elaborate but due to everyone’s impending schedules filled with “Australian summer time, beach selfies” and wallets filled with moths, we decided to “keep it simple” and told the boys to just “film as much as possible right up to the deadline”. Well, that’s what the text message Trent sent all of us said. He’s still in the Bahamas with the other company owners involved in this project. It’s pretty funny they had to compete in the “TransWorld budgee smuggler/sexy beach guy” competition and we just had to film the video parts! The joke is definitely on them! George Kousoulis and I played “digital pervert” with the guys based in Sydney with a little help from veteran pervert Su Young Choi and young, up and coming pervert Brendan Gardoll. We also had our friends Dylan Bruns and James Cruickshank document Callum Paul and Geoff Campbell’s strange sexual/skateboarding relationship down in Melbourne. Geoff [Campbell] also filmed a large portion of this section when he wasn’t skating or making completely inappropriate sexual gestures toward poor Callum.

Why did you choose the location in question? Was there any issues specifically related to the location?
We felt that filming a large majority of our section at home might be nice and also a great opportunity to showcase some of our lesser- known, local terrain, but then we realized we don’t really have many spots so seeing the same ones will probably be fine! Thanks for understanding! Our two international riders are featured in our section, Matlok Bennet-Jones (United Kingdom) and Dane Baker (America) so, they basically fucked the entire thing up and both filmed in and around their countries of residence. Thanks to them, our section is a bit of a “mixed bag” when it comes to “location”. But hey, it would be far too ironic for a company called “PASS~PORT” to not have footage which was captured overseas, right?

Challenges?
As we filmed our section entirely on VX 1000’s, we encountered a few “vintage camera” issues
along the way. We basically made the decision to go “HD” after this project due to the increasing scarcity of parts, tapes and general patience/ placid dispositions required to operate and perform in front of VX 1000’s. Apart from that, a few of the boys probably never want to see or hear from me ever again but, as I told them, 2017 will be the year of “out of focus cinematography,” so I’ll truly be having the last laugh next year. That aside (and on a serious note), they all surpassed expectation and came through better than ever anticipated! I’m extremely proud of the entire team! They absolutely killed it and have done an amazing job!

Are you happy with the finished part?
I guess that’s up to the big cheese (Trent Evans) who also edited the entire clip. As far as I know, I’m not fired just yet? Or am I? Anyways, on a personal level, I’m definitely beyond thrilled with the end result!

Favorite Cinematographer section from the past?
Alien Workshop’s section, Fat Bill, Chris Middlebrook and Russell Houghton all had amazing sections an d will probably be in hysterics when they watch ours. Sorry fellas, how embarrassing.

iTunes:
The Cinematographer Project, World View presented by: WeedMaps