pictures: steffenkornfeld.com

Isenseven has developped  from  some party guys that were filming each ohters’ snowboarding to a movie production company operating internationally. The quality of their movies has developed from amateurishs to a  quality that can measure up with the real big names. Isenseven has always been progressing the quality of their product, up to date they can be seen as a rolemodel for a HighQuality Fun Shred style that is copied by many. Isenseven’s virtue is that they have grown from small to what they are right now, they are friends that share real fun moments and not kind of  that casting crew ‘we have fun while recording’. The creative heads behind this outstanding crew is Vincent Urban, Alex Schiller and Felix Urbauer. We have Felix right here for you to give us a insight on isenseven!

Hey Felix, glad to have you here.

Hello CLDFX.com!

First of all please tell us who is Felix Urbauer? What are you doing these days?

Well. I’m 25 year old, I live in Munich, Germany and I’m basically in charge of the filming-part in making an isenseven movie. Right now I just finished my edits for my last japan trip, and some other job work we did recently. I still havent managed to edit the footage for my best friends marriage(sorry Daniel!) that was held in april 2008, so…as you can see, there’s quite a lot of stuff to do besides enyoing premiere parties and being out there in the snow with your friends.

Felix in New York (Europe :)

How did your filmer carreer start?

If you wanna call it a career, it started about 7 years ago. Thats when I bought my very first camera, a crappy 1-chip mini-dv tape brick. I started shooting my friends at the local skatepark and tried to make little clips out of it. Pretty much equal to what all the skatekids are doing now, except that there were no youtube-s.k.a.t.e-battles back then.

You haven’t been at isenseven from the beginning, you’ve been working on the 2nd Unit project. How did you met the other guys and made the decision to join isenseven?

As germany is not the biggest country in the world  (actually its russia,my fellow americans) I met alex and vincent while shooting at all the different resorts very early. We never really thought of combining forces back then. But both productions progressed and there was a time when it totally made sense to split some work. We started talking more often and it lead to a point, where they asked me to join isenseven. Even if I was flattered about that offer, I needed 2 more years and 2 more movies, to really get that one movie done that I was truly proud of. After that, I felt like moving on was the right thing to do. So I joined em. Best thing I ever did. Thanks vincent and alex!

How’s this season so far?

Well…I dont wanna bore you with all the cliche-industrie-meltdown-stuff. Obviously it was a hard season for everyone that runs any kind of business and so it was for us. Additionally, we were robbed, we had a major harddrive-breakdown and almost lost half of the seasons footage. More riders than ever before gut hurt in the pre-season, so we were facing some serious dilemmas there.

Anyway, right now I feel pretty good and I think despite that circumstances, we made a lot of right decisions and I’m glad and proud of us as a crew, that we didn’t kill each other when there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Kanye was right: “stronger now,bitches!”

Alex Schiller

What have you guys planned for the rest of the season?

We are finishing up the snow-side of filming these days, there are still some smaller roadtrips to switzerland and some parkfilming in the states as well, but I`d say about 80 percent of the filming in the mountains is done by now. Now all the intros are waiting to be filmed, a lot of conceptionalising, budgeting and filming the introshoots and picking songs for the riderparts and EDITING of course.

What is the most fun part of the season for you? Or what do you like shoot the most?

I love it when something works out, even if there was no hope at all. Some rider landing his trick a minute before the sunset gets too dark. That kinda stuff, when you had to stay focused even if it felt like the session is over and got rewarded for it. Besides that rare moments, I love shooting skateboarding and intros, cause I feel there is way more creative freedom in that. Possibilities are basically endless.

Vincent Urban

Are there riders you prefer to shoot with? And if why?

We put a lot of effort in picking the team, so, of course, there is no one we don’t like to shoot with. If I had to pick my favourites for the past season, I guess Alex Tank, Fredrik Evensen and Torgeir Berre would be my preferred team. Alex, because he proved that my trust in him was rewarded so greatly, Fredrik because he is never too satisfied with what he is doing and never stops trying to get better. Thats something everyone can learn from, I guess. And Torgeir, for being the funniest professional we ever worked with.

Have you already checked out some of the trailers? do you have any favorites yet?

I’ve seen some scandinavian trailers, the new Forum trailer and a bunch of others. Really good stuff. Still, there’s not too many movies I watch over and over, mostly I’m just checking them out. I’m dying to see the new MDPeople-trailer though, as they made my favourite movie of the season. 3 years in a row.

Who influences you? So do you have something like a role model?

Hm.not really. I guess artists like Spike Jonze, Gondry, etc are very inspiring for any ambitious videographer, but when it comes to inspiration for the movie/intro ideas, music is just as important as any other factor, so…its not a single person or company or style.

Do you have any advices for the kids just starting filming?

Actually yeah. Use Sony cams. They are certainly not the only brand making good cameras, but as a kid starting to film, in need for a reliable good camera at a fair price, I think sony is the best choice. Don’t take filming too serious. Dollies are nice and cheap. But there’s way more in your mind waiting to be expressed, don’t put all your finesse and creativity in a simple dolly-move. Try to still ride skateboard and snowboard as often as you can. Thats the most important part I guess.

In which direction is Isen developping, what’s your focus, what will the next film look like? Any major changes from the past projects?

I guess the next movie will be the best we ever did. I hope we manage to put enough time and effort in our intros again, so we can experiment with that very different type of filming. People know what an isenseven movie looks like, so what we are aiming for, is not the one major change, but steady progression in every single aspect of making things the way we do. Progressing without losing the innocence of the old days is something we always try to live up to, even in our movies. I wish there was a cure for experience sometimes. I´d be ten times more stoked about my life right now, haha.

What kind of other projects are you following beside a snowboard movie. Think I heard you were doing something for Lufthansa Airline and you want to make a skate film. Tell me more about that.

There are a lot of different projects we are doing right now. For now, the annual snowboardmovie is THE main thing we put our efforts in, to make sure we come up with something fresh.  Filming travel-videos for lufthansa was certainly a big step for us and we did some other videos and consulting jobs for different brands, but right now, we are very busy getting the dvd done by september. So thats pretty much the main thing, even if we will continue the work for Lufthansa etc. in the near future.

The skate project was actually just a small test last year, but the reactions were very positive. There are some options about the dircetion of this, but nothing is settled yet. For this year, its gonna be at least another teaser, and ..who knows….

If you compare skateboard- and snowboard- videography, what is the biggest difference for you?

Hm. I think mainstream snowboard-filming has always been more tech-based. Even Transworld skatefilmers still use their 10 year old vx1000, scratched death lens and are happy with it. Everyone is used to that look of skateboardvideos and for a long time skaters didn’t feel any need to take a close look at the whole HD thing. Well, it’s definitely changing right now, everyone is getting Panasonics now, but that was the biggest difference when it comes to hardware I guess. Still, I enjoy skateboardmovies way more than snowboardmovies. I always loved theTtransworld and girl movies, for adding beauty and pure creativity to the pool of various raw productions ,capturing their local scene and in skating there have always been good local movies, with brandnew ideas and unique styles. Skateboarding is happening right in front of your house, so the limitations to go out there and experimenting with your daddys camera are quite low.

Personally, filming skateboarding is way harder. No 2nd tries, no tricky editing, no nothing. If you didn’t get that trick perfect, it’s gone forever. People will kill you, or at least give you a very hard time, haha. So, I’m really focused, cause skaters risk so much,they wouldnt accept any major fuck up us filming.

I know major skateboard filmers, that have nightmares about fucking up a good line.

Snow vs Skate

I couldn’t live without being in the mountains from time to time. But skateboarding is so easy to get access to… I have to go with skateboarding.

States vs. Europe?

Europe. That includes New York, by the way.

Street vs Park?

Street

Fish vs Tripod?

Neither fisheye nor tripod. I haven’t used a fisheye the past season. Except the few times I set up the cablecam. And I haven’t used a tripod for 4 years now, I like filming freehand, improvise and be right in the middle of whats happening. The other guys Alex, Vincent and especially Niko are pretty much the opposit, so it matches up quite perfect, luckily.

Beer and late night fun vs bluebird and hangover

There’s a season for everything. When I’m filming and it’s supposed to be bluebird, I’m not partying too much. BUT when the movie is done and we travel the cities showing our movie… what’s better than having a beer with your buddies?

After cldfx.com is supposed to be for everyone, here you can tell the world whatever you like. Anything that’s important to you.

peace?

Felix 'Cable Cam' Urbauer

Please just note the word that you first think about when you read this letters:

1. C:ollapsing neubauten

2. L:imbo

3. D:ynamite deluxe

4. F:uchur der zauberdrache

5. X:D-cam

Do you like to say hello to somebody or any last words? Here’s your chance:

Hello and a big THANK YOU to mum, family, anne and my isenseven colleagues Alex,Vincent, Esel and Niko.

Thank you for that Interview and the time you spent with answering the questions carefully.

Thanks for havin me!

Great website by the way. Where can i get that t-shirtsketchbook with blank shirts?

info@isenseven.de

www.isenseven.de,  thanks for pics to steffenkornfeld.com

Isenseven Trailer – Let’s go get lost’