Fred Mortagne interview
HUCK talks to the skate filmmaker and photographer otherwise known as French Fred about how he developed his own unique style.
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Even if you have just the vaguest interesting in skateboarding, then the chances are you will have seen some rather special commercials by Cliché doing the rounds over the last year or so. Straying from the conventional norms of skateboarding videos, these beautifully filmed edits are awash with long shots, delicate composition and offbeat angles, all bathed in a golden, hazy glow that make skateboarding look so damn inviting.
The man behind these is Fred Mortagne, AKA French Fred, a 35-year-old filmmaker and photographer from Lyon, France who has been making skate films for the best part of decade. He has lent his unique style to Flip Skateboards first film Sorry, Es’ Menikmati and a few music videos too. He even has coined a particular long shooting technique known as the ‘Frangle’.
HUCK caught up with up him to talk about his latest role directing Cliché’s new short film La Cliché Promo, his unique approach to filming skateboarding and stepping in front of the camera for feature film Machotaildrop.
HUCK: You have directed the new La Cliché Promo film. Could you tell us more about it?
Fred Mortagne: Yes, I just actually finished it last night. We did two separate big missions: one in Lyon last year when Giovanni Reda came to town and then another in Los Angeles at the beginning of the year. We decided to put them together for a promo. It’s not gonna be too big, about 12 minutes or something. The idea is that it will look a little bit like the commercials we did. I wanted to try and film differently: not use any fisheyes and come up with new angles. I also don't want to use dolly shots, even though I like them very much. They are over used right now in skateboarding, so I stop myself from using them. In a way I regret it, because it looks very good, but it's kind of blown out right now. Also, I had in mind a way of editing where you have longer shots and not just tricks, tricks, tricks. The pace is slower than usual so that’s what we wanted to do for this video too. It just happened to fit perfectly with the commercials.
There seems to be a clear signature aesthetic to your work. Was that planned?
It kind of just happened naturally when I was starting to film in this new way. I had an idea in mind but didn’t exactly know what would be the final product. I just knew I wanted to film very photographic style with steady shots and long shots where you get to see the trick, the run up and the landing.
When you are directing instead of just filming is it hard to get the other filmers to understand your vision?
Not too much. I had the other commercials I made myself so they had an example to look at. It’s cool to get a lot of filmers in as it makes them film in a different way and opens new possibilities. Usually when you shoot skateboard videos, you have to follow a certain format and everybody tends to do the same thing so it’s good to take a different direction.
Composition seems to be very important in both your films and photos. How much work goes into that?
I wouldn’t say that I spend a lot of time working on that, it actually comes quickly and very naturally over time. When you get on a session, you very quickly find the angles and what is interesting. You get used to it and know what you are looking for: strong compositions and very graphical. It’s easy when you have good ingredients. For the Brophy commercial, he did a crooked grind transfer on a flat bar. I shot it once but wasn’t satisfied so went back that day to shoot at a different angle and was like ‘that’s it’. Afterwards, I looked at it again and thought it wasn’t good. So I got him to go back again another day.
Are there any tensions between what you want to shoot and what the skaters want to skate?
Usually they have a lot of trust in what I do so they just focus on the skating. Everything always goes very well. They know I’m going to try to do my best so they just have to worry about their tricks. In the end, it’s team work when everything comes together. Sometimes, the skater can have an idea for the angle that I didn’t think about. It’s good when they get that sensibility and come up with creative ideas – when they feel something.
What comes first, the trick or the spot to shoot it at?
It’s a mix of everything. They have tricks they want to do and I think of some spots that could be good for filming. Sometimes I will have the idea of which trick would look good. Before filming, I make a list of places for skating and getting ambient shots. Sometimes an idea might not happen but it may create another idea. It’s good to share the ideas as sometimes the skater wouldn’t think of it.
How did you get into filming and photography?
When I was a kid, I loved skate videos. They really had a strong impact on me. The first time I watched H-Street's Shackle Me Not, I couldn’t believe what I was watching. It gave me such crazy motivation and I went straight out to skate. Soon, I was like ‘I want to make some videos’. And I knew I wasn’t going to be a super-good skater either so I had to find something else to do in skateboarding.
When you bring something new, it also creates inspiration for other people. That is probably one of the biggest rewards.
Which came first?
Videos. I came into photography because I was travelling a lot and was frustrated when coming back from crazy countries but not having any photos to show people, or just to look at for me. I started photography in 2002 when I was filming. I had frustration growing from visualising some photos that could be taken but I didn’t have a camera. There was always a photographer with us and when I had an idea for the photo, I could see the photographer didn’t and so they didn’t shoot it. It told me that there was some potential as I could see things other people didn’t. I could bring something new and have my own style.
How important is it for you to develop your own style?
Very important. You don’t want to copy what other people do, even if you love what they do. For yourself and even if you work for a company, you need to do something different. Also, for the satisfaction of bringing your own thing and getting some recognition for it. When you bring something new, it also creates inspiration for other people. That is probably one of the biggest rewards. It’s very cool when you hear people say ‘I love your videos’. It was exactly the same for me. I’m still sensitive to videos I watched 15 years ago.
What inspires you outside of skateboarding?
Music and art. It goes in both directions. You are inspired by music by something from skateboarding and you learn new techniques and styles from shooting music and take them to skateboarding. It’s more refreshing for me to do different things. I like the variety because it enhances and enriches my work. I grab techniques and inspiration from both and mix them up. It helps bringing and creating fresh things, because I'm not limited to a strictly skateboard visions. Inspiration is something that should never be limited. By that I mean that inspiration can be found everywhere. It's possible to get inspired by the filming of a soccer match to film skateboarding.
You recently appeared in Machtaildrop? How did that come about?
I went to Vancouver in 2006 as I’m good friends with Rick McCrank. I went to hang out with him for two weeks. I meet Corey Adams [the director]. He told me a little bit about the movie. One night, we went to a concert and were just having fun. We were a little drunk and I was goofing about speaking English in a really strong French accent. He was laughing a lot. Later, he said he wanted me to play a French director in the movie as he got inspired by that moment and created the character he needed.
Strange being in front of the camera?
I’m really bad at being in front of the camera. I get really stressed out and not comfortable at all. It’s really difficult, especially if you have to do some acting. But because I had to speak in a strong French accent, like a caricature, it made it easier. The first scene that I shot was on video as it was going to be displayed on the TV [in the film]. It was all the other characters talking to me through the screen. Because it was shot on video, I had no pressure so I was messing around. It was really difficult and we had to do many, many takes. We shot all the other stuff on the 16mm and had the pressure of wasting film, so you are much more focused. You can’t fuck around because it costs too much money. I’m really happy that they made this movie that’s satirical about skateboarding. I skateboarding,e veryone is always like ‘everything is perfect’, like a dreamland. But there are drawbacks and bad sides to it. I’m stoked that it points these out, but in a funny way.
La Cliché Promo is released on September 15. Check out more of Fred's work on his blog.
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Fred Mortagne interview (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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