Dogtown and Z-Boys

For my last post, I decided to discuss an independent documentary since it is always a main category during film festivals such as Sundance. I decided to take a documentary that I love. I figured I'd try to discover what makes a documentary independent compared to the many dramas we have watched this semester. This 2001 film was directed by Stacy Peralta, and it is about the Z-Boys and their influence on the world of skateboarding in the 1970s. The Zephyr skateboard team set up shop in Santa Monica, California, in a neighborhood known as "Dogtown." All of the skaters revolutionized skateboarding because they brought their surfing style to the ground, and were able to do so with the release of urethane wheels, which gave them more grip allowing them to take hard cuts. The main three skaters from the Zephyr skate team that became famous were Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams. Most of the footage in the film is from the 70s of the young skaters, and was shot by their friend Craig Steyck.

What felt independent about this documentary was that most of the footage was recycled from the 70s, and the footage was shot at the time to promote the skaters. However, when Stacy was making this film about himself and his friends, he used the footage and filmed contemporary interviews with the Zephyr team to tell the story. No major studio was involved, the director was one of the Z-Boys, and most of the footage is in black and white. However, there are parts of this film that do not necessarily make it feel independent. For instance, Sean Penn narrates the entire film, and the soundtrack is composed of famous musicians such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and many more.

Mostly all of the footage had to be converted to 35mm for the film, which was done through editor Paul Crowder. The budget was mostly put to the music, but some of the musicians gladly gave their work to the film, such as Ted Nugent and Bowie. This documentary is wonderfully done and tells a fantastic true story of a team of skaters who revolutionized and changed the world of skating. I do not even skateboard, and this movie interested me. This piece won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature and won the Audience Award for Documentary at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. This documentary went on to later inspire the film "Lords of Dogtown," starring Emile Hirsch, John Robinson, Victor Rasuk, and the late Heath Ledger.