Features

WINSTON DVD: Eoin Shiel Interview

Filming An Irish BMX Scene Video

Words by John Wells
Cover photo by Ryan Aylward
Other photos credited

Despite weather worse than Hitler’s asshole, the weird wee island known as Ireland has always had a productive and motivated BMX scene. The size of the scene may fluctuate, but the lunatics, shitty bikes, and crazy spots will always be there. Eoin Shiel, stocky and some what grizzly in appearance, is one of Dublin’s youthfully challenged locals who, whether through the Boardroom BMX shop or LeftBMX, has contributed massively to documenting BMX in Ireland. Following the notorious ‘Raincheck‘ video from 2012 comes the highly anticipated ‘Winston’ – his latest DVD and full length feature covering BMX in Ireland and beyond.

A hallmark of BMX culture, the DIY ethos thrives in the local scene video. There simply can never be too many local scene videos, so we caught up with Eoin, to get the low down on what went into making Winston.

You can pick up a copy from www.theboardroom.ie or leftbmx.bigcartel.com from 1st April.

The man himself, Eoin Shiel. Photo: John Wells

Hi Eoin, give us a little run down on what has gone into making Winston.

“Hello! So, Winston or {winston} has been in the making for the guts of about 3.5 years. We stopped filming in November, but I had some issues getting my super 8mm film developed and then finding a projector! Thankfully a local camera shop owner who I’ve been a customer of for the best part of a decade lent me his own one. Legend. (John Gunn Camera Shop of Wexford Street, Dublin.)

The riders in it, with full parts, are Conor Winters, Ryan Mollan, Derek Johnson, Ryan Aylward and myself. There’s 2 mixed sections from friends at home and friends abroad, Peter Adam, Donnacha Carroll, Niall Wolfe and Jake Ryan all have a decent amount in those parts.”

You’re a bit of a WW2 buff, so is the video named after Winston Churchill?

“I’m not sure if you’re joking, but I was studying to be a history teacher at one point, anyhow, I digress! The video is named after my old cat, Winston. He was our crew’s unofficial mascot until he died just after we started filming. It started as a joke because there was no name for the video and, well, here we are.

However, he was actually named after Winston Churchill as my sister was studying WW2 at the time. (You’re a smart-arse.)”

Raincheck was a legendary Irish video, how has the scene in Ireland changed since then?

“Legendary? Not sure about that, but it was a lot of fun to make. A learning curve, for sure, but a totally different video from {winston}.

The scene is a fair bit different now. A lot of new faces, a lot of old have disappeared. There’s still a decent scene around the country. The trails in Dublin is still kicking and they’re doing an amazing job of running their spot. The parks all seem to have dedicated crews, too.

Generally, everyone I ride with works, studies or has a family now. When I filmed Raincheck, we were all riding together a few times a week and working part time jobs. So, that has been a massive change. Back in 2012 I was riding 3 or 4 times a week, between time and weather, it can vary between once or twice a week to once a month.”

Is it true you funded the video by shooting pornos?

“I think we can all agree that there is no market for that, whatsoever. Nobody needs to see that.
I earn my crust in Ireland’s only rider owned and run shop, theboardroom.ie, truing wheels and making jokes that nobody likes.”

Who was the easiest rider (BMX rider) to work with and who was the worst?

“Oof. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have murderous visions involving Ryan Aylward from time to time, but he’s actually a good lad and we’re just chalk and cheese. Hahaha. Honestly, I can’t complain about anyone’s riding or ‘work’. They’re all good mates and they all put in serious effort when we were filming. I have more footage of Derek and Ryan than I know what to do with, though.”

What’s in your camera bag?

“A boojum loyalty card (popular Irish Burrito Bar), Sony VX1000. Sony TRV900. Sony Premium tapes. Yashica T3 Super. 400iso colour film. Canon Super 8 camera. Kodak 200t Colour Negative super 8 film. Depending on the number of riders I sometimes bring a manfrotto tripod which weighs far too much.
Aside from that, other essentials are tools, a sharpie, a bottle of water, a tube, phone, wallet and a spork. Generally theres a few @the_boardroom and @leftbmx stickers.

My back hurts. A lot.”

Thus far, what has been the most memorable moment of filming Winston?

“This might be a tad misty eyed, but travelling around the country with my friends is something I’m unlikely to forget any time soon. Belfast, Waterford, Donegal, Sligo, the list goes on. It’s been good. I was lucky enough to get over to Malaga, London, England and London, Ontario to ride with friends, too. So, in the scheme of things, it’s generally a good memory. Reg’s banger was pretty insane, though. I live 5 minutes from it and figured it might never be taken care of. That was a good evening.”

Any scary moments? (crashes etc. any run ins with the cops or robbers?)

“I smacked my head pretty badly on a rail feeble gone wrong. I ended up slicing my shin open with the sprocket and cutting my head on some bricks. Fun.

“His screams sounded like someone was being tortured…”

Derek dislocated his shoulder trying a nollie 3 off some stairs while I was filming Conor. His screams sounded like someone was being tortured… Luckily the mosher girls watching from a nearby ledge stopped laughing eventually and offered him some extra strength pain killers. Poor bastard. Aside from the odd ankle tweak (pretty much everyone) we were really lucky… Although, a minute’s silence for Donnacha Carrol’s new jeans that got scuffed on a wallride in Belfast has been requested. He took that one pretty hard.”

Camera quality has never been higher and prices have never lower, so why do you still use the old TRV and Super 8?

“It’s a question I asked myself a lot in the last 3 years! Honestly, I love the versatility and stability of the 3 chip and super 8 cameras. DSLRs are grand, but I can’t afford a HD video camera at the minute. Panning, zooming and general ease of handling should not be a luxury! I grew up watching and loving videos shot on the 3 chip medium, so it’s kind of how I prefer to see things anyway.

“I grew up watching and loving videos shot on the 3 chip medium, so it’s kind of how I prefer to see things anyway.”

With that said, I do like HD videos and don’t quite get into the whole SD vs HD thing. When either are done right, they look great. You could hardly tell me the likes of Peter Adam, Rich Forne etc are doing things the wrong way.”

Super 8 seems like a right ball ache. Take us through the process of filming Super 8?

“It has its ups and downs…

Firstly, it’s expensive. It was kind of nerve wracking shooting with it, as well as exciting. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out and if it was going to be worth the gamble. 3 and a half minutes worked out at about 60 euro over all. Nice.

Secondly, it’s essentially blind. I was’t sure if anything worked until the film was developed. You have to have a certain amount of faith in your camerawork, but it was like learning to shoot photos on film again, I had to take time to make sure it was exposed etc. Developing was difficult too as I had to bring it to London to get it done as the super 8 trade in Ireland has dried up. Thankfully, it worked out.

Finally, the projection and “digital transfer” was fun too. I had to ghetto rig a screen and record the projection after focusing the projector and making sure the camera recording it was at the right levels! Also, the projector I got on loan took some getting used to. I lost a few feet of film to the jaws of it, but after 3 attempts, I got it sorted. Then, colour correction and editing took over in order to get it to look decent.

Peter Adam told me I should have shot hd and used filters and plugins… haha. He might be right, but the learning process was enjoyable and had I not followed through on it, the video would have looked grand, but it wouldn’t have been the video I wanted to make.”

So what is your all time favourite film, skate, BMX or otherwise, and why?

“Skate film, either ‘Strongest of the Strange’ by Pontus Alv, because it’s just amazing to look at. Or, Sidewalk ‘In Progress’ because it’s a UK and Ireland centric video, so the spots are familiar, I dig the soundtrack and it’s generally a good watch.

“Voices and Tomorrow We Work really made me want to make videos. I could watch them over and over.”

BMX… It’s a forgone conclusion and the lads rib me about it a lot, but ‘Voices’ and ‘Tomorrow We Work’ really made me want to make videos. I could watch them over and over.
Aside from that… I’m really into the likes of the Strangeways series, Super Monaco, Grey Haven, Savour and so on. Peter Adam’s stuff isn’t too shabby either. I guess I like the slightly rougher spots and familiarity of UK and Irish videos. Also, less is often more and the current mile an hour, grind-combo-boner that a lot of riders seem to have sprung is lost on me.

General movies? I don’t really watch many these days. I like Wes Anderson’s stuff. Nice soundtracks and they good to look at.”

Tell us a joke…

” “I’ll be on time.” – Ryan Aylward.”