Hi-Visions

A short interview with the Treevisionary Conor McGivern

Video man, working man and skating man.  One of the coolest dudes out there uniquely pursuing video editing through his own vision.  Thought I'd try to pick his brain and shed some light on the man behind the lens.

 

So Conor how did you first get into skateboarding?
First got into skateboarding at my cousins house in Waimanalo. A lot of my older cousins were getting into it and Kaz and I followed.

I saw some old footage of you and Kaz in your early years.  Looks like he had a virtual skatepark at his house.
Yeah my Uncle built us at least four to five ramps and a few boxes at the church. It was like a mini homemade skatepark.

What made you want to start filming skateboarding?
I started filming just random acts of foolishness with Kaz and that lead to filming skating. Taurean started coming by the church around the time he was in fifth grade and we started our little skate crew.

Your Treevisions site is tight.  I love checking in and looking at all the new skits you have.  Was that a way to make something like a video but in a different format?
I wanted a website to post all the videos so my brother paid and created the site for me for my birthday. Rileys been paying for the site one hundred percent, every year my birthday present from Riley is the renewal of the site. Thanks Riley!

Why’d you choose the name Treevisions?
I don’t know just came to me one day.

I also dig your musical selections.  How do you get your musical knowledge and how do you decide what song to use?
Lot of the music is from Selecta Smiley, Shota, Hartsel, and Kaz. Trying to find a song to match a person’s skating is probably my most favorite part of making videos.

Backtail at his favorite park.

Are there any video editors that you’re influenced by?
I love watching any video with Hawaii in it. The APB videos, “It’s 808”, CandyBandits, Bedpan, Tenneyson Corporation, all those local videos influenced my skating and editing. Habitat and Alien videos are always super good.

How did you get tied up in working for APB?
Mmm Chad just asked me one day I walked in. Thanks Chad!

I hear you're working on a joint project at the moment.  Is this top secret or can you divulge some info?
After the VX1000 broke Chad bought a Canon 60D for the shop. Been filming in HD with that now for about 8 months. I’m sitting on the footage, hopefully making a full length video with Darin. It would be nice to see it on DVD also with new Bedpan and TroyBoy videos.

Why do you choose to stay behind the lens so much?  When are we going to see more Conor in front of the camera.
I feel awkward editing videos with myself in it. And I suck so I prefer to stay behind the lens.

Nollie on a cruiser board.

Top 5 musical artists?
I can’t answer this, I have way too many favorite artists to narrow them down to five.. Sorry.

Top 5 skatevideos?
1. Lowercase
2. Mosaic
3. Krook3d
4. Menikmati
5. Naughty

Top 5 dudes who bang out shit for the camera on the regs?
1. Sean Reilly
2. Kaikea Kimura
3. Mikey Albert
4. Danny Hamaguchi
5. Taurean Medeiros

Top 5 skate spots?
1. UH
2. Downtown
3. Ala Moana Beach Park
4. Upper Grounds
5. Waikiki

Funniest shit you filmed?
Was probably Tohmi throwing that stuffed lion at Kaz and hitting Taurean in the intro of the first video. I don’t know why but it always makes me laugh.

Final words?
Just want to express my appreciation to everyone whom I’ve filmed. And much thanks to you. See you at makiki!