Article by Daniel Nodzak
Video and images provided by Matt Garrity
Matt Garrity’s Pitcher series comes to a close after six years with Pitcher 3, the final chapter of the Canadian booze fueled blading trilogy. The Pitcher series, which began in 2015, continues a long tradition of local crews showcasing their scenes and talents through full length crew videos.
The rollerblading community has reached a point where full length crew videos have been largely replaced with short edits focused on the individual rather than the crew. While that can be attributed to several factors including the general internet driven cultural shift toward short form content I believe full length crew videos still play an important role in maintaining the health and stability of rollerblading culture.
By showcasing local scenes in full length cohesive videos we’re able to communicate the unique aspects of local scenes to the rest of the sport in a manner that can’t be done through individual profiles. It’s this exchange of ideas that keeps the sport alive and thriving as one city’s trends influence another and so on and so forth.
So if the goal of any good crew video should be to represent your corner of the rollerblading world and put it out there to inspire others to do the same then Matt Garrity has been very successful with his Pitcher series. I thought I’d take the opportunity to pick his brain on filmmaking, what the future has in store for him, and the impact COVID-19 has had on the final installment of the series.
Hey Matt, thanks for taking the time to chat. Before we dive into Pitcher 3 I wanted to ask you about the current situation in Canada. For anyone that may not know, you're living in Ottawa, Ontario right now and as of publication, the whole Province has been placed under a fairly strict lockdown. How are you holding up?
It's been touch and go. Ottawa was doing great until around October and it has just been spiriling downward from then. We live in a cold place so it's not like we can hang outside for long periods of time outside of may-september. We have gotten lucky with warm weather lately, but now everything is closed. From skateparks to soccer fields. You can only associate with people outside that are a part of your own household or you get a 750$ ticket.
I'd say my alcohol intake has risen quite a bit during this entire ordeal. My workplace is one of the only places that didnt have paid time off at the start. So it kind of fucked up my mentality of how society treats their "essential workers". Luckily I've started other work that I am more passionate about. It's takes a bit of time to break into that industry, but I'm being patient.
I can go on an entire rant about how the government is doing a terrible job about enforcing restrictions to keep cases from spreading, but I want to stay on topic towards rollerblading!
Obviously the pandemic is going to present some new conditions that didn't exist during the filming of the first two installments of the Pitcher series. Can you tell us about any unique challenges you and the crew may have faced along the way?
The cases were super low in the summer (5-10 a day), so it allowed us to have a normalish summer. Some things we missed, like going to the pubs and playing pool after sessions. We substituted this by drinking and eating at a park, and throwing a frisbee around.
As a follow up, did COVID-19 prevent you from doing anything specific for this video that you originally intended to?
100%. I wanted to be back and forth from Montreal to Ottawa all summer. There are some serious heavy hitters in Montreal that I wanted in the video for sections or montage.
It just wasn't responsible for me to do. I live with boomer parents, I work and interact with hundreds of people a day. I was kind of iffy going to sessions since my produce job was pretty sketchy at the start, when there was a lot of confusion and before everyone was onboard with precautions.
I was supposed to go to California in March 2020 with my buddy Vince. We were starting to figure out places to stay, and talking to locals. I saw the news in Europe that countries were going to get locked down and cancelled the trip. I was right because right when we were planning to go North America got hit hard.
What does the future hold for you and the Pitcher series?
When we were making the second one I was always thinking, cool I can make this a trilogy and that's it, just end it. I still intend on doing that, retiring the whole Pitcher series. Going forward I want to make videos that are a bit shorter, and more lively so the average non-blading person can enjoy watching it.
So tell me a bit more about your motivations behind the pitcher series then. The full length 40-60 minute homie videos that used to be common have become something of an endangered species. What's kept you inspired to keep that torch lit through the Pitcher trilogy?
I'd have to say the few crews that are still doing them. The Buddy Tour guys, and the Tallboyz videos have that vibe that encapsulates the feeling of having the time of your life at every session, and really loving everyone around you. It's that feeling I only really get from blading, and I try to share that through my videos.
When you look back on the Pitcher series as a whole, what, if any, lessons do you take away from it both as a videographer and a rollerblader?
I always have a plan in my head of what I want the movie to be, and then when I finally look at all the footage I have, well the footage never matches the narrative that I wanted. I learned that after Pitcher 2 that I can't really have a solid plan because things can change on you so fast (especially this time haha). Also in future projects, I'm importing all the footage directly in the timeline to reduce the editing process.
As a rollerblader, I need to learn more tricks! I look at the folder full of tricks and I think "yeah that will make a good section", but when I go through it it's all the same 4-5 tricks. That's something that needs to change.
As a filmmaker you're obviously going to have watched this video more times than anyone else so I'd love to get you to imagine you're selling each section to me and the readers right now. Can you break down the sections in 1-2 sentences and tell us what you like most about it?
Josh: Funny dude, has a wide trick vocabulary, loves his son, and still skates so hard despite being busy with a toddler and work.
Seb: High energy personality, loves gaps, and loves the camera more.
Curtis/Bobby: I tried to make it so they either skated the same spot, or did the same kind of trick in a fast back to back section. Them skating the same spots with completely different styles made me like it was appealing enough to do.
Matt (me): It feels weird to be pumping up my own tires, so I'm only going to say that I really like the song that I chose.
Brendan: He has that old school vibe. You can tell from the song he wanted to the way he skates. He usually tries to add a joke before or after, or even during his tricks. I find it the most entertaining of the entire movie.
What was the most challenging trick you had to film and can you tell us what makes it stand out in your mind?
I have two answers for this one. First one would be Simon Gemme's topsoul to gap. It was raining pretty hard and I was just squating under this cheap pharmacy umbrella that wasn't really doing anything while trying to keep my spirits up by drinking a 40oz. It was a hard spot so it's not like he got it first try either. [attached picture]
Second was Brendans ridiculous soul transfers. This one took him a really long time to get, very understandable due to the difficulty of the spot. It took out my long angle shot because the batteries died, and then I went through 3 gopro batteries before he got it. Also he banged his head super hard on a sign while trying it. The weather was on his side because it rained immediately after he got it!
