Here's an interview Gnartifact did on The Pie...
We recently got the chance to interview Bill Marshall, the editor of "The Pie 2." I discovered the video while lurking the SLAP forum, and was immediately ensnared by the dark imagery, hilarious movie snippets, homie b-roll, and raw New Jersey skateboarding beaming out of my laptop. Upon finding out that Bill was the main editor and creative director of the film, in addition to having a stand out part, I took the opportunity to ask him some questions about making the video. His answers give us but a small glimpse into the Jersey-sludge-drenched, alcohol-fueled, and all-for-fun style of skating captured in "The Whoopie Pie 2." Enjoy.
Where are you from?
I’m from Toms River, NJ, better known to the world as the town people drive through to get to the “Jersey Shore.” I live about 5 minutes from the actual house where they film the show, yes it sucks.
So does that mean you get all the gutter overflow of Jersey Slores?
The Jersey Slores are everywhere. I steer clear of those fools unless I’m really fiending a Midway cheesesteak. I have a nice Jersey girl that is nothing like a Meatball, or whatever the fuck those idiots call themselves, that I can make fun of these people with.
How did you come up with the name “The Whoopie Pie”? What is a whoopie pie?
You’ve never seen a whoopie pie? It’s like the worst possible thing a human could eat. “A confection of two small and flat chocolate pastries with cream in the middle.” The first time I saw one, I just laughed at how absurd it was, so the name kinda just stuck. My boss thought it was some weird reference to a vagina after sex. I guess we can go ahead and say that’s what it means too. Oh yeah and it’s ‘Whoopi’ because for the first one I just got a bunch of photos of Whoopi Goldberg together and threw pies at them. I guess I’m a weirdo, whatever.
Honestly, I think anyone would have to be out of their minds to question the cathartic validity of pie-ing photographs of Whoopie Goldberg... Any unique memories from making “Pie” that you would like to share?
The whole experience was essentially a huge zorch tube of hangovers, beers, and attempts to skate, but if I have to mention one: I had just stumbled upon a slew of various whiskies from my parents’ house and decided to bring a bunch of them up to my house with Nico, Matt Eaton, and Cusmano. I started drinking in the basement just listening to music super loud until Nico got back. We started raging and just being idiots. After a while we both were pretty lit up and I decided to pour a bottle into Nico’s mouth, but he warned me, “Dude if you do it, I’m going to barf everywhere.” In my drunken stupor I told him “Whatever dude just barf on me.” And to make a long story short, I did it and he threw up all over my shirt. A year later on moving day, that shirt was still laying in the corner of our basement.
I hope someone found and saved that artifact. you should have put in in a time capsule and buried it in the yard... Were there any videos that directly inspired “Whoopie Pie 2”?
Nothing really stands out as “directly inspired” to me, but I guess with all the random movie tidbits and what not, you can say the Slave video is similar. I just wanted to share my infatuation with absolute dog shit movies along with some skateboarding.
You say dogshit, I say cult horror b movies. That’s actually what I really liked about the video. splicing in the most absurd shots of gore and blood in with the normal skate video subject matter. the clips you chose pretty much brought another level of entertainment value and a fun feel to the video.
I only say dogshit because that is what most people think of those movies. I, on the other hand, find them fucking brilliant, so I’m glad you can appreciate them for the great pieces of cinema they are along with me.
Can you tell us how you decided on what films / clips to sample? Were they exclusively from the massive horror movie collection Japhey Dow told me you have?
Most of the clips I decided on were from favorites of mine. Yes they were from my absurdly too large movie collection, and I wonder why I am so broke. Most of the clips chosen for people’s parts were in correlation to movies I associated with that person or I knew they were psyched on it. Like Dillon for instance, he is obsessed with ‘Point Break.’ Obsessed to the point that he wants me to go with him to get ‘Point Break’ tattoos. Hence, his part is littered with clips from the movie.
What movie was the clip where the guy falls and morphs into little monsters from? That clip is epic. I was showing the video to a friend and he was rewinding it over and over...
‘The Gate’ dude. Such a good demonic flick. The sequel is rad as fuck too. Apparently Bill S. Preston esquire from ‘Bill and Ted’ is remaking it. Totally excellent.
Did you go to school for video or film? How did you get into videography & film?
What’s that quote from ‘Animal House?’ Oh yeah, “Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the fucking peace corps!” Yes, I am currently taking my sweet time studying film at Montclair State University.
What is your favorite part of the video-making process?
For this video in particular, my favorite part was just being there and actually being involved with everything that was going on: skating, boozing, chilling with the homies, and actually making the video. There was a point where we all pretty much lived together in a house we rented. That whole era was just one of the greatest experiences ever; filled with so many nights and things I barely remember. But in general when I’m making a video/film or whatever, my favorite part is post-work, like editing and watching everything come together. I’m not super into filming because I’d rather be skating, but I do also enjoy shooting Super 8. My inner art fag has to come out in some way I guess.
I noticed the obligatory super 8 sprinkled in the video. It’s awesome to me that when you’re filming a skate video with your friends your documenting a group of people’s lives for that time period. Your video was littered with little party clips and antics, I really like seeing b-roll spliced into videos like that its what makes homie videos stand out.
Agreed. I really wanted it to have that ‘friendly’ feel to it. The resulting footage of parties, b-roll, and what not, are just snipits of our lives, so I think it really helped make it feel like the homie video we all wanted it to be.
What was it like putting together the film and also having a part in it? How did you balance these two different roles?
Roles? This is a homie video, a video we all collectively decided on making. Just 100% pure fun. We all skate together and chill together so it pretty much just happened. We’ve talked about making it for a few years, but until I fucked my knee up I didn’t have the time to sit around and put it together. So my knee getting destroyed was a kinda blessing in disguise. Balancing the two roles didn’t really ever come into my mind while I was making it. I skate and I love to edit videos, so it just works out; when you’re not doing one, you can be doing the other.
Does your experience in video production influence your skating?
Not really. What I skate and how I skate is purely influenced by my friends and just hanging around pounding beers saying “Hell yeah we should probably skate that.” Usually after the latter, we struggle to get things done, but we know how to balance the two out. Party on dude. Skating with people like Nico, Dillon, Rozbo, and Matt Eaton is seriously one of the most mind boggling experiences. They are all so good and every time I watch them skate I am just in awe. They make me want to skate so much harder than I do. They all should be the biggest people in skateboarding right now. Anyone that has skated with them would definitely agree.
Who supported the film and helped make it possible? Who filmed the majority of the video?
The video was pretty much funded by us as a group, but Chris Nieratko and Steve Lenardo from NJ Skateshop gave us $300 to get the DVDs printed up. So many filmers contributed to this video, but really, without BJ Wishard, this video never would have happened. I’d say 85% of the video was filmed by him. He always drives us around and takes everyone to new spots without hesitation, even with his giant, gas guzzling Ford Explorer. He’s a good dude to have around when you have no idea where spots are.
Do you have plans to make another full length skate film?
We’ve talked about making a part 3, but for right now my buddy BJ is making a video of his own called ‘Feelin’ Friendly,’ so most of the new footage is going towards that, and we are hopefully making a NJ Skateshop video in the near future.
Why do you think independent video productions are important in skateboarding?
A serious question eh? For me personally, I like homie videos and local videos so much more than big company videos. It keeps the local scenes psyched on what’s going on and let’s you see what each place has to offer. Whenever I go on trips and stop at local shops, the first thing I look for is local videos or that shop’s video. It’s so much more refreshing to see new spots and kids you’ve never heard of.
Did you know you were having last part in the Foundation flow video?
No, not at all. The Foundation TM asked me to send him footage for a flow section for the ‘WTF!’ video, but he told me he wasn’t positive it would be used because it was up to the discretion of the editor. So I assumed since pretty much everyone on Foundation is gnarly as all hell, I didn’t stand a chance of being in it. I woke up one morning and my buddy Rozbo texted me telling me how psyched he was on the section and I was clueless. Definitely an awesome surprise for sure, thanks F!
That gap you blast was definitely a sick spot to find.
Haha I was scared for my life bailing away into that thing. The only 'sick' thing about it was how sketchy it made my stomach feel on every attempt.
And the obligatory shout outs...
Just want to say thanks to you guys for making this happen, my family, lovely lady friend Carrie, Chris and Steve at NJ Skateshop, everyone that hooks me up (Foundation, éS RIP, Altamont, Boner Bolts), BJ Wishard, everyone that contributed to the video, Austin Barrett for the cover art, and most importantly everyone in the video, Chris Cusmano, John Cruz, Adrian Vega, Bill Spice, Matt Eaton, Chris Rozborski, Dillon Constantine, and Nico Magalhaes. Now go to shrednj.blogspot.com
