Matt Oistacher: Criteria for an Interview

I probably don't need to explain who Matt is. If you skateboard and you are from Jacksonville, you know that Matt is responsible for creating Criteria for Failure, one of the best skate vids to come out of North Florida in recent years. Matt wants to put Jacksonville back on the map, and with efforts like this, I don't think anyone can stop him from doing just that. 

Well first off, Congrats on finally finishing Criteria for Failure. You've been working on it for so long! Do you even remember how long it's been since you started working on it?

Thank you, thank you. I honestly remember having barely enough footage for the first promo I ever put out for it and I'd say that was in the fall of 2009. I guess you could say that's when we officially started working on it.
 

It's seems like it's been received pretty well. Is there anything you wish you could have done with the video that you just had to say no to? Where there any tough decisions on tricks to cut?

I mean with any project there's always going to be more you wish you could do, but that always leaves room for improvement for the next time around.

Was C4F filmed primarily in Jacksonville?

Yes, primarily it was mostly shot here in Jacksonville with the exception of all of the trips we took. Also, Nick's whole second song is the footage he got while living in California.
 

Tell me about some of your favorite tricks you've filmed so far.
 

Damn that's a hard one. Jamal's ender is one of my favorites though for sure just because it was first try and kind of came out of nowhere. Spencer's last trick is another one of my favorites just because of the location. I think people were really surprised that spot made it into the video.

So how many people would you say were involved with filming, over all?

I'd say probably 90% of the video was filmed by myself. A lot of others contributed clips they had for the friends' section or clips they had of people with parts.

Do you have any stories to tell about sketchy run-ins, or funny experiences at weird spots? Jacksonville is so big; I know you've had to have experienced a few weird run-ins while filming the video.

I'd say all of the weird stories occurred at one place--Hemming Plaza. Recently we went and lit it up at night, and some bum was there playing with himself on one of the benches. Another time, about 20 bums tried to start a royal rumble match with us ‘cause they didn't like that we were filming them.

Ha ha! I remember there used to be a cop that we all called Robocop, some homeless guy threw a slice of old pizza at his head while he was writing my friend a ticket.

Anyway, what's the most important piece of equipment in your filmer bag?
 

It's gotta be all the batteries I have. What good is a camera if it doesn't turn on?

I agree with that! What kind of board setup do you have to film with?

I use a zip zinger. It gets the job done.

So let's talk about your influences - What have been your biggest inspirations a skate film maker?

I would definitely say Jason Hernandez is my all-time favorite filmer, and Ty Evans being a close second. However, my biggest inspiration for the video was my wanting to get Jacksonville back on the map in the skateboarding world.

That's respectable. In the 70s and 80s, it was pretty much a hot spot. So you mentioned Ty Evans, that guy uses some crazy stuff to film with. 
If you had an unlimited budget for filming, tell me the first few things you would buy and what you would want to film with it.

Unlimited budget? Damn that'd be crazy! Definitely would get a new Panasonic HVX200 and the extreme fisheye. Probably a new computer with newer programs. Maybe get some crazy explosives and blow some stuff up. That's a hard question; I guess I'd actually have to have the money to accurately answer that for you.

Ha-ha. Fair enough. What do you edit with now?

MacBook Pro, Final Cut Pro 7, and Adobe After Effects CS3.
 

The video looks super clean. Did you teach yourself to edit, or did you take classes? I know after effects can be pretty tough to pick up and learn all by yourself.

I pretty much just taught myself.

So where can I buy Criteria for Failure?

C4fvideo.weebly.com. Kona had copies but I'm not sure how many are left.

Awesome. Thanks so much for your time! 

No, Thank you!