Flip the Script | FUJIFILM Exposure Center – USA

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6 minute read

Flip the Script

Despite growing up with a fanatical love of skateboarding, Jasmine Quinones always felt like an outsider. Looking to right that wrong with her new film, Push, she took X-H2S along for the ride…

Did you ever feel out of place, even when doing something you loved? It’s something Jasmine Quinones knew only too well. “At 10 years old, I was so obsessed with skating,” she says. “I bought the magazines, watched the videos, and dressed in all the skate clothes. I was at the skatepark every weekend – and when I wasn’t there, I skated in my driveway. I would not quit!”

But sadly, Jasmine did quit. For a while at least. The little girl with skating in her soul saw less and less of the halfpipes and bowls. Inspired, but not encouraged, she never felt truly welcome. “I think that kind of thing happens to a lot of girls,” she continues. “Whatever they’re into, if it’s not a historically ‘feminine’ hobby, they fall away as they move through school. They start caring more about what other people think and wanting to fit in.”

Young girl lying on street outside house with skateboard beside her

So, she was pushed away from her passion, feeling unsupported and alone. “I was never told I was cool for skateboarding,” Jasmine recalls. “And I didn’t have friends who were skaters, either. I felt that I wasn’t as good as the other people at the park, because they were all boys and much better. When I got to high school, I just didn’t skate proudly – not like I did when I was 10 or 11.”

But with a more mature outlook, that pride returned. “If I saw an empty skatepark or heard a skateboard in the next street, I would light up with excitement,” she exclaims. “I thought: ‘Why did I ever give up skating? Why did I throw all that away?’ I guess I never stopped loving its physicality and creativity. I just stopped feeling like I needed to fit in.”

Young woman skateboarder grinding along ledge in skatepark

Photo 2022 © Jasmine Quinones

Newly inspired, Jasmine sought a way of distilling that feeling and passing it on to others. As a director, cinematographer, and editor, there was only one way to do it. Her short film, Push – made with FUJIFILM X-H2S – is a love letter to skateboarding and, in a way, to her younger self. It’s a message from the woman to the child that says, keep doing what you love and being yourself.

The film blends run-and-gun documentary styles with more narrative and experimental storytelling, requiring a precise blend of skills. Fortunately, with X-H2S, Jasmine had all that she needed. And alongside her emotional journey with skating, Jasmine had been on another path to becoming a storyteller.

“I studied communications at college, which had a few minor hands-on filmmaking classes,” she says. “But right as I was about to graduate, I decided to focus on being a filmmaker. From there it snowballed and, a bit like my young obsession with all things skating, I devoured everything I could. I learned about creating a nice image, technical aspects of cameras, and framing and editing to make something feel a certain way.”

As well as taking inspiration from music promos and short documentaries, Push strongly references the skate videos she watched endlessly as a child. “For me, video has always been really intertwined with skating,” she explains. “It’s core to the culture, because skaters want to practice and refine their tricks, and see them back. Or document themselves skating in a cool place. It could take 200 tries to land from a rail, but it’s worth it and you want to remember it.

“When I got into filmmaking, I had that core inspiration,” she continues. “And I wanted Push to inherit some of that rawness, while weaving in the more narrative and autobiographical elements. Like any story, to do that I needed a variety of techniques, from studio to location, but X-H2S handled them all with ease.”

Young woman skateboarding through large, concrete skatepark

Photo 2022 © Jasmine Quinones

A big part of the process was filming the action of the skatepark. “We had to work super light,” Jasmine says. “Sometimes I was filming from my board, or running around the park with X-H2S to document the energy of the situation. Other times, my DOP, Ian, was filming me while he rode his Onewheel. Either way, the ergonomics of X-H2S were amazing. When it’s stripped down, you can easily film one-handed, thanks to its light weight and large grip. And the in-body image stabilization is powerful enough to keep everything clear without a gimbal.”

With Jasmine looking to photograph skaters as they pulled off tricks, a key requirement was for them to be perfectly focused and exposed. Fortunately, X-H2S’s AI-powered subject recognition AF was up to the task. “We played around a lot with the specific subject-tracking modes, and found that the motorcycle setting worked very well for skaters, as they follow a similar upright stance,” she explains. “And whether it was me or Ian moving, the skaters zooming past, or both of us in motion, it always found and followed them with ease.”

Young woman skateboarder performing flip trick in orange room

Photo 2022 © Jasmine Quinones

Additionally, X-H2S’s ability to record Apple ProRes 10-bit footage internally meant further freedoms. “Working without a monitor or external drive, but still mastering dynamic range was massive,” Jasmine says. “There were times I was definitely concerned about the harsh lighting at the skatepark, but the ProRes 4:2:2 files gave us all we needed in the highlights and shadows, and graded beautifully.

“For Push, we filmed mainly in 4K in 60p, and also 120p for the slow-motion sequences,” Jasmine continues. “And throughout the project, it never showed any signs of overheating, even though we were working for five hours at a time in direct sun. The 6K mode let me push in or pull out of some scenes in full quality, so it’s really useful in the workflow.”

Finding ways to tell the story meant visual experimentation, too. “I definitely wanted to mix up the styles within the film, so that its message connected emotionally,” she says. In particular, the symbolic sequences that illustrate her loss of clarity about skating balance beautifully with the more documentary and filmic styles. “We made those with really slow shutter speeds, to create this blurry and chaotic feel. It definitely symbolizes how nothing was clear to me and I just wasn’t myself.”

Young woman skateboarding along sidewalk as sun sets behind city skyline

Photo 2022 © Jasmine Quinones

Now in a relationship with skating where she’s more – if not entirely – comfortable, Jasmine is pleased to give something back to the culture she loves, hopefully inspiring a few girls to take to the concrete. “The funny thing is that now, as a 27-year-old, I’m a whole different ‘other’ at the skatepark,” she laughs. “But a bit like those old skate videos, with all the falls and mistakes, where the trying finally pays off, with Push I feel I’ve learned a lot, too. X-H2S was a big part of that success, showing that you don’t need a large camera and lots of accessories to make something cinematic. As the film is now going on the festival circuit, that’ll be a new experience for me, too.”

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Featured Photographer

Jasmine Quinones

Jasmine Quiñones is an Austin, Texas-based filmmaker and director. Originally from Boston, MA she moved to Austin in 2019 to continue her work as a freelance filmmaker.
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