The Creation of "Pass That Dutch"

IMP-Style: "Pass That Dutch"


My third IMP-Style video (and second solo) was burning to be shot. I was still all-fired up about "The Anthem", and Outi and I had just collaborated on "Rub My Back". After spending most of the day cutting for our duet, I'd run out with Z (my motorcycle) and shoot bits for "Pass That Dutch." (Z actually has a few cameos in the video, in the background in a couple of shots, and in the frame with its light on for a night scene).

If you read the Anthem Blog, you'll see that my initial inspiration was simple: just top-rocking (bipedal dance) in an urban environment. In the Anthem, I found a few three-dimensional variations (railings, wall supports), to change it up some, but with "Pass That Dutch", I really wanted to expand that.

I have been playing with parkour for a couple of years now, and more specifically, I've been "adventuring." Adventuring is not always about physical feats, but is also about facing other kinds of fears, like fears of being caught, when trespassing. For example, I was shooting some parkour for a Stick's Riffs at the train yard recently, when I was arrested, cuffed, and put in the back of the squad car by L.A.'s Sheriff's Dept. Thankfully, I had my camera rolling:

Also thankfully, the Sheriff and his Deputy just let me go with a warning. I immediately went out and trespassed some more, because you can't let fear rule your adventure.

So I was determined that "Pass That Dutch" would combine my love for dance with my taste for adventure, and sought out locations that would let me dance, in the face of my own fear.

My main location for "PTD" was City Fibers, a paper recycling plant that takes up a couple city blocks just below downtown. They had already shooed me away, when I earlier went riding through on Z, scouting for fun stuff, so I knew I had to play it lo-pro.

In the following clip, I lost my balance while climbing on an enormous pile of recycling bins. What scared me was not the near-fall, so much as giving myself away, because there were workers just over a fence. You can see me looking out to see if I had been noticed.



Just around the corner from the bin pile, inside a fence, was this beautiful canyon of paper bales for recycling. I had noticed it, the first time I drove through, but there had always been someone in or around there. Then, on my third time snooping around City Fibers, I saw the gate open, and the canyon empty. The light was perfect, and I knew I had to sneak in while the opportunity was ripe. Of course, I didn't escape unnoticed. In the following clip, you can hear the forklift rider say: "What's up, fool?" I walked out, but, of course, as soon as he had passed, I raced back in, and that served as one of the opening shots for the video. I always love, when possible, including the chance passerby or incident as an element in the video.


Another such element was the truck that passed underneath me, when I was dancing on the train signal structure. This is right next to the L.A. Times building, where the rail road tracks (that bring the Times their paper) crosses the road. Just a moment of the truck shows up in the video, but it's always nice to reveal just how precarious and foolish my dance locations are.

What you can't see on camera (because I didn't include the road in the shot), was the cop car that turned the corner literally five seconds before I was about to climb. Having just been arrested for trespassing on railroad property, I count myself lucky.

Probably the scariest location for me this time was the overpass (over Washington Blvd.). It wasn't technically difficult, but it was my first shot of the day (and I had to hurry, because the light was fading). It's much easier to face risk (and especially to surrender into dance in the face of risk), after I've warmed up into it. That risk was compounded by a couple of vagrants, who were somewhat belligerent about this unknown person with a camera lurking around their lawless territory, but they left me alone when I promised I wouldn't shoot them. Too bad, because they'd be a nice addition to this blog!