Mario Skate

In this video set to Savant’s “Vario,” long-boarding and Nintendo’s Mario Kart collide for a fun-filled romp through the industrial backwaters of Los Angeles.

Created by Corridor Digital (founded by Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer), the project features an electric-powered longboard, PVC pipe camera rigs and a justifiable reason for shooting at 60fps: because it looks like a video game. (I’m not sure Peter Jackson would like that rationale.)

Corridor Digital’s shoot-from-the-hip style and toothy enthusiasm is quintessential YouTube filmmaking. Their making of video (above) is chock full of tips delivered in an endearingly earnest manner — they look like they’re genuinely having a blast making this stuff, and they’re happy to share their discoveries along the way.

They also detail the pitfalls of comping CG into wide angle GoPro footage. To make life easier, they used Element 3D for some of the “title-like” elements (the leaderboards, for example), which saved them from producing and comping true 3D shots.

For the remaining CG shots, they leaned on Octane Render, which is gaining huge momentum in the motion design community (probably due in large part to its support for Cinema 4D).

Check out Corridor Digital’s Patreon page for more information about the team.

Oh, and if you liked “Mario Skate,” you’ll like “Ballin’ Out of Control.”