Behind The Scenes

X Games camera man, Kamerman, pursues, captures ‘the perfect shot’

 

 

Editor’s note: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN on ABC will present X Games Los Angeles 2012, tonight through Sunday, July 1 –- one month earlier than usual — bringing all the action back to downtown Los Angeles’ L.A. LIVE venues and event spaces. More than 200 athletes will be competing for medals and prize money in the sports of skateboarding, Moto X, BMX and Rally. For more information, click here.

LOS ANGELES — X Games has witnessed some of the most memorable moments in action sports history. Behind each of these moments is the camera operator who works hard to get the story to you.

A veteran of 18 years of X Games coverage, videographer Trent Kamerman has been preparing his crew for X Games Los Angeles, which unfolds today through Sunday on several ESPN platforms.

He has shot everything from the World Cup to the Stanley Cup. But what goes into getting “the perfect shot?”

Kamerman says the essential element behind the best shots is the emotion and personality of the athlete.

“It is not one frame, not one picture,” said Kamerman, who has chronicled X Games legend Travis Pastrana’s various action sports for years. “It is knowing the entire athlete. That’s what people want to see.”

Kamerman fell in love with camera work because, “it is all about storytelling, and I love to tell peoples’ stories.”

As Pastrana’s right hand cameraman, Kamerman has learned how to get in the head of the 11-time X Games gold medalist, who will compete in RallyCross on Sunday.

Kamerman tries to capture those moments that are not meticulously calculated. He waits at the entrances and exits to gain last-minute perspective into Pastrana’s head.

During last year’s X Games, Pastrana broke his leg.

To Kamerman, the perfect shot was not the injury, but Pastrana’s recovery. Injured in the Moto X Best Trick competition on a Friday, Pastrana managed to compete in the RallyCross competition on Sunday.

Kamerman shot all of the elements involved in constructing a Rally Car with hand controls so Pastrana still could compete.

Kamerman says, “I am not a fan of the sports, but I am a huge fan of the athletes.”

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