DOCTRINE & CREED

THE OBSIDIAN MANIFESTO

We reject corporate sponsorship agreements, brand endorsements, paid subscription tiers, and sanitized contest leagues. We preserve raw street culture as an open commons.

FOUNDATIONAL CREED MMXXVI CODE: OBSIDIAN-OATH-DOC-01

THE HERMETIC STREET OATH

1. THE CITY IS A RECEPTACLE OF MOVEMENT: Architecture was drawn by draftsmen for commerce and surveillance, but its destiny is redeemed when four urethane wheels carve its angles. A stair set is not a barrier; it is an altar of gravity.

2. ZERO COMMERCE // ZERO PAYWALLS: Every clip we film, every spot coordinate we log, and every deck graphic we render is 100% free for the community. We refuse to sell out our spots or gatekeep the streets for influencer clout.

3. TAPE OVER CLOUD: We shoot on 3CCD magnetic tape (Sony DCR-VX1000, Panasonic HVX200) with Century MK1 fisheyes. Analog friction creates archival permanence that algorithmic feeds cannot compress or monetize.

4. LEAVE THE SPOT BETTER: We carry quick-setting epoxy, bondo, rub bricks, and heavy-duty trash bags. When we leave a DIY spot at dawn, the run-up is swept, the ledge is waxed with precision, and the area is cleaner than we found it.

THE OPERATORS

COLLECTIVE RIDER ROSTER

Meet the core crew navigating night sessions, filming lines, and engineering new DIY spots across the metropolitan grid.

Portrait of Malik Vance

MALIK VANCE

ALIAS: "NOLLIE GHOST" // NEW YORK

Master of high-speed technical nollie flip combinations over long stair sets and polished marble plazas. Night owl operator.

STANCE: Goofy
SETUP: 8.25" Maple / 149 Titanium / 53mm 101a
SIGNATURE: Nollie Heelflip Down 8
FAVORITE SPOT: The Vault Plaza
Portrait of Sora Lin

SORA LIN

ALIAS: "CURB ARCHITECT" // TOKYO/SF

Pioneer of slappy grind geometry and manual combinations on neglected concrete infrastructure. Chief curator of spot wax formula.

STANCE: Regular
SETUP: 8.5" Custom Egg / Hollow Lights / 54mm 99a
SIGNATURE: Slappy Crooked to Fakie 360
FAVORITE SPOT: Brickyard Curbs
Portrait of Niko Bellic

NIKO BELLIC

ALIAS: "DEATH LENS" // BERLIN

Primary filmer and heavy rail charger. Specializes in single-take rolling lines filmed 2 inches above the pavement at full speed.

STANCE: Regular
SETUP: 8.38" Deck / 52mm Conical Full / VX1000 Rig
SIGNATURE: FS Feeble on Kinked Rail
FAVORITE SPOT: Canal Brutalist Bank
Portrait of Kaelen Reed

KAELEN REED

ALIAS: "VOID SHIFTER" // LONDON

Transition technician capable of finding wallrides on any vertical surface. Handcrafts all collective 3D deck pressings.

STANCE: Goofy
SETUP: 8.75" Square Tail / 159 Stage 11 / 56mm 97a
SIGNATURE: Blunt Fakie on 12ft Wallride
FAVORITE SPOT: Civic Center Stage
HARDWARE & ARCHIVE RIG

VX1000 & FISHEYE HARDWARE SPECS

Why we preserve analog 3CCD sensors and how our filming rig captures the intimate physics of street skateboarding.

THE SONY DCR-VX1000 SETUP

Released in 1995, the VX1000 remains the benchmark of skateboard audio-visual fidelity. Its 3 CCD sensors render raw street colors with unrivaled depth, while its internal microphone captures the crisp snap of maple wood against pavement like no modern microphone can replicate.

OPTICS: Century Precision Optics MK1 0.3x Ultra Fisheye ("Death Lens")
STORAGE: Sony DVM-60PR MiniDV Premium Magnetic Tape
AUDIO: Stereo 16-bit 48kHz Uncompressed PCM
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/500s or 1/1000s for sharp frame-by-frame pop clarity

MINIDV PRESERVATION LAB

Every captured tape is digitized via uncompressed FireWire IEEE 1394 captures, stored in dual RAID-1 vault drives, and physically archived in airtight Faraday cases to withstand magnetic degradation.

100% Lossless DV
0 Audio Compression
COMMUNITY CODE

SPOT BUILDING & STREET ETHICS

The non-negotiable rules every Obsidian Oath rider and contributor upholds on the asphalt.

RULE 01 // BONDING

EPOXY & RUB BRICK INTEGRITY

Never skate raw chattered concrete without first grinding it smooth with a carborundum rub brick and applying clear industrial concrete sealer. Respect the architectural integrity so the spot lasts for years.

RULE 02 // WAX HYGIENE

PRECISE WAX APPLICATION

Do not cake soft candle wax onto marble edges in hot midday sun where pedestrians can slip. Use hard paraffin or gulf wax with light coats, buffed in with an old skateboard wheel.

RULE 03 // PACK OUT JUNK

LEAVE NO EVIDENCE

All grip tape scrap, broken deck plies, drink cans, and sticker peel backings must be placed in city receptacles. Clean spots survive security sweeps; messy spots get knobbed and demolished.