Cooper Eddy has been a pro for SWEETS kendamas since 2015. Known for creative tricks and signature style, he also has a knack for edits. In honor of his 2017 pro video, DS sat down with Cooper to pick his brain. DS I want to skip all the basic questions, and just get right into talking about filmmaking. But first, how did you link up with Sweets? Cooper Eddy I linked up with Sweets Kendamas back in 2013 when I entered their first video sponsorship contest. Norx won the contest, but I was put onto the CKG (cross kens gang) which later turned into the homegrown team once the Homegrown was created. I grinded on the team for two years making videos, throwing events and being proactive in the community and eventually was promoted to the Pro Team! DS And that ultimately led to you Producing "The Sweets Life" and most of what you see from Sweets since then...Right? Cooper Eddy Yeah i have been making a majority of Sweets content since ive been pro but we have so many different people on the team that produce their own videos and keep our youtube up to date! DS So I want to talk about the 2017 pro edits. They are so well done, and each one so far has had its own unique feel. What do you look for to make an edit "personal"? Cooper Eddy In order to make an edit "personal" you can do so many things. The reason why the 2017 Pro vids are so personal and informative is because i interviewed each pro and used their quotes over the footage. This is super common in the film industry but storytelling like this is rarely used in kendama videos. I knew that the community would appreciate an in-depth documentary style series of videos. Visiting each pro where theyre from really helped me catch their vibe and translate that somehow into video. Their quotes together formed a story, which is really pleasing for the audience. Also, the music is a major major factor which i can go into foreverrrrr, but then just add some nasty bangers, b-role, and close-ups and your'e good! DS Storytelling is something that is so often overlooked. I think you have a knack for it. [Specifically I thought it was great allegory to show the fountain "pissing" after Norx talking about how much red bull he drank] Do you have any formal training in filmmaking? Cooper Eddy Yeah bro drinks way too much redbull! Im glad you picked that up But I don't have any sort training in filmmaking at all. I started making videos before i started playing kendama. I would just make dumb little videos with my friends and play around with special effects and stuff, but kendama is really what sparked my interest. The whole time I was getting good at filmmaking i was editing only kendama edits, I didnt make a different type of video till the past couple years or so. I would just go on youtube and look up tutorials for anything I wanted to pull off in videos. I started with Windows Movie Maker which is what i used for most of my early edits, then moved onto Sony Vegas which is a slight upgrade. Then I got into Final Cut pro, exhausted that software for eveything i could, and now i use Adobe Premiere Pro which does almost everything i need. So i really worked with what i had! I started with kendama edits using a digital camera and movie maker, and now I make videos for my job! DS Anyone who wants to tell a story can do so now. There's really no excuse when you have an amazing camera in your pocket (in the form of a cell phone. What do you think kendama needs right now? Cooper Eddy Exactly. Its less about the camera and more about what the camera is filming. Content is key. I have so many videos with barely any views and thats because there's no point to them, the content is meaningless. I think kendama needs more viral videos. The most nasty banger ever could go viral to an extent, reaching people in the kendama world and maybe a little outside of that, but there needs to be more videos that show kendama in a light that the majority of the world will enjoy. Thats the only way I think kendama will go to the next level of popularity. Thats another reason why I made the pro videos the way i did. I wanted people to enjoy it who normally wouldn't, and show kendama in a different/more inspirational light. DS agreed. Downspike is trying to foster that. Cooper Eddy Yeah DS is definitely moving kendama in that that direction! DS Ok lastly, Sweets hooked us up with your pro mod, and We want to open it up to anyone who read this and watched your edit. So, take it away... Cooper Eddy Thanks for having me! Shoutout to everyone who has copped a Coop Mod. You are directly supporting me when you do that and I appreciate it so much. And shoutout Youtube for teaching me everything I know. I want to give away this Coop Mod to the person who can think of the coolest video concept, and posts it in the comments (for example: a black/white theme or a hanging upside-down Prime unboxing or something crazy like that). Im going to pick my favorite who will win the Coop Mod, and us at Sweets might make your video concept a reality!
-Hyperlapse at a kendama event, -3 cam setup for inerviews, 1 B roll, one static on tripod from the side, one static right in front -close ups of some trick at the beginning to start off the vid or back to end off vid ( make sure the mic captures the clack)
I have always thought that an edit all filmed in a car would be pretty cool. Tricks just seem a little bit more satisfying when you are sitting in a small space and lace.
great edit man I've always loved the loud click-clacking of the kendama so it would be cool to have that as the beat of the song in an edit. I like the look of cardboard and neon signs. So a cardboard style wall in the background with a neon sign I feel like would work pretty well. Also creativity is the key for an awesome edit. ben heralds recent edit is a great example.
set up the camera for a full/wide shot and you will have different shots in different locations but you will be in the same place. You'll lace the same or different trick every location. This would be a great idea when you start to travel around the world Its pretty much like this video but instead of dancing its dama tricks
I feel like what would be pretty dope would be something like a "yank around the world" type deal where you have everyone submit clips of them yank spiking and say what they love about kendama, as well as where they're from and you could compile that into a sick video. I feel like yank is good because it's something that everyone can do.
Do an in-house paint contest! Bring in a bunch of people from the sweets office and have them all paint their own tama.
have you ever seen the invisible skateboard video? doing something like that for kendama would be pretty interesting either have the kendama blanked out so you have to guess what trick they're doing or have the player blanked out so you only see the kendama, personally i like the first idea a bit better because it would focus more or the player and less on the trick
Have all of the pros(including you) do a K.E.N. battle against each other with one other person(or any odd amount of people for that matter to even out the number of people), but the challenge is that you all have to stand on one leg and use your non-dominant hand to lace. Also, you have to use a mini Sweets(optional challenge).
Also, I could tell some of the tricks and scenes were shot in Japan. When Cooper was filming at the rocks and river, you could see he had blonde hair(he bleached it), and when it zoomed into his pro model at 6:34, you can see that the seal had no white ring around the cross kens, and that was pretty much the prototype seal for all the mods released at KWC back in the summer.
Great interview and edit. More please! I've been thinking it would be super cool and unique to have a video that was shot from the perspective of the kendama itself. Like kind of personify the kendama, or look through the "eyes" of the kendama on its journey, as it performs new tricks, maybe is played by different people, its relationship to other kendamas, etc. I know it is pretty out there, but hey, there you go.
something like the sweets like but The sweet life you attach a small lightweight camera to a kendama and film the entire day of seshing dama or at a comp
Have an obstacle course competition at a park with balance beam, giant spider, rope ladder, sand pit, swing and giant octopus!!! And a speed ladder competition at Stonehenge if the wind isn't blowing 30 mph...lol! SWEETS LIFE. #Odessa
It be cool if someone had an all green dama and Ken, and you could green screen it out to be a video of outer space or something
I would love to see an aerial/ground edit. Loved the ground view of Wiens in the old Kaizen stripe edit. Think it would be nice to see tricks from directly above and below (also think that would make for some nice editing). Maybe even get some drone action involved!!
Duct tape yourself to the wall and do an unboxing or a review or a collection or even an interview but something involving duct taping yourself to the wall!
- the whole sweets team ( focus, hg, legends and pro) in 1 huge edit - revamp the sweets kendama tutorials by adding more tricks like made up tricks by pros - SWEETS LIFE IN ROMANIA - the making of a sweets kendama (in house painting, assembly,) - going to more elementary/middle schools
What about a Sweets X Sweets edit - Sweets as in candy, so a candy themed edit. You guys have some of the most crazy tama colorways, and some of them really looks like candy with the intense colors. So an edit with "sweet" kendama players from Sweets, playing on Sweets kendamas who look like sweets(candy), while eating real sweets(candy, not the man...), with some "sweet" editing, haha. Maybe you can make it like a series, with each episode representing a different candy - ex: A licorice themed edit, with black tamas , black clothes and a more heavy and "dark" vibe in the editing. Or a gum themed edit, with bright pink tamas, pink clothes and a fresh/hysteric vibe in the editing. I know it's kind of a meta idea, but I think it holds a lot of different possibilities.
Big fan of your videography. Your style is very different from everyone else. It got a soulection vibe. I think for a cool video concept, it should be a timeline. So for an example, clips from day one with Kendama until now. You could even sesh with your very first dama. And keep adding the soulection feel to it. Congrats on your first pro model.