When the "sport" of skateboarding was invented in the 1950s, the genesis of the skate video began. Simply put, a skate video is, well, a video of people skateboarding. It has evolved from skaters videotaping their own gnarly moves into a creative artform and lucrative industry that is just beginning to be noticed by mainstream culture.
The modern skate video is produced by a skateboarding company or shop to showcase its "team" of riders and thus bring publicity to the company. The indirect result of this is heightened progression of skill in the skateboarding community, as skaters everywhere see the best moves of a team of professionals, and seek to emulate them. The greatest skate videos have spurred lightning fast progression in to brand new areas of skating.
Though nearly every company that has ever been associated with skateboarding has produced at least one video, some stand out above the rest in terms of production and progression, notably, Powell Peralta's "The Search for Animal Chin," one of the first skate videos to include a rudimentary plot; Blind's "Video Days," which almost singlehandedly created modern street skating; and the recent big-screen documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys."
Acclaimed music video and movie director Spike Jonze began his directing career with skate videos, filming "Video Days" and other videos.
Other skate videos on e2:
Noded because some expressed unfamiliarity with the concept of a "skate video" after I noded "sorry."