This is just a quick heads up to let you know that a plethora of teams will be on the annual Lords of the Swords video mission across the whole of Essex filming their socks off for this year’s comp on the weekend of 24th-26th August. Once the damage has been recorded and edited, we will bring you the full vote so that you can all pick your favourite edit from the crop and a winner will take the honours.
Watch 2011’s entries to this here and get hyped for the return.
This weekend’s Downtown Showdown held in Amsterdam went offin fine style. If you didn’t manage to tune into the live stream of the event from Vans then catch up with the highlights from all 4 teams.
Flip team rider Overall “Best Pro” Luan Oliveira skated with remarkable consistency and smooth style, landing tricks and winning 1st place on the Palace Obstacle and the Blueprint Obstacle. Best Overall Am was Element team rider Ross McGouran, who also took 3rd place on the Flip obstacle, skating hard all day. He made every transfer the windmill-inspired Antiz obstacle had to offer.
Flip:
Inside the massive Gasholder building at the Flip Obstacle the atmosphere intensified with heavy hitting last tricks and a solid performance by first place finisher Dominik Dietrich, who set the bar with a wallie up and Nollie heelflip down the ledge.
Vans Downtown Showdown 2012 – Amsterdam – Flip Obstacle Highlights. from Vans Europe on Vimeo.
Blueprint:
At Blueprint, Luan Oliveira landed a variety of flip tricks over the pyramid and on the ledge. Billy Marks double flipped the gap to flat and walked away with 1,000 Euros for 2nd place. Technical and creative skater Dallas Rockvam took third place by using the entire design, which was inspired by the barges and canals of Amsterdam.
Vans Downtown Showdown 2012 – Amsterdam Blueprint Obstacle Highlights. from Vans Europe on Vimeo.
Antiz:
The Antiz Obstacle rose above the venue floor like a classical Dutch Windmill on Acid. Rob Smith took first place by skating every angle, while Ben Nordberg’s backside nose blunt on the extension ricocheted into applause that reverberated off the walls.
Vans Downtown Showdown 2012 – Amsterdam ANTIZ Obstacle Highlights. from Vans Europe on Vimeo.
Palace:
Vans Downtown Showdown 2012 – Amsterdam – Palace Obstacle Highlights. from Vans Europe on Vimeo.
Paddy Jones has a full Rat Signal section online today filmed by Mark Jackson for Slam City Skates. Grey Magazine have an interview online today with pics by Lex Kembery. Watch and read.
Paddy Jones ft. Jacob Sawyer – Rat Signal for Slam City Skates from Mark Jackson on Vimeo.
By Ralph Lloyd Davis
If the rose-tinted image of a skate video was like a cute mogwai in our eyes, the internet came along and threw the little thing we love and hold dear into an Olympic-sized outdoor pool with a finger buffet stacked heavily beneath the diving boards. Footage has literally flooded the internet and our retinas over the last few years and today you can quite easily spend an entire afternoon and evening watching pros, amateurs and oddballs flip, spin and launch themselves the world over in pixelated 3 minute bursts.
Without bashing the free perspective of this digital media, many filmers and cinematographers take this opportunity to put their hard work out there for our viewing pleasure and ask for nought in return. Unfortunately they are small fish in an ocean teeming with life, so we thought we could fish a few out for you to take notice. These deserve to be bookmarked and watched full screen so get the teas on and push play.
The Golden Triangle by Boris Proust
Boris Proust has unleashed a fantastic travel edit featuring himself, Peter Molec, Fabian Verhaeghe, Alexis Greusard, Joachim Fromant, Joseph Biais and Samuel Partaix skating through India’s wonderful terrain. Sit back and take in this short film feature titled The Golden Triangle.
Offset Skateboarding Film by Commune
Comune’s experimental short featuring Jordan Sanchez, Al Partenan, Nial Frederickson, Josh Murphy and Joseph Lopez is. Directed and Edited by Jordan Minardi and Noel Sinclair Boyt.
Color Your Memories by Ludovic Azémar
A French full-length feature focused on upcoming amateur skateboarders from Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon. Featuring Alex Richard, Valentin Bauer, Sylvain Tognelli, Guillaume Dulout, Sean Hanley and Remy Taveira.
Skateboard Cafe Promo ’12 by Rich Smith
A full length video from Bristol-based crew The Skateboard Cafe. Featuring Harry Ogilvie, Shaun Currie, Josh Arnott, Tom Gibbs, Louis Marshall, Pat Garrahy, Barney Page, The Cafe Family, Korahn Gayle, Andy Coleman, Ben Rowles, Nicky Howells and more! Filmed and edited by Rich Smith.
Studio Skateboards Moodlighting by Dave Pelletier, Jason Auger and Jai Ball
Canadian Studio Skateboards presents their team video in collaboration with Slap Magazine. Featuring Joey Larock, Wade Fyfe, Kyle Macdonald, Darrell Smith, Mike Fyfe, Jai Ball, Jean Mat Vincent, and Chris Melvin. Filmed by Dave Pelletier.
More from the Couch Potato very soon…feel free to recommend yours to us here.
The Essex skate scene has unleashed the first dagger to alert skateboarders that this year’s Lords of the Swords skate video comp is set to run on the weekend of 25th August!
Last year, 9 teams put in the effort to shred various spots, tick the boxes on tough challenges and film their edits as best possible at various Essex street spots, parks and more. Over the bank holiday weekend of 25th and 26th of August, the scene down there will be on the road and we will be covering the updates as they drop and of course, we will bring you the all of the videos for you to vote a winner.
Watch last year’s videos here and get hyped on what’s coming.
LORDS OF THE SWORDS 2011 – TEAM D.S.D from Thomas Hole on Vimeo.
The Flip Skateboards team will visit the UK in July for an evening session at Hemel Hempstead’s XC park on Thursday July 12th.
The date is set in stone and the rider list could possibly include David Gonzalez, Luan Oliveira, Arto Saari, Tom Penny, Lance Mountain, Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Ben Nordberg, Greyson Fletcher, Geoff Rowley and Rune Glifberg.
This list of visiting pro’s will be confirmed nearer the time but get this date in your dairy and get your tickets sorted from the skate park. the session will start at 7pm.
Watch Ben Nordberg’s brand new full section for Flip released last week in advance of this visit and get hyped.
TransWorld have uploaded their Hallelujah DVD overnight onto YouTube as part of a rental agreement. You will now be able to rent the film made by by Jon Holland and Chris Ray for 99p over a 72 hour period.
This production includes sections from Ryan Decenzo, Pete Eldridge, Taylor Bingaman, Tyler Bledsoe, and Torey Pudwill and was released back in 2010, click through to their page from this trailer to find out more.
Tom Knox takes Edit of the Week hands down today with this brand new section filmed for Emerica and Blueprint.
He joined the Emerica UK team in February this year and has continued to smash it. This new section has backed that up ten fold moving up to the European team this week, get ready for a seriously great edit filmed by Jake Harris edited by Dan Magee.
Following the previous fun video features put together with Koston, Marty Murawski and John Motta in the mix, Off The Grid returns this month with an edit featuring Eli Reed & Zered Bassett.
Click play for some wet cruiser sessions in NYC whilst Hurricane Irene made its way through the area this month.
The Welsh scene celbrated the Porthcawl Skatepark that Maverick have delivered them recently. Watch all the footage from the gathering at this amazing park courtesy of Matthew Ryan here.