TS Crew DVD The Arc, Trowbridge
10:08am Wednesday 25th January 2012 in Latest News
A skateboarding video produced by a gang of Trowbridge skaters will be shown again at the Porter Cellar bar in Bath on Thursday, Jan 26; doors open at 8 with the showing around 9pm. The free event has been set up by Detour Skate Shop in Bath, who will also be selling DVDs in their store the following day.
A plank with four castors on it becomes an artefact of adventure and some danger, when transformed by urban sports enthusiasts in this remarkable video shot by Trowbridge skateboarders.
I knew some of the Crew at Trowbridge (now Wiltshire) College. Always ready to work hard, have a laugh and play even harder – concrete is an unforgiving medium – these young men amazed us then with their quite fearless tricks and flips.
At this celebration of their sport you had to be on at least nodding acquaintance with the arts of shooting and editing to appreciate why this film took three years to complete. Picture dizzy flights of concrete stairwells plunging down to stone barriers, and then add a skater who leaps onto a handrail, balancing a board perfectly all the way down, where a ‘bail’ (crash) can mean a broken set of fingers, legs or teeth. Softy couch potatoes these folk are not!
There was lyricism in the long, graceful, following shots of a skater lit by summer evening light; sometimes a delicate glow of a Wiltshire sunset, at other times a Mediterranean chiaroscuro from Barcelona. Locals will have seen them clattering, leaping and rolling along the caverns of the Asda car park or watched them opposite the station as they gyrate and loop on the skate park.
Friendship is all important to skaters. If you know any of these young men who frequent The Stallards, you will know how they look after their own. Each generation teaches and encourages the new youngsters to the sport, cheering them on and helping them over the hard knocks. The capacity audience roared with laughter and applauded each performer as they appeared. You could not help but be carried along by the sense of camaraderie and fun.
The film was shot using techniques that brought the action as close as possible to the audience. Sometimes the shots were at ankle height so that the viewer was carried along at seemingly breathtaking pace alongside or just behind the performer. Fish-eye lenses were used to maximise continuity and add unusual perspectives. The Oscar must go to the editing team who stitched hours of footage together to create a seamless piece or film.
These young film-makers are dedicated to what they do: more than that, they reflect a robust community spirit that some think is dying. A copy of the film will be on sale soon.
Paul Hamel
