WATCH: Revealing the beauty in skateboarding

Monday 25 March 2019

Local skateboarders have got creative with colour in a bid to show the hidden beauty in their sport.

'Gold Dust' features two local skateboarders, Dillon Catney and Eddie de Rocha, pulling ollies and flip tricks in a cloud of coloured powder as the sun sets at Corbière.

Local producer and director,  Slingshot Films' Mark Errington said the movie was a project close to his heart. 

Video: The skateboarders in action in 'Gold Dust'. (Slingshot Films)

Although he normally works on commercial content, Mark says he was inspired to work with skateboarders out of the personal respect he has for them. 

“Skateboarding has a great communal feel and incorporates incredible skill," Mark said. "When it’s done right, you can really appreciate how much skill it takes and that’s something to respect. It’s such a controversial sport but it really should be respected. 

"We also found the representation of the sport to be a bit repetitive and thought that adding an experimental edge could really change the way people viewed skating and skate culture."

Pictured: Mark directed 'Gold Dust' with Dillon Catney and Eddie de Rocha as main characters.

The short video shows Dillon - “a local master with an abundance of talent”, as Mark describes him, who is also an advocate for the Jersey Skateboard Association (JSA), a group set up to be the "ear and voice" of the skateboarding community following the closure of the skatepark at New North Quay - and Eddie, a JSA member, showing what they do best on their boards.

Mark says both had a lot of input in the video, offering different ideas. “Skateboarding is their expertise; they know it in and out. It was amazing to watch them. They showed us their tricks with four cameras on them. It was a lot of pressure for them!”

Mark said that 'Gold Dust' aimed to show the “visual impact of skateboarding, the colours, explosive movements and the precise details that lead up to a trick".

Pictured: Dillon Catney and Eddie de Rocha are both members of the Jersey Skateboarding Association. (Andy Le Gresley)

He therefore decided to incorporate coloured powders on the boards and the deck “to capture the sheer power and split-seconds of skill that go into these amazing tricks”.

“As they go through the powder, it gets pushed in so many different ways. It gets kicked everywhere. We wanted to capture the power they put into it and show the force. It’s like an engine, it explodes everywhere. It’s almost as a trail of smoke following behind them.”

'Gold Dust' was shot in one evening – “it all happened here and then” Mark says – with the landscape changing all the time. Speaking of the location - overlooking Corbiere – it wasn’t picked randomly and plays an integral part in “Gold Dust”, offering a stunning background to the many tricks. 

Pictured: The video was shot from day to night in one evening. (Andy Le Gresley)

“We live on a beautiful island, that’s something we always try to maximise,” Mark said. “It’s almost like you are never without a location. The setting was incredibly important to us, we wanted to incorporate Jersey’s incredible coastline and natural landscape and juxtapose it with the traditional urban visuals of skate culture.”

Mark also took advantage of the "huge creativity" in the island and worked with a number of creatives on the video. Ryan Lang helped with filming, Jenna Buesnel with editing while TT Digital and STS Graphics covered aerial footage and design. Photographer Andy Le Gresley provided all the images of the shoot.

While this is not Mark’s first personal project, he says it’s among those that make him most proud. “What we ended up with was something far more visually impressive than we imagined, the combination of a simply stunning setting along with the dynamic and vibrant colours set against the golden sunset led us to where we are,” he said.

Pictured: Local creatives were involved in the filming. (Andy Le Gresley)

The director is already looking forward to future opportunities to film the JSA members.

“We are going to do more with them, they are a great group of guys. We have done personal projects with surfers, athletes… to help them and give them some exposure. It’s always about finding the hidden talents!”