SomeBetterDays
Introducing our first film by our in-house videographer Jamie 'Chizel' Hamer, entitled SomeBetterDays. Filmed primarily around key coastal spots in the South West of England, such as Plymouth and Torbay - with a quick trip to Bedworth in the Midlands to one of Chiz's favourite spots from his hometown, as well as some never before seen footage from the team’s trip to Barcelona last year. SomeBetterDays gives us a welcome reminder of pre-Covid 19 days where travel was easy and hugs were allowed, reassuring us that more good times aren’t too far away.
The idea for SomeBetterDays was born from recent additions to the Flatspot Skate team: Matt Beer, Aaron Jago, Josh Harper, Cam Ash and Glen Brooks who have joined together as a collective of solid South West talent that you get to see hyping off one another alongside OG team riders Harry King, Steve Attfield and Jack Gorham.
The video begins with footage filmed during the skate team trip to Barcelona, a well done long weekend stay for the guys following winning 1st place at the Vans Shop Riot 2019. Using one of Barcelona’s many side streets to their advantage, the intro clip shows Steve Attfield tre-flipping over a road gap and taking a slam as a bag of water is dropped from a window above, by a not-to-happy resident, who wasn’t keen on the team's presence. The guys had to move on sharply following the arrival of the Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona - no doubt called-upon as backup for more water throwing - but following a return to the same spot on the team's final day in the city, Steve managed to bag the trick which obviously called for a celebration on the beach before flying home the next morning.
Back on UK soil, the Barbican in Plymouth, the historic Civic Centre and the promenade at Torquay provided the guys with similar coastal vibes and a mix of terrains resulting in a variety of clips, including Matt Beer's NBD's on a tight brick quarter in Bedworth, Warwickshire taken during a quick stop up North to the hometown of Flatspot videographer Jamie. Although Aaron Jago was filming for other projects last year, we’re stoked to present footage of him really showing his versatility outside of skate parks with a few super strong street clips. Jago takes the last couple of clips with a backside 360 flip at Exmouth Ledges and wraps up the film with his ‘Bennet Grind’ down a handrail in Plymouth which is met with cheers and disbelief from the team, perfectly ending SomeBetterDays on a high.
Shot and directed by Jamie ‘Chiz’ Hamer, a combination of filming techniques helped to capture the energy of each session dating back to the summer of 2019. Originally filmed using an old Canon XM2 Mini DV camera from the early 2000’s, the mixture of successful and not so successful results that would often occur - a process nicknamed ‘VX Roulette’ - influenced an upgrade to a Panasonic HVX2000 and a Panasonic Mirrorless Camera, both helping to put the days of losing clips far behind. As an homage to the 4:3 ratio of the old XM2 cameras, SomeBetterDays features the stylised format throughout with a few bonus clips filmed on the original camera included.
SomeBetterDays is dedicated to Max Hamilton, a Totnes skater who sadly passed away last year.
*SomeBetterDays was filmed pre-lockdown during the summer of 2019 and edited during 2020.
