Welcome to the second iteration of my video review series, where I share my thoughts on the latest video releases in skating. For my scoring, I take into consideration the variety and cleanliness of the tricks, filming quality, and any other details that sway my opinion of the video. As always, this series is completely for your enjoyment, and if you disagree with my takes, feel free to let me know what I got wrong. I will link each video so you can support the hardworking people who made them!
Skate Video Review #2: “FREE SMOKE” By Supreme | 6.7/10
The new Supreme video “FREE SMOKE” features Joseph Campos, Kevin Bradley, Troy Gipson, Hyun Kummer, Auguste Bouznad, and was filmed by William Strobeck. The most notable of these names and the main focus of this video was Hyun. More widely known as Versace Plug on his socials, Hyun made his first appearance alongside the Supreme riders in this video. For context, Hyun is the founder of the German clothing and board company Flytecc. He made a name for himself in the late 2010s by creating a new genre of skate edits that quickly took over the skating side of the Internet.
The video begins with a brutal fall on a backtail attempted on an out ledge. Then, at 0:25 the video cuts to Joseph Campos hitting a quick frontsmith on a unique rail that bridges the gap between two banks. This spot has a lot of potential and I hope to see some more tricks on it in the future.
Most of the tricks featured in this part weren’t especially interesting and didn’t stand out to me. The spots and trick selection were creative at times. One example is the nosegrind into a firecracker at 0:43. The tiny steps he does the firecracker on make the spot visually appealing and look satisfying to skate. I have seen online debates on whether you need to balance a nosegrind for it to actually count. In my view, both ways of doing the grind are valid unless you are skating an incredibly long ledge.
Moving on to the meat and potatoes of this video, Hyun’s debut. His first clip was a backside flip followed by a switch backside flip at the notorious eight-flat-eight stair set spot. Then, he blasts a double heel followed by a nollie double flip at two different gaps. Almost all of these tricks are rarely done, even more so down long gaps at high speeds. Not only does this add variety in terms of stance, but it also touches on several different categories of flip tricks.
By far the most difficult trick comes at 2:07. After clipping his foot on the rail and bailing hard, Kummer tosses a precise double backside flip in BETWEEN two rails. I have only seen a few backside double flips ever, much less without the difficulty of aiming it accurately. Considering this, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a highly rated pick for trick of the year.
For me, Hyun is a contender for one of the best gap skaters in the modern day. The spots he chooses to huck himself down are usually risky and incredibly awkward to skate. This, along with his uncommon flip tricks and silky smooth style, creates a new, distinctive brand of skating I have never seen before. I skated with him when I was on a skate trip in Berlin, and I can say firsthand that the stunts he performs are ridiculous.
In my experience, you either really love or hate Strobeck’s filming and editing. His style behind the camera is so controversial that “strobeck filming” is a common phrase used to describe a video that spends a lot of time on the skater’s face. Being honest, this video would have received a higher score if someone else were the filmer. He often zooms in so much that the camera begins to shake, and the skater’s body is cut completely out of frame. Now and then, it can create a cool effect where you can get a close look at the board’s rotation, but the majority of the time, it gives me a headache.
A lot of the video was spent in slow mode on someone’s face or an unremarkable clip that had nothing to do with skating. I cannot stand this style of filming and video creation. The only aspect of his editing style I favor is the interesting color coding and saturation effects added to the video.
If you haven’t guessed already, I wasn’t particularly impressed with this video overall. There were very few tricks featured for a video four minutes in length. With more concise editing and filming I would have enjoyed the part much more. Check out the video here.
Have you seen my Heelflip Tutorial? Check it out here
