etnies

Malaga has always placed high on my list of BMX filming destinations. The sun is always shining, there are endless spots and we always stay at a really great hostel that feels more and more like home every time we turn up there. As if that weren’t enough, in my experience it's impossible to come home at the end of it without a ton of good footage. Needless to say, I was excited to catch my plane, meet the team and begin the adventure! I've broken down a few aspects of our trip to give you a bit of background on the making of our edit and on the trip itself, so we'll start at the beginning.

The Spaniards

Our tour guide for the duration of our stay was none other than Mr. Ruben Alcantara. Unfortunately, Ruben, along with etnies teammate Sergio Layos, was injured; they spent their time with us behind the wheel of a car, taking us to their favorite spots then watching what the rest of the team would come up with. It was clear that the pair of them was pretty disappointed, but spirits remained high and both Ruben and Sergio battled through the pain to produce a clip each for the edit. Without Sergio and Ruben, this trip would never have turned out as amazing as it did.

The Crew

I’ve filmed with Ashley Charles, Ben Lewis and Nathan Williams many times before but this was my first time meeting and really hanging out with Fabian, Tony, Ruben and Sergio. The first thing I noticed was that the team just worked instantly—everyone gets on so well, and if I didn't know better, it would be easy to believe that these guys all ride together all the time. It was Fabian's first trip with English and American riders, and although there was a bit of a language barrier, he knew just enough to get him by and have a good time with everyone. To me, as videographer, Fabian was a wildcard to begin with. Without warning, I'd look behind me to see him hurtling down a handrail. I tried telling him that it was best to give us a heads up before doing anything footage-worthy, but he didn't seem able to control himself. I settled for his rather bizarre compromise of hitting the rail over and over again whilst I was setting up, until I was ready. So, for the most part, everything we filmed he'd probably done about five or six times beforehand, whilst waiting for Ricky Adam and myself to set up our equipment. Whatever works I suppose?

At the other end of the spectrum, you have Ben Lewis, who'd quietly sit at a spot, letting the cogs turn and watching everyone ride for as long as it took before calmly deciding to film something himself—and by something, I mean usually "re-inventing street riding," as Tony put it. Keep an eye on where Ben's feet are and which way he's rotating; it'll give you a whole new appreciation for his ambidextrous riding style. As for Tony, what can I say? Every trick seems to be his forte. It's absolutely insane to watch someone tearing a spot to pieces the way he does—in between his artillery of wisecracks, constant Twitter updates and ridiculous statements. So, as you're probably starting to realize, this team is awesome as a whole but is made up of a very eclectic mix of personalities, which by chance work perfectly when combined.

A Spot a day

Usually, on a BMX filming trip such as this, the aim of the game is to hit as many spots as possible, riding around the city exploring every avenue in search of new obstacles to film on. This trip was completely different. The ever-reliable pairing of our legendary Spanish tour guides, Ruben and Sergio, would arrive at our hostel in the morning, we'd all pile in the van and take a drive to a usually out of town spot. On arrival at the spot, we'd set up camp, begin filming, but then rather than rush out of there ASAP, we'd hang out, maybe get some food, ride a little more, and before you knew it, the camera would be back out again as new lines were discovered. Just as there was a crazy mix of personalities on the trip, the mix of riding styles was just as varied. It was cool to see how people all look at a spot so differently, and can produce such a variety of different clips all in the same place. This routine was repeated every day, and it was great to see everyone film so much then have a whole second wave of ideas to film. I guess sometimes you need to put in more time at a spot than you'd think to get absolutely everything you can out of it. This new spot-a-day technique of filming and riding resulted in a really laid-back feel.