ITW: A video filmed in children’s playgrounds by Charlie Lanceplaine

Amsterdam has over 400 playgrounds, spaces usually designed for kids. But Charlie Lanceplaine saw them as potential skate spots and managed to convince his initially skeptical friends to jump into the Spring Riders project. Naturally, we hit him up with a few quick questions to get the lowdown.

Could you introduce yourself?

My name is Charlie Lanceplaine, I’m a filmmaker. I’m originally from Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, but I’ve been living abroad for almost 20 years. I spent about twelve years in Shanghai, China, then six years in Amsterdam. I’m heading to Japan soon.

What’s the idea behind Spring Riders?

Spring Riders is a skate video I directed and filmed mainly in Amsterdam and two or three nearby cities. The concept was to skate in children’s playgrounds. I wanted something colorful, playful, and fun, because a lot of spots in the Netherlands feel a bit gloomy—lots of red brick, small alleyway setups that I don’t always find visually inspiring.

While roaming around the city, we often stumbled upon super cute playgrounds, full of bright colors and little drawings. I thought, “Damn, it would be so cool to make a video about that.”

But I also didn’t want it to feel too cheesy or ridiculous, like something filled only with boneless tricks or no-complies. I think we found a good balance between real skateboarding and funny stuff, without going over the top.

Did you run into any difficulties?

It wasn’t easy convincing skaters to hit those kinds of spots. Most of the time, there was no runway—or the ground didn’t roll at all, since it’s soft to prevent kids from getting hurt. That was honestly the hardest part: getting people on board with skating those playgrounds. It’s actually why the video took me a little over two years to finish.

Why does the city have so many playgrounds?

The Netherlands is often cited as the country where children are the happiest in the world. There’s this mindset of “Do your thing, have fun, as long as you’re not bothering anyone.” From a young age, kids are encouraged to be independent and resourceful. On top of that, there’s a law that says children in big Dutch cities must live no more than 250 or 300 meters from a playground. That’s why you can find a potential spot in just about every neighborhood, on nearly every corner.

I imagine not all of them were skatable?

Far from it! I’ve got tons of pins saved on my phone with potential spots… but most of them turned out to be pretty terrible. That said, we still managed to put together six minutes of footage, so I’d say we pulled it off.

Who did you make this project with?

Actually, I did it all solo. I filmed and edited everything myself. I had a friend, Fred Walker, who’s a photographer, he was often around to shoot photos during the sessions.

Which sequence, trick, or line are you most proud of?

It was tough convincing people to skate these spots, so honestly, every clip felt like a small victory. But if I had to pick one, it would be the front flip at the end. I hadn’t planned on including a rollerblading trick in the edit, but it was Fred who suggested it. He said, “There’s this girl who wants to try something at that spot—would you be down to film it?” I figured, why not?

A lot of people eye that spot but back out once they’re on it. It’s actually pretty scary. I was skeptical too, but I set up my tripod and just let the camera roll. When she landed the trick, I thought, this has to go at the end of the edit. No one’s going to see it coming and it was seriously impressive.

I also felt like it matched the playful, childlike vibe of the video. You know, when you’re a kid, you don’t overthink what belongs in a skate clip—you just go for it.

I’m also really stoked that I managed to film Tjerk Oostin’s trick: a switch nose manual to fakie flip out. I absolutely wanted to capture a manual on a spring-loaded bench. Turns out it was way harder than we expected—it bounced in every direction. If you didn’t land perfectly, you’d get thrown off. Precision was everything. But this guy’s so dialed at manuals that, in the end, he made it look easy.

There’s also that 5-0 on a kind of spinning rainbow rail. I’d had that spot in mind for a while. One day, I passed by it with Santiago, a Colombian skater who was living in Amsterdam at the time. I knew he was into hitting big rails, so I pitched it to him. And he landed it super quickly.

A funny story during the project?

Toward the end of the project, I wanted to skate this curb that looked pretty tempting. I thought, “Damn, I could definitely throw a switch crook on that.” But the ground was super soft. As soon as I pushed, stepped on my board, and set up, I completely ate it. That’s when I finally understood why no one wanted to skate those spots [laughs].

Anything else you’d like to add?

Yeah—I’d like to point out that Spring Riders literally means “rocking horse” in English. I thought it was a fun name, especially for a video dropping in the spring, and it played well with the whole skating/riding wordplay. I’ve always loved those goofy little puns, kind of like the ones you’d find in old Girl tour videos.