The Devil’s Toy Redux: skateboarding is not a crime

It’s finally here! The Devil’s Toy Redux, our new interactive web doc about skateboarding culture from Johannesburg to Serbia, Victoriaville to Germany (and beyond) is launching April 30th, 2014. Perhaps you’ll recall that we whetted your appetite back in March with this trailer for the project. Now, you can finally experience all 11 short films from 8 countries and 14 filmmakers at thedevilstoy.com—but take a minute to tour the project with us here.

Show us what you’ve got…

First things first: this project will grow every day with input from users like you. Be sure to follow @thedevilstoy on Instagram and join up with The Devil’s Toy Redux on Facebook. Then, post your own skate culture pics on social media and use the hashtag #devilstoy. We’ll incorporate our faves into the online project (read on to find out where to view users’ pics).

Getting around: from topic to topic

So you find yourself at thedevilstoy.com, hm? The first thing you’ll see is the killer intro video. Seen it before? Click anywhere on the screen to skip the trailer and you’ll be taken to a randomly-chosen city and its corresponding short film (they’re all great, but my personal faves are Lyon and Bad Durkheim). This trilingual project (English, French, German) allows you to change languages at the bottom of your screen, to the right of the project’s “Credits” link.

As the film automatically plays, the video player can be expanded simply by hovering your cursor anywhere on the screen. If you pull your cursor away, the video player will shrink again. Why? This makes it easier for you to navigate through the 7 topics into which each film is divided: skaters, boards, places, confrontation, resistance, resignation, and resolve.

When the video player contracts, you’ll see a small circle under the video. Hover over the circle, and it’ll show you which of the 7 topics you’re exploring within the film. You can hold and drag the circle around to move between topics within one film.

Getting around: from city to city

Had enough of Shanghai? Wanna move out of Lyon? Hop to the next global locale (and its corresponding film) by hovering over and clicking on the lettered icons above and below the playing video. You can scroll through all the cities/videos like this, and jump to a new one during each video. Here’s what those bad boys look like:

Extra features: delve deeper into the urban jungle

So, you’ve watched a film and want to know more about the cities, skaters, and projects you’ve seen. While any film is playing, you’ll see a link at the top of your screen that says “Explore [name of city]”. Head over here and you’ll discover more info about the filmmakers and an interactive map of the city that allows you to explore all the locales that skaters have already rolled over, through, and around.

The “Explore [name of city]” feature is also where you’ll find a compendium of user-generated pics that were posted on social media with the hashtag #devilstoy. Add your own pics and join the conversation!

That’s it! Springtime is here, so get your boards out and get pumped for a skate through the city with The Devil’s Toy Redux.