Overthinking REAL's 'Three Seasons' Video

Investigation and words by Overthinking Skate Videos

By now, you’ve probably seen Three Seasons, the new Real video, but chances are you didn’t catch all the easter eggs hidden throughout (unless you have an eagle eye and way too much free time). The entire edit is jam-packed with hidden details and subliminal messages spliced into every single title sequence, from beginning to end. If you don’t want to spend hours poring over frames and decoding all the messages within, then consider yourself lucky: we unscrambled everything in the video and broke all the references down for you on a part-by-part basis.

Starting at the zero second mark, we se Real’s spin on the classic Thrasher logo animation, loaded with several references:

  • Tommy Guerrero, the godfather of street skating and a co-founder of the whole damn brand! 

  • Jim Thiebaud, another co-founder of Real and the head honcho at DLX. (Fun fact: the powers at be kept this one a secret from Jim; he didn’t know about it and would never have approved of it if he did.)

  • REAL (do you really need this one explained to you?)

  • Clay Halling, AKA the guy who made the titles and snuck his own name in.

Additionally, the REAL Skateboards title animation includes the following:

  • DLX 

  • Gabe Morford, legendary DLX staff photographer

  • Tim Fulton, videographer and newly appointed Real team manager

Three Seasons is the latest in a line of Real Videos that have clearly stood the test of time. If you need a refresher on the brand’s past work, you can start with the video names hidden in the title animation:

  • Real to Reel, 2001 (a Dan Wolfe-edited classic with one of our favorite Mark Gonzales parts)

  • Roll Forever, 2005 (this was a free DVD, one of the first of its kind, and was came with the April 2005 issue of Thrasher)

  • Since Day One, 2011, (James Hardy at his peak and Ishod Wair’s proper introduction to the world)

  • Thru&Through, or Through and Through, 2015 (a surprise release, Dennis Busenitz’s clip at the China Banks is burnt into our brains)

  • Be Free, 2020 (Kyle Walker and Ishod Wair’s heavy shared part)

The three main players in Three Seasons are Gage Boyle, Patrick Praman, and Tanner Van Vark. Pay close attention to the jumble of letters when their titles appear and disappear on screen at the beginning of their parts and smash the pause button sporadically to catch these messages. You might learn something new!

We’ve got to imagine that Uncle Scotty would be proud of this one.

Gage Boyle

  • Since all three riders were close friends with E. Henry Gartland, editor Tim Fulton decided to separate the three parts of his name to appear throughout each rider’s title in consecutive order. Gage opens the video, so the letter E is hidden in his titles.

  • Real is also hidden in everyone’s titles, for obvious reasons

  • Gage hails from Simi Valley, CA

  • Gage’s Uncle Scotty taught him how to skate early on in his life; he passed away in late 2022

  • His grandfather Takamari Fukunaga, who passed away last year at 99

  • Finally, one of Gage’s favorite non-skating pastimes is fishing.

The frontside shove-it 5050 is most certainly one of Patrick’s signature tricks.

Patrick Praman

  • The first hidden word is Real.

  • Henry, the second part of the E. Henry Gartland tribute, is hidden in Patrick’s titles.

  • Patrick was born in Thailand and lived there when he was young, until his family moved to…

  • VRGNA, or Virginia, where Patrick eventually started skating.

  • FS Shuv Fifty is one of Patrick’s signature tricks (if you’ve seen the video you know what we’re talking about)

Tanner’s tricks are so unique he probably doesn’t need to ask about ABDs.

Tanner Van Vark

  • Gartland is the third and final part of the E. Henry Gartland tribute.

  • Tanner loves F1 racing and race cars in general.

  • He also loves dogs (especially his family dog, Rigs); hence, Tanner Can Bark

  • Friends refer to him by his initials, VV 

  • His hometown is ANDVR, or Andover, Minnesota

  • Tanner is always heavily caffeinated, given how much coffee he drinks throughout the day 

  • And, of course, one final Real.

Everyone in the montages got a little bit of love, as well.

  • Ishod Wair’s dog is named Valentine, which makes him Vals Dad

  • Zion Wright is from Jupiter, Florida

  • Hermann Stenn is from Larvik, Norway

  • Harry Lintell hails from Manchester, England and goes by Fish and Chips 

  • Christian Henry’s nickname is Deacon 

  • Jafin Garvey’s nickname is Finity

  • Jack Olson just opened a skateshop named After Hours in St. Paul, Minnesota 

  • Dennis Busenitz absolutely loves Repo Man (who doesn’t?)

  • Mason Silva’s friends call him Mr. Clean

  • Jimmy Wilkins goes by Jimbo

  • Chima Ferguson’s daughter is named Holiday 

  • Dan Mancina’s non-profit is Keep Pushing, Inc

  • Kyle Walker’s new clothing brand is Altevolant

  • Nicole Hause’s nickname is Dicky

The final easter eggs of the video are SF, a nod to Real’s home base of San Francisco, and THANK YOU hidden in the classic oval logo at the end of the video.

Village Psychic