I really want to touch on sonthing that surfaddict dave said…something about that there isn’t enoughcontent on the destination the people are surfing?
This is leading a bit more like a travel show thou? But I’m all for it.
There must be more interesting information for me personally but I worked on an environment tv show for 8 years.
As for shots I’m starting to think we need the best of everything but the setting of the wave must be shown early?? Or in other words the perspective of the wave.
And why is it that there is only a handful of surf videos with big budgets? Yearsd ago people used to talk about surf films as a seperate genre…where has the genre gone or am I wrong and looking in the wrong places. Step into Liquid???
Exactly. Three of the greatest surf movies of all time, Endless Summer 1 and 2 and Morning of the Earth, have something like the balance I’m referring too.
There's too much emphasis on promoting products and team riders ( billabong Quicksiver etc etc ) and not enough moviemakers who make good old surfing entertainment . Andrew Kidman - a breath of fresh air . The current popularity in alternatives in both equipment and lifestyle is something thats been missing for far too long. The pro-circuite stuff is dynamic and spectacular , but its become boring unless your a competitor
Endless Summer was the definitive surfer travelogue, shot in the day when not many surfers had traveled around the world. In the seventies the movies shifted from being travelogues, maybe to protect secret spots to shots of waves and maneuvers. The market today could be back around to how to get to Spot X as well as the surf there, more of a social anthropology view then just wave after wave. Also more chance of sponsorship by surf tour companies etc if you are making long advertisements for them. There are two markets, young surfers and older surfers. I have a friend who just spent six months in Indonesia searching for the perfect over 60s wave, didn’t have much luck but had a lot of fun. Bit like buying a Harley during ones mid-life crisis.
Justin I’ve seen footage of surfing since 1970. Like hundreds of films. My son is friends with Mick Fanning so I’ve seen so many videos of him and Parko, Dean and all the other Gold Coast Talent. There is a lot of it.
This comment is not directed towards you just a comment on all the boxes of surf videos, DVD’s and MP3’s that I have:
I personally think most footage is filmed wrong. Super fast and just a lot of it with horrible sound tracks. How about crisp footage in slow motion to capture the essence of the moment? Then show it again in real time for a reality check. What about music? How about sound tracts that fit the sequence? Where has all the talent gone? Most footage looks out of focused and kind of blurry. Maybe because surf films sell so easy there is little effort put in them?
EGO effects good footage as well. Could you image if there was unselfishness? One photographer on the beach one in the water capturing every perspective? TEAMWORK!
From the beach the whole wave and from the water a little tighter capturing the surfers approch to the wave.
There is a lot of Surf Videos these days. It would be nice to see one that was well made.
…I do not watch surf videos; only several in my life.
boring for me; I prefer to go to surf than couch surfing.
One thing that I really do not like is the slow motion or faster motion picts
for ex.: in Pipeline; almost all the Pipeline clips are in slow motion…
the real speed and not so closed shot should be better; in this way all of us learn a bit more of the danger of some waves and/or position of the rider, etc
Its ok a slow motion to detail some shot but not all the movie!
-Plenty of videos with the “contemporary way to ride the wave” and a few with the “new trend” about tankers, gliders, fishes, seagulls and guys dressed in 80 s 1 sized bigger clothes; trying to be poethic may be start to come pathetic; but these films are obvious responses to the brand stuff in Indonesian waves; that after 10 min is super boring in my book. Plus NON surfers did not like nuthin of these, too much repetitive and looks so easy for the non iniciated.
so:
-less slow motion
-less faster motion
-less brand Indo clips
-more real speed
-more angles as Surfding say
-completed waves included take off
-I really like to see what happen when a big set come and wipe out every one in places such Pipeline, Zicatela, La Tetas, etc
-more shots from the water but not inside the toob; so we ll have better perspective of the size of the wave and the difficult of the take off
-more different approaches to wave riding but not falling in “pretenders” films
-shots of the same board/s on the built process and then surfing for the condition designed.
Same here. I have a good collection of old 60s and 70s films, but since the advent of video, and the glut of mediocre content it created, I watch very little. I wasn’t all that impressed with Endless Summer II, for that matter. A little too slick.
Riding Giants and Step into Liquid are OK, as is Liquid Stage.
I’ve seen Bustin Down the Door, Surf Wise, and The Seedling in a movie setting, as I work with a film festival group that screened those. I never sit at home and watch contemporary videos. Boring.
Here’s a recent clip of just such a situation in the Mentawais.
you know id have have to say my favorite surf movie so far is the living curl, for me its perfect, it includes great surfers of the day, amazing music, the film work was all done in 8mm, the narration takes care of location, whos surfing whats going on etc. of course nobody has ever accused me of being main stream, or hip,
i to must agree on full coverage on the wave ridden, take off to landing ( one way or the other) its quite educational to see how others do things in certain situations.
btw in Second Thoughts (a DIY production) the footage featured an epic tube ride at the end, using the actual audio clip of the ride itself which is something rarely done in commercially-produced surf films. it would be good to see (hear!) more of it. most surf films produced today are edited like music videos, which IMO shouldn’t be the case
I was recently watching this clip of clay marzo and they used a waterproof mic. Kind of an interesting concept if you could dial it in right. Seemed like they had problems with clipping when it got too loud but just to hear the sound of the wave as he’s riding it is nice.
shown on a BIG screen .... with VERY GOOD acoustics , preferably !
the whole wave from paddle in to flick out [preferably , RIDE out]
morning light
day time light
evening light
land angles
water shots
helicopter shots
camera board shots
underwater shots
slow motion
normal speed
[even speeded up can be fun too, in moderation]
[to see some of the above ,
maybe check out
" five summer stories"
jack mccoy's movies
...hmmmmm.......what else ?
if I can think of anything else , i'll add to this later
[ well, in closing , I have had a fairly decent collection of footage from over the years , dvds and videos , and have spent plenty of the last 40 years since grommethood watching everything that came my way ]
