6/7/11
Tips for creating a great surf movie
You’ve probably filmed, or at least seen, a home-made surf movie or two. Hollywood it ain’t! Shooting hours of boring, shaky footage with muffled sounds is not how you win an Oscar. There’s only one Spielberg, but using a few simple tricks from Simon Monahan, Product Marketing Manager at Serif, you can make great surfing movies that will be watched by friends time and time again.
Be prepared
There will always be moments where you want to spontaneously start filming, but for the planned times like surfing the Severn Bore, you should do a little preparation. Set up your tripod (you can buy one quite cheaply from any camera store) so it’s ready for shots that have to be steady. That way, you only need to clip on the camera and you’re ready to go. And always make sure your extra batteries are charged and within reach. You certainly do not want to run out of power when a fellow surfer is riding a huge wave!
Just start shooting
You might be wondering when a good time to begin filming is. The answer is start as early as possible. Filming before you and your mates even start surfing gives you a great opportunity to test equipment and make sure your camera’s settings are right for the conditions. You might even capture some great early morning footage.
Take shots from different angles and locations
Some people tend to set up their camera in one place and stay there but this limits what you can film – even more so if you’re on the beach and you can’t predict where the biggest waves will be. Without a camera, you wouldn’t think twice about moving around to get a different view of the action – do the same when you are filming. It will add depth and dynamics to your movie. But try to avoid shooting with the sun directly in front of you to avoid silhouettes.
Hold shots for a while
When you are filming, it’s a great idea to hold a shot for a bit longer than you think you should, just to make sure you definitely have enough footage for the finished video. It’s also a good idea to zoom in a bit when capturing details; not so much as to take up the whole shot, but close enough so anyone can clearly see what’s going on. Zooming in and out should be done sparingly, and keep it slow and steady.
Edit your footage
When you’ve finished filming, edit your footage with good video editing software (available online and at all good software retail outlets). You might need to remove the start because you left the lens cap on, or the three minutes where you accidentally filmed the ground, or maybe add an appropriate song over the slow-motion replay of your best friend falling off their surfboard!
Free video editing software has its uses, but with professional-quality software, optimised for HD video, you can be sure that you will have the tools and features you need to add special effects and transitions, reduce noise and camera shake and enhance the picture quality,. Most will even burn your movie to DVD or Blu-ray Discs with the option to add interactive menus
Conclusion
Whatever you are filming – you can apply these tips to almost any home movie situation. They will make it easier for viewers to see and hear what is actually happening and result in a more enjoyable viewing experience that won’t send them to sleep!
6/2/11
Why most surf movies suck ( by Pam Pemberton)
Found this very interesting post on Pat Pemberton´s blog. Pamberton is one of the entertainment writers at the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Even if I disagree with some of the things he writes, some of the points he makes in this text are actually very correct. After justifying why many surf movies suck, he proceeds to make a list of which in his opinion are the best surf movies around. I couldn´t agree more with him about that top five list: the dude has a great taste. It´s important that we have a solid critical reasoning on watching surf movies but saying that most surf movies suck is going a bit too far. Yeah, many surf movies are basically crap but in this field I´m still optimistic: the majority is acceptable. And you? What is your opinion on this subject?
The formula for surf movies is pretty simple: Show us some waves, tell a few good stories and feature plenty of good wipeouts.
Seems easy enough. Yet, a lot of surf movies really suck. And there are a few reasons for this:
First of all, some meathead surfers figure they’ll make films so they won’t have to get real jobs. Which isn’t a bad goal, except that untrained filmmakers usually make crappy movies.
Secondly, too many surf films feature wave after wave with no regard for story or ambience. Many refer to this as “surf porn,” which gets really old fast.
And finally, the music is often terrible. I realize the licensing makes it too expensive to get music from popular artists. But come on. There are plenty of good struggling musicians who could help. And we’re not talking about crummy nu metal bands that make you want to punch a wall.
Of course, San Luis Obispo has a special place in surf filmdom since Bud Browne – the godfather of surf movies – lives here. Yet, surf films tend to ignore this part of the Central Coast. (Which is okay with most surfers here so long as that keeps crowds away.)
Having told you what’s wrong about surf movies, here are some that got it right. My top five:
5.) “Endless Summer II.”
Three decades after “Endless Summer,” surf film pioneer Bruce Brown came out of retirement to help his son Dana launch his own career in the industry. As Dana Brown told me a couple of years ago: “He never says it, but I’m pretty sure it was him saying, ‘OK, we’ll show Dana the ropes by accepting this,’ I always tease him and say, ‘You did that because of me, and then I had to live with you forever complaining about coming out of retirement.’ “
While not as fresh as the original, improved technology and great stories – surfing in Alaska, for instance – helped make this a great sequel. The music could use some work, though.
4.) “Riding Giants”
While this movie focuses on big wave surfers that most of us can’t relate to, it’s a well-done documentary by Stacy Peralta and Sam George. The movie focuses on three big wave riders – Greg Noll, Jeff Clark and Laird Hamilton. You’ve got to love Noll, the most quotable guy in surfing. A former film maker himself, he also provided great vintage clips for the film.
3.) “Sprout”
A more recent flick by artist Thomas Campbell, this is one of the few surf movies with a consistently good soundtrack. Plus, there’s lots of great longboarding scenes. There aren’t any great stories here – you just watch it and mellow out.
2.) “Endless Summer”
While Bud Browne was the first real surf film maker, Bruce Brown was the first truly successful one, this film making him a millionaire. His film about two guys who find waves around the world was a hit in landlocked Kansas and has continued to inspire surfers more than 40 years later.
1.) “Step Into Liquid”
Dana Brown learned from the master, so it’s no surprise that he’d come up with a great surf flick like this, a movie – like “Endless Summer” – that played well before crowds in middle America. My favorite part is the segment about those Packers fans who surf Lake Michigan.
Honorable mentions:
“Five Summer Stories” – Featuring lots of good Beach Boys tunes (and, if you’re into them, Honk), this has one of the better soundtracks for a surf film.
“Gidget” – Yeah, it was cheesy. But you can’t argue its impact on surf culture. A friend of mine recently ran into the real-life Gidget, Kathy Kohner, a couple of years ago working at a restaurant in Malibu. I read she recently started surfing again.
“Search for Surf” – A collection of Greg Noll films, this offers a nice historical perspective.
“One California Day” – A new surf flick by Jason Baffa, this features nice scenic video of California plus stories about surfers like Noll, Lance Carson, Joel Tudor and the Malloy brothers. And I’m pretty sure there’s a quick shot of Pismo Beach in here. (But sssssssh — we don’t want anyone coming here.)
“Single Fin Yellow” – It’s a story about a traveling longboard. How could you not like it?
5/26/11
The Drifter
Great video I found on the web about Taylor Steele and a movie he made with legend of surfing Rob Machado. It´s only a short teaser but for those of you who haven´t had any clue about the movie I am about to review, you can get an idea about the wonderfully filmed flick that "The Drifter" actually is. Not many surf movies filmed the intimacy of a surfer with such accuracy. Check it out and read my review in the next days.
5/24/11
Modern Collective (2010)
 |
| A deserved victory for Kai Neville and his crew as "Moder Collective" won a prize at the surfer poll awards |
What happens when a group of surf experimentalists goes on to take by surprise the entire surf community with what we can call one of the first post modern surf movies? The result could be something like Modern Collective, the tour de force of director Kai Neville.Just don´t forget his name because the wordclass camera work and editing makes this flick one of the best movies released last year.But it´s not only that, Kai is also a very good surfer, and only very good surfers can take surfing to the big screen with such intensity. Add to this list the fact that this is his debut as a director and things start getting even more promising.
In my opinion Modern Collective is the perfect follow up to Taylor Steele´s Momentum generation. Neville and his fantastic crew (made entirely of enormously talented surfers such as Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Yadin Nicol, Dion Agius and Mitch Coleborn) took the responsability to show to everyone the style of their generation: an action packed surf were even the laws of gravity are being defied every minute.
Kai Neville began his career on Poor Specimen - yeah that´s right it´s Taylor Steele´s film company - and made various works as a backstage assistant for very solid movies such as Campaign and Stranger than Fiction. When he was given the opportunity to direct is first movie many believed it was too soon because Kai appeared to be inexperienced. The resusts came quickly after the release: mostly good critics from the majority of surf mags and winner of best movie at the surfer poll awards.
One last word to write about two things:
The soundtrack is awesome. Ecletic, vibrant and deeply connected with the surf scenes.
Craig Anderson´s session on the "extras section of the DVD is something out of everything I ever saw before. If you are not in the mood of watching the whole flick, just consider watching this particular surfer. It will blow your mind away.
Verdict: 8/10
5/21/11
Bruce Brown footage from 1965
In this footage of 1965 you will see Bruce Brown showing some of his skills as a surfer and film director. The show were this material aired was called "True Adventure", and it was some of the first tv shows to include segments about what we nowadays call "extreme" sports. This was just one year before Endless Summer was released and Bruce was getting slowly recognized for his work as a surf movie maker, a subject that very few had approached. You can notice how the host tries to explain every bit of surf culture to the audience - the fact is surf was something really new and almost unknown to the majority of american society, at the the time only few beach boys cared for a culture that would turn into a global activity some decades later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
