it's nice under here

S16mm Bolex film frames.  This session won't be in the movie, but I really dig a few shots from it.  I think they probably work better as still images than motion picture footage.  I love diving under beautiful reef waves and looking up at them as they pass overhead, feeling the force of them move through and seeing the sun shine through the moving water.  One of the most beautiful places to be on earth.

this project on fb: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

the moon

The moon shining down on Christmas Island, Kiribati.  I shot this with my Bolex and a 300mm Canon FD lens, single frame exposure from a time-lapse shot.  I remember this night very clearly.  Just sat out under the stars and clicked away while listening to the sounds of the ocean.

This project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

check check

Demian Amar and Darmaputra Tonjo, late afternoon surf check, Super 16mm film frame.  This shot is not going to be in the final film.  I have a feeling I'm going to be finding lots of frames I like that will never make it into the movie.  As I've mentioned before on here, this frame is from a shot I didn't even think twice about, but for a few frames, I dig the shot.

Just got all the 16mm and Super 16mm film footage I shot over the last six years or so back as digital files, transferred to full 2K(slightly higher res than 1080P HD).

Right now I'm editing the entire film with low res SD files, also transferred from the original film negatives.  I'm editing first in SD since those files are much faster to work with.  Once I have that finished, I'll go back and conform the high res 2K footage to this edit.  Then I'm going to meet up with Ryan Emerson, who has done almost all the color correction on this project so far, and we'll work together on a color correction session of the final edit of the movie.  Well, he's gonna be doing the work, I'm just going to be offering suggestions on what looks good, and how I remember the colors looking in person.

Ryan has a new transfer facility/post-house out in Connecticut.  It's called Process Blue.  They did the recent 2K transfer.  They have a film scanner called the Golden Eye III.  My initial impression of the footage, without color correction, is that their scanner does a wonderful job of capturing film.  It seems to look the closest to actual film of any transfers I've seen so far.  Other film to digital transfers I did up to this point, such as for the trailers, were on Spirits.  Excited to see how all the footage looks after color correction.  Motion picture film, as it comes in raw with no correction, the colors are quite dull.  But after a bit of adjustment, it can look beautiful.

This frame above I grabbed from the new transfer, downsized it, and adjusted colors a bit in Photoshop.

If you dig this project, stop by the page on fb and say yo: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

speed of light

adventures of the tuk tuk

One night while flying around the city on a three wheeled tuk tuk, taking corners quite fast, I wonder out loud "How often do these things flip over?"

"All the time!"

duncan and the bolex

Duncan is the first person who befriended me in Indonesia five years ago. He became a part of this film project, and pretty much all of the Indonesian surfers in this film I met as a result of meeting Duncan. I remember Duncan asked me to shoot the photo on the left, he really liked my camera. Notice the plastic wrap/rubber band lens caps I used at the time. It works!

duncan and mom

After a fun day surfing a right point we stopped to visit Duncan's mom in her home village. It was a surprise visit and she was really surprised and excited to see Duncan. I remember when she saw him she put her hand to her mouth and kept saying, "my son". In the first frame of the sequence Duncan is combing his hair with his hand as we walk down the path. Duncan's mom and aunt were really hospitable, their place felt peaceful. It was a wonderful visit.

From the moment I met Duncan on the beach 5 years ago, he took me in like a brother. He's like that with just about anyone. I met all the other local guys I've filmed with through Duncan.

reentry

Daniel Jones, atmospheric entry.

the next breath

I never truly felt mortal until I experienced getting worked by a powerful wave. Underwater, reaching a place where I realized, wow, I could die under here. It's only happened to me a few times. When it does happen, there is nothing that matters except the next breath. It's an amazing thing to experience.

the long road there

Passing by a farmer's hut on a bumpy road. Feeling the warm breeze. Eating snacks with msg.

sunlight

Bleronk. Super 16mm film frame.

down the line

Hi-res wallpaper, click to enlarge, and save:

Daniel Jones bonzering in Indo.

tonyo

Darmaputra Tonyo of Padma, Bali. If you've surfed Padma Beach, there's a good chance you saw this kid and his twin brother, Bleronk, getting lots of waves. They're 19 now, so not really kids anymore. But they still kinda act like it. Though Bleronk is a hit with the ladies now, and he drives. Tonyo doesn't drive. He usually sits in the back.

Up on the current banner, that's either Tonyo or Bleronk in that shot. I'm not sure which one, its from over four years ago when they surfed beat up boards, and were in the water most of the time. They're still in the water most of the time. The thing that always struck me about these brothers and their friends, is they just always seem to be having fun. Its awesome. Their crew is almost like a little tornado, wherever they go there is just this unbridled raw energy. I think tourists are a bit intimidated at times. They're always on the verge of doing something ridiculous, like randomly pinching the butt of a local massage girl or humping a car. When I walk into a warung with them, they storm in, all barefoot and walk behind the counter, and the look on the warung lady's face is like, "uh-oh, here we go again..."

The best thing about these guys is its just all smiles all the time.

Tonyo is ranked number 16 now on the Indonesian Pro Surfing Tour. They did a great short video piece on him here: http://vimeo.com/17513576

I see they spelled his name Tonjo...I'm going to go with the way I've always seen him spell it, which is Tonyo. Probably both are correct...

the surfer, the fisherman, and the barrel

Super 16mm film frames of Daniel Jones. The super refers to the wider 16mm film format, where the film gate is wider, and thus the edge of the film that used to be reserved for sound in years past, gets exposed also. And you get a native widescreen image. My cousin Rob and I converted my old Bolex camera to super 16 last year, and this footage is from the first trip I took after that. For the most part, it worked really good. A few rolls were all blurred though as I threw a few things off internally on the camera when I tore it apart to convert it. Had the camera serviced by Dieter Schaefer at Procam earlier this year and it works great now. I should mention that this camera filled up with salt water a few years ago in Kiribati, when the small boat I was on nose dived. WD-40 kept it working on that trip, and its still going strong, though it has a bit of rust.

I have a habit of getting my gear soaked in the ocean. While filming Daniel at this spot above, his last wave of the trip, he went over the falls and broke his board in two. When the front half of his board floated in with an oncoming rush of water over the reef that the fisherman is on, I went to grab it. I forgot my ipod was in my pocket. It got soaked and never worked again. My girlfriend had given that to me for my birthday. I was so bummed. If only it operated on a wind-up spring driven motor like my good ol' Bolex from 1967.