atoll, orion, & a poster

16mm film frame of Chuck Corbett paddling back out in the distance. I shot this footage from the deck of Chuck's boat, the Tuaraoi, anchored in the calm lagoon quite far away. There was a bit of a breeze, and the 60 foot boat rocked back and forth slowly and gently. I used a really long lens and my tripod. In motion these shots have a really nice life to them, there is this gentle sway to them.

Two days ago we added the final percussion touches to the finale of the soundtrack, a song called Orion. Aside from deciding on a song for the end credits, the original score of the movie is now done. Orion is an 8 minute song that stretches over the last few scenes of the film. My idea for it was something that had the feel and scope of the earth and space, I also wanted it to be the sonic equivalent of a grand finale at a fireworks show. It's sort of fitting that the final song of the film was by far the hardest to create. 

This Rogers marching drum is a big part of the soundtrack, and you can hear it in the trailers. It's the deep boom, the one you feel. In the movie it feels like the pulse of the earth to me. That's kind of how I've looked at it in the soundtrack. You don't always notice it, but it's there.

I bought this drum on a whim about ten years ago from Dynamite Music in NW Indiana. I noticed it up on a shelf, and figured someday I could probably use it for something...turns out it has helped shaped this soundtrack.

Rough sketch of a poster concept I've had for a while now for the film, a lineup of silhouettes of all the surfers in the movie.

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

empty

I've got all the final 2K color corrected footage back now and just started going through it today.  Really stoked with how it's turned out.  Couldn't be happier with it.  A huge thanks to Ryan Emerson and crew at Process Blue in Connecticut for their work transferring well over 20,000 feet of film, and coloring all the select shots that are in the final movie.  It was a ton of work.  It's been awesome collaborating with Ryan on this project.  

Here is Process Blue's site: http://processblue.tv/2/

This is definitely one of the most spectacular waves I've seen.  And the light during this end of day session was absolutely beautiful.  I shot this from the boat and it was during this session that we nearly got flipped by a very wide set.  My heart stopped for a moment as the small boat went vertical and we just scratched over the lip of the wave as it threw over just under and then behind us.  

Jem Cresswell shot photos in the water this session and got some amazing shots.  One empty in particular that I'll post sometime soon.

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

yeeeeeeeeeeewwww!!!!

Darmaputra Tonyo, home break.

Tonyo is all over surf news right now. Nice write up here: "In the surprise upset of the event so far..."

They refer to him as "...a small and wiry bundle of energy that never stopped smiling..."

He's even on Surfline: "making history as the first Indo surfer to make it to Round Three at this event..."

Surf media has taken to calling him Darmaputra Tonjo usually, with a j, and it looks like it's going to stick. In that Surfline feature, he's called Tonyo, Tonjo, and Tonya. Tonyo is his nickname, it's pronounced Tonyo, that's how he writes it, it's what he paints on his boards, and that's what his brother and all his friends call him. When asked about people now calling him Tonjo, he just smiles big and says, "It's OK..." He doesn't really care.

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

over the edge of the world

Chuck Corbett, twin fin cutback on his prized beat up fish. Chuck surfs with the reckless abandon of a kid, and with style that reflects the era he grew up in. On land Chuck sometimes reminded me a of a cartoon character, bumbling around, usually on some sort of near impossible mission, fully committed. Sometimes he's ten thoughts ahead of where he's at in a conversation. The way Captain Jack Sparrow walks, there's something similar going on with Chuck. There's this wander to his walk, an uncertainty to where each next step might land.

His surfing has this too. In the moment. Spontaneous. Flowing. A bit off balance and wandering at times. But there's this awesome style to it. Usually made me smile.

this film project on fb:

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

equatorial

Daniel Jones, hand on the equator. 100th post!

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

shallow

Equatorial Pacific. Midday howling trades. Good at sunset. Coral heads. Go right.

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.

kekoa

Kekoa Cazimero. 16mm workprint. "...best surf trip I've ever been on."

The full version of this 16mm sequence made it into the new Surfer's Journal, vol. 20.2. It's at the bottom of Michael Kew's article(about a different trip of his own), and the sequence spans about nine pages or so.

I wasn't even supposed to be on Chuck's boat for this trip, I almost got left behind. Chuck squeezed me on as crew. I had 7 rolls of film left. I surfed way more than I shot. And helped out on the boat more than I surfed. It was a misadventure, nearly a few disasters, such as the motor-less 60 foot Tuaraoi 360'ing through the channel into the lagoon of the atoll on the way in, just missing the reef.

It was an amazing trip of a lifetime though.

emerald on the inside

Caught inside. I got worked a few times this session. Offshore, green, and barreling.

end of the day

Dylan Amar paddling out. I think that's Blacky dropping into that wave. There were some pretty big ones this day. This session my aluminum housing hit my head hard while getting worked in a closeout, left a nice lump and little gash. It made me realize how easy it'd be to get knocked out with this big heavy housing. I went and reluctantly bought a helmet after this session.

deep

If you're wondering...he made it. Mikala Jones, glassy morning barrel.

bleronk

throw your hands in the air

Daniel Jones up top on his Bonzer. Darmaputra Tonyo below. Super 16mm film frames.

spray

Bleronk, Super 16mm film frames.

I've been noticing that a lot of shots that won't make it into the final film, still have really cool moments. Shots(clips) that I'd otherwise overlook. Now that I'm looking through some just for interesting frames, I'm finding imagery I didn't really think much about when watching through the footage.

The difference between stills and motion pictures is really interesting in this way. With surf photography a photographer can get a cover shot out of a ride that might not make into a movie. With stills, you only need a fraction of a second. That's not really an advantage. It's just a difference. With motion pictures, a shot usually needs to be strong from beginning to end, many frames in succession where the composition is sometimes constantly changing. For a surf film, I think this is most difficult when filming in the water.

There are moments in modern history burned into our consciousness as a result of still photos. I don't think these moments would still be remembered so clearly generations later if only shot with motion pictures. A couple examples that come to mind:

the kiss

and

"General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon"

With stills we remember the composition more clearly in part because we only see one frame. With motion pictures, especially when the camera is moving, or what's happening on screen is changing quickly, we don't remember as much visually.

Compare the two different Star Wars trilogies. The first trilogy is full of shots where the camera is not moving much, or maybe there is a simple pan. Such as shots showing the vastness of Tatooine. Those simple shots with strong compositions are burned into my mind forever. When I think about the second trilogy, I don't remember many shots...I remember more of a blur. The one shot that I really remember from the second trilogy was a shot that echoed the famous shot in the first Star Wars where Luke is standing outside his Uncle's house, staring at the double sunset.

I sometimes love shots where the camera is moving. It can work wonderfully. I like the contrast of cutting from a moving shot to a stationary shot, or vice versa. I feel like watching a lot of movies over the past fifteen years or so, that the camera is moving though, just because they can move it through space. And because of this, I feel like a lot of recent films have less shots that stick in our minds because with a moving shot we are likely not going to remember one singular composition from it. It's more of a blur.

monster of the deep pt 2

We had taken a day trip, and it ended up being a lot flatter than we expected. I gave the local guys my paint markers, and they covered their boards pretty quick. I guess they liked the squid, because a few of them started drawing their own tentacled monsters. They kept looking back to my housing for reference. This is Sablar drawing here.

bolex

My Bolex Rx-5 from 1967. Wind it up and go, no batteries or electronics. It works like a wind up clock. This camera has survived getting half filled with saltwater, and it is still going strong. WD-40 and some other corrosion blocking oil saved it.

grey

Bleronk on this one. This was the last wave I shot of this session. Light rain, ominous skies, and fairly glassy. While Bleronk and crew kept getting slotted, I kept getting pounded to the shallow sand bar/reef bottom by these little barrels. Pretty much after every good set the current would drag me away, I'd have to swim in, then work my way back over to Diah and the boys. Diah, a young gal from Seminyak surfs out here, and this was her first time trying it at really low tide.

wallpaper

Click on the image to enlarge + right click + save, if you'd like this as a wallpaper. Its 1650 pixels wide.

Dylan Amar, local surfer from Padma, Bali. Bolex Rx-5 Super 16mm film frame sequence. Honestly, no correlation here other than Dylan getting barreled, and the look on his face there as he paddles back....but this sequence reminded me of something I saw scribbled on a guard rail in Hawaii a few years ago: under the lip and smokin the crip.

swell