kona surf film festival

Hangs Upon Nothing is screening tonight on the Big Island of Hawaii during the opening reception of the Kona Surf Film Festival.  A big thanks to fest director Chad Campbell for making this happen. Looks like a really awesome fest he has going out on the Big Island:  

http://www.konasurffilmfestival.org/

The journey of making this film in a way started on the Big Island.  It's hard to really pick a spot where it formally started, but it was there that I really dedicated my energy into making this film.  I went out there to join Chuck Corbett as crew on his boat, the Tuaraoi(Tuaraoi means to share or trade in Kiribati).  He told me I'd better get out there quick, as he was leaving for Kiribati in two weeks.  I was to help out finishing getting the boat ready, he was fixing it up he said.  He was cool with me filming him as long as I pitched in as crew.  I was interested in just filming a bit of what his life as like.  I was mostly interested in getting down to Kiribati and filming him there, where he'd spent about 30 years.

I landed in Hilo and straight away was a bit in shock as to what I walked into.  Chuck showed up at the airport barefoot, covered in grease and dirt, this weathered pirate stare out of one eye, and a light footed wander to his walk.  He was friendly though.  The boat, a 60 foot steel cutter, was a project if I've ever seen one.

Two weeks turned into four months of hard work before we set sail.  We lived on the boat, and worked on the boat six days a week.  Sundays were for relaxing and surfing.  I tried to surf just about every day, riding a beat up rusty old cruiser bike to Honoli'i at days end, and riding back in the dark.  I remember riding back in the pouring rain at night many times.

During month four we dry docked the boat in Kona for two weeks.  That was hard work, dirty work, sanding the entire boat down.  You don't want to breathe that dust in.  Boat paint is nasty stuff.  I almost threw the towel in during this time, wondering what on earth I was doing.  I felt about a million miles from making a surf film at that point.  I was so close to quitting, I remember it clearly.  I had a talk one night with Chuck and crewmate Eddie, a surfer from Texas, about quitting on the boat project, and quitting on the notion of filming Chuck to include him in this film, and just going home to Indiana.

I was able to explore the Big Island quite a bit, and filmed whenever I could.  It is one of the most majestic places on earth.  Some shots of the Big Island are in the intro of the movie, including one of a humpback whale who just happened to breach right in front of my camera.  The coolest thing about that moment was there were little baby whale calves breaching too, they looked so happy, and looked like they were copying the older whales. 

the great caldera

Standing on the edge of the caldera. Epic.

Shot this with the first camera I ever owned, my Canon AE-1. Saltwater claimed it not too long after this was taken.

Kona Surf film Festival

A 5 minute Hangs Upon Nothing piece premiered at the Kona Surf Film Festival this evening on the main screen, billed as one of the short films to open the fest. A big thanks to festival director Chad Campbell for making this happen!

There are a lot of awesome films showing there, and it's an honor to be a part of it. Among my favorite shorts showing at the fest is this film called "the BONUS round" from Hilo, Big Island local Cliff Kapono. I love the idea of this film, the title, the music, and the absolute ripping at the end:

Kona Surf Film Fest site

Hangs Upon Nothing page on facebook

volcanoscape

The view from the top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Looks like it could be Mars maybe. This was at the end of the day. I shot time-lapse, frame by frame with my Bolex, hitting the trigger button by hand every 30 seconds. It got freezing cold up here as the sun went down and I wasn't dressed for it. There were a few chunks of ice and snow scattered around where I was. I lasted for 30 minutes, and by the end of shooting this, I could barely feel my fingers enough to hit the trigger button.

I made the drive up in a rented "all wheel drive" mini SUV. I don't think I had the budget for 4WD, and well, all wheel drive is nothing close to 4WD, I'll say that. There is a really good reason the road up there is marked 4WD only, and there's a good reason the rental car companies don't want you driving there. It is steep, loose rock and gravel, and treacherous. The drive up is pretty intense.

The drive back down as darkness fell was frightening. I remember looking down on the clouds as I coasted down, riding the break on and off just enough to stay in control, yet not lose them. I'd never think of doing it again without 4WD. Later on I heard that three Japanese tourists had died in a 4WD vehicle on the way back down, a couple weeks prior.

Chuck Corbett told me a story of how he made the drive up here in the early 80's in a beater of an old station wagon. The last third of the way up he had to drive in reverse because it was the only gear that could make it.

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

chuck and the ranger