Sunday, April 22, 2012

little sea films - 9 waves poster






Here's the first silkscreened poster edition for Little Sea Films.  The 9 waves in this design are taken directly from the hand painted animation I did for the Little Sea Films intro.  I animated it on paper with ink and brush.  This poster is an edition of 60 hand printed by my friend Matt Ginsberg in Chicago.  They're available in the store at Korduroy.tv:

http://korduroy.tv/makers/jeremy-rumas/store/89814109

The idea for the name Little Sea Films comes from two places.  It's a reference to Lake Michigan.  And it's also inspired by The Book of Puka Puka by Robert Dean Frisbie.  Frisbie, originally from Ohio, traveled as a young man throughout the atolls of the South Pacific in the early 1900's.  He ended up staying on the atoll of Puka Puka for a few years.  And The Book of Puka Puka is his first hand account of his time there.  While there, he married a young island beauty named Little Sea.

This book is now out of print, but used copies can be found on Amazon and other places.  I highly recommend checking it out if you have any interest in the atolls of the Pacific.  It's a fascinating read by a gifted writer.  It's a look at what atoll life was like before the modern world had made it's mark felt in these far corners of the earth.  It's an amazing adventure.


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

mikala poster design





I sketched this one a couple years ago from memory of ones of Mikala Jones' rides.  Finally painted it up tonight with gouache. 

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Hangs Upon Nothing - poster 01



This is the first Hangs Upon Nothing poster. Designed by Jeremy Rumas and hand printed by Matt Ginsberg in Chicago, IL.  Currently numbers 32-50 are still available out of this limited edition of 50.  They can be purchased at the store over at Korduroy: 


All funds brought in from these will go directly toward finishing up this project.  We appreciate the support!  Hope you dig the poster.  They measure 9 x 24 inches/23 x 61 cm.




Tuesday, March 27, 2012

new trailer release! - 3/27/12 update



Here is the new 5 minute trailer for Hangs Upon Nothing. It features original music by Turbofire to Zenith. The song is called "Hangs Upon Nothing (main title)". An 8.5 minute version of this song is available on the new site....

Here's the new website:


A big thanks to Trevor Gerring from Unkempt Beard for getting the site done.

There's lots of new stuff on the site, including new Turbofire to Zenith music from the soundtrack, and there a 2 new film poster releases also, both hand printed limited editions. Check it out, if you dig the trailer, please share! thanks, -Jeremy

UPDATE 3/27/12

Check out these articles on the project:


Korduroy essay - "Taking a Leap": http://www.korduroy.tv/2012/taking-a-leap

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has checked out the new trailer. And thanks to everyone who has shared it. Thanks for supporting independent film and music. -Jeremy

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

heading out


Mikala Jones, Marti Paradisis, and Kristov Wau(in the foreground) head out. Jem Cresswell is contributing photos to this project, and he shot this one. This wave looks pretty, but it was scary even from the boat, as some sets swing very wide. One wide one sucked up right in front of us while Daniel and I were on board and we barely scratched over it. I thought for sure we were going to get flipped.

Nias local Kristov is an awesome guy, always smiling, and he absolutely charges. He has a habit of sitting deeper than anyone else, and this session he got into the biggest wave he said he'd ever surfed up to this point. If you're headed out that way, you can contact him on fb, him and his family rent out a simple place to stay and they'll take good care of you: http://www.facebook.com/pages/nias-kristov-surf-camp/222323464481308?sk=wall


Sunday, March 18, 2012

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!"

Saturday, March 17, 2012

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!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

blacky



Blacky, local surfer from Padma, Bali. One of the Padma Boys. Jason Lukas shot this one a few years ago. That's his friend Demian Amar in the background. Blacky can be a wild one, there's barely a dull moment around this kid. Here he is a bit more contemplative.

Blacky has a knack for finding the barrel too.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

bleronk



Darmayasa Bleronk, from Padma, Bali. This was after a session up the coast that was pretty big. Bleronk and his brother Tonyo were charging, it was awesome to watch. It was also the first time I'd seen them in pretty sizable surf.

Bleronk looks at the camera, goofing off, and referring to the surf he goes, "too small!!!!" Cracked me up.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

bolex in bangkok



I was in Bangkok during the celebration of the King's 60th year on the throne. The city was lit up even more than usual, and everyone was wearing yellow. This was early on while traveling and filming on this project. This was actually the first batch of film I shot with my Bolex, which I bought off Ebay. So I wasn't sure if it even worked properly at this point.

I watched some of the ceremonies of the celebration on television, and I absolutely tripped out when I saw the King had a team of guys shooting the occasion with wind-up 16mm Bolex cameras! Royal Bolex shooters decked out in ceremonial dress. Could not believe it. Almost the exact same model as my camera.

I found one film lab in Bangkok that processed 16mm film, it's at Kantana, which is like the Warner Brothers of Thailand. I showed up there with my girlfriend, and she goes, "Whoa! That's P'_____(don't remember the name, a Thai moviestar)!!!" There was a huge netted golf driving range next to the Kantana building, all part of the complex. I took my 4 little 16mm film cans to the lab, and the lab workers looked a bit puzzled by this. They usually only deal with feature films and commercials I think. We had to then go to the accounting office, a room full of young ladies clad in yellow, where they also seemed really puzzled about my small 4 can 16mm order.

They were all cool to us though. Got my footage back, and at their post house they even let me take a look at it on one of their transfer machines for free to make sure my camera was working properly.

One more thing, I've got a new trailer ready for release. It's 5 minutes long with original music. I think it'll be out next week.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

the book of te nao



This is the cover to a sketchbook that I call the Book of Te Nao. Te Nao translates to the wave, or god of the waves amongst some islands of the equatorial Pacific. I made this sketchbook a few years ago cutting down paper to size, and binding it with string. I traveled with this some while first starting out on this film project, and sketched some of my surfing experiences in it, as well as waves from my imagination.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

korduroy 2.0 beta

screen grab of my makers page on the new site

check it out:



Korduroy has rolled out their 2.0 beta site. They are gradually going to fully transition to this new format. I have a page on there as a contributing maker, and that includes a store(up and running now) where you can get your hands on the very first Hangs Upon Nothing poster. It's an edition of 50, of which there are 28 or so left.

Really looking forward to being a part of this new site. It's going to be a bit of a home base for this film project. The crew at Korduroy have been very supportive of this film project, and I'm excited to be a part of their new site. thanks! - Jeremy


Monday, February 27, 2012

out the window




Up in planes we're often encouraged to keep the window shades shut so that people can watch movies without glare on their screens. There's some cool stuff out the window though.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

korduroy 2.0


Here's the trailer from Cyrus and crew over at Korduroy.

Really excited to announce that I have been invited to be a contributing maker on the new Korduroy site that is coming soon. The site is looking really cool so far. I think it's going to be awesome. The guys at Korduroy have put together a unique group of artists, filmmakers, photographers, shapers, and writers who will be contributing on a daily basis. Lot's of new stuff coming soon with the launch of 2.0.

the girl and the golden dragon




Fresh outta the sketchbook. Turbofire to Zenith art and poster concepts. I really have fun drawing this stuff.

Monday, January 30, 2012

animating



Making some progress on this little sea films intro animation. I think it's gonna be pretty cool. I've got the sound done for it too, and it's very very simple, and I think a good fit with it. I'm animating straight through this with brush and ink, no pencil lines at all. It's a fun way to animate. Sure takes a while though.! Anymore I really prefer to film or play music than to animate, animation takes forever! Just to get a few seconds worth of movement. But I still dig it, and I think rough hand drawn animation is really cool to look at in motion.

The wind was not very cooperative while shooting these photos, waves were blowing all around.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

backlit


There's a wave today on my made at home lightbox. I like animating with brush and ink. I'm missing a few cables at the moment so not testing this out on my video lunchbox(cool animation testing machine that actually looks like a lunchbox, you shoot frame by frame and it instantly plays back at 24fps...I have the first model that looks like a bomb triggering device/lunch pail). Just going straight ahead with the animation. Hopefully it will look something like a wave in motion!

Monday, January 23, 2012

2D & tubing



I'm finally getting around to starting on animation of this wave tonight. Well, this is the wave sketch it's going to be based on, though probably it will go in the opposite direction. Going to animate on paper, with brush and ink, good messy fun. If this turns out good, it's going to be an intro animation for Little Sea Films. Hang in there, the new trailer is on the way!!! Thanks for stopping by and checkin out this project.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

girls and dragons




Here's a few recent pages from my travel sketchbook. Inspired by life and imagination. I posted a bunch more on the film's facebook if you'd like to take a look:

Friday, January 6, 2012

full trailer - coming soon


Above is a frame of Mikala Jones from the new trailer. This is also another poster concept that I'd like to make into an illustration and silkscreen run.

The trailer is five minutes long, and features a new Turbofire to Zenith song. Only thing I have left to finish up is a short traditionally animated Little Sea Films intro.

Friday, December 30, 2011

air drop



I've been brainstorming ideas for silkscreened posters. One idea is to take actual strips of 16mm and S16mm film, sections used in the final edit, and make illustrated posters based off of them. This is a mock up of the basic design. So, similar to this, same colors, yet hand drawn/printed...

That's Daniel Jones in this one.

Friday, December 16, 2011

the lagoon


Decades ago hydrogen bombs detonated high above this atoll. It is now home to about 5,000 people. Surprisingly, a recent large scale clean up crew that checked radiation levels reported finding no abnormal levels of radioactivity anywhere on the island. Aside from a leftover monolith of a runway, a few rusting remnants of US and English buildings, and some slabs of concrete, there are few remaining indications this place was once home to a large military presence. It was hard to imagine the man-made violent fury unleashed many times over the atoll in years past.

There is a two lane road that twists and turns its way around a large part of the atoll, with shrubs growing up high enough to block visibility around many of the curves. Americans drive on the right side of the road. The English drive on the left. I heard stories that this difference led to head on collisions.

I wish it was more visible in this photo...the clouds above an atoll lagoon, especially this one it seemed, glow a bit of a greenish blue, reflecting the lagoon color from below. It's very noticeable when you scan the entire sky and compare the difference between the clouds over the deep blue of the open ocean and those over the atoll. On a cloudy or partly cloudy day this can be seen from far off in the open ocean, long before any fringe of land is visible.

This is the lagoon that took the life out of my Canon AE-1 35mm camera as well, the one I used to shoot this photo.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

out of the bay



early 2005

Under the weight of my full pack and tripod, under the scorching midday sun, I'm thoroughly exhausted. And out of water. It's still a long way up back to the main road. I'm alone. I wish I'm somewhere I know, somewhere comfortable.

Off the dirt track to the right I see a trickle of a small waterfall. I walk over to it, throw my pack down, and put my back against the rocks. I let it pour over me and I feel instantly refreshed. The water is very cool. I sit there for a minute and relax. I get out of the small pool and reach down to grab my pack.

I look up and there is a big shirtless man with one eye, and a machete in hand, staring down at me. He's wearing only a lava lava. I'm startled. I didn't hear him approaching.

We say "malo". I then notice he has a coconut in the other hand. He hacks off the top of it and with a big smile hands it to me to drink. My fear instantly fades. I've never been more appreciative of a drink in my life. I thank him profusely and then am on my way again, and he disappears into the bush.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

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.

Friday, December 2, 2011

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:



Monday, November 28, 2011

turbofire to zenith - now on bandcamp


Turbofire to Zenith now has a home on the world wide web. We're kicking out the original score for this film. As a start we have the song featured in the teaser trailer, "7 headed golden dragon", on our bandcamp page. As the project goes on, look for the entire soundtrack to be released through our bandcamp page:


http://turbofiretozenith.bandcamp.com/

Sunday, November 27, 2011

blast off hello - full color

I finished up the gouache painting on this poster concept today. Wish you could see this in person, the colors look better. Overall I'm really excited about this design. I'm going to do a bigger version of this, and hopefully have my friend Matt silkscreen some of these.

I'm probably going to make the lettering a little less goofy, and also work to make the squid pop a bit more from the background. But I want to keep with the feel of this piece. Looking forward to kicking out more poster designs soon.


click here to visit the film's page on facebook

Friday, November 25, 2011

blast off hello - color pass 1

Quickly painted this up with gouache today. I love drawing stuff like this, and then going for a surf. Ridiculous fun.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

blast off hello


Here's a rough poster concept for Turbofire to Zenith. I'm really having fun with this idea. Going to put some color on this next. Want to try to apply some of the amazing colors I've seen out in the water recently during sunsets. Looking forward to making some big versions of these. Also...Turbofire to Zenith is going to have a page on bandcamp soon...


click here to visit the film's page on facebook

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

rolling hills




(click drawing if you'd like it biggie-sized)

At the end of a day of amazing waves, glassy rolling hills kept marching in. The clouds were giant. The ocean was a shiny purple grey. The swell lines hit the reef and threw out big perfect barrels. The spray of the waves glowed an orange/pink from the sliver of sun still hitting them. I'd seen and shot so many waves this day I just sat and watched. They were possibly the most perfect looking barrels I've ever seen. Maybe I should have shot some more. I just took it in though.


click here to visit the film's page on facebook

Monday, November 14, 2011

7 headed golden dragon


There were many, many of these barges, part of a large procession down the river. It was spectacular. This one is the royal barge. The most amazing part though was the sound. The singing and chanting of over 2,000 oarsmen echoing down the river.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

maelstrom

The swell has fully arrived, but the winds are onshore. So a few of the guys decide we should go trolling for dinner.

The further out we go, the rougher the seas get. I have visions of pearling. Or of the motor dying and being blown into this maelstrom; the boat splintering to pieces on the jagged rocks jutting out of the ocean angrily in the middle of the froth.

As I shift back and forth between pondering a drift story, or getting sucked down into the angry sea, it hits me that we have no radio on this boat. Flares? Doubtful. Life jackets, I don’t think so. Our first aid kit consists of the few band-aids and half used tube of antibiotic ointment I have packed. Not to mention we forgot a large portion of our food rations at Bill’s house; big blocks of cheese and tortillas. And then there’s our one knife blade.

"Uh, you think we should turn around?" Daniel says. Mikala is in the middle of a story about using a board to roof tie down strap as a leash one trip, Timmy is walking around the side of the boat with a box of beer as if we're at anchor in a calm lagoon, and Dustin is casually talking story too like we could be anywhere.

"Let’s turn the ____ around," I say.

Mikala laughs.

Monday, November 7, 2011

teaser trailer is on korduroy!

The teaser and an interview, check it out!

http://www.korduroy.tv/2011/filmmaker-feature-jeremy-rumas-hangs-upon-nothing





A big thanks to Cyrus and Reis over at Korduroy.

Also want to say thanks to friends Jason Lukas and Scott Goldsbury for contributing photos to this project, and to the piece on Korduroy. Jason shot the Turbofire to Zenith amp and guitar shots in the above image. Their links are at the right of this page.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

speed of light


Daniel Jones under a rainbow arc of water on a 3 fin bonzer. This board is so sick. It's a one of a kind. Swallow tail with an E-wing, and the old school side fins. It's the dims of one of Daniel's typical short boards, but maybe just a little more volume overall. Beautiful orange resin tint and a double white pin stripe. There's some footage of Daniel on this board in the film.

This is a 35mm shot by Jason Lukas.



Tuesday, November 1, 2011

hurtling towards space

Turbofire to Zenith poster concept...the band behind the original score of this film. I didn't originally plan on using the 3 primary colors on this one, but I dig how it turned out. Would love to later on do a bigger refined version of this, maybe silkscreen a few.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

where the tigers are


This logo design(click image to enlarge) was done by Marcin Zeglinski. http://poduski.com/
____________________

Keoni Jones, dropping into a blue wall. Keoni is on a board that older brother Mikala shaped back in Hawaii. It was the 2nd board Mikala had ever shaped. A 2+1 fin set up with a long fin box in the middle.

I recently told a friend who's from this general area that we went by motorbike two hours through jungle paths to get to this spot. He'd been over here before, but by boat. His eyes opened wide and he goes, "You know there's tigers there..."

I hadn't thought about that possibility at the time. We didn't see any though. I do remember that after we took the motorbikes as far as we could, on foot we hiked over these ridges under arching canopies of bamboo so big it felt like something from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. This bamboo was enormous, made me feel miniature.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

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.


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Captain Abun


Captain Abun pilots the boat perched on a little red plastic chair that has been bolted down to the crew’s raised bunk platform. It’s a typical plastic pop out type lawn chair, but with the legs sawed off. The steering wheel looks like it’s from a 1970’s van. The generator sits on the floor next to him. He sits up on this chair, barefoot, with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. His shirt says “Short Boarders Fake It. Long Boarders Take It. Knee Boarders MAKE IT!”

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

sketchbook


Blacky during the midnight ride across the Lombok Strait by Ferry, big swell, and the girl at the point.