After what has been called the worst summers ever in Eire, and well ‘moist’ to say the least in the UK, September eventually lit up. Here are a few highlights from our readers and followers. Feel free to add you own in comments on Insta… #carvemag #septembersessions
Edit and filming by Martin John.
The tale of the Master (Mark Mathews) & the Apprentice (Russel Bierke).
Russel Bierke guides us through his experience of being mentored by one of the world’s best big wave surfers, Mark Mathews, as he takes on a secret left hand slab wave in Western Australia.
Spencer Lacy on Skookumchuck
Skookumchuck rapids are on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. I know it’s a SUP”er but seeing as he is in a river and isn’t running anyone over we’ll allow it…
Julian Wilson goes cray.
The Tahiti Pro winner gives thanks
Nate Tyler, Chippa Wilson and Dion go mad in Cal.
Noa Deane, Dylan Goodale and Josh Kerr in Rusty’s new film, TUFF
Betet Merta shredding at home in Indo
South West of France has been pumping of late. Marc Lacomare, Indar Unanue, Fred Robin, Martin Coret, Cédric Giscos, Stéphane Ducos and Romain Laulhé took advantage.
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With professional grade equipment getting cheaper every year the filmmaking process is becoming increasingly democratized. But how do you make sure your fledgling project isn’t lost in the crowd?
Writer Chris Nelson is the Director of the annual London Surf / Film Festival and as well as serving as a festival judge on the continent, he watches over sixty features from across the globe and some thirty short film submissions every year for the London event so CARVE thought we’d tap him up about just what makes a short film work.
The annual LS/FF x Reef Shorties short film contest has become a showcase for the wealth of surf filmmaking talent in Britain and Ireland. Entries to the 5 minute homegrown shorts strand are open until 9th September. For more info: www.londonsurffilmfestival.com/shorts-submissions
Every surf movie was a big deal when I was a grommet. They were delivered via the slightly blurry medium of betamax or via a snowy projector in a rented church hall in the northeast. It was a shared experience. The ‘surf short’ as a genre didn’t exist but many movies were actually an amalgamation of ‘shorts’ or sections strung together under one banner. Think Green Iguana, Gripping Stuff, Hawaii Nine 0 or Bunyip Dreaming.
Here in 2015 the surf short is all around us. It has become one of our main forms of narrative delivery reaching beyond our daily social media feed. Get it right and a short film can have a massive impact; think Duct Tape Surfing, Dark Side of the Lens, The Shaper or Perfect Holiday. It can capture the zeitgeist, move a whole section of society. It can help catapult an aspiring director onto a bigger stage. Think Uncommon Ideas and the trajectories followed by Mark Water and Chris McClean – both now multi award-winning, full-time filmmakers.
But with so many movies pumped out onto the Internet, how do you make your film stand out? The truth is you don’t need John John, a RED Epic or a remote backdrop to make a film that can have a global impact…
The Idea
The best shorts have a solid concept that binds them together. Ask yourself why do you want to make this film? What do you want it to say? Keep reminding yourself of the big idea throughout the process.
Narrative
Narrative is key to making something that’s more than just a montage of moving images. Story telling, through visuals or audio, is the essential ingredient to any good short. Does it tell a story? If not, move on.
Cinematography
Cinematography is not about the equipment you use, it is about the way you use it. Hand held has its place, but a steady image is key. Always ensure you get the basics right. Get a tripod. Get the horizon straight. Get it in focus.
Advice
Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice from fellow filmmakers or film festivals. We often have rough cuts submitted to the LS/FF and have helped with things like the sourcing of music, footage, funding and distribution as well as introductions across the world. This is just part of what we do
Space
Give it room to breathe. It just doesn’t need slashing hack followed by slashing hack. Some of the best surf shorts actually use surf action quite sparingly. Don’t be afraid of landscapes, line-ups, wildlife, culture, people.
Editing
Be consistent. Don’t go mad with the jump cuts – unless this is your style. When filming, always allow enough space for when you get into the editing room.
Music
A good film can be made or murdered by the wrong music choice. The right soundtrack can elevate a good film into a classic. Spend time, find the right piece by the right artist that aids in telling the story. It needn’t cost the earth – an up and coming artist may be happy to allow the use of one of their tracks for the exposure it brings. Be sure to get all the legal clearances. Mine your friendship group – there might be a talented musician in there.
Length
Less is often more. If in doubt, leave it out. Which leads onto…
Quality
Set the bar high. Make it all killer, no filler. Do you really need that 4th shot of the same guy, on the same board, on the same wave, from the same angle?
Product Placement
Someone is paying the tab, but nothing looks worse than the protagonists wondering round with a can of energy drink in their hands for the whole film. If it’s there make it subtle – the audience is savvy. They know a blatant plug when they see one.
Finally what would you like your film to achieve? Where do you want it to go? There are a number of excellent film festivals looking to showcase good creative talent on the big screen and a film premiere is a chance to share your work with an appreciative and stoked crowd. Then quality media outlets will help share it with the world. Think about what your end goal is for the project.
Arthour Bourbon takes apart turquoise Caribbean perfection in his new clip Sugarcane
Proof if needed that surfers are different breed. I mean let us start with Mr Mark Mathews. It would seem he is not content with just trying to surf mental, stepping Shippies; a wave which most surfers would have a hard time straight lining wide eyed, stiff legged and with balls shrunk, into the channel. Neither is he satisfied with making two major surf mag covers on foamy (see this issue of Carve cover) pulling into 15 foot death slabs. Nope he has to try foamy transfers mid wave and mid air a Shippies. What the flying fuck is going through his head? I dunno. Nothing sensible that is for sure.
Second we have Mr Fanning. A bone fide world champ champ and currently second in the world… He has already done shark wrangling so in preparation for his next comp Trestles and a possible world title run into Autumn he obviously feels he has to step up his game. And what better way than to go face planting the Shippies and chewing Tassy reef.. What is he thinking? Sure he got the hang of it, after a couple of widow makers, but does Rory McIlroy warm up for the European Tour Final Series by practicing bunker shots in the pot holes of the Syrian desert? No, I don’t believe he does.
Nice vid though…Don’t go changing now..
