Here is a first look at the Jamie O’Brien project. This is a reel of some of the best shots from the 3 week project. I would like to point out that this first look does not reflect our ultimate goal of producing a more in depth documentary that includes interviews with Jamie and other influential members of the surfing community. One of the reasons that it’s taken me this long to get this short cut up on the blog is that we’ve been working on the two cuts simultaneously. My goal all along has been to NOT make yet “another surf film” as those have already been made and made very well by some incredibly talented filmmakers - and shot over a much longer period of time where budgets and time allow the filmmakers to wait for the perfect conditions / swell. During the 3 weeks in Hawaii - we probably saw 5 days of sun, and 2-3 days of decent (but relatively small) waves. I was well aware of some of these challenges (weather is always a huge factor when shooting in the winter months in Hawaii) and made a point from the beginning to draw upon my experience as a photojournalist to work towards producing a different type of film. I hope to be able to share that with you at some point in the upcoming months.
For now I hope you’ll enjoy this first look. I look forward to getting back to writing more regularly on this blog now that this cut is done. A huge thanks goes out to all of the crew members, the sponsors who provided financial and gear support (many of them prototypes) and of course to Jamie.
(Due to the length and size of this piece I am putting it up at 720p.)
Please note that Tiffen and Formatt BOTH make screw on filters and 4 X 5.65 filters for the matteboxes. I use a variety of filters from both companies - I use 1-6 stop Neutral Density filters as well as a few 10 stop screw on filters. (The RED One camera became part of our production a few days before we left and we had to scramble to find the appropriate filters in time - luckily both Tiffen and Formatt helped save the day in last minute fashion.)
Both companies also make graduated NDs and Hot Mirror filters that cut out infra red light when using the RED One camera. The 4 stop and 6 stop are the NDs we’re using most often. I personally like the 10 stop to use my 1.2 lenses wide open in sunlight. Also - if you want to stay very light and mobile - I recommend you use the screw on filters - I travel with a set of 72mm and 77mm filters for my Canon lenses - but you could also buy a step-down adapter to screw on your 77mm filters onto your 72mm if you’re looking to economize. I tell every friend buying a 5D MKII to: 1. buy ND filters right away and 2. an good video head (see the Gitzo G2180 below) 3. an extra battery for the 5D MKII 4. and look into audio (see previous posts for the Rode mic and other options.)
We’ve also been using a variety of Manfrotto Tripods and video heads that we mention in this Behind The Scenes on this project that have allowed us to pull of some very nice pans of Jamie surfing. I can’t overstate how important it is for you to get a good tripod set to shoot nice pans - and you’ll need the heavy duty stuff to shoot with the heavier RED and long Canon glass. If you want a simple setup to start off with a 5D MKII and shorter lenses - we’ve found the Gitzo carbon fiber tripods and the Gitzo G2180 Fluid head to perform quite remarkably (but don’t overload it or any fluid head with weight - unlike still photography you can’t really get away with overloading a head with video as your pans and tilts will suffer.) Another really nice option are these self-standing monopods by Manfrotto that I recommend you use with a quick release plate.
Check out the RedRock Micro DSLR Rig and long lens support that I’ve mentioned in the past as well as the Wicked Circuits EF Lens adapter for the RED One Camera.
I will be posting a DETAILED list of all of the gear described within this and the first behind the scenes clip in a few days after we put up the 3rd installment of the Behind the Scenes up (it’s a long list and I want to add links so it’ll take me a better part of a day to do and we’ve only got a few days of shooting left on this project.)
(UPDATE - The video is now up at 1080p - see “Full HD” link on top of the window.)
Creativity in surfing is the opportunity to express oneself on a wave. Surfing is nothing but the physical extension of one’s ability to explore that realm between land and sea. Being free to do it without the constraints of commercial endeavor or competitive goals creates true freedom of expression. Somewhere between the land and the sea Jamie tries the other side, switching his feet around on take off, choosing the opposite stance, then midway, switches back… as if to say I can do “whatever I like.” Jamie embodies the term “free surfer.”
We had a long behind the scenes clip queued up for you today (including the ND filter piece that I promised) but the newsman in me forces me to put this clip out now - for the non-surfing crowd out there: this footswitch by Jamie is something unique to his skill set, and something seldom captured.
The best thing about watching, let alone filming, Jamie - is the privilege of seeing someone do something so beautiful, so difficult, so effortlessly. The last time I saw something like this on such a regular basis was when I photographed Michael Jordan at the United Center in Chicago for his last 3 years on the court.
The best part is that I’ve actually had a chance to eat some poke with Jamie - a local delicacy. Whereas social time with Michael was nothing but a distant dream. After a very trying week - I can’t wait to sit back and spend the next week watching Jamie surf. Hope you all feel the same - this is but a small sampling.
This shot was made with a Canon 500mm f4 - on a RED One at 100 frames per second at 2K using the Wicked Circuits EF Lens Adapter. That’s the equivalent of a 1600mm on a 35mm camera. Big thanks to Mike Isler for the focus pull and spotting.
2008 Ended on a big uptick - we had a wonderful day, full of waves and sun. And we shot more footage today than in the past week combined it seems. We got up at 5:30 a.m. for the 3rd day straight today and my crew shot with me for over 14 hours today - so I’m giving them the night off and holding off on another post with video etc. Fireworks are popping outside and spirits are high. Time to take a little time off, unwind - and enjoy. I hope you all are doing the same. Happy new year everyone - I wish you all the very best for 2009!
To see this video at 1080p go to SmugMug by CLICKING HERE.
“Hurry Up and Wait” - these are words that I and every photographer / filmmaker / surfer - you name it - live by. It was a mad dash to get everything ready for this trip - people flew through winter storms, prototypes were assembled last minute and gear was shipped from all over the country. And then you get here. And no waves.
I knew that this might happen - and that’s why I gave myself close to 3 weeks to pull this off. Nonetheless - it hasn’t made the wait any easier. I can tell you that waiting for weather as a photographer is one of the few truly stressful parts of the job - but when you have a film crew with you - it just gets amplified exponentially as you’re no longer the only person waiting. This isn’t my first rodeo - and I’ve had to wait a long time before (in fact I had to wait over a week to make a single frame the last time I was here on the North Shore to cover the Pipeline Masters two years ago.) My 18 years of experience has taught me to simply let things unfold naturally. Certain things just can’t be helped along… Truth be told: I still can’t “relax” even in Hawaii when I’m “waiting” for an assignment to come together.
The fact that we’ve also faced some tough weather and a power outage hasn’t helped, but stress aside - we’ve been having a good time. We don’t have a single clip of Jamie surfing yet - but it looks like we might just get lucky as a swell is headed our way. For now I hope you enjoy a very quick cut of what we do have - mostly of us waiting. For the waves. And Jamie to explode off of them.
Next I’ll put up a behind the scenes piece/tutorial on how important Neutral Density Filters are with these digital cinema cameras and how they’re absolutely essential if you want to differentiate what you are shooting with your Canon lenses from what you see coming out of standard HD video cameras when shooting in daylight.
Here is the first installment of our behind the scenes footage. I will be detailing every piece of gear used as we go through this production - and tomorrow I will post the model numbers etc. of what we are using as I’m sure a few of you might be interested in those specifics. I was planning on doing that in this post - but it’s late and we’re a little behind given the 18-hour island-wide power failure, so stay tuned.
Here is one of the shots from our first day of filming Jamie O’Brien on the North Shore of Hawaii. To view the 1080p High Res click here. (You DEFINITELY WANT TO DO THIS)
It’s been pretty fantastic to get a chance to know Jamie, his dad and crew - I really think that this project has wings and I think that it’s fitting to start off with this shot from our first day of shooting. It was shot with a Canon 5D MKII and a 24mm Tilt-Shift lens mounted to a radio controlled helicopter. Tabb Firchau is joining our motley crew with what is definitely one of the coolest toys that we have on hand - a radio controlled helicopter that can fly inches off the ground and through very, very small openings. Tabb specializes in video and still aerial footage and travels regularly across the globe. He just came back from a National Geographic assignment where he almost got eaten by a shark - but that’s a whole other story…
We’ve had an interesting few days here in Hawaii - the weather played havoc with a lot of our travel plans (it took more than 48 hours for our editor to make it out here from Toronto - he got to spend a night on the floor at O’Hare) and our crew’s lost baggage stories have been almost comical given their frequency… Meanwhile we’ve been tinkering with a lot of our new toys from a variety of companies - most of them prototypes. It’s been a steep learning curve at times and that’s to be expected when you’re the guinea pig trying to use multiple prototypes together for the first time - to give you an idea: soldering was involved! (I won’t say to who’s gear though…) But we’re finally up and running and in full swing. I’ll be posting the first behind the scenes video tomorrow some time (thought I’d give our editor Ryan Hughes a good night’s sleep before throwing him into the mix) and we’re planning on showing you every detail of how this and other shots are being produced. (more…)
Canon's 800mm 5.6 coupled to a RED One Camera with a RedRock Micro lens support system.
Allow me to introduce the Big Kahuna.
I mentioned that I was working on a few prototypes/gadgets for this production with Jamie O’Brien - here is one of the first things that I can share.
The Red EOS Mount by Wicked Circuits was created by Andy Lesniak and Richard Wardlow. It allows you to control both Iris (Aperture) and focus control of any Canon EF Lens mounted to a RED One (Link to Wicked Circuits to come.) This will allow us to shoot 4K, 3K and 2K footage at up to 120 fps. The lens (w/ the crop factor) will be the equivalent of a 1280mm 5.6 and up (depending on the resolution we set.) Needless to say - I can’t wait to see what this looks like on the beach! (more…)
I’ve been unusually quiet on the blog because I’ve been in pre-production for the past few weeks gearing up for a pretty fantastic project. I will be filming a short narrative film on one of the world’s top surfers Jamie O’Brien over the next 3 weeks on the North Shore of Hawai’i. Jamie is an incredible talent who grew up on the Pipeline - one of, if not the surfing mecca, and the final spot for the sport’s Triple Crown competition - the Pipeline Masters. I had the pleasure of photographing this amazing sporting event for The New York Times Magazine’s PLAY two years ago - and have been trying to find a way to return to ever since. When Jamie’s manager contacted me the day after “Reverie” was released on the web asking if I’d be interested in collaborating on a project together - the project was very quickly afoot.
Jamie is a free surfer who is forward looking and very focused on the future of his sport and helping steer it back to its roots. He is also a very successful competitive surfer (although that is not his main focus,) and gets to travel the world as he chases the world’s best waves and is keenely focused on producing awesome imagery of his own - both video and stills. Jamie is one of the first surfers to have his own production company. He lives the dream of every surfer, few contests, just surfing and traveling where the waves are best at any given time.
We’re going to work together on narrative film - based on his life on the Pipeline - and possibly throughout the next year or two around the globe. Jamie lives at Pipeline - literally - he grew up looking directly at Pipeline and his bedroom window literally looks straight at the peak. His is the closest house to the wave, many people shoot straight from his front yard and balcony as they command a near perfect view of both waves, Pipeline and Backdoor. So this is in many ways a dream project for everyone involved. Doesn’t hurt to be away from the East Coast in wintertime of course…
Recent Comments