Archive for February, 2009

Our Featured Production site, MLD Productions, was interviewed by the guys over at Norcalsurfer.com and thought you might like to check it out. Thank you to Ryan Moss for giving us a shout out and make sure you go check out Norcalsurfer.com.

1) How did you get into filming?
I was in my second year of college at the University of Hawaii when I met Ricky Lesser. He is pretty much responsible for all of the horrible videos you see all over the web. About a year later I bought my first video camera. I never was really into shooting video from land, it always seemed boring and the first camera I bought didn’t really have a big enough zoom to make it practical. So shortly after I came across SPLWATERHOUSINGS.COM. Once again Ricky had major influence on my decision to buy my first water housing from SPL. Sean made my first housing and I fell in love with shooting in the water. I practiced a lot early on at Sandy beach in Oahu shooting empty waves with Ryan Beppu. So I guess the cliff note version of this collection of rambling words in front of you would be blame Ricky Lesser, Sean Labrie, and Ryan Beppu.
2) Tell us more about your schooling? OR What was it like learning the art of videography on your own?
I never went to school for video or video editing. I took a digital media class in High School when I went to St. Francis Mountain View. I remember wanting to be really good at visual art, but didn’t think much of it as a career path. My roommate Tyler Rock and I used to have our PC laptops in college when we roomed together at UH and spend hours at night editing and seeing who could come up with the best video. He won most of the time, but that was the revival of my editing days after I quit for a while.
3) What kind of video camera (make/model) do you use?
Currently I own a Cannon XHA1 and a Panasonic AGHSC1U.
4) Do you use the same camera in the water and on land?
The Panasonic I use for water because it is smaller, more light weight, and more mobile when swimming. The Cannon is for land due to the weight stability and battery life.
5) What kind of water housing do you own?
SPL. No leaks, sealed by design. Check them out, Sean has helped me so much in my career and is a great guy to work with. He has always had time to answer any question no matter how trivial it was. He is a true innovator and has a lot of new designs and concepts coming up for 2009.
6) How was it to transition from shooting on land into the water?
It actually more so the other way around. I mean I would like to truly believe that I am aquaman and can swim in any situation, but there are times when it’s really not worth the risk. So I had to learn how to shoot on land. Everyone has the misconception that shooting on land just requires a big lens and the ability to pan with the surfer. Not true, look at guys like Ricky Lesser, Ryan Criag, and Corey Wilson. I’m a little biased because they are all friends of mine, but they all capture “the moment”. There is so much that is over looked in surfing. It’s not just about the surfer being able to rip anymore. It’s about the location, the feeling that the viewer is actually in the surrounding. Foreground, background, lighting, saturated colors are all things that should be taken into account when shooting from land. Ryan, probably heckles me the most about how easy it is to video and how much video guys don’t have it as hard as the still guys. He and Ricky probably push me the hardest to be more creative.
7) In your videos you have some really sick water shots and there’s a few were the rider is literally going over you. What’s the gnarliest situation you’ve ever been in?
Pipe this year without a doubt. Swam out one day when no one was shooting water. I was on three Red Bulls, and a 9 shot Starbucks coffee because I only slept an hour the night before, because I had to submit a video by the deadline for Magicseaweed.com. The swell was pretty north and it was just a recipe for disaster. I got pretty worked because of all the caffeine started to panic and I literally thought I was going to drowned at one point. I stuck it out until the battery died because I am just like that, but I learned my lesson for sure. There have been a few times where I was trying to get under the surfer when he was doing an air and I swore the board was going to clock me in the face but those times are a part of the job.
We’ve seen your work in Hawaii and in the frigid waters of NorCal. What sort of challenges/benefits does each location present? And which is your favorite to shoot in?
Hawaii, you have to be in much better shape, even though I really did defeat that theory this year. I went over completely out of shape and in two days of swimming at backdoor got back in shape really fast. Hawaii is also a scene, you have everyone there. I became people-phobic half way through the trip, I literally didn’t want to see or talk to anyone any more. You have to respect the guys like Nelly, Aichner, Stacy, Dorsey, the list goes on and on. There is a hierarchy in the lineup when shooting for sure, and you just have to wait your turn and pay your dues like everyone else. Even though I’m shooting video with a fish eye most of the time and those guys are shooting stills, it’s still another ugly yellow housing in their way. The waves are a lot faster and so are the surfers. So if you’re not used to shooting at that pace, you can get really hurt. Contest will take the best surfers away from the best waves at time, or they take away the best waves and replace them with media contracts and ugly neon jerseys. Benefits though, are warm water, friends who you maybe only see a few times a year, Kona Brewing Company, Breakers, really good food, and a magical island I like to call my second home. Santa Cruz is much colder than Hawaii. The waves here are never good, there are tons of sharks waiting to eat you and everyone here is bad at surfing. HAHA. No, ok it’s first off really really cold. I wear a 5/4/3 most of the year when I didn’t lose that wetsuite. So now I’m stuck with my 4 year old psycho 1 with holes and no hoodie. It’s pretty sharky in some areas and most of the time you look and feel like a baby elephant seal. Then there are the elephant seals, which most of the time i worry more about than sharks. My dad just got chased by one the other week at a not so secret secret spot. Then there are the winds which blow NW most of the year and unless you know where to look, you’re probably hating life. There is so much coastline to check, so you’re probably driving around for a while looking at all the possibilities of where could be good. It’s really hard at times to get motivated to get up knowing you’re going to be swimming and freezing. Ever since Blue Crus it seems like every old man corpo or woman thinks they can surf and get in your way (I now bring to you exhibit A, the hook.) Payoffs, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. There are a bunch of really photogenic spots, and there is a really great pool of upcoming talent. Nat Young, Matt Myers, Austin Smith-Ford, Kyle Buthman are just a few. My family is close by and have been supportive of my passion to film. All my childhood friends are just a phone call away. If you have the drive to get away from crowds you can. It’s just a really magical special place up here.
9) MAC or PC? MAC no question.
10) Beach or Point break? Reef Slab. But it also depends who’s surfing it.
11) What advice would you give to anyone who is looking to get into filming surfing? Someone really smart once told me, “You have to believe in yourself and what you do, you can’t listen to the other people around you.” If it’s your passion then follow it. Just know that there are other guys who are going to be competing with you trying to prove that they deserve to have a job in this industry and you don’t. Stay really cool and humble and try to be respectful of EVERYONE. Don’t get wrapped up when everyone tells you how good you are. Don’t ever believe you are better than everyone else, egos evolve and bad decisions come of it. Pay your dues and eventually you’ll be successful (mistakes I have made in the past that I would love to be able to live without)
I would like to thank everyone who still supports me: Sean at SPLWATERHOUSINGS.COM, Chad and the Reelcomp.com Team, Ryan Anderson and the rest of the crew at Magicseaweed.com, Mom, Dad, my brother Aaron and the rest of my family. I would also like to thank Ricky Lesser, who has been a huge part of my life as a traveling partner and helping me out with every project I take on. Also thanks to Arun and everyone at Norcalsurfer.com and look forward to publishing, a few tricks I have up my sleeve for the new year, new featured videos soon.