About

Posted by admin on June 10, 2010 | Comments Off

SEWN is a surf film/documentary that will take us on a surf trip chasing swells around the North Island of New Zealand, meeting up with and surfing with people who keep the spirit of longboarding alive. It invites us to discover their lifestyles and their integration with the natural elements. It will also portray some of New Zealand’s best longboarders from innovative and challenging viewing angles.

Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, is a country whose mysterious shores and remote surf breaks emanate a culture that has inspired generations of surfers, and filled their minds with stories and dreams that transcend time and space. A surf culture based on the desire to be one with the water element, a longboarder’s ambition to feel, caress and walk the wave.

SEWN, an acronym for South East West North, symbolizes the four cardinal points of Aotearoa, its four distinct coasts and landscapes that harbour diverse lifestyles and people and the overall exposure to oceans and seas, swells and winds. It will portray some of New Zealand’s best longboarders from innovative and challenging viewing angles.

Concept

SEWN will take the spectator on a surf trip chasing swells around the North Island of New Zealand: Wellington, Gisborne, New Plymouth and Whangarei. In each region, the spectator will meet and surf first with a person who kept the spirit of longboarding alive and then with a longboarder of a younger generation.

Nose-riding, the closest act to walking on water, differentiates longboarding from other surfing disciplines. The project will focus on a soulful use of the whole length of the board with an emphasis on nose-riding and style.

Board Camera

Footage is taken from a custom-built longboard is fitted with screw pads on the tail and the nose of the board to which pods of different heights are affixed. A waterproof casing houses a camera, which takes footage of the surfer in action. The emphasis and the focus of the footage is not only to observe the dynamics of surfing from close-up but also to assess what it is that makes the surfer ride the way he does and defines his/her style. Each pod is designed to capture specific features and moves of the surfer:

TAIL SETUP:

The pod used here is of about half a meter in height (below left) and is designed to capture the footwork of the surfer as well as the body language and the nose-riding postures (below right). This setup takes footage of the surfer from behind allowing the viewer to appreciate his/her wave approach.

NOSE SETUP:

The pod used in this setup is less than 10 cm in height (bottom left) and is designed to capture ‘tail-surfing’ (bottom right) and enables observation of the surfer’s facial expression. This angle offers a reflective view on the surfer’s body-expression and movement and creates a surprise effect, as the viewer does not see the wave.

HAND HELD WATER CAMERA:

This is a versatile shooting technique capturing footage of the surfer inside the water. Footage can be taken of the surfer riding a wave towards the camera (left picture) or riding the wave alongside the surfer (right picture).

PARAMOTOR SETUP:

A gyroscopic-stabilised camera mount is designed to fit to the pilot’s harness of a Paramotor (paraglider with attached propeller motor). The maneuverability of the paraglider wing captures challenging airborne footage from extremely low (top 2 pictures) and high angles (bottom 2 pictures).

Soundtrack

Music plays a crucial role in this project. The soundtrack will be a mixed, unified and flowing component. The intensity of the surfing footage will be complemented and fitted with the intensity of the soundtrack. This is to create a greater sensory impact by adding an aural immersion to the visual one. Furthermore, this project aims to support and promote local New Zealand musical artists.

The Team

Nicolas Brikke
Nicolas (Nico) is a young French filmmaker living in Wellington, New Zealand. He has spent his life traveling and living around the world. Nico started surfing in Holland, then moved to Biarritz, France where he took up longboarding. He competed in the European Longboarding Tours of 2002 and 2003 sponsored by the British longboard brand Nine Plus, reaching the top 15. More recently, he competed in several national contests (2nd place Honolua Classic Longboarding Taranaki 2008 and Makorori First Light 2009).

He arrived in Wellington, New Zealand over 4 years ago after studying Biology in France and Spain. He recently completed his Masters in Geophysics and is also enrolled in a Graduate Diploma in Arts in Film at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2008, he won the annual National Surfing Short-Film Competition SURFFEST with ‘SEWN – Preview’, the teaser for this project. His latest short film, ‘One Day One Life’, which he wrote, directed and produced, will be sent to international short film festivals in this year.

Will Moore
Will is a kiwi director and editor living in Wellington, New Zealand. While at Fish n Clips Productions in Auckland, Will worked together and co- produced with NZ’s leading film and music video directors/producers including James Moore, Chris Graham, Joe Lonie, Greg Page, James Barr and Wade Shotter. Landmark music videos range from Scribes ‘Not Many’ to Brooke Fraser’s ‘Lifeline’ and Mint Chicks ‘Post No Bills’. He has also worked on the visual effects for ‘The Last Great Snail Chase’.

In 2007, he produced a documentary on the Hip-Hop MC battle scene in Wellington, ‘Clash of the Titans’, which was selected for the New Zealand Film Festival (NZFF). Will moved to Wellington and set up his own production house, CleanCut Productions, focusing on NZ stories and people, music videos and documentaries.

Paul Wedel
Paul is a Canadian director, editor and producer who lives inWellington, New Zealand. He was the editor and sound editor on Will Moore’s ‘Clash of the Titans’. His experimental short films, ‘Night Drive’ and ‘Day Drive’, were also selected to the 2008 and 2009 NZFF, respectively. Paul’s films have also screened at the DOCNZ International Documentary Festival, the Big Mountain Short Film Festival and the Wellington Fringe Film Festival. In Canada, he has edited documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada and CTV.

Most recently, Paul was the co-director, co-DOP, co-editor and sound editor for ‘Otåck Otåck Otåck Fall’, 2009 Wellington winner of the New Zealand 48 Hours Filmmaking Competition. He is currently editing and co-producing The Red House, a feature-length experimental documentary about a couple who live on Waiheke Island and in Beijing.

Kirsten Berrett
Kirsten is a NZ actress and a recent graduate from the NZ Film andTelevision School (Crew 18). She has worked on several productions in various roles, most recently as Production Designer for the three crew 18 Grad Films ‘Scrap Heap’, ‘Putangitangi’ and ‘Wonderland’ and as costume assistant on Sally Tran’s latest short film ‘Toi La Who?’.

She has also acted in many student short films and music videos (including ‘Mouse’, 2009 finalist at the Handle the Jandal awards), as well as the lead role in Nicolas Brikké’s latest short film ‘One Day One Life’.