After finding out the local surf shop had Transworld Surf’s latest flick, High-5, I was excited to check it out, especially because of all the hype in the magazine over the past few months.  When it was over I was a little surprised because I felt like something was missing; Unlike Taylor Steele’s Castles in the Sky, High-5 has almost no dialog and rarely shows clips of land.  Instead of focusing on the voyage itself, the flick jumps right into the action.  On the bright side, there is more room for all the massive cutbacks and insane airs (even the ones they can’t land).  Filmed within a 5 month window, Andrew Doheny, Eric Geiselman, Wade Goodall, Fergal Smith, and Andy Irons definitely had their fair share of amazing clips.

One of the cooler parts of the video was a small segment on Fergal Smith killing it in Ireland.  In addition to the fierce slabs he dropped in on, Fergal Smith took it to the next level by carrying a camera while being shacked to give a perspective we don’t usually see in these films.

Of course, throughout the 40 minute film, Andy Irons doesn’t fail to amaze and Eric Geiselman lands countless gnarly airs.

To vamp up the flick, Transworld included various special effects which may or may not include an animated shark, a 400lb woman, and an occasional gnome; make sure to look out for them, some are easy to miss!

Among others, the soundtrack had bands on the down-low including “The Soft Pack,” “The drowning men,”  and “Future Islands,” which blend in well with the flick, especially one of the opening songs, “Answer to Yourself.”

On the back cover of the DVD there is a byte in a large font that reads, “Can someone tell me what this is for?” This film is highly recommended for anyone looking for a film that focuses on the surfing rather than the lifestyle.  You can buy the DVD online at Swell.com or your local surf shop may carry it. As a bonus, it comes with a free one year subscription to their magazine, so go check it out!

Image: ReelSessions.com

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Encinitas showing of Taylor Steele’s new movie, Castles In The Sky.  It was held at the historic La Paloma theater in front of a boisterous, sold out crowd.

I’m a huge fan of Taylor Steele’s work, so when he got up on stage and introduced the project as special to him I knew it had to be good.

If you look at the poster for Castles In The Sky you will see that it stars India, Peru, Vietnam, Africa, and Iceland.  A bit odd, considering that there are some big name surfers in the movie.  But while the surf stars in the film are A-listers, they aren’t really the stars; the film is more about the land and cultures that they visit – a visual journey through a global tapestry.  The imagery that Mr. Steele has captured is full of color, life, and culture from all parts of the globe.  Sometimes I find the “culture as opposed to surfing” routine a bit overdone, but in Castles it absolutely worked.  I think that the quality of the photography was the ticket here.

Photo: dhump/poorspecimen.com

That gorgeous cinematography extends to the surfing, where every drop of water, ripple, and rail grab is captured in full color film.  First stop was Iceland, where Dane Reynolds and crew conquer a windy but beautifully peeling righthander in what looks like some sort of bay.  You can see the swells wrapping in under huge snow covered mountains.  The crew also dips into a frigid, barreling left in what looks like a sunrise or sunset session.  The contrast is beautiful, with golden sunlight glinting off the glassy waves as the surfers pigdog into the tube.  This got the crowd going pretty good.

Jordy Smith and crew hit a throaty looking wedge in Vietnam (I think it was Vietnam but I could be wrong).  Jordy pulls some amazing maneuvers, and I’m not sure that he doesn’t  use velcro on his feet.

Rob Machado tackled Peru with his signature fluid style – the hometown hero here in Encinitas, he got the crowd hooting as well.  I know Machado doesn’t air it on every wave, but I have to say that in my opinion he has the most visually pleasing style of all the pros.   Dave Rastovich, another crowd pleaser, catches some amazingly glassy waves in India, and even shoots through a gnarly looking concrete pier.

Other surfers include Dan Malloy, Kalani Robb, Mike Losness, Tim Curran, Craig Anderson, Pete Mendia, Dion Agius, Kai Barger, Gabriel Villaran, and Mitch Coleborn.

A few of my friends commented that there “could have been more surfing,” but I have to personally disagree.  This isn’t Modern Collective, so don’t go in with that expectation.  What you can expect is a perfect blend of amazing photography of people, places, monuments, and surfing, all mixed to an excellent soundtrack.  I know it sounds cliche, but it’s amazing how much culture is out there in the world.  Sometimes we have to look beyond our personal bubbles to realize it.

Check the Castles In The Sky website for more information on the tour schedule.  If you can get to a premiere showing I highly recommend it!

CASTLES IN THE SKY from Sipping Jetstreams on Vimeo.

Taylor Steele is pushing the envelope once again.  His latest brainchild is a video contest where viewers will vote for the top 20 sections submitted to his innersecion.tv website.  While the idea itself is not revolutionary, I believe this is the first time something like this has been done in the surf industry – at least on such a large scale.  The overall winner scores $100,000.

The rad thing about this contest is that anyone can enter.  Rules on the site  mandate that entries and surfing must not be mechanically assisted.  That means no jetskis, chopper drops, or green screens.  This is paddle in freesurfing at its best.

I also like the fact that Poor Specimen is going to cover the cost of getting the rights to the music that contestants use in their clips.  This means you can have fun and search out some new music (nothing too mainstream that’s going to cost $50,000 for rights).

I’m totally stoked to see this progress.  What you’re gonna get is a showcase for some fresh filming talent – this will be like 20 cool short films in one, so you’re not gonna get bored midway through the finished product.  For example, check out one of the newer filmmakers that was mentioned on the site: Victor Pakpour (http://victorpakpour.blogspot.com/)

This is a great idea and I’ll be following it closely.  I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Steele briefly at the Encinitas premiere of The Drifter.  He was incredibly nice and took the time to chat with fans, which only increased my respect for him.

Check out:

innersecton.tv

This was going to be a long flight though, so I decided to check out something I’d had my eye on for a while.  The Surf Network is a service providing full surf movies for download straight to itunes so you can easily put them on your Iphone or Ipod.

They make it pretty easy.  What you actually do is buy the movies on their website first, then open Itunes and they download from your podcast subscriptions.

The best thing is that their library is pretty big.  They have most surf movies you can think of.  To get prepped for Oahu I bought “Seven Mile Miracle” and “Pipeline Masters.”  Seven Mile Miracle had EXCELLENT video quality, but I was a little disappointed with the video quality of Pipeline Masters as there seemed to be a lot of blocking and artifacts in certain scenes.  Perhaps if I email them they’ll do another compression.

Another awesome feature is the website itself…they have a great design that makes watching the trailers for the movies easy and quick.

The only other downside is that I think the prices for the movies could be slightly lower.  After all, I’m only getting a digital download, not an actual DVD.

If you’re looking to load up on some surf movies for a trip, check out The Surf Network.  Overall I was pretty happy with it!