FROM THIS CITY
SURF SHORT FILM

As every surfer across the globe will know, living in a city comes with it's consequences - often missing the swell and the minimal daylight hours to meet deadlines, watching your mates score back home while you're sat at a computer desk and, in my case, clicking away on a mouse in the edit suite far away from the ocean. As a filmmaker, my job allows me to lose myself in my imagination, and this is what inspired the film.

From This City is based around that need and desire to escape to that place of solace, the ocean. Even if only for a few minutes, even if only in your imagination. Every surfer has mind surfed from a beach, and this is mind surfing from the city.

Given the sentiment of the film, we wanted it to have a dark, personal and isolating feel, so getting the locations right was vital. We began filming in late November in 2014 in Bristol, under the M32 carriageway entering the city. Our chosen surf locations dotted around South Wales and the Porthcawl area, with the refinery as a backdrop and murky brown waters, contrasted perfectly with the harsh city feel.

KIT:

Underwater: Sony A7S MK1 & 2 + housing
Land: FS700, Canon 5DMK111
Lenses: Zeiss 28 & 50mm f1.2, Canon 70 - 200 f2.8, 16 - 35 f2.8 & 100 - 400 f 4.5
Editing: Adobe Premiere pro CC / Adobe After Effects