October
19th, 2004
What a crazy game that was last night...talking about the Red Sox.
And Sunday's game too! Not to mention the Patriots game.( I'm setting
myself up for the reason I'm late with my column this week). The Patriots
and the Red Sox messed me up. But it was good. The Patriots
hold the record for 20 consecutive wins that may never be broken in our lifetime.
The Red Sox are coming back from a 3-0 series that looked all but over
after Saturday...but here it is Tuesday and things are looking pretty good.
Don't know how many of you are sports fans, but I'm guessing it's quite a
few. I do wish for all you TRUE Sox fans that they win a World Series
one of these days and they win it convincingly.
Ok I want to thank all of you who came out on a Sunday Night to see the Premiere
of my latest movie 13POINT5. It was a good turnout for the most part
and I am thankful for those who were there. I mentioned last week that I was
going to talk about the local Surf Movie Scene. Far as I know, there are only
a few of us who do this and do it seriously. Myself, Joe Carter, those
guys from Vermont, Jack Fleming, John Savastano and some of the younger guys
like Alex Orestis and Lars Jacobsen. In the old days (1970's) it was myself
and Ron Freeman who lived in Ogunquit. We made movies using Super8mm and
16mm movie film. It was very primitive compared to what we do today. It was
time consuming and very expensive. There was little room for error in those
days. You can't record over film. I still like the quality of film. I like
the texture and apparently so do a lot of the bigger name surf movie makers.
I've seen quite a few releases in the last few years that were released in
a 16mm format. I guess it's trendy. I'm not knocking the DV camcorders. Hardly,
especially the editing software that's available today. It's all much quicker
today.
Like anything else though. All the latest software and cameras will not make
you a good filmmaker. You still need the eye and knowledge of the subject
you're shooting. I think I have it down. I'm also at the crossroads in my
surfing life where I have just as much fun shooting the surf as I do surfing.
(Please remember that the next time you find yourself beside me paddling for
the same wave).
Being a musician helps too. Music is key to any good surf movie.
Yesterday.
Summer The Wall 1974
This
was just another day surfing at the Wall in the 70's. That's a young Kevin
Grondin on the left and the late Joe Somgyi on the right. That's my old board
laying on the Wall. It was a 7' 2" Swallow tail with a huge single fin.
NOMAD Surfboards made in Florida by Ric Aho. We all rode those semi-guns in
the early 70's. We were all trying to be Gerry Lopez in those days. Like the
kids today all trying to be Kelly Slater and Andy Irons. It's all good.
Video still from my movie The WALL 2000-2001
If you
got good surf pics send em off to me directly.
Just make sure they are NOT huge files. In fact if you have any questions
about the size, email me first and I'll write back. Start snapping your buds!!
Ralph Pic Of The Week
Today.
Contemporary Bottom Turn 2004
An older Kevin Grondin banks out onto the flat of these perfectly groomed
wave. Kevin's next move was to pull up into the pitching lip and get covered
for his efforts. What a difference 3o years makes.
Video
still photo from 13POINT5
Surf movies are a passion for a lot of us. I admit I have a soft spot for
shooting empty waves. Or more specifically, perfect empty waves. I love the
look of a wave with no one on it. There's something about looking at the mechanics
of a perfect wave that I find truly mesmerizing. Besides, empty waves do NOT
rob you of your imagination. What do I mean by that? Simple. When you look
at a photo in a magazine of someone surfing, your eye is trained to look at
the action. Whereas if you're looking at an empty wave. Your imagination takes
you where ever you want to be on that particular wave. That's the reason all
my wave paintings are empty. I want the viewer to be able to look at one of
my waves and activate their imagination. One of these days I plan on doing
a movie with nothing but empty waves. And yes, I know I'll have a limited
audience for such a project. But to those of you who truly appreciate an empty
wave, it will be a feast for your eyes. Because I have so much footage of
empty perfection. I'd call it "EMPTY WAVES".
Meanwhile, 13POINT5 went over pretty good. The surfing was good to
REAL Good and it featured a lot of the area's best Surfers as well as some
visiting Pros. It's nice to see the big boys come to town and take advantage
of our incredible surf. There's one scene in 13POINT5 when Benji Weatherly
(Pro Surfer) says; "We didn't think there would be surf in New Hampshire."
SFOD
will release both 13POINT5 and the New
SFOD Grom Video MONKEY PUNK
on Veteran's Day (November 11th) and they will be available
at all the shops and online www.surffreeordie.com
They will be released on both DVD and video. I'm also releasing my other
movies on DVD. What are those movies Ralph you ask?
Why they are: 99 to 90, THE WALL 2000-2001, SURFING THE SOUL 2002, GROMMATICALLY
CORRECT, RICA RICO 2003-2004.
Looks
like more surf coming. And more than likely I'll be out there trying to decide
whether or not I should shoot or surf. Such a dilemma. Could be worse though...could
be a whole lot worse.
RIP Christopher Reeves and Rodney Dangerfield
Go RED SOX! Go PATRIOTS!
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph
