HEAD OF THE BOARD by Lindy Laird, Northern Advocate Feature Editor.
Surfing aficionado Nicolas Brikke filmed his first documentary after drilling a hole in the back of his surfboard to hold a small waterproof digital camera.
Brikke wanted a special moving-through-water effect. He filmed mainly his feet.
After an adaptation of the mounting technique, however, he got it right. Fast forward to Brikke's three minute gem of a film which won the 2008 Surf Fest Amateur Surf Film Competition.
Now he's making a feature-length doco about longboarding and is in Northland filming Ruakaka board shaper Roger Hall, a character whom Brikke says is part of the region's surf soul. Hall has lived his passion for surfing and made it his living, earning an international reputation for the quality and artistry of his boards, Brikke said.
When shorter boards became popular decades ago ``a few die-hards'' kept longboarding alive, Brikke says. Among them is Hall, who made a board that by chance Brikke tried out at a surf comp at Sandy Bay.
``It was such a nice board, it was a completely different ride. I called in at Roger's on the way home and ordered one _ with screw pads on the till and the nose for a camera.''
That camera has been focussed on Surfline for the past two weeks as Hall crafts a seven foot long gun from cabbage tree wood.
Brikke and co-producer Kirsten Berrett's film will be called ``SEWN _ The shores of Aotearoa as seen through the eyes of longboarders''. ``Sewn'' is an acronym for south, east, west and north _ really an excuse for the filmmakers to surf all of New Zealand's coast in the name of art.
The doco explores the surf culture through two ``defining'' characters in each of four regions. along with Hall, The northern region surfing star is young Hibiscus coast rider Trent Lillis _ whom Brikke says is ``a soulful, stylish surfer''.
Soulful. Brikke uses words like that when he talks about surfing. And transcendental.
``The longboard gives you this freedom to move about and enter into this whole different world of physical expression,'' he says. ``You can stand on the very tip, it's almost against the laws of physics. It's the closest you can get to walking on water.''
Post-production on what is shaping up to be a very beautiful film should be completed in December.
``The idea is to go on a release tour around New Zealand showing it to surf communities, and also take it to film festivals around the world,'' Brikke said. Even this early on there is high interest in a film its makers promise will capture the spirit of longboarding and offer a visual journey for the spectator.
Surfing aficionado Nicolas Brikke filmed his first documentary after drilling a hole in the back of his surfboard to hold a small waterproof digital camera.
Brikke wanted a special moving-through-water effect. He filmed mainly his feet.
After an adaptation of the mounting technique, however, he got it right. Fast forward to Brikke's three minute gem of a film which won the 2008 Surf Fest Amateur Surf Film Competition.
Now he's making a feature-length doco about longboarding and is in Northland filming Ruakaka board shaper Roger Hall, a character whom Brikke says is part of the region's surf soul. Hall has lived his passion for surfing and made it his living, earning an international reputation for the quality and artistry of his boards, Brikke said.
When shorter boards became popular decades ago ``a few die-hards'' kept longboarding alive, Brikke says. Among them is Hall, who made a board that by chance Brikke tried out at a surf comp at Sandy Bay.
``It was such a nice board, it was a completely different ride. I called in at Roger's on the way home and ordered one _ with screw pads on the till and the nose for a camera.''
That camera has been focussed on Surfline for the past two weeks as Hall crafts a seven foot long gun from cabbage tree wood.
Brikke and co-producer Kirsten Berrett's film will be called ``SEWN _ The shores of Aotearoa as seen through the eyes of longboarders''. ``Sewn'' is an acronym for south, east, west and north _ really an excuse for the filmmakers to surf all of New Zealand's coast in the name of art.
The doco explores the surf culture through two ``defining'' characters in each of four regions. along with Hall, The northern region surfing star is young Hibiscus coast rider Trent Lillis _ whom Brikke says is ``a soulful, stylish surfer''.
Soulful. Brikke uses words like that when he talks about surfing. And transcendental.
``The longboard gives you this freedom to move about and enter into this whole different world of physical expression,'' he says. ``You can stand on the very tip, it's almost against the laws of physics. It's the closest you can get to walking on water.''
Post-production on what is shaping up to be a very beautiful film should be completed in December.
``The idea is to go on a release tour around New Zealand showing it to surf communities, and also take it to film festivals around the world,'' Brikke said. Even this early on there is high interest in a film its makers promise will capture the spirit of longboarding and offer a visual journey for the spectator.
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