Advice for filming a surfer

[thebulk]

Hi there,

A group of friends and myself are planning a movie in which the main character is a surfer. The actor who is playing the part is not a surfer and has never been surfing before.

I am posting this because I wanted to ask for peoples advice on what he should do to get used to surfing for the film, where I can buy/hire a surfboard for the film, and how would be best to film him while he is on the water. We are based in the UK.

Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong forum, but wasn't sure where it needed to be posted.

Thanks in advance for your help and I can't wait to hear you suggestions.

[PredationSA]

I've never filmed a surfer but I've seen a fair amount of surf videos so I guess i can help to give you a rough idea. The way you are gonna film him all depends on what you want the perspective to be in the scene. You could do "over the shoulder" of sorts which means are going to have to be able to surf as well or at least bodyboard. You would need a waterproof camera as well I'd imagine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--BQ8DeLf9s (this is what I'm thinking of)

Then you could do like the "action shots" i guess you can call them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw4fT9C0koA

No skill required by you, except being able to swim i think is pretty important , but you would obviously need a waterproof camera again. You could also do this type of shot from a boat I guess.

Or you could just film from the beach or a decent vantage point with a decent zoom which i think is the very common route (maybe not for proper films though).

[thebulk]

Thanks for your advice. I will watch the videos and see if I can get any ideas from them for the scene. We are lucky enough to have a waterproof camera so that is not too much of a problem.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

[Ged]

What you need to do is film a background of waves from the back of a boat or something. Then to get your dude to stand infront of the background, to smile, make happy surfing type movements and film that.

[billie_morini]

thebulk,
It would be very beneficial to develop relationships with a few surfers that will help you directly. They will be able to convey much more info in-person than you can imagine. You will find they have additional boards and can suggest where you might get the film/scenes you want. You may decide to ask one or more of them to perform the surfing for your non-surfing star. If you don't know how to make surfing friends, then locate one or more surfing club and attend their meetings / surfing dates.

[thebulk]

Thanks everyone for you advice. I will take this all on board (sorry no pun intended!) I will relay all this information onto everyone who is working on the project so that we can come to a decision.