Storm Surfers

Storm Surfers

Cast: Tom Carroll, Ross Clark-Jones, Ben Matson
Directors: Justin McMillan and Chris Nelius
Genre: Adventure
Rated: PG
Running Time: 95 minutes

Synopsis: Meet two-time world surfing champion Tom Carroll and big wave pioneer Ross Clarke-Jones.

Both in their 40s, these two larger-than-life 'brothers', born out of the 1980s generation of prosurfing, live to ride waves the size of buildings.

Based in Sydney, they enlist the help of surf-forecasting guru and meteorologist Ben Matson to track the giant oceanic storms that create massive swells. The hunt takes Tom, Ross and the crew to the most exotic and remote reaches of the planet, in a race against the clock to ride and claim these monsters of the deep. On this all-new mission they focused on winter Down Under, travelling over 17,000 kms on seven missions over four months - determined to conquer as many giant swells as they could in Australia.

The first part of their journey takes them to the bottom of Tasmania where Ross wrestles one of the most deadly waves in the world at Shipsterns Bluff. But when Ben sends the team on a disastrous mission to Western Australia, Tom nearly kills Ross and himself in a misjudged moment - and the cracks begin to show in Tom's confidence.

Over the course of the season, Ross and Tom are forced to come to terms with the fact their bodies don't always keep up with their minds when making snap decisions in the face of danger, as they encounter potentially lethal waves on the south coast, in Sydney and Hawaii, where Tom surfs the infamous Pipeline with 11-time world champion Kelly Slater.

As winter draws to a close, nature embraces Ross and Tom's dream to surf a maiden big wave break. A fellow big wave surfer from Western Australia reveals the location of a mythical wave seventy-five kilometres out to sea. Named Turtle Dove Shoal, this legendary breaker has never been surfed and could possibly hold the biggest, most dangerous wave in Australia.

Their final mission of the season becomes the most perilous of their lives. As they uncover the mystery of Turtle Dove, Tom faces a career-ending moment in the worst wipe-out of his life. He must now decide whether to push the boundaries of life and luck in this quest to triumph over one of the last remaining unsurfed waves in Australia.

In Storm Surfers 3D the tone of the journey is light but the stakes are deadly serious. It is a film conceived to stand amongst the great surf films, but also be accessible to an audience outside of surfing, creating an overall inspiring cinematic experience. The stunning visual and emotional journey, which embraces the universal themes of mateship, courage and 'pursuing the dream', is intertwined with intimate interviews as each main character shares their story, taking the audience along on their epic adventure..

Storm Surfers 3D Screening Dates
Tuesday 14 August: Australian Premiere - Hoyts EQ, Sydney
Wednesday 15 August: Victorian Premiere - Village Cinemas, Geelong
Thursday 16 August: Queensland Premiere - Event Cinemas, Robina - Gold Coast
Friday 17 August: Special Event Screening - Dendy Cinemas, Byron Bay
Saturday 18 August: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas Indooroopilly
Sunday 19 August: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Sunshine Plaza, Maroochydore
Tuesday 21 August: Special Event Screening - United Cinemas, Warriewood
Wednesday 22 August: Special Event Screening - Hoyts Cinema, Warringah Mall
Thursday 23 August: Special Event Screening - Cronulla Cinemas, Cronulla
Friday 24 August: Special Event Screening - The Ritz, Randwick
Saturday 25 August: Special Event Screening - The Orpheum, Cremorne
Tuesday 28 August: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Karingal
Tuesday 28 August: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Wollongong **
Wednesday 29 August: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Crown Casino
Wednesday 29 August: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Shell Harbour **
Thursday 30 August: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Southland
Thursday 30 August: Special Event Screening - Arcadia Cinemas, Ulladulla **
Friday 31 August: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Jam Factory, South Yarra
Tuesday 4 September: Special Event Screening - Orana Cinemas, Busselton
Tuesday 4 September: Special Event Screening - Dendy Cinemas, Canberra**
Wednesday 5 September: Special Event Screening - Ace Cinemas, Subiaco
Thursday 6 September: Special Event Screening - Ace Cinemas, Rockingham
Friday 7 September: Special Event Screening - Orana Cinemas, Geraldton
Tuesday 11 September: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Hobart
Wednesday 12 September: Special Event Screening - Village Cinemas, Launceston
Monday 17 September: Special Event Screening - Hoyts Cinema, Erina
Tuesday 18 September: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Newcastle
Wednesday 19 September: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Marion, SA *
Wednesday 19 September: Special Event Screening - Majestic Cinemas, Port Macquarie
Wednesday 19 September: Special Event Screening - Majestic Cinemas, Nambucca Heads
Thursday 20 September: Special Event Screening - Event Cinemas, Coffs Harbour

Please note that Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones will make guest appearances at the Premieres and Special Event Screenings around the country (with the exclusion of the following which will attended by:
** Producers / Directors in attendance.
* Surf Forecaster Ben Matson in attendance.

Website: www.stormsurfers.com.au

The Storm Surfers Story

The Storm Surfers track weather systems across the globe, hunting down storm swells in the hope of discovering and conquering, never-before-surfed breaks. From Japan to South Africa, Hawaii to New Zealand and around Australia, the team has braved physical extremes, injuries and sub zero temperatures in search of the ultimate ride.

In 2011, the Storm Surfers undertook their most ambitious project yet, to shoot a feature film and television series entirely in 3D. The team completed an incredible eight missions in a single season and captured stunning, world-first 3D footage at breaks around Australia and Hawaii, including a secret, maiden reef-break seventy five kilometres off the coast of Western Australia.

Storm Surfers 3D is the culmination of more than six years work. The Storm Surfers journey began with Cape of Storms in 2006 and continued with Tai Fu in 2007, Storm Surfers - Dangerous Banks in 2008 and Storm Surfers - New Zealand in 2010.

Co-directors Chris Nelius and Justin McMillan first teamed-up in 2005 to shoot The Sixth Element, a biopic about Ross Clarke-Jones. The trio became firm friends, drawn together by their mutual passion for surfing, adventure and communicating to a broad audience the extraordinary feats of daring necessary to ride big waves.

Ross Clarke-Jones' long-time friend and fellow surfer, two-time world champion Tom Carroll, came on board for a mission to South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. A journey which was plagued with difficulty but resulted in the film Cape of Storms and cemented the working relationship between Chris Nelius, Justin McMillan, Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll.

However, it wasn't until surf forecaster Ben Matson, a colleague of Tom Carroll's, joined the team on their mission to Japan to shoot Tai Fu, that the essential concept for the future Storm Surfers films was realised.

Following the success of that second film, Chris Nelius and Justin McMillan approached producers Marcus Gillezeau and Ellenor Cox, to help pull together the financing for their next project. Together, the team created Storm Surfers - Dangerous Banks and Storm Surfers - New Zealand. Each program was the highest-rating documentary for Discovery Channel (Asia) in 2008 and 2010 respectively and received a 50/50 split male/female viewership - unusual for Discovery, which normally skews 60/40.

Storm Surfers' broad appeal can be attributed to its focus on exploration, teamwork, friendship and the natural world, as well as capturing the adventure, physical extremes and adrenaline fuelled moments more commonly associated with big wave surfing.

Further setting apart Storm Surfers 3D from other surf films, the co-directors worked with Richard Tognetti (a keen surfer himself) of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Michael Yezerski to compose the soundtrack, blending classical orchestration with modern instruments to create a soaring score, to compliment the extraordinary waves and environments in which the Storm Surfers find themselves.

Taking the seemingly logical leap from Storm Surfers 3 to Storm Surfers 3D, the production team wanted to take their raison d'être - riding never-before-surfed waves at some of the world's most remote and forbidding locations and escalate the stakes by using yet-to-beinvented camera technology.

Each adventure charts a course from Storm Surfers headquarters to remote headlands and the massive breaks that inspire and intrigue the team. From 'mission central' - part workshop, part weather lab - Ross Clarke-Jones, Tom Carroll and Ben Matson monitored the world's oceanic storms and scoped-out the logistics of their adventures.

Building specialised marine equipment and developing new technologies for each potential surfing location around the world, the team embarked on a hectic race against Mother Nature whenever a storm hit the radar. Triumph or failure for each expedition rested on the whims of the weather, with the waves cradling the life of each surfer in a powerful embrace.

Each new adventure and every location presents new challenges for the characters to overcome, taking them to the remotest offshore locations of Australia and beyond. The stakes are high with the team attempting to hit a four-hour window, when the wind has calmed, the waves are groomed and the sharks have already had lunch!

Getting twenty five crew, five jet-skis, helicopters, light-aircraft and all the gear together for those few perfect moments requires all the knowledge and skills the team can muster. The audience experiences every exhilarating moment alongside the team, journeying from the workshop to the airport, boat-ramp to giant waves.

These extraordinary feats of logistics are as much a part of the Storm Surfers adventure as the surfing. Add to this the creation of unique, world-first camera rigs to house the twenty-six 3D cameras used on the shoot, along with myriad devices to keep water off the lenses (a complex challenge when shooting in the middle of the ocean). The Storm Surfers crew developed entirely new post-production pathways to process the 1500 hours of footage (in 3D this means 1500 hours x 2) with the post-production team synching every frame ... that's 135 million frames of footage all in perfect 3D!

Combine this with delivery of an interactive game for mobile devices, a downloadable eBook and 20-part webisode series, Storm Surfers 3D becomes a very different beast from earlier Storm Surfers films.

Breaking New Ground in 3D Film Making
Storm Surfers 3D takes it's audience along for the ride, transporting the viewer under, over and through waves in spectacular 3D cinematography - this is the closest thing to riding a big wave without actually getting wet!

Making the concept of a '3D adventure-documentary set in the world of big-wave surfing' a reality was an extraordinary challenge. For one thing the technology required to shoot a surf film in 3D did not yet exist, so the Storm Surfers team created it.

Painstakingly crafted and created specifically for this project, tiny 3D cameras (the size of your hand) combine with huge landscape cameras to immerse the audience in an all-encompassing documentary experience never before presented in cinemas.

After six months of meticulous design and development by Stereographer, Robert Morton, Director of Photography Dave Maguire, Assistant Camera Operator Richard Kickbush and Director of Underwater Photography, Dean Cropp, they merged the various 3D cameras into six different camera systems to capture the fast moving live action in salt water, strong winds and driving rain.

"We were shooting a feature film, so we needed the highest quality pictures we could get for theatrical release, but with camera technology that was going to get us inside the wave," explained co-director Justin McMillan.

The Storm Surfers team shot 1,500 hours of footage to create a 95 minute ultimate 3D cinematic experience. In 3D terms, this means 3,000 hours and 135 million frames of footage - incredibly, all perfectly synched by the Post Production team!

Storm Surfers 3D breaks new ground in 3D filmmaking with cutting edge 3D graphics portraying powerful storms tracking across oceans and the gigantic swells they produce. The audience is taken on a journey over and under the waves to survey the reefs usually hidden from view, which cause these giants of the ocean to break.

And shooting at a higher 3D ratio than the infamous Baz Luhrman on The Great Gatsby was another world first, and no mean feat.

Storm Surfers 3D is a unique, all-encompassing cinema experience carrying audiences on each wave with Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll. Holding a 3D Go Pro camera, Ross Clarke-Jones rides 20ft waves like a human camera crane, hurtling down waves at over sixty kilometres per hour sharing this extraordinary experience with every viewer in the house.

For more information see:
Ross Clarke-Jones Storm Surfers Interview: www.femail.com.au/ross-clarke-jones-storm-surfers-interview
Chris Nelius and Justin McMillan Interview: www.femail.com.au/directors-storm-surfers-interview