atoll, orion, & a poster

16mm film frame of Chuck Corbett paddling back out in the distance. I shot this footage from the deck of Chuck's boat, the Tuaraoi, anchored in the calm lagoon quite far away. There was a bit of a breeze, and the 60 foot boat rocked back and forth slowly and gently. I used a really long lens and my tripod. In motion these shots have a really nice life to them, there is this gentle sway to them.

Two days ago we added the final percussion touches to the finale of the soundtrack, a song called Orion. Aside from deciding on a song for the end credits, the original score of the movie is now done. Orion is an 8 minute song that stretches over the last few scenes of the film. My idea for it was something that had the feel and scope of the earth and space, I also wanted it to be the sonic equivalent of a grand finale at a fireworks show. It's sort of fitting that the final song of the film was by far the hardest to create. 

This Rogers marching drum is a big part of the soundtrack, and you can hear it in the trailers. It's the deep boom, the one you feel. In the movie it feels like the pulse of the earth to me. That's kind of how I've looked at it in the soundtrack. You don't always notice it, but it's there.

I bought this drum on a whim about ten years ago from Dynamite Music in NW Indiana. I noticed it up on a shelf, and figured someday I could probably use it for something...turns out it has helped shaped this soundtrack.

Rough sketch of a poster concept I've had for a while now for the film, a lineup of silhouettes of all the surfers in the movie.

this project on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

empty

I've got all the final 2K color corrected footage back now and just started going through it today.  Really stoked with how it's turned out.  Couldn't be happier with it.  A huge thanks to Ryan Emerson and crew at Process Blue in Connecticut for their work transferring well over 20,000 feet of film, and coloring all the select shots that are in the final movie.  It was a ton of work.  It's been awesome collaborating with Ryan on this project.  

Here is Process Blue's site: http://processblue.tv/2/

This is definitely one of the most spectacular waves I've seen.  And the light during this end of day session was absolutely beautiful.  I shot this from the boat and it was during this session that we nearly got flipped by a very wide set.  My heart stopped for a moment as the small boat went vertical and we just scratched over the lip of the wave as it threw over just under and then behind us.  

Jem Cresswell shot photos in the water this session and got some amazing shots.  One empty in particular that I'll post sometime soon.

this project on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

corner of the sketchbook

shooting stars

I taped the trigger button down on my Canon AE-1 to get this photo, with a little pebble under the tape to engage the trigger.  That blur around the tripod is me shooting time-lapse footage of stars out at my cousin's place in rural Indiana last month with my Bolex.  I shot frame by frame, 30 second exposures or more, some up to about 5 minutes each, holding the trigger button down for the duration of each exposure.  This was the coldest weather I have ever tried this in, it was well below freezing.  I dressed for it with snowpants and winter boots and thick mittens.  I did this for hours at a time, and had to work out a method where I'd switch hands for exposures because the longer I did it the more feeling I lost in my fingers.  My coffee froze, actually turned to ice.

  

By the end of my first night doing this, I turned on my headlamp and found that all my gear including my lens was covered in frost.  By the end of the second night shooting, my feet were almost completely numb.  I had originally planned on shooting this out in South Dakota, and after experiencing what it's like trying to do this in the cold, I was really glad I was only an hour from home.  The shots turned out, even the one where the lens frosted up.  Really excited about that.  They were the hardest shots to shoot of this entire film project.  This was the final roll of 16mm film exposed for Hangs Upon Nothing.  I was really surprised by how red one of the stars that makes up Orion turned out in the footage.  It's completely red. I plan on opening the movie with shots from this last roll of film. 

this project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

cloud

Shot the final roll of 16mm film this week for this movie, and dropped it off at the lab today. I froze under the stars out at my cousin's place in rural Indiana, clicking away frame by frame, shooting time-lapse of starfields. By the end of one four hour session one night I turned my headlamp on to discover all my gear including my lens covered in frost. The next session a few nights later was not as frosty. I hope those shots turn out. Doing final color next week on the digital transfer at a post-house called Process Blue in Connecticut. There's a ways to go on the original score, but that's coming together nicely. And I'm looking into how to do an independent tour with a 16mm film print of the movie and a 16mm projector or two, mixing in our music and adding in some live narration too. That's the biggest goal. Stay tuned

it's nice under here

S16mm Bolex film frames.  This session won't be in the movie, but I really dig a few shots from it.  I think they probably work better as still images than motion picture footage.  I love diving under beautiful reef waves and looking up at them as they pass overhead, feeling the force of them move through and seeing the sun shine through the moving water.  One of the most beautiful places to be on earth.

this project on fb: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

time tunnels or space kites

Graham Mace is a knee boarder and glass artist from Marrawah, Tasmania. I had the good fortune of meeting him and his wife, Esther, while visiting Tasmania, and got to stay at their place for a while too. They built their own house with methods Graham described as being influenced by 1960’s counter-culture. One of their walls is filled with beer bottles that are full of water. When the sun hits it from the outside, they all glow this beautiful amber and help warm the house. All throughout their place, there is beautiful light from the sun shining through Graham’s colorful glass art, a lot of it inspired by waves. Their bathroom is a separate little room outside. It’s more like a capsule to the sky--three sides of it as well as overhead at an angle is all glass, the room is elevated a bit, so that when you sit down, just about all you see is blue sky and clouds.

He had this one trippy rainbow spiraling sort of tunnel piece. I asked what it was and he replied, “Oh that’s a time tunnel or space kite...” I thought that was so awesome, a space kite.

He told me it was a complete surprise when he got this issue of the Surfer’s Journal in the mail and saw his art on the cover.  I am pretty sure it’s the only time the Journal has ever ran a piece of art other than a photograph on the cover.  Graham’s art is breathtaking in person. If you are interested in his work, Graham can be contacted at: egmace (at) activ8.net.au

(this is lifted from the piece on Korduroy.tv mentioned in the previous post)

OUTside INspiration

Korduroy.tv has a new piece up about where I get some of my creative inspiration from: http://www.korduroy.tv/blog/2012/outside-inspiration-by-jeremey-rumas

matrix

 

triangulation tees

This is the first run of T-shirts for Hangs Upon Nothing.  Hope you dig them!  They are available over at the store at Korduroy.tv: http://www.korduroy.tv/makers/jeremy-rumas/store/114493362

the moon

The moon shining down on Christmas Island, Kiribati.  I shot this with my Bolex and a 300mm Canon FD lens, single frame exposure from a time-lapse shot.  I remember this night very clearly.  Just sat out under the stars and clicked away while listening to the sounds of the ocean.

This project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

lava

Block print out of a series of about 80 or 100, I can't remember now. I use them as greeting cards.  And also here's another custom dvd case/poster concept.

sun & wave

Here's the latest poster/cover design for Hangs Upon Nothing.  I made this for the latest film fest submission I sent out yesterday.  This one really reminds me of Apocalypse Now.  I love some of the poster designs for the movie.  And I'd call that film one of the influences on this project.  I've only seen it once, but it made a strong impression on me.  There's some imagery in that movie you just can't forget.

I think I'll likely explore a lot more designs in this realm.  I love how free it feels, and how the quick spontaneous brush strokes feel to me a lot like an actual wave in motion.  I also like the simplicity of this design, and how the colors match the trailer cover image with Mikala in the barrel.

If you dig this project, you can keep up to date through the film's fb page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

Also, here's the film's main site: www.hangsuponnothing.com

And for some hand printed posters from the film, here's the store at Korduroy.tv: http://www.korduroy.tv/makers/jeremy-rumas/store 

hair

...they looked up and with a rolled double r said, "barrel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

concrete

Walked by this building being built today and imagined it as a wave.

this project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

this film project's site: http://www.hangsuponnothing.com/

jump for joy

Sketched this at a bar tonight.  Me and my friend Dom sketched lots of stuff: whales, women, birds, random or abstract lines and shapes, lots of fun.

d e v a

Got the rough idea for this poster design right before I was ready to go to sleep at a reasonable hour a few nights ago.  I decided to jot down a few quick sketch notes on this big piece of newsprint so that by morning I hadn't forgotten about it.  I ended up staying up all night drawing and painting this up.

The brushstrokes of color at the upper left and some other random ones throughout the design were there before I even started drawing.  I had used this piece of newsprint as a table cover when I painted up the dvd case that's in the previous post.  I was using the newsprint to test out my brush as I painted.  I dig those random brush strokes and how they work with this design.

equatopia

Latest custom dvd case I just painted up today.  I've had this idea for a while now, I want to try out some more designs with it.

the left & the bucket ladies

This is how some of my poster design ideas start out, as quick small sketches without a lot of thought put into them. I'd like to revisit these two designs sometime. Daniel Jones on the left and his brother Mikala on the right, both inspired by rides I filmed of them.  the one of Daniel I painted up bigger.  It can be viewed in the art gallery on the Hangs Upon Nothing site: http://www.hangsuponnothing.com/art/

& stop by and say what up! on the film's fb page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

the sun and the barrel

Just finished the rough cut of Hangs Upon Nothing a couple days ago.  This is a custom dvd case I made for the very first film fest submission as a documentary feature film.  There's a ways to go with tightening up the edit and finishing up the original score, but I feel like we are now past the most difficult part of the creative process.  Really happy about this.  I'm also really happy with how the film is turning out.  It's turned into more than I envisioned when I first got the idea to make this.

I keep thinking about all the places, all the experiences, and all the people I have met while making this.  Watching the footage from places worlds away from where I am from, it almost feels like it was all a dream.  I keep thinking to myself, wow, did all this really happen?  What I have left from it now are memories, some vivid, some faded, footage burned into 16mm film, also some sound recordings.

There's usually something interesting about anyone's journey in life.  But I also think that surfers have more amazing journeys than most people.  The things one sees and experiences as a surfer are just on a different level than anything else.

I've had flying fish jump out of waves and just miss my face, rocketing past me.  I've been wrapped up in powerful clear barrels watching and filming as my friends flew by right in front of my face.  I can't even put into words what that feels like.  It makes me feel alive, really alive.  Right there in that place you feel the earth's raw energy all around you, passing through you.  You are a part of it.  There have been times I've even felt the energy of the surfboard through the wave as a surfer passed right in front of my face and camera, it's like a wake of energy you can feel.  I've seen dolphins leave trails of glowing phosphorescence in the water as I stood on the bow sprit of Chuck's boat, the Tuaraoi, as we sailed through the night.  I've looked into those dolphin's eyes from a few feet away as they swam excitedly, turned sideways to look up at me, illuminated by the moon and the stars.  I sensed a connection with them, like when you look into a person's eyes and feel something.  What I mean by this is that I sensed these dolphins were thinking something, I sensed I was looking into the eyes of an intelligent creature.

I've been out there in the water after sunset surrounded by skies that just lit on fire 360 degrees.  There was one in particular I saw in Samoa that I don't think could ever be topped.  It was as if the entire sky was painted with billowing beautiful fire, in every direction.  

I've been out there on my board when a water spout came right through a crowded lineup.  It trailed down from the sky like a tornado, all the way down from the clouds.  We watched as it worked its way slowly down off in the distance until it touched the surface of the ocean, and then it slowly approached.  Everyone out there just kept surfing.  And it came right through the middle of the lineup, with everyone hooting and hollering.  It reached shore and flared and then dissipated with the setting sun shining right through it.  With the light shining through it reminded me of the end of The Raiders of the Lost Ark, when they open the ark and spirits and energy swirl through the screen.  It was literally no more than 50 feet away from me when it passed by, and there was a guy riding a wave right in front of me as it passed through.  Would have made a spectacular shot, riding down the line with a water spout 40 feet behind him.  I thought it might lift us up and slam us into the rocks, but I barely felt anything from it.  This was at Honoli'i, Big Island of Hawaii, during the time I was crew on Chuck's boat.  I probably would not believe this story had I not experienced it.  I swear that's a true story.

Surfing to me is so much more than just riding waves.  It's also everything that comes along with it that makes   surfing throughout life such an amazing journey.  It's the people you meet, the friends you make, the music you hear, the music you make, the food you eat, the stories you hear, the stories you will have to tell, the close calls, the risks, the setbacks, the experiences that make you feel very mortal and humbled, the energy you feel in the ocean, the energy you are a part of.  

This is all what I've been trying to capture and convey with Hangs Upon Nothing.  What this experience feels like.

the editing room

While editing my 16mm workprint a couple weeks ago to project for a preview screening, I at first found it slow and challenging.  It had been a while since I edited actual film with a razor blade and tape.  Because of the time it takes to separate and string together shots, hang them on the wall, hand crank the reels, it can make for a different style of editing.  Often times less cuts.

After I was all finished, I thought it might be an OK edit.  I quickly edited together 18 minutes of my band's jam recordings mixed with some field recordings to play along with the footage, not in complete sync with the edit, as I had no way to sync them up.  This audio-visual edit is basically a really rough edit of the beginning of my movie.

I had already done an edit of this section of the movie digitally, a more compicated edit.  I thought it was going to be the better of the two.  But after comparing them, I like the simple edit I did with my workprint way more, and the way the audio goes with it too.  I was really surprised by this.  It just feels fresher I think.  It was less thought out, and I was under pressure to get it done quickly.  So I'm now going back to my digital edit and conforming it to what I did with my workprint.

this project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

tonjo & bleronk

Twin brothers Darmaputra Tonjo and Darmayasa Bleronk, from Padma, Bali.  Scott Goldsbury shot this.  The brothers just make a few brief appearances in the long trailer, but they will be a really big part of the entire film.  I feel really fortunate to have met these guys and been able to film with them the last few years.  They rip, and they're always fun to hang out with, surf with, and film with.  Their whole family is awesome., too.

More of Scott's photography can be seen at: http://www.goldsbury-photo.com/portfolio.html

I'm pretty sure he shot this photo with this huge old stills camera that you can only shoot one shot per film load with.  I'll try to get a photo of his camera to post sometime soon.  It's classic!

brush & ink

My good friends Deduk and Sarah over in Bali asked me to draw some girls with surfboards.  Here's some that I just kicked out with brush and ink.  Hope they dig em.

You might notice the unique holes punched at the bottom of these pieces of paper, also the drawings numbers, and strange line drawings...this is animation paper I got from a small animation studio I freelance for.  They trace the shadow animations onto separate sheets of paper...shadows that animate over a character's body.  Since the paper is barely handled, and only a small portion is usually drawn on, it makes for awesome sketching paper.  This paper is seriously the best sketching paper in the world, from Cartoon Colour in California, I've never found anything else like it.  I have stacks of this stuff, all pre-used for shadow animation that I've collected over the years(with permission from the studio).  

check check

Demian Amar and Darmaputra Tonjo, late afternoon surf check, Super 16mm film frame.  This shot is not going to be in the final film.  I have a feeling I'm going to be finding lots of frames I like that will never make it into the movie.  As I've mentioned before on here, this frame is from a shot I didn't even think twice about, but for a few frames, I dig the shot.

Just got all the 16mm and Super 16mm film footage I shot over the last six years or so back as digital files, transferred to full 2K(slightly higher res than 1080P HD).

Right now I'm editing the entire film with low res SD files, also transferred from the original film negatives.  I'm editing first in SD since those files are much faster to work with.  Once I have that finished, I'll go back and conform the high res 2K footage to this edit.  Then I'm going to meet up with Ryan Emerson, who has done almost all the color correction on this project so far, and we'll work together on a color correction session of the final edit of the movie.  Well, he's gonna be doing the work, I'm just going to be offering suggestions on what looks good, and how I remember the colors looking in person.

Ryan has a new transfer facility/post-house out in Connecticut.  It's called Process Blue.  They did the recent 2K transfer.  They have a film scanner called the Golden Eye III.  My initial impression of the footage, without color correction, is that their scanner does a wonderful job of capturing film.  It seems to look the closest to actual film of any transfers I've seen so far.  Other film to digital transfers I did up to this point, such as for the trailers, were on Spirits.  Excited to see how all the footage looks after color correction.  Motion picture film, as it comes in raw with no correction, the colors are quite dull.  But after a bit of adjustment, it can look beautiful.

This frame above I grabbed from the new transfer, downsized it, and adjusted colors a bit in Photoshop.

If you dig this project, stop by the page on fb and say yo: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

chuck on the edge of the world

roller coaster

zoooooooooom

That's Chuck Corbett on the Moviola screen.  That was after we'd sailed 9 days straight, heading south from Hawaii, over 1,000 miles.  We were taking the battered hobie cat to shore on the atoll.  Living on that boat for a few months made me really appreciate living on land.

saturn's rings

This is what rolls of 16mm print film look like from the side. I love how light shines through them creating trippy patterns. Reminds me of Saturn's rings. There are thousands of individual full color images on this roll, from the side it just looks like this though.

moviola

Yes, I'm actually about to edit with this setup...yeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww!

long shot

Daniel Jones heading out, late afternoon, 16mm Bolex Rx-5 film frame, Fujifilm.

triangulation - new poster release!

9" x 24", edition of 55 prints on white Strathmore 100 lb paper.  I(Jeremy Rumas) designed this one, and my friend Matt Ginsberg printed them up at his studio space in Chicago.  They're silkscreen prints, each one printed by hand.  It's a 2 color print, and it's quite vibrant in person.  They are available in my store over at Korduroy.  I'll ship them worldwide.  Anything made off these will go straight towards post-production costs on this film project.  So thanks for your support!

posters available here: http://www.korduroy.tv/makers/jeremy-rumas/store/97344748

here's some detail shots:

Little Sea Films logo is printed on the back.  It just barely shows through the front side like a ghostly wave watermark, which we really dig!

set

This was halfway through the silk screen printing process.  Stoked on these!  Big thanks to Matt Ginsberg for printing these up, by hand.  The colors really pop in real life.  The final design has a green layer too.  These will be available tomorrow.

Check out Matt's personal art here, he makes art out of old records:  http://www.matthewginsberg.com

new posters on the way

Just got an edition of 55 new posters back from my silk screen printer friend Matt Ginsberg. Will be releasing these on Saturday. Signed and numbered them today. Check back!

go uache!

I've been making mats for some of the art I've made over the course of the film.  I'm going to put a few up for sale soon.  This one I'm keeping though.  Drew this originally while traveling and filming.

this film project on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

timmy

Timmy Turner, S16mm film frame.  I think this was his first time back in the tropics after getting a large portion of his skull replaced with an artificial one.  

triangulation

I'm going to put this wave design on a t-shirt.  It will be inverted though, light blue ink on a dark blue shirt I'm  thinking.  Going to rework the logo design though, I rushed through that.  This one is all gouache.

pink & blue

Sketched this one up with pen and highlighters.  It glows a bit more in real life.  After I started sketching this one I started to think of old Vision Gator decks of the 80's.  So that's a bit of the inspiration on this design.  My first proper deck was a used Gator, complete with neon tail guard, nose guard, and rails.  The board was way too big for me at the time, and too heavy too.  I could barely ollie on it.  I skated it for a long time though, and I still loved it.  I've always loved the graphics on those boards.  The board came with Hosoi Rockets wheels, and I still use those wheels today for skating bowls occasionally. 

is that a space shuttle in that wave?

Here's a recent sketch of a new poster design for the film.  I'd like to make a series of main posters for the film based on this idea of civilization as a wave.  Out of the batch of 50 original posters, there's only five left, so it's about time to make a second series.  This is what it's going to look like, though I'll likely stretch it out more vertically.  

check out this film project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

hardkor duroy

Having a bit of fun in my sketchbook with the Korduroy logo.  www.korduroy.tv

And I have no idea why this happened, but all the links are now at the bottom of this page on the right.  Scroll down!