Much praise for Volcom's latest surf film Psychic Migrations, yes, (see here), but it's one thing to watch a movie alone, and another to watch it with someone else and their perspective.
Two issues have come up: Exposing a killer, little-known spot, and over-saturating the colors.
First, the most heinous of surf video crimes. A world-traveling surfer friend of ours came by the shop the other day and watched some of Psychic Migrations. There's a section he recognized, a place in the Southern Hemi that he'd surfed a lot over the years. He made a comparison to seeing an ex-girlfriend, but we can't repeat it here. Bummed. Another underground spot goes down.
A few days later, one of our local shapers gave us his two cents on that same spot, a place where he's surfed and made boards for over a decade. "I don't understand why they'd do that. Anyone driving down the highway will see it [the surf break and town]. Shoot the wave, but don't shoot the place." The Volcom crew shot the place, and what once was may one day be dead. At least some of our buddies surfed it in the good ol' days.
Media saturation of a clandestine surf spot, and, according to my art friends, too much saturation of the imagery. Colors more than pop in Psychic Migrations. They sometimes bleed on the screen. "They used a lot of filters," our coworker/visual arts student said. Green filters on green water make water so verdant it looks alive. A yellow surfboard shines on the wave face like a riderless blob. "The ocean blues are pretty though," I said. "Yeah, but the ocean isn't even that bright in Hawaii," where she grew up. The second-to-last segment of the film changed her tune, though. Heavy Polynesian waves, and the purple/blue filter did intensify the images and the mood, she noticed, which was finally a good use of super saturation.
Regardless, the movie still impresses. Better than average, that's for sure. But keep the cameras pointed on the waves, boys.
