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Hello, I’m Alfie Hart! I run Aeolus Productions, which is commissioned by Boardseeker to edit and produce their online film clips and the annual DVD. I’m writing this column to provide the readers with an occasional insight into the world of windsurf filmmaking.
So first of all, here is my life....
From March to October, I spend the majority of my time on the road travelling from competition to competition. Louise from Boardseeker organizes all my flights & accommodation to various spots around the world and often moans that she is my holiday organizer; Alfie Hart’s personal Thomas Cook agent! But it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. I can't go windsurfing or lounge about at these amazing locations, I have to be at work filming from first thing in the morning getting interviews with the sailors if there is no competition and then once the heat flags go up, it’s standing on a sandblown beach for the entire day, sweating away whilst filming yet another backloop. I have to film ALL heats as you just don’t know when a sailor will pull off a new move or take a crazy wipeout that will have the whole event talking and if I miss that, then Louise will come down on me like a ton of bricks!
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It’s about standing on a sandblown beach for the entire day, sweating |
I get the usual Monday morning phone call from Louise with, ‘Right Alfie, I need....” |
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Each evening I go through the footage, upload the best bits and then get on Skype to the Boardseeker Team back in North Wales . They then send me my usual list of demands; did you get this move, did you film that specific heat, can you get an interview about fins with Keith Teboul, an interview about the latest wave move with Kauli...etc. Yes, yes I say and on the whole Louise does get what she wants out of an event. It’s just such an opportunity to have the world’s best sailors in one place with all their latest kit. You get loads of features done.
But of course I don’t just go to events, I get sent on ‘missions’ with a handful of top sailors and the promise of a decent forecast. These are good fun as the sailors are not in ‘competition mode’ so tend to really go for moves and are generally relaxed off the water.
Then when I am home I spend my time in the studio editing the footage I’ve collected for the end of year DVD and of course for the weekly magazine. I get the usual Monday morning phone call from Louise with, ‘Right Alife, I need this and this and this uploaded by tonight for this week’s issue!’ No problem Lou as I go for an all-nighter again. I do prefer working at night when half the world is sleeping and no one can bug you, well Louise I mean!!
I’m only joking; I really do enjoy what I do. I get sent to some amazing places and hang out with most of the world’s best windsurfers and watch them push themselves into new moves and monster waves as well as chuckling to myself when they get totally wiped out. Fair play, after watching them wipeout at Cape Verde this year, I would not be going back out for more like they have to do! The PWA are back there in March and I can't wait! If last year’s competition is anything to go by we could have the crème de la crème battling it out on gnarly 10 footers again! So watch this space, hopefully there will be good clips from Cape Verde , Ireland and more Wave Jams in my next column. |
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Here are two taster moments from the last four months of filming for Boardseeker.
PWA Event, Imbiquera, Brazil: Headcam doom
To start, one of my bags got lost from the flight so no clothes, headcam or tripod which made my job kinda interesting. When my bag did turn up seven days later I was desperate for some good headcam shots in the amazing conditions: perfect cross shore, 3-4ft waves in beautiful sunshine. I sent Phil Horrocks out on the water with the headcam and asked him to talk about other sailors riding beside him. So off he went singing away to himself, made one turn and as he came back in towards the beach he hit a sandbank, wiped out and broke the camera. He then carried on not knowing that the lump on his back wasn’t working, busting massive jumps and watching/talking about the sailors around him. It would have been great footage as Boujamaa Guilloul virtually aerialed over him at one point - damn it!! |
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Wave Jam 1, Cornwall, UK: Don’t speak too soon
I got the call that something was brewing down in Cornwall and the first WaveJam was on! Having just spent nearly two months working on the 2008 Boardseeker annual DVD I was eager to get some action outside of the office. First up was Daymer Bay and although the wind was super up and down with squalls and heavy rain I had a cool sail over on the Padstow side, catching sizable rollers that peaked several times before you could turn and sail back out down the main channel. The next morning Steve Thorp and Nick Moffatt sailed Porthmoer, a relatively unknown windsurf spot in St Ives. Thorpey was out first and was challenged by the conditions but caught a few sweet waves. Nick headed out with the headcam and was instructed to comment on the conditions. Here’s a funny clip of him heading out talking about the launching having been fairly easy when a nice chunky set came in and flattened him, talk about speaking too early! |
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