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Capturing One California Day
By Mark Jeremias, co-director (with Jason Baffa) of One California Day
(from the 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival) One California Day came about as a result of the fact that, in recent years, there has been so much emphasis in the surfing world, and in the media's portrayal of surfing, on exotic locations and big wave exploits. Surfing has become categorized as an extreme sport instead of the lifestyle that it was founded on.
A lot of that lifestyle was born here in California, and since Jason and I are both from here, we decided to make a film about it.
Our game plan was to focus on key people in various surf regions up and down the California coast. Through introducing the audience to these people - where they live, some of their interests outside of surfing - we're really hoping to paint a broader picture about surf culture and, in particular, the California lifestyle and the surfing lifestyle on the West Coast. |
We really wanted to focus on the different areas of California. From north to south, there are so many variations - not only in the topography of the coastline but also in the attitudes of the people. We also wanted to incorporate into the story some of the older generation - Greg Noll, Lance Carson, and Skip Frye. You know, these are people who had such a big effect on putting California surfing on the map. It was pretty neat to be able to incorporate those guys in with the young guys. And we think we were able to capture a perspective on surfing that really spans the generations.
When you're making a surf film, you also hope for good waves. What we didn't expect was what people are now calling Big Wednesday, which was, as some have said, one of the biggest, cleanest swells that Southern California has seen in 20 years.
It was a swell that had a very westerly angle to it, which, for California in the wintertime, that powerful with that westerly of an angle is pretty unique. When it looked like that swell was actually going to happen, we set out a game plan to try and capture as much of it as possible, since everywhere was going to be good. So we decided to break up - Jason was going go up to Santa Barbara and I decided to go down to San Diego. We were just going stick it out and just shoot all day and, we hoped, get what everyone was saying was going to be the swell of the decade.
The swell didn't disappoint and the weather stayed good all day. And, actually, for the next two weeks the weather and the waves just stayed so good. Southern California was offshore almost all day, with the swell anywhere from head-high to double overhead. And, you know, that's what you hope for, that's what you dream of. For us to be rolling cameras during that period was really serendipitous. It was some of the best surf people had seen in Southern California in a long, long time. A lot of the surfing in film was captured during those two weeks. |
In the end, One California Day, for us, is an opportunity to tell a story about a place we know and love so well, having grown up here. As this film came together, we think we've captured a moment in time that could live long beyond us. It's a story about a place and the people who live there, but also about the people who lived before them. One California Day doesn't take place on one day. Nor is it a guide to where to go in California to go surfing. It's a movie about the California spirit, about tradition, about the generations of surfers who have come from California.
We just really wanted to document and shed light on what we feel is this rich culture of surfers who live in California. It's something that has gotten passed down from generation to generation. And it's something that lives in every one of us as surfers, no matter where we live. As surfers, we are carrying on that tradition.
Photos: (top) Jed Noll, (middle) Jimmy, (bottom) Mark; courtesy of the filmmakers.
One California Day screens at the 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival (click for times and ticket information). Festival runs April 24-May 1. |
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