We recently got hold of an epic teaser for the sure-to-be-even-more-epic TROPICAL ROAST – a 10-15 minute short film featuring some insane mid-air action from the likes of Dylan Mitchell, Nick Burton-Moore, Devon Nassif and Ryan Whitelaw. We spoke to head of production and brainhild , Muggy Whitelaw, to get some scope on this new film…
I’ve been filming wakeboarding for about five years now, spending endless summers at Misverstand Dam with Nick, Dylan and Ryan. I filmed them off a variety of camera ranging from 1-chip handy cams up to the HD DSLR cameras we have today. Making little five-minute edits just for the love of it.
This year, I’ve been accepted into the Vancouver Film School, where I will be studying 3D Animation and Visual Effects. Personally, I have never seen a locally produced wakeboarding video edit, short film or feature length DVD that has truly blown me away! TROPICAL ROAST is an attempt to raise the bar and take it to the next level and display wakeboarding in SA like no one has ever seen before!
It has been the most challenging production I have ever done. The film shoot was an intensive five days. Each day would start at 5:30 am where we would prep the boats, before hitting the water at 6 am when the sun was rising. The film crew would set off first to one of the many locations along the riverbanks to set up.
Our camera angles are very diverse ranging from the banks of the river, chase boat shots, in water tube shots and we were lucky enough to even get some shots from the air, which gives the video that added dimension.
For the first two days, we were often shooting with three cameras at once, in different positions, so with a radio attached to everyone’s sides and in both boats I was co-ordinating the film crew as well as the riders, so that they hit their mark in order to accommodate all the cameras. We had an amazing group of guys working together which really made the experience a memorable event.
Here in Cape Town, we have some of the best riders in South Africa. Nick Burton-Moore holds a world title and super grom Dylan Mitchell ranks high in both wakeboarding and wakeskating and we were lucky enough to have Devon Nassif down in Cape Town for the duration of the shoot.
The camaraderie between everyone was amazing. Each rider pushing one another to their maximum potential is a beautiful thing to capture. By day five, everyone was broken and bruised, but that didn’t stop anyone with Ryan [Whitelaw] duck taping his elbow and shoulder together for another attempt at a double back roll.
Firstly I would like to big up Dylan Mitchell. This kid is a freak of nature! He landed a new trick every single day for the duration of the shoot and one of my favourite shots is his Toe Side 900! We also strapped sea rescue smoke bombs to the back of everyone’s boards one morning and with the beautiful light and flat waters the footage we got was so sick! Especially a tightly framed Tantrum from Ryan Whitelaw that looks amazing when we pump it up to over 2000 frames per second.
