Ripe Surfing

Taylor Steele’s new project Stranger Than Fiction is about to be released and from early reports it’s set to raise the performace bar once again. To get some inside info on the making of the movie Ripe hit up Poor Specimens latest star recruit Kai Neville. Kai’s a 23 year old from the Gold Coast of Australia and developed his editing skills at ASL producing all of their cover-mount DVDs. He’s got some exciting info to share about the release…

Ripe: How did get involved with Poor Specimen & Taylor Steele?
Kai: I was staying in the laundry at the Reef house in Hawaii working on Bobby’s movie when my mate Dion Agius ran in telling me Taylor’s out the front and wants to meet you. Thinking he was pulling my chain I told him to shut up but he persisted so I went out and Taylor was there waiting for me. Taylor was one of the reasons I started working on surf films, when I was a grom me and the boys watched his movies before every surf getting super amped. The boys actually got really good at surfing and I was crook so I started busting the camera out. I was super nervous meeting him and just tried to play it cool but i was really shitting myself. Apparently he wanted someone new to work with Poor Specimen and some of the surfers recommended me which was cool.

the main thing you will notice in this movie is the level of surfing is like nothing before its pretty crazy the shit crew are doing these days!

What is the best thing about working with the industry benchmark?
Working with the best surfers in the world for sure, The level of surfing I get to film is a joke. Also now im starting to get a lot of creative freedom. I’m directing the next Poor Specimen project so its cool Taylor has faith in my direction.

What would be your top 3 sections out of all of Taylor Steele’s videos?
Shit! There are so many bangers its really hard to decide, maybe, Bruce Irons ‘Loose Change’ Kalani Robb ‘The Show’ and Dane Reynolds ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ ha!

The new vid Stranger Than Fiction has just been premiered, what can we expect to see?
You can see it all, old faces, new faces Julian Wilson, Clay Marzo, Dion Agius, Dusty Payne and more are now introduced to Taylor’s movies. There are some pretty classic skits, some fresh new style soundtrack, locations france, south africa, east and west coast australia, mexico, indo, but the main thing you will notice in this movie is the level of surfing is like nothing before its pretty crazy the shit crew are doing these days

Parko worked the least cause he got 12 clips in and hour and a half one day!

Who put the most and least hours into getting their sections?
Dane worked pretty hard cause his first two trips for the movie he got no waves, but most of the guys do around 4 trips for the movie, Parko worked the least cause he got 12 clips in and hour and a half one day!

Dion reported on his blog that Dane Reynolds scored the last section on Stranger Than Fiction, was it an obvious choice and were any of the other surfers bummed?
It was a hard decision between the last 4 surfers Jordy Smith, Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrow and Dane Reynolds. They were all gunning for the last section in the editing process of the movie. Taylor and I showed all the sections to a bunch of surfers and industry guys and the feedback was all pretty much on the same level. I think Dane for sure deserved the last section. His approach to waves is messed up. He puts 100% into every turn and sticks most of what he goes for, its sick to watch.

What software and hardware did you use to edit Stranger Than Fiction?
Final Cut Pro with a few lacie hard drives traveling the globe with us, we edited on location in Aus, Bali and California.

Who is the most exciting surfer to film right now?
Julian Wilson is the freshest of the pack he fin ditches like a mad hui!

What’s on the horizon for yourself and Poor Specimen (what’s getting you most excited)?
I’d say the younger guys moving up the ranks, Dane, Jordy, Julian, Dion, Mitch Coleborn and more are really exciting to watch. These guys are crazy how many clips they get in the bag and the flips and shit they are stomping is taking surfing to a new level. I want to keep the progression going pushing the surfers to be inventive and try new moves in our films. I also want to keep the kids amped with Hi Fi surf movies! So based around these ideas is what I will be working on next year so stay tuned!

For more info on the upcoming release check out:
Poor Specimens website
Poor Specimens Myspace