Whether it’s the versatility or the look, film remains an expressive visual tool for extreme sports cinematographers. It’s certainly clear in the world of surfing. Some productions like Globe’s Year Zero are 100% celluloid; others like Quiksilver’s Moments have mixed film and video. Either way, it’s undeniable that film lends a unique look and feel, and the artists that create these inspiring films continue to turn heads.

With temperatures warming up in the northern hemisphere and swells building in the southern with the return of fall, it’s hard not to be inspired by the amazing footage.  I’ve pulled together some clips from around the web to get the adrenalin flowing and to fill our heads with sun, sand, and surf.

We last talked in June before the wedding season really picked up in the northern hemisphere. What have you been up to?

It has been a period of change & renewal.  For the last year and a bit I have been working towards branching out on my own.  I initiated the long process of closing the old company so that I could chase my own dreams and visions.  So far, this goes down (without trying to be dramatic) as one of the most pivotal moves of my career - and as I speak with you today, I definitely feel that I made the right decision.

Tell me a little bit about your new company Naz Films Inc.

I founded Naz Films as a natural extension of how I identify myself as an artist and filmmaker.  I love to tell stories, always have. No matter what the medium of choice, it all serves my understanding of how I want to express a given subject.  I hope everything I do is a reflection of how I see hope and beauty in the everyday.  I make wedding films and lifestyle films... Honeymoon films, Birth films, Babies First Year films, Boudoir films, Engagement Films, Vacation+Cottage+BBQ Films.  They are all stunning keepsakes -- little life histories of family and good moments that we all have experienced in our own lives!!!!

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam Twenty, Cameron Crowe’s retrospective of the rock group’s first two decades, airs on PBS' American Masters series on October 21st.

The filmmaking team of cinematographer Nicola Marsh and editor Chris Perkel blended archival footage and new interviews to tell the story of the band’s genesis in the Seattle grunge scene, its rocket to stardom, and its subsequent search for wisdom and balance. A surprising amount of film existed, included Super 16 footage of the band’s second performance ever. Lead vocalist Eddie Vedder often carried a Super 8 camera on tour. And many outtakes from music video shoots over the years yielded important story beats. Read the full InCamera article 

Secretariat wins the 1973 Triple Crown - by Bob Gately

Bob Gately became a horse lover when he saw Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney in National Velvet when he was 10 years old. Little did he know that later in life, he would shoot some rare and valuable motion pictures of horses.

Gately started bringing his Cavalier Super 8 movie camera to the Belmont racetrack in 1971, when an unlikely rags-to-riches horse named Canonero II was generating tremendous hype as a Triple Crown candidate. Canonero II had surprised everyone by winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, and a victory at the Belmont Stakes would make the horse the first since Citation in 1948 to complete horseracing’s ultimate feat.

Nazar Melconian

Of Armenian heritage, born in Baghdad raised in the UK and Canada.  Now making a living between Toronto, Canada and soon San Francisco, California. After university I spent a year working as a junior art director for a small agency producing billboard, magazine and corporate press campaigns in Sydney, Australia. Truthfully it was a means to afford travel and experience…shortly there-after I left for Asia and Europe travelling with backpack. Lover of life, people, music, staying fit with Muay Thai Kickboxing, making short films, eating Pho & Thai food!

I make retro-chic super 8mm fine art wedding+lifestyle films at the company I cofounded MIMMO & NAZ INC.