We are very happy to have Roy participating in our project.  He has graciously allowed us to use his photos in the Kickstarter Promo video.  He is the guy sawing into that large piece of wood. Here is a bit more about Roy and his boards:

Roy Stuart - Creator of Avant garde wooden surfboards of the pure surfing intelligentsia

Some of the pics from the video:

Perhaps one of our most visible project to date is a the simple and ultra cute sing-along video for Melinda Caroll's IGNITE. Written for the 100th year anniversary of the Girl Scouts USA, (which by the way have no connection to the Boy Scouts).

Started in 1912, by an independant thinker, outdoors-woman named, Juliette Gordon Low, the organization boasts 4 million members in the US and 13 million internationally, including affliate programs.

No wonder this video is getting a lot of views on Youtube, 14,600+ in the past three months, sometimes getting 500 views in a single day. And the anniversary celebrations are just gearing up, culminating in a world record 250,000 girl flash mob to the the song in  Washingtion DC. Whew... this could go viral!

Check out the video and more at: gsmusic.com

or watch now:

We had our eye on Spirare from the beginning of the concept for this film.  I always appreciated Kevin's philosophy on design and sustainability. With my background in Industrial Design I really loved his way of thinking about products as being "art". 

Kevin also has this to say; "Surfers traditionally respect the ocean and environment and actively work to protect it, yet we ride surfboards that are made from highly toxic materials that are a hazard to both the people who make them and the environment.

Spirare Surfboards explores innovative surfboard design using alternative materials and methods to make highly functional pieces of fine art that emphasize green design and sustainable construction."

We are excited to have Kevin backing this project, and I have to say that on a personal note I am looking forward to Kevin's process of building his boards, and of course the chance to ride one!  In particular the Quad Fish.

Remember, we can't do this without your help.  Please make a contribution here.

This is a documentary on the history of Riley Balsawood Surfboards. It also explains how to make a solid balsawood longboard. Enjoy and leave your comments!

Mark is supporting our documentary on Green Surfboards, Every Board Has A Story. Thanks Mark. I hope we get this project off the ground and get to meet, and more importantly ride one of your beautiful boards!

1000 Surfboard Graveyard news piece from Cameron Whalan on Vimeo.

PRESS RELEASE - 11-28-11
For Immediate Release

Contact:   Andrew Rice, Co-Producer
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

David Whitney and Andrew Rice of Kenai Productions are excited to announce their latest video project, EVERY BOARD HAS A STORY, a feature length documentary about the evolution of surf boards and the current efforts to develop environmentally friendly boards.

Kenai Productions, a Maui-based production company and member of the Maui Film Alliance, has over 20 years experience in all aspects of video production. EVERY BOARD HAS A STORY is Kenai's debut feature-length production, and has already garnered the support of many industry veterans.

Kenai is seeking pre-production funding through Kickstarter.com, a crowd funding website that facilitates investment pledges from the public for all kinds of great projects. "Investors" can pledge $10 to $5,000 toward EBHS, and will not be charged until the full amount of $12,950 is raised in the specified amount of time. With less than 60 days to reach their goal, every pledge counts, and you can help.

Where does the money go, you ask?

PHASE I

• Develop production plan and pitch materials in order to attach sponsors, professional surfers, and 5 ground-breaking shapers.
• Write Treatment/Script - researched and written by David Whitney
• Produce the 5 Minute Teaser- shot and edited by Andrew Rice
• Kickstart the Green Surf Board Expression Sessions Challenge - coordinated by Ken “Woozer” Goring

Their mission is to develop the materials necessary to acquire complete funding for the documentary from sponsors, like QuickSilver, Billabong, Dakine, and other big surfing companies.  We will also be approaching green organizations and private investors.

How you can help

Make a pledge on their Kickstarter Campaign page by going to:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/59320557/every-board-has-a-story

Learn more about David and Andrew at KenaiProductions.com, you can view their reel and stay up to date on the project at the Kenai Productions Blog:
http://www.kenaiproductions.com/blog/category/every-board-has-a-story.html

If you or someone you know is involved in the next generation of surfboard design, and is a candidate for the Green Surf Board Expression Sessions Challenge please contact Andrew at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Mahalo for your support!

Synopsis

EVERY BOARD HAS A STORY is a multifaceted feature length documentary about the evolution of surf boards and the current efforts to produce environmentally friendly boards. The projects mission is to honor the past while creating an opportunity, an inspiration, and a call to action for environmentally conscious alternatives.

Thread 1: The film follows the 1st Annual Green Surf Board Challenge as board designers race to develop their innovative boards in time for the international trials held at one of the world’s choice surf locations. The project will document five notable participants’ setbacks and triumphs as they risk their reputations on their visions of the future of surfing.

Thread 2: The documentary explores the history and evolution of surfboard design from the original hand-made Hawaiian wooden boards to the manufacturing of modern synthetic boards. Segments include interviews with master board shapers asking them about their craft and ideas for the future.

Thread 3: Interview surf icons about the glory (and the contradictions) of their boards of choice, their assessments of green boards, and would going green take the joy out of surfing?

Kickstarter Campaign Url:

http://kck.st/v7Zf5N
or
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/59320557/every-board-has-a-story

Images:

http://www.kenaiproductions.com/pr/EBHS-PR-IMAGES.zip

Follow Us on Twitter/Facebook:

https://twitter.com/#!/kenaiproduction
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenai-Productions/127600340614163

Yes, I am the proud rider of 3 beautifully shaped surfboards...yes, i love them....and...yes, they are made of polystyrene.

Mark Nelson, Engineer @ Cisco, Lecturer at UT Dallas had this to say

"In 'Biodegradation of Polystyrene, Poly(methyl methacrylate), and Phenol Formaldehyde' by Kaplan, Hartenstein, and Sutter, it is shown that polystyrene is basically inert, and even in the presence of active bioactive cultures does not decompose at all.

So if you want to get rid of your polystyrene, sorry, you are probably going to have to incinerate it."

I say "Bummer"

If you haven't checked out kickstarter.com or our video pitch, they're both worth checking out.

We still have 37 of 60 days remaing to reach our goal, $12,950, so far we've received $1,273 in pledges, Thanks to our first pledgers, it warms the cockles of our heart. (What are cockles?)

Even if our project isn't striking your fancy, there are other amazing projects seeking funding, maybe you could be apart of some one's breakthrough endeavor.

Your pledge might just be the tipping point to shift the momentum for some one. The tipping point is that moment that any venture strives to reach, a milemarker along the path to success.

We need your to reach our tipping point and ulitmate goal... please help to generate interest and pledges.

We appreciate your kokua, (help), by sharing our project link with you friends.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/59320557/every-board-has-a-story

OK, its 11-11-11, and we figured it would be a great day to launch our first Kickstarter campaign for Every Board Has A Story.

The project started about a year ago, and is a direct result of my obsession with surfing. I moved to Maui over 4 years ago with my wife and son, Anne & Foster. I quickly started surfing and with my background in snowboarding the mountains of Colorado...well, I simply fell in love with it. It is my new passion, and even this morning I was surfing Pavils at Hookipa.

In any case, I started thinking about boards and that I, having only surfed a few years, at the time, had developed a bond with my particular surfboad. I realized that if I had some interesting stories to tell abut my connection with surfing and in particular my board, that surfers that have been paddling out for years must have a lot to say about the subject. Hence, the beginnings of an idea.

And so, I told my partner David about it. At the time both of us were discussing the possible future of surfboard technology, and the Green Board movement. It seemed appropriate to weave this into the story. After a few meetings and discussions, we had a basic idea for the documentary.

As with any project, it is a work in progress. And as we shared the idea with other colleagues the story evolved. And quite frankly it isn't done yet. We plan to cover the history of surfboards, and consequently interview some well know shapers and surfers. This will undoubtedly have an impact on the direction and content of our finished film. We realize there is a lot of history in the design, technology, and with the craft of shaping. Our intention is to honor shapers and their craft, while at the same time exploring the possibilities that new technology, and the wisdom of traditional design can offer.

So, to put it simply. We are STOKED. Check out more and be a part of it all here!

Every Board Has A Story is a multifaceted feature length documentary about the history of surf boards and the current efforts to produce environmentally friendly components.

The film follows event organizers of the 1st Annual Green Surf Board Competition and the participating board innovators from around the world as they race to meet the looming Winter Swell deadline.

Interwoven with entertaining interviews of contest organizers about their ultimate goals, board-shapers about the challenges and latest innovations; and surf icons about the glory and the contradictions their board of choice.

We are going to be fundraising for the First Phase of this documentary through Kickstarter. If you are interested in what it's all about and feel inspired to be a part of the project, check it out here!

Mahalo

***Before & After movie at the bottom of this post!***

Our latest project, a short film called The Roundup, posed some interesting hurdles for us to jump over in the world of Post.  I was lucky enough to work on this project with Stefan Schaefer of Cicala Filmworks.  Stefan and I have worked on a few projects together now and have developed a productive and fun, yes...we do surf together a few times a week, working relationship. This project was destined for The Short List, a compilation of 5 shorts produced by Talk Story Productions, and premiering at the HIFF.

So The Roundup was an interesting one.  The genre is Western and it was shot on Oahu's north shore, and as you might have guessed it is pretty green up there!  The DP chose to shoot it with a Technicolor LUT which gave us an image with a high dynamic range, allowing us a lot of latitude for adjustment.

This is from the Technicolor site: "The Technicolor CineStyle provides better dynamic range of the captured content. This allows for greater artistic freedom during shooting (as the look does not have to locked in during shooting) as well as during the color correction process in postproduction."

The Grade

I first set about balancing from shot to shot, using Magic Bullets Colorista 2 in FCP. Yup, I was still using FCP on this one...FCP7 that is.  In any case, Colorista is a very powerful tool with primary and secondary correction capabilities from with your NLE.

I got a lot of mileage form the Secondaries to pull the blood from the image in certain scenes and make it pop, after we applied the Look we had lost some of that nice red that really says "ouch"!  Colorista's masks helped me to qualify the areas of the frame that were bloody, and track them, albeit manually, so we could enhance the "ouch" factor.

The Look

I used Red Giant's Looks 2 to create the look for this film, trying to get away from the Hawaii feel as much as possible.  I mean, you look at some of those peaks, and some of the foliage and it screams Hawaii, but if its not green...maybe nobody will notice!  Right?

So I added a few layers of filters here, and I really love the flexibility of this plugin.  There are just so many tools at your fingertips.  The big players as far as getting the appropriate Look were the 2-Strip Process, Bleach Bypass, and the Curves.  The 2-Strip in particular allowed us to go after the greens and pull them way way back. The Bleach Bypass gave us a classic antiquated feel, and the Curves gave us the film look wanted by crushing the blacks a bit and boosting the Midtones.  As you can see there are a lot of layers to this look. We also made use of the Vignette to pull your attention into a certain area of action, and again to add an antiquated, western feel to the film.

All in all we were pretty happy, and it was fun to have the opportunity to push to the extremes with the image.  Often Color Grading is more of a subtle art, at-least to the person sitting in the audience, but with The Roundup, it clobbers you over the head and says this one is going to be as "Hot as a whorehouse on nickel night"!

Apple reportedly questioning future of Mac Pro: Reported from Appleinsider

First they screw Pro's by releasing FCPX. Read more on my blog for how lame this product was! And don't get me wrong, I have been a long time Apple Loyalist. I have been on an Apple since 1991, and have used FCP for years.

Now they are going to kill the machine that all Pros rely on! Great. Way to go Apple! No, it is not as profitable as the iMac, or any other iThing, but c'mon, you will be forcing all the Pro's to go the way of the PC. An excruciating concept! Show a little support and loyalism to the ones that stuck with you through the not so profitable years!

%$#@! I am pissed off at this news! I really hope Apple does the right thing.

Well, this guy really captures my frustration with FCPX.  I mean really, even with the latest update we can hardly call this a Pro Application.  Good Riddance!

My personal feelings about the latest installment of Final Cut Pro assembled into a little rhyme. Hope you enjoy!

Check out our other work at: www.AllinVideoProductions.com

That's right, "Easy" is a relative term, especially when switching to a new way of doing things, but using the same basic concepts.  What do I mean you ask?  Well, I am still editing video...something I have been doing since 1999, and the tools to accomplish this task in Media Composer are similar to the tolls I am used to using in FCP.  I remember when I first switched to FCP from Premiere 1.something, or was it 2.something, in any case the swich was really easy.  The AVID proved to be a tough transition, but with a much bigger payoff!  It is simple a much more robust system designed for professionals, not prosumers. 

What do I like?  I LOVE the Smart Tool.  This tool set changes depending on where your cursor is placed on a clip.  No more going to the tool palette for a differ tool, or hitting the appropriate key...Brilliant.  I feel like I have so much more control over the timeline and individual clips within it, and its quick and easy to boot!  Oh, there that word easy again.  Well, there was one speed bump I ran into.  SYNC.  I beat my head against the wall for a little while trying to figure this out on my own and then decided to ask the community for help.  I had multiple responses in an hour or so....Hats Off to the AVID Community.

I was having trouble keeping things in SYNC when rolling, slipping, etc.  In the post I was told about SYNC LOCK, something I may have learned if I had read the manual, or watched ALL of the tutorials at lynda.com.  Ever since enabling sync locks I am flying around the timeline and making changes, and everything stays in SYNC.  Cool. Check out my post and the responses here.

That's all for now!  Keep checking back, there is a lot more to share...just gotta find the time.

Aloha

Good bye Final Cut Pro...Hello AVID Media Composer! We made the switch, its official.  Funny, when people reference switching they usally mean switching "to Apple" not "away from Apple".  Don't get me wrong.  I still love my Mac Pro, and a lot of other things about Apple, and I will probably still be using FCP for quick turnaround jobs...until I get comfortable with the AVID.

That being said, I have been studying up...big shout-out here to www.lynda.com and their tutorial "Migrating from Final Cut Pro 7 to Avid Media Composer 5.5",  and also the  "Wanna Switch?" Series by Kevin P. McAuliffe. I have some small projects I am working on that are allowing me to get comfortable with the new interface and workflow.

Things are different, but in all actuality its really just accomplishing the same tasks with mostly the same tools in different places.  AVID really wants you to pay attention to your format first and foremost, which I find helpful.  It was easy to get started in FCP and not really know which format you were working on...with AVID you NEED to know before you can start.

The biggest change for me so far is understanding the bin structure, and also how a project is organized both in the interface and on your RAID.  The new AMA Linking (new to v5) is a really nice feature that makes the switch from FCP pretty easy.

I will keep posting what I am finding out in this new process.  But suffice it to say, we here at Kenai Productions are stoked!