www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YC9yVBSsMw

Was The Drifter with Rob Machado too scripted and heavy on plot? If you get rid of all that, keep the surfing footage, and add more, you have the Melali Drifter Sessions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPk8-3FeCgk

When did you start surfing? I think 22 months is about the right age. Clearly the stoke is there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-vb20srZI

Has anyone not seen this video yet? I didn’t think so. Santa Cruz boys Homer Henard, Nic Lamb, Omar Etcheverry, Chris Killen, and Ruse Entertainment are pioneering the new sport of tarp surfing. Expect future episodes shortly.

This Baja secret is one of the best waves in north america. KORDUROY.tv has this video from December 2004, during a swell I was there for. I sat on the inside for hours and watched the pros get barrel after barrel.

Photographer Dom Daher hooked up with Helicam International to shoot aerial photos of Tim Boal. After the sun set, the helicopter was rigged up with a flash as well to get some night photos. Check out the ‘Making Of’ video to see the behind the scenes action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGQHFO_VXDs

Winter in San Diego… not a bad place to be. The full sequence is posted up at hydrodynamica, photos taken by Patrick Trefz. Check them out.

Is Modern Collective the surf video for a new generation?
Reviewed by Nick Braithwaite of Daily Surf Videos.

Five Summer Stories, showed Gerry Lopez’s dominance on the North Shore in 1972.
Shaun Tomson, Rabbit Bartholomew, Peter Towend and Mark Richards had Free Ride in 1977.
Machado, Hobgoods, Slater, Dorian et al had the Momentum Series from 1992.

Each generation of surfers has a surfing video that stands out and helps define it.

The opening scene of Modern Collective with The Castaways – Liar Liar blaring in the background and some ridiculously high punts captured by Kai Neville (director) marks the beginning of a slightly different surf movie.

One of the first things you realize about Modern Collective is that the waves Jordy, Dane, Dion, Yadin, Mitch and Dusty are surfing in are not that perfect. Yes, there are a few sections where the surf is firing, but for a large part the waves are onshore and disorganized. Some like being transported to that perfect day in a surf video, however, there is something jaw-dropping about seeing what the worlds most progressive surfers can do in wedging onshore conditions.

Those of you that have have been lucky enough to watch Sipping Jetstreams will be familiar with the way the  movie is shot, it has a very atmospheric feel to it, but the surfing is more progressive and there is less focus on the locations. For some, this maybe a blessing, for others it may mean that this surfing video lacks that something extra to make it a classic surf movie.

Jordy Smith in Australia has to be one of the highlights of the movie, whether it be from boosting higher than you would have thought possible or making a rodeo flip look like something he pulls off everyday. Surely it’s only a matter of time before he starts nailing these regularly on the WCT.

The session the guys have in heavy onshore conditions 27 minutes in has to contain some of the highest airs ever caught on film. In what can be best described as 4-5 ft wedging conditions Dion, Jordy, Dane, Mitch, Yadin and Dusty (in no particular order) fly down the line in pursuit of either a cheeky barrel or hunt down the perfect ramp from which to launch their next air from.  This movie is quite focused on the Modern Collective getting sky high and not so much linking every turn together (when they do it’s from one air to another or something equally progressive).

Modern Collective has a very raw yet artsy feel to it. The locations are as varied with classics such as France, Morocco, Indo and rural Australia mixed with lesser seen places like Cabo and Reunion Island adding a unique flavor to the locales.  As for the soundtrack, it’s a mix of electro inter spliced with some old school classics and it sounds pretty good. Modern Collective will be a surfing video for this generation as it signals a move away from perfect waves and a move towards exploring different conditions and just what can be done with them.

Nick Braithwaite is chief video picker at Daily Surf Videos, for new surfing videos everyday.

Where to buy: Support your local surf shop!
Kooks buy it here (We’ll still love you): Modern Collective (DVD)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLyd_v3y2gM

My first installment of gorgeous surfer girls. Stephanie Gilmore. Three time ASP World Tour champion.

And if you need something to perv out on, here’s some board porn from her quiver.

Ever wondered what it looks like to get burned by a sponger while you’re stuck in the barrel? Mark Mathews posted this sequence up on his website Chasing Chalk. He has the full play-by-play and more shots there.

South America. Cyrus Sutton on a 5’8″ quad fish. korduroy.tv/