WATER CINEMATOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER
CREATIVE CURRENCY

Text: Daniel Ikaika Ito
Image: Zak Noyle

URL: mikestewart.com



Mike Stewart wants to blow your mind, but not with aerial maneuvers at Pipe or the latest board innovation from his company, Science. Rather, the godfather of body boarding wants to trip you out with his new movie FIRE. These days, nine-time world bodyboard champ rarely dons a contest jersey, opting to explore a career as a cinematographer.

The 45-year-old, Big Island boy worked on a number of productions as a water video shooter, like Blue Crush, Big Bounce, and a bunch of TV shows. Stewart’s filmmaking career was mentored by Don King and also influenced by Tom Boyle. Their images were inspiration to fuel Mike’s “fire” for filming.

His debut film transcends the limitations of the average surf movie. This decade long project stems from the minds of Mike Stewart and Scott Carter and features mind numbing water videography and massive barrels. This is not just a bodyboarding movie, sorry boogie dudes, but a film about the higher levels of consciousness that wave riders experience. It also inserts powerful messages about fear, peace, politics, chaos, conflict, the environment and spirituality. FIRE does a great job of exposing the consistency of waves, the intimacy of wave riding and the beauty of the Earth all without uttering a single pretentious word. [deep breath]

The imagery in FIRE is breathtaking and the music on the soundtrack is inspiring. While this movie is rooted in surf cinematography, it’s less like Poor Specimen surf porn, and more like The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know: exploring the realms of consciousness and the human experience with the surrounding world.

Beyond the philosophical realms of FIRE, Stewart’s appreciation for the mere beauty in things comes through in the film. This project is an opportunity for Mike to share the sensory-stimulating world of water that has provided so much inspiration in the past. Contrast Magazine chatted up Stewart about his latest creative outlet and traded war stories about life in the pit as a cinematographer.


Brah, we’re tripping out after watching FIRE. It’s obvious to see that creativity was a very important theme in the film.
I think creativity, for the most part, is really under utilized today. I think it’s more going to be the currency for the future. I really think creativity is the biggest asset that people have.

There’s a long list of ex-bodyboarders that are world-class water cameramen. Eric Baeseman. Daniel Russo. Scott Aichner. Mr. Mike Stewart. Why do think former spongers make such great surf shooters?
Yeah the list goes on and on. I think there’s an intimacy with the ocean and the wave. You’re closer to the water, you got your fins on and you know how the waves break so that’s 90 % of it right there. Generally speaking, bodyboarders are very open-minded where they maybe don’t follow the path that’s socially accepted. Rather, they’ve done their own thing and I think that lends itself to creative outlets.

In your opinion, what’s heavier? Getting pounded by a 10-foot wave with your boog or with a camera housing?
Camera. A million times over. The whole thing is: ‘okay, don’t lose the camera.’ But, you have this hard object that’s heavy and you’re holding that thing trying to make sure it doesn’t get too smashed.

So, did you ever totally trash a camera?
I had a big Reflex, 35mm camera that’s worth 70-grand and I was filming [Kelly] Slater on a pretty big, outside reef. And, I just got mowed over by the white water. [laughs] I was looking through the viewfinder and I knew it was telephoto, but as I was following him I thought the white water was further away. The shot was so good so I was trying to stay on it, but I just got hammered by the white water and lost the camera. Two days later, when it got smaller I went out with Petey Johnson and found it. It was pretty cool, but the camera was pretty thrashed. We recovered the camera so it wasn’t a total lost, but I felt pretty bad.

For the past decade, through all of your various jobs as a cameraman, you meticulously made FIRE. What is the concept behind this film?
At first, I just wanted to come out with a bodyboarding video and chronicling what I was doing at the time. When we started getting the footage in and what Scotty was doing, I knew that it could be a lot more. We took it in a pretty radical and different direction. It’s more about the spirit of waveriding and what you learn as a waverider versus the accomplishments. It’s not meant to be a vanity piece. It’s more about the spirit of waveriding and lessons I’ve learned.  If you open yourself up to it and spend some time, it will speak to you.

Obviously, there’s a lot of bodyboarding footage on FIRE, but in our opinion, is it really a bodybording movie?
Bodyboarding is used as an expression or medium. We tried to push it further than just a surf movie and I think we accomplished it. Anyone from anywhere can look at it and understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. And, hopefully inspire them to do what they do.