Isle surfers It's daunting enough when a film director requires you to deliberately wipe out on 35-plus-foot waves, but when he later decides not to use that footage, even a large paycheck and notoriety don't make up for putting your life on the line only to end up on the cutting-room floor.
wiped out
of Bond film
Only 2 minutes of their
work makes it in
"Die Another Day"By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comBig-wave surfers Laird Hamilton, Derek Doerner and Dave Kalama learned that's Hollywood after "starring" in the spectacular opening title sequence and other segments of the new James Bond film, "Die Another Day."
"I was pretty stunned after the premiere when they hadn't used any of our wipeouts," Kalama said from his Maui home. "We dedicated one whole day, like, four hours, just on wiping out and took some pretty good poundings."
Two Oahu cinematographers -- second unit director of photography Don King and Sonny Miller -- and Mike Graber, of Los Angeles, filmed the three surfers over three days late last December in huge surf at Jaws, also known as Peahi, off Northeast Maui.
Maui resident Glenn Beadles produced the sequence, which cost $750,000. Of the 32 crew members, 31 were from Hawaii, said Beadles, whose On Locations Services has produced major national commercials.
Eon Productions, the English-based parent company of the Bond franchise, gave the crew a three-month window for filming in January. But knowing that Jaws has good surf and conditions around Christmastime, Beadles and Hamilton convinced producers to move the production up a month. The filming was done Dec. 26 to 28.
Another major challenge, Beadles said, was getting the necessary camera equipment and props, including wet suits made in England and a box of fake machine guns, to Hawaii in time, due to post-9/11 security concerns.
"We knew a big swell was coming, but this filming had to be carefully planned because expensive equipment was being shipped from Los Angeles and a cameraman was coming," said King, whose many credits include last summer's "Blue Crush."
Support crew and equipment for the shoot included several jet skis, a jet boat and their operators, as well as a helicopter used by King for aerial footage and piloted by Don Shearer, of Windward Aviation of Maui.
"The original story was that two of the three surfers were bad guys and would wipe out, with James Bond the only one making the wave," King said.
But the surfers' spectacular wave riding was their undoing.
When producers saw the footage of the trio surfing waves with 30- to 40-foot faces, the story line was rewritten to include more wave riding.
However, the film's trailer does show Kalama take a horrendous wipeout where he somersaults down a wave face, then is crushed by the curl.
THE FIRST DAY of filming lasted just three hours as a storm front passed over Maui, causing overcast and windy conditions. Day two dawned sunny and glassy with waves averaging 40-foot faces, King said.
"It was so beautiful, we never used any footage from the first day," King said.
The team hit the water just after dawn with the surfers clad in 3-millimeter-thick black-and-gray striped wet suits, fake night-vision goggles and holding rubber machine guns.
"There were times the helicopter was maybe five feet above the water and 30 feet from the curl," said King, who sat in the space where the chopper's door had been removed. "We got so close to the breaking wave, its spray sometimes splashed the camera lens."
King waited until the third and last day of filming for the wipeout sequences to prevent earlier injuries that would interrupt regular surfing pieces.
The three surfers discussed their wipeout strategy to ensure they didn't run over one another or get hit by a surfboard.
"And we knew without saying we weren't going to be laying down in the peak, the impact zone," Kalama said.
Doerner took wipeouts where the wave's lip hit him in the back, while Kalama tried to fall into the wave's sheer face without being sucked over.
"The hardest thing for all of us was getting into the mind-set to wipe out because it isn't something we normally do," Kalama said. "I wiped out more that day than in 10 years of surfing Jaws. By the end of that third day, I was truly beat."
EXPERIENCE IN BIG waves prevented the trio from getting hurt.
"Wiping out in a huge wave is a little like a car wreck," Kalama said. "You have no choice but to go along with it for a while because the wave will dictate what happens. You gotta understand that you'll be underwater for a while. The best action is to relax because nothing will happen fast."
King relied on the surfers' judgment as to when to rest or stop filming for the day.
"These guys really know their limits," King said. "But they're so good, they make surfing Jaws look safe."
From nearly a dozen hours of filming, about two minutes were used in the movie. The public will be able to see about 10 minutes of unused footage, including the wipeouts, when the DVD is released in about six months in a chapter tentatively called "The Making of 'Die Another Day.'"
King is proud of his crew who were able to do their jobs on short notice, under difficult conditions, without problems or injuries. He had worked with the photographers and camera assistants on other films including "Blue Crush."
"It's a very clear message to Hollywood of the crew talent we have in Hawaii," King said.
Kalama, 38, said his first foray into motion pictures was "awesome."
"I got to pretend I was Bond or one of his cohorts and got paid some good money to do what I truly love to do, surfing Jaws."
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