On Friday, November 3rd, the Carolina Surf Film Festival kicked off with the Charleston premiere of the new Charleston Ocean Athletes short film. Running 15+ minutes, it was received with many positive reviews from the community. If you haven't watched it yet, here it is below.
I really enjoyed creating and editing this short film. Most of the footage was captured in 2022 and the first half of 2023, but there's also some older footage from recent years past. I used everything from a drone for the aerial shots, to in water footage with a GoPro and an old waterproof point & click camera, and also a Canon DLSR camera and my iPhone for footage captured from the beach. There was also some footage provided by others that I was able to include.
This film is meant to showcase the amazing talented athletes who dare to get in the water when most other human beings run away from the water (when the wind comes up and/or the waves get big). Everyone in the film lives right here in the local Charleston area. There are so many talented men and women out there on the water. I wish I could have captured all of them for this film. It's difficult to do an edit with time constraints and narrowing down the best footage captured. A lot of really good stuff didn't make the film. Perhaps to be shared another time.
I was inspired by past surf/windsurf films I've always admired such as Brian Caserio's Chapped & Surface Tension windsurfing films (the Mustard Plug Beer Song in the final credits is an ode to Surface Tension), Dana Brown's Step Into Liquid, and the San Francisco Chronicles which was an early 2000s documentary showcasing the windsurfing, kitesurfing, and surfing talent in the Bay Area at that time.
Me introducing the film at the Mex1 West Ashley (Charleston) location of the Carolina Surf Film Festival. It was the first film to kick off the two night festival and everyone who was there was still standing in the back when it started. Photo by Cody Mathews
I want to thank Chad Davis, the co-creator and owner of the Carolina Surf Brand and Carolina Surf Film Festival for including this short film. It's rare for a surfing film festival, which is usually inclusive of only pure surf movies, to include a film that has other ocean sports that are an extension of surfing. It also played at the Wilmington location of the Carolina Surf Film Festival.
The Charleston Ocean Athletes Instagram and Facebook pages regularly showcase Charleston area pure surfing and local surfing athletes. In addition, the Carolina Surf Film Festival always has a great slate of pure surfing movies. For these reasons, I chose to make this edit about the other ocean sports that are an extension of surfing, such as kitesurfing, windsurfing, wing foiling, SUP surfing, outrigger canoe and surfski paddling, and prone foil surfing. Charleston is full of these different ocean sport communities.
A group photo with friends (who all shred on the water) who came out in support - the picture is missing a few other friends who were also in attendance. I really appreciate everyone who came out. Photo by Cody Mathews
I hope you enjoy this film as much as I enjoyed making it. I'm always open to feedback and creative ideas to make this website, the social media channels, and the films better. If you have content relevant and suitable for Charleston Ocean Athletes, please share with me...I would love to see it and I may even include it on Instagram/Facebook or in a future project. Please feel free to DM me on Instagram or email me (see email address in "About" section). Better yet, please say "Hi" to me on the beach and introduce yourself if you see me out there capturing footage.
Charleston Ocean Athletes short film credits:
Video & Editing by Mac Barnhardt
Editing Assistance by McIntyre Barnhardt
Other video provided by :
William Barnhardt
David Buckley
Jonathan Coleman
Brad Hyatt
Jess Mokuahi Key
Eddie Roedig
Justin Schaay
Scott West
Athletes (in alphabetical order):
Mac Barnhardt
David Buckley
Dave Cavanaugh
Charleston Paddle Club
Jonathan Coleman
James Corgill
John Cutter
Morne Diedericks
Darren Finan
Chili Graves
Peter Hess
Robert Hess
Morgan Hurley
Brad Hyatt
Scott Hyland
Jess Mokuahi Key
Bart Liebmann
Eric Mims
Josh Parker
Eddie Roedig
Ben Roth
Justin Schaay
David Schar
Grant Scheffer
Trey Sedalik
David Thorvalson
Scott West
Noah Zittrer
Music:
Buku Front to Back
The Kills Cat Claw
Cutty Gold Clean My Hands
Local H Heroes
The Power Station Get It On (Bang A Gong)
Levi Matthan Honey (B)
The Dead Weather I Cut Like A Buffalo
Mustard Plug Beer (Song)
A photo with my beautiful wife, to whom I owe a great deal of credit for her love and support. Photo by Cody Mathews
Aloha and Cheers, Mac
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