THEME: Portraits
PHOTO: Patrick Armbruster
ATHLETE: Romain De Marchi
LOCATION: Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii
CAMERA: Canon EOS 1 (analog)
WRITER: Arlie Carstens ©
Starting in 2001, to edit the film Transcendence, the Absinthe Films crew decamped for a month to Poipu, Kauai. This included athletes, camera operators, post-production editors and our creative director. Each day, before or after long editing sessions, the assembled crew would get in the ocean to surf together. This was the ritual. Day in and day out, surfing and editing. Like waves on a beach rising and receding over and over. After the success of Transcendence, Absinthe went on to edit their films this way for more than a decade.
“While editing the current year’s movie in Kauai, we would brainstorm the following year’s movie,” says filmmaker Justin Hostynek. “The most dedicated riders from the current year would choose the riders for the following year. We did this to give our riders the opportunity to have a hand in shaping their part, selecting music, and helping to create the overall vibe of each year’s film. This way of working made it possible for us to develop stronger bonds with our athletes and more quickly initiate and complete our film productions. Kauai was the perfect place to be editing and thinking creatively. To have that work / life balance with surfing made all the difference. We continued this tradition for a solid ten years, right up until 2012.”
Each winter season, the Absinthe production schedule would kick off in December. The crew would film December through May before heading to the south end of Kauai to begin editing the film in July. Continues Hostynek, “In the world of Absinthe at the time, editing a film required three things: One, go to where most consistent swell was pumping. Two, obtain a strong, fast Internet connection. And three, be in close proximity to a Fed Ex shipping location at all times. Poipu had all three.”
In this underwater photo captured by Absinthe filmmaker Patrick Armbruster, pro rider Romain De Marchi mugs for the camera while poaching the pool at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, located next to one of the crew’s favorite surf breaks, Shipwrecks. The year was 2002. The crew was in Kauai editing what would become Vivid, arguably De Marchi’s strongest and most groundbreaking contribution to the culture of snowboarding. For the music to his part in Vivid, we chose Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.” You’re welcome.