ECLIPSE - A Conversation on Filmmaking, Alternative Surfing & the Making of Eclipse

Interview by: Carson Kropfl

When cinematographer Austin DeSousa sets out to film surfing, he isn't just thinking about the surfing, he's thinking about the story, the light, the lens, and the viewer who has never touched a surfboard in their life. His latest project, Eclipse, is a black-and-white short film that follows alternative surfer Sage Guinaldo through a series of unconventional settings. Sand dunes in the Inland Empire, a backyard pool lit like a void, and glassy beach break under Santa Ana winds, all captured with the kind of cinematic intention you'd expect from a narrative feature, not a surf edit. We sat down with Austin to talk about how Eclipse came together, what drives his creative process behind the lens, and why he thinks surf filmmaking is long overdue for a new vision.

There's this cinematographer named Mason Charles who made a video called Desert Dreaming. There's one shot in it with a flashing light and a person falling into water and I was just super inspired by that. Sage and I had also been collecting clips for about a year already, filming on all these alternative boards. So it was these two ideas coming together: things I wanted to shoot as a cinematographer, blended with Sage's surfing and him as a subject.

Q: Tell us about the dune shoot.

A buddy of mine posted a video of himself sliding down sand dunes on a boogie board and I DM'd him immediately. He told me it was Glamis, a big strip of sand a couple hours inland from San Diego. I really wanted to shoot something Dune-esque, like Dune meets surfing. So I messaged Sage, sent him screengrabs from Dune and other projects with that desert vibe, and got him hyped. We drove down on a random weekday, left at 11am, got there around 3, and grinded it out before sunset. It was 108 degrees, honestly brutal. I was carrying a 50-pound backpack through the sand the whole time. We ended up using maybe a fourth of what we shot.

Q: What was your favorite shot from the desert?

There's one shot with a lens flare shooting through between Sage and his fish. We were shooting with Suri anamorphic lenses, which I've always loved but never been able to use in a surf project before because you can't do anamorphic telephoto without some crazy rig. So this was my chance. Those lenses give you these really long streaks when the sun hits them and there are a couple shots in there that are just super stylistic because of it. I think it genuinely elevated the look of that whole section.

Q: What was the reaction from people at Glamis seeing Sage with a surfboard in the desert?

The very last shot is Sage standing on this big dune with the sun behind him. I had my camera on a tripod near the parking lot and a bunch of older guys who had just finished off-roading were hanging around. They were all saying things like "Dude, that shot is insane, let's go." Just hyping it up. That was sick.

  • Q: Walk us through the pool shots. How did you get that look?

    The whole film is black and white, which really emphasizes texture and lines. You lose color so you're focusing on everything else. I set up a 600-watt light behind Sage so the camera was shooting straight into it. It makes the background almost disappear and it looks like he's in a void. The light also emphasized all the water droplets and bubbles, they glisten and reflect into the lens. It just looks so buttery. It was tough though because it was just me and Sage. I'm in the pool with dive weights on and there's no one to adjust the lights. I was also low-key stressed because I was borrowing a light worth around a grand or two and we were trying to keep it away from the splash. We tried covering the vents with towels but they started smoking because the light runs so hot. And the pool was freezing, so Sage was warming up next to the light between every take while I just sat in the water in a wetsuit.

    Q: Any other standout surf sections?

    The Huntington footage during the Santa Ana winds was one of my favorites. Two days in a row of perfect offshore, three to four foot waves, and it looks so buttery with all the water droplets flying off the wave. That was the clip we really wanted in the movie. It was tough to shoot though because I always film as low to the ground as possible. I feel like it emphasizes the power of the wave and makes it look like it's standing up more, like a canvas. But when it's offshore at a beach break, sand flies everywhere. I got it all in my eyes and all up my pants. Camera was fine though, weather sealed, just had to dust it out at home.

    Q: How do you adjust your filming style depending on the wave or board?

    It depends on how the waves look and what he's riding. On the offshore day I shot everything at 4K 120fps for that slow-motion water look. But for the Uppers clips where he's on a longer board, I shot at 24 frames a second. I love the motion blur look. It emphasizes the speed of surfing and makes the motion look cleaner and more artistic. There are also a couple shots with a super slow shutter that give this big blur effect where you can tell he's going fast but the video is still slow. It's slow motion but it feels fast.

Q: Why is alternative surfing your favorite to film?

It's not just that the surfer is being alternative. I'm also trying new stuff out myself, testing new lenses, testing new ideas. Surf filming is my way as a cinematographer to experiment. I feel like I learned a lot more about what style of shooting I actually like through this project.

Q: What's your pet peeve with how a lot of surf filmers shoot?

A lot of them shoot at a 90-degree shutter. The standard in filmmaking is 180-degree shutter, two times your frame rate, which gives you natural motion blur. That's what I used throughout the whole film. But a lot of people crank it to 90 degrees and just post clips straight like that and I think it looks bland. Sharper, yeah, but it just doesn't look right to me.

Q: Do you think surf films need more of a cinematic narrative?

100%. Whenever I'm making a film I'm not just thinking about the surfing audience. I want all my friends to watch it and be interested, even the ones who don't surf. It's one thing to make a sick surf film with a bunch of clips, but it's even cooler to build something with a loose story that draws people in. I couldn't watch surf clips for an hour straight. I love surfing but I'd fall asleep. That's why I want to push the boundaries of surf filmmaking, add some kind of narrative, and make something that actually means something.

Q: Tell us about Sage as a surfer. What makes him different?

Sage used to be the guy throwing airs on every wave but his air game was better than his turn game back then. Once he started coaching with Brad Gerlach everything started to evolve. He got into riding Duke Ipa's fishes and all these alternative boards and Brad's style just seemed to flow straight into his surfing. My favorite part of his style, and this is a weird thing to say, is his takeoff. It sets up the entire wave. The way he paddles in is so clean, the way he stands up is so dialed. Whether he goes low and then up or just flows straight into it, it's fluid. I literally paddled out today and he did the craziest turn right in front of me and I just had my hands up in the air. It's always getting better, always more dialed. Every time.

Q: How much of Eclipse was pre-production versus actual filming?

A lot of the real work was in pre-production: planning every shot, building the grainy black and white look, and knowing exactly what we were going to do at each location. Whether it was the desert or someone's pool, you can't just show up and figure it out. That planning is where a lot of what makes Eclipse what it is really came from.

Q: What's next for you?

I'm working on a doc about Sage's brother Luke and his coach Brad Gerlach. I was in Barbados when Luke qualified for the Challenger Series and there was so much emotion in that moment. It's a story a lot of qualifying series surfers can relate to: grinding to get to every contest without a lot of money, getting knocked out early sometimes. Luke was literally the last person to make it in, battling four other guys right at the wire. That's a gnarly story and I think it'll be a great film.

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