Since the start of the pandemic, compounded by the rise in streaming services, cinephiles have been pleading, shouting from mountaintops, and doing their damndest, to get folks back in movie theaters.
Butts in seats. A communal experience. Popcorn flying in the air.
Well, for some mainstream movies, it’s worked. Who would’ve thunk that a film based on visually-elementary, blockheaded computer game (A Minecraft Movie) would make such a splash ($909 million) at the box office? Luckily, there’s other, more sophisticated cinematic experiences out there as well – take, for example, Confluence, the surf film from Jason Baffa, coming to The Lido Theater in Newport Beach, accompanied by a live band on Thursday, May 15th.
To hear more about the flick – and the experience as a whole – we hit up Baffa.
[Get your tickets here.]
So, tell us a little bit about the film.
This was kind of an experiment in creating an experience. I’ve made some very story-driven narratives, and I’d gotten a bit frustrated seeing our surfing audiences going to Instagram and YouTube to watch the clip of the day. So, I’d been shooting some sequences with friends – shooting for fun. I put it on social media, and it kinda bummed me out that it had come to that.
I connected with the guys from Seapoodle, and they sent me tracks, and expressed that maybe they’re stuff could go well with my footage. We started playing around with it, and people were jazzed by it. My hope was always that we would take it out, and showcase this live.
It’s not a story-driven project. It’s really about the jam band experience, combined with the epic surf footage…almost in the way that a DJ would play a set at an event, then play a different set the next day. Every show is a little different. The goal is to have something that’s always evolving.
One of the most interesting facets of this is the live band playing along. How does that cultivate the surf viewing experience?
Everyone [the surfers] in the film have really good style, power, and flow. And that pairs really nicely with the musicality of what Seapoodle does. They’re, like, a Covid band – two friends just started playing together. Now, the ages span from 50 down to, like 22. They’ve got a sorta Santana, Grateful Dead style with large percussion, but also this languid style that pairs well with surfing.
Related: One Of The Best Surf Film Festivals In The World Is Back This Month
A lot of surf folks probably know you from Singlefin: Yellow. But how does this film differ?
With this one, we built it visually. I made it sorta four seasons – spring, summer, fall, winter. I really had to fight the urge to, like, interview an old surfer, and have these breaks in between the sections. But I made a rule not to do that. So, I kept it with just visuals and music. When you see it live, it makes sense. You get so much energy and emotion from the band that it would get distracting to hear someone talk about what they love about surfing…which we’ve all heard. [Laughs.]
Jason Baffa
Reminds me of the live orchestra films at the Hollywood Bowl.
100 percent. My parents took me to John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl when I was a kid. And I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars and Superman. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to dabble in. This one just sorta came together organically.
Jason Baffa
What makes it so special about having people come to the movie theater, come together, and watch a surf film on the big screen?
There’s always been something magical about seeing things on the big screen, and sharing that with a group. There’s an energy that comes with that. In surfing, we call ourselves a tribe. We can always stay connected through Instagram or whatever, but there’s nothing like coming together as a group, in person. The best part of surfing is when you’re sharing it with friends – but maybe not too many. [Laughs.] Bringing people is an important thing. And it’s a part of our history. Pretty much every generation can turn to a surf film that they saw in a theater, and that left a mark. For this, it’s just like…let’s come together, have some fun. There’s some pixie dust in that. [Laughs.]
[Get your tickets here.]