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John Stockwell Talks About "Blue Crush"
by Rebecca Murray


John Stockwell at the World Premiere of "Blue Crush"
Photo©Rebecca Murray - All Rights Reserved.


 More of this Feature

ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS:

• Kate Bosworth ('Anne Marie')
• Michelle Rodriguez ('Eden')
• Sanoe Lake ('Lena')
• Matthew Davis ('Matt']
• Mika Boorem ('Penny') and Faizon Love ('Leslie')
• Chris Taloa ('Drew')
• Kala Alexander ('Kala')
• Writer Lizzy Weiss

ADDITIONAL "Blue Crush" INFORMATION:

• Photos from the Premiere of "Blue Crush"
• "Blue Crush" News, Trailer, and Websites
• "Blue Crush" Production Photos
 
 Related Resources

• Calendar of Upcoming Releases
• News on Upcoming Releases
• New in Theatres or on Video
• Movie Reviews
• Casting News
 
 Elsewhere on the Internet

• Universal Pictures
 

The forces behind "Blue Crush" stress that this is not your parents' idea of a surf movie. The behind-the-scenes crew, including director John Stockwell and producer Brian Grazer, was made up of surfing enthusiasts and the film utilizes many real surfers onscreen, as well.

Filmed entirely on the North Shore of Oahu, the film was based on a magazine article about the surfer girls of Maui. Stockwell and co-writer Lizzy Weiss elaborated on the article, immersing themselves in the culture of Hawaiian surfers.

Producer Brian Grazer shared Stockwell's vision of the film and says, "I want surfers to walk away saying 'This is real. This film rocks.' There have been other surf films that didn't do this for a lot of reasons." Grazer explained that the technology to do this film didn't exist years ago but now audiences will have the ability to be inside the wave with the surfers. "When they get taken underwater, you can be with the underwater camera, a gyrocam that gets you inside that washing machine experience that is relentless and you feel it." Grazer continues, "All we had to do was find a filmmaker who cared about telling the truth. John Stockwell was that guy."

JOHN STOCKWELL

Did you ever have any fear of any of your cast drowning?
The first day we nearly killed Kate Bosworth. We sent her out on a day that one of the top surfers cut his face open and she nearly got caught in a set of waves. There were many days when I just closed my eyes and prayed.

You filmed the entire movie without using blue screens or a tank. How did you manage that?
It was just a lot of patience. I would have loved to have used blue screens but water is really one of the most difficult elements to synthesize in CGI. So we just got the best water men and women and put them out in the water and put them in the impact zone.

And no one will ever confuse this with a "Gidget" movie, right?
I don't think so. Gidget couldn't handle the waves that these girls take on in the movie.

What was the importance of casting relatively unknown faces in this?
We just cast the best people for the roles. We just read a bunch of people and we thought it might be a little disconcerting if you saw Sarah Michelle Gellar surfing a big wave at Pipeline, you know? It would have taking you out of the movie. It was a luxury that the studio and that Brian Grazer gave me to be able to cast relatively unknowns.

Did you have to follow the waves to get the right shot?
Every day. The waves dictated our schedule. It was harrowing; it was nerve-wracking. Not the way to make a movie.

What are you working on next?
I think I'm doing a television show that's set in Hawaii. I just can't stay away. I want to go back there and do a law enforcement show set in Hawaii. I'm writing it now.

Would you film it in Hawaii?
We had such good experience. The whole thing was so positive Brian Grazer and I wanted to figure out a way to do more work there.


Interview with actress Mika Boorem and actor Faizon Love - >Page 6

Photos from the "Blue Crush" Premiere

"Blue Crush" Trailer, Production Photos, Cast List and Websites



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