Mike Prickett, Emmy-winning surf cinematographer of HBOs 100 Foot Wave

The six part HBO documentary 100 Foot Wave is the story of big wave
surfer Garrett McNamara, as he learns about the biggest waves in
the world in Nazaré, Portugal. Then, with help from the town of
Nazaré, he and his team set up a safety and support system and
invite surfers to come from all over the world to surf. The series
captures the amazing power of the ocean, and the passion of surfers
chasing big waves and putting themselves at risk of serious injury
and death. Surf and ocean cinematographer Mike Prickett was the
perfect DP for 100 Foot Wave. Mike has decades of experience
shooting in the water, following Garrett and many other big wave
surfers around the world. He's shot documentaries Riding Giants,
Step Into Liquid and the biopic Chasing Mavericks. As a kid growing
up on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Mike took advantage of living in
a tourist spot. He had his own camera, took pictures of the
tourists, developed and printed the pictures while they did glass
bottom boat tours, and then sold the photos to them when they
returned. He soon figured out how to take photos underwater with
his camera in a water housing, then got a 16mm Bolex camera and
started shooting movies. Mike learned how to surf and began filming
the top surfers around the world, developing new and better camera
systems as the technology progressed. On a shoot in Tahiti in 2012,
Mike saved a diver who got caught in a current that pushed him down
at least 220 feet underwater. As Mike swam back up with the diver,
they began to run out of air and had to surface quickly. Mike got
the bends, which has left his legs partially paralyzed. But he's
kept right on shooting, developing different and exciting ways to
further the technology of water cinematography. Mike says that even
if you can't use your legs very well, it doesn't matter when you're
out there. He's able to shoot from the cliffs, use remote
controlled jet skis and drones, and fly in helicopters, ride jet
skis or boats on the ocean. For 100 Foot Wave, Nazaré, Portugal
presented some unique challenges as a location, because the waves
are so big and the area gets so foggy. The surfers and the camera
crew wait all year for the big waves to come to Nazaré by November
and December, and they must be ready to go and shoot at a moment's
notice. Shooting is a massive undertaking, with at least 15 camera
people on the waves to catch the action. The crew caught the action
with long lenses from the cliffs, the beach, and with waterproof
drones, but when it was foggy, they needed to have people in the
water. Mike and the team built a special remote controlled electric
jet ski with a gimbal system that could be controlled by an
operator from the cliffs- basically inventing a way to do smooth
dolly shots on the water. Mike Prickett just won a Creative Arts
Emmy for episode four of 100 Foot Wave. 100 Foot Wave is streaming
on HBOMax. Find Mike Prickett: https://saltnairstudios.com/
Instagram: @mikeprickett_ Find out even more about this episode,
with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep186/
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