Emmy-nominated '100 Foot Wave' team on capturing the show's staggering swells

Artistically capturing enormously tall and deadly-powerful waves is a skill that Vincent Kardasik has honed over the years. For his cinematography work on season three of HBO's 100 Foot Wave, Kardasik was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for episode three, Cortes Bank. 

“We have so much experience with surfing, we know when we’ve shot gold,” says Kardasik, who as a producer also secured a Primetime Emmy for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series alongside the team led by producer-director Chris Smith, and executive producer Joe Lewis.

Filming waves is one thing, capturing the vulnerability, emotionally and physically, of the surfers is another. A pivotal point in season three is the death of renowned surfer Márcio "Mad Dog" Freire; the first surfer fatality in Nazaré’s waters.  

Balancing realism with sensitivity is “a tough one, obviously,” says Kardasik. “People are putting themselves in really extreme situations, and at some point we have to think about the safety, too. 

"I always recommend to our crew members that it’s safety first - so if someone gets injured or something risky happens, just think about feeling safe and being sure everybody's safe. But then at some point, ...accidents, injury, dramatic moments such as the ones happening in season three... they're part of our reality, so we have to capture that.” 

Vincent Kardasik; Source: Lilou Valero

Kardasik credits the productions methods with the ability to capture such moments. “We never hide a camera or microphone. Everybody knows what we're doing and how we're doing it.

"If you get a moment where it seems like it may be too much, maybe a couple of times [this happened], I'll just move the camera and ask the person in front of me 'Hey, are you sure you're OK? Are you sure we can keep rolling?’ and if I get a yes, I know I can keep rolling. There's a lot of trust between the surfers and our crew members and that helps a lot.” 

When it comes to knowing what cinema verité moments will make the cut, “it’s hard to predict,” adds Lewis. “We don’t go into it with any plan except to shoot everything we can.” 

With so much wave footage under their belts, Lewis is very aware that “we’re dealing with people’s careers. So the editors go through it with Vincent, watching everything,” Lewis says. Each ride is meticulously examined.  In terms of everything else, however, “it’s just documenting who these people are," he adds.

The ‘star’ of the show, if it isn’t the waves, is Garrett McNamara – the big wave surfer who popularised Nazaré as the destination to catch the elusive 100 footer.  

Garrett McNamara; Source: HBO

One might expect him to try and control how he is portrayed more closely, but both Kardasik and Lewis say it is the opposite. “He never hides anything. He wants to show everything,” Lewis says.  

Another added bonus was how comfortable the surfers were in front of the camera. It's a double edged sword, though, says Kardasik. “They’re athletes and nowadays, they have to become influencers too. They have their own social networks, followers. Everybody is a bit media trained.”

As a result, Kardasik's job was “to break their shell. The guy talking to us in front of the camera can’t be the same guy talking on Instagram because he’s trying to promote an energy drink or something [for work]. We need to be sure we’re getting the real person.” 

This takes a particular knack, another skill Kardasik developed over the years he has worked on the production and the intimacy of the shoot. “We’re all together for, say, six months – October to March. We are all living for the same reason. Waiting for the right moment - to get those waves.” 

Vincent Kardasik, Joe Lewis; Source: Subject's own, Robyn Von Swank

When this all might come to an end, Lewis is unsure of. “When our subjects stop being interesting,” he posits. “The answer to that is probably never. The question is really how do you keep people interested. And that’s by showing them new things, meeting new people, getting greater depth into the people you’ve met.” 

To a certain extent, though, the making of 100 Foot Wave is art that imitates life – or its subject. 

As Lewis says: “All we do is get in position, pick the right spot, and hope something interesting might happen. You just don’t know."