Sean Gilhooley (Video)
Sean’s ‘Bahasa’ is really coming along. He can joke with the locals around his beach community in Bali and even order a ‘nasi goreng pedas’ on his mobile phone whilst driving on his motorbike. This is big considering that learning the Indonesian language didn’t come as easily to Sean as Video and Editing.
Early in Sean’s career, Jack McCoy imparted some wisdom to him, “..the best way to learn about making surf movies is to go out and make surf movies.” Sean took the advice and turned it into an obsession (which was easy because he loved it so much). It was in the Margaret River area that Sean first entered the water to film (this is like learning to drive in the Daytona 500). He admits his early work was rough, but it came on strong and quickly improved as his equipment got better and experience increased.
Fast forward years later and Sean is Bali’s premier surf videographer with hundreds of short film titles to his name, clips in Surf Videos and TV adevertisements. His footage of Uluwatu and Padang is incredible and when there is swell you will usually see his head bobbing around in the lineup. The locals Pros love to stand up tall and get their video footage and Sean loves to get in the tube with them. He still shoots just about everyday (summer in OZ and ‘winter’ in Bali).
Sean’s films entirely in broadcast quality HD (1081i for you techies out there). He has several camera configurations and can easily transition from the land with a telephoto lens to the water with a fish eye and back again. He is a master editor and can cut a personal movie of you or your group to his massive sound collection or the music of your choice.
Sean knows that video can be harsh and that often ‘the camera doesn’t lie’. “Initially when people see themselves on video they are often shocked at what they thought felt like a massive hack is actually more of a speed bump”, Sean says. “This is good and the camera can be used as a training tool especially in the nightly slideshows on the boat.” But sometimes the camera does lie. Sean continues, “With the right angles and some magic editing I can make the average surfer look better than average, often greater than that…” This is the challenge he loves the most and it is not such an easy job. It is one thing to make the local Balinese Pros look like they are going off, but quite another to take the traveling surfer and create footage worthy of a premiere party when they return home.
Sean makes it all look too easy. He really has learned how to make surf movies by making surf movies. Good on ya matey!
To hire Sean, or for more information about his fee, please complete the Reservation form
