Riding Giants is a documentary made by Stacy Peralta about the prominent surfing culture from around the '50s to the 2000s. The film does well in many aspects in how it presents itself in terms of editing of footage, how the music fits well with what they show, and how it pertains to its audience. The most exciting part of the movie is when they talk about Greg Noll surfing the biggest wave at Makaha, Oahu. It's informative to its audience about how surfing first began and how through multiple people surfing became more of a way of life, a religion even. The movie incorporates the music very well into the footage it shows. For example, at the very beginning of the movie, it has organs playing suggesting an almost religious feeling with the sounds of waves and seagulls in the background, It then cuts more to more of a rock song with showing footage of people surfing which shows the chaotic part of surfing. It also shows really well in one part where some of the surfers describe wiping out in the water by cutting together the surfer's experiences into one story to show how every surfer goes through the same experience. Another thing that somewhat enhances the scene is the pictures they show of what wiping out looks like and edits it very fast and quickly to show how fast it is to get trapped under the waves. The movie also does well with editing and together with the interviews of the surfers with the footage and pictures they show. The movie goes through multiple locations that were incredibly important to the surfing community such as Waimea beach where thanks to Greg Noll and others surfers big wave surfing started. During the parts where they show Waimea and explain how they all originally did not want to surf there because of the superstitions, the surfers had they did long shots of the waves crashing with some music that makes it sound like being around there is tense. They also mention Mavericks which was a big wave surfing area in California that many people thought was not an area to do big wave surfing at first until Jeff Clark who surfed it by himself for a long time until he eventually convinced others to surf it too.

The film Riding Giants was exceptional in its camera work. There were incredible shots of waves and surfers surfing these really high waves. Then there were these moments where it showed a picture that almost looked 3D. The way that the surfers themselves such as Laird Hamilton talked about surfing made it sound like something that people need to try. Along with the shots of them actually doing it makes it look even better than it sounds. Laird Hamilton talks about surfing being a way to forget all about your stress and to just let go of all of your problems. The music they put behind certain scenes really makes you connect with it. For example there was one scene where one of the surfers was talking about how surfing is a lifestyle and that it is something that makes you forget all your worries and problems. In that scene there was like a slower song that makes you feel like you could spiritually connect with surfing. Then on other scenes where surfers were riding these giant waves there was rock music that makes you think "Wow surfing is absolutely dope."

The central idea for riding giants the documentary movie that was made in january 2004 it talks about surfing it missconepionts its legacy, how it's affecting us today and people who were heavily influenced by surfing. It really brings home how misguided peoples ideas of surfing were back in the early 2000 especially Hollywood's idea of it evidence supporting this is when Hollywood made a t.v show on what they thought surfers do the same with movies and made a stereotype for them . This movie helped show us that to some people surfing has been their entire lives and how it has affected them greatly. Such as Laird Hamilton and how his entire life and family has been built around surfing. It showed us that the stereotypes aren't true in the slightest and how surfing meant everything to these people. This documentary revealed to us How terrifying surfing is and that we are still mortal and can die. The writer of this film showed us many things through his work and it showed us how large surfing was in the past and how it affected many people. It also told us those who died doing what they loved and how many people spend their whole lives surfing like the people shown in the documentary. His writing also conveyed how dangerous some of these places are to surf at and how people died to these many surfing legends who lost their lives to places such as Waimea Bay. His writing opens our eyes to how marvelous and dangerous the ocean and nature is. It also conveyed really well in the movie it really brought to light what message he was trying to get across. People tend to just assume surfing to the stereo type should watch this movie as they just debunk any arguments they may have about surfing if they've never experienced it themselves this whole movie can show us what surfing was and is really like and remove Hollywood's stereotyping of surfing. Any and all people who claim giants like me or surfing should watch this movie first as it clears so much And fights off so many negative opinions. I myself did not think highly about surfing until I watched this movie. It just goes to show how much of an impact the writer of this film has made and can make on you!!

The documentary Riding Giants, directed by Stacy Peralta, in the first half of the film there is a scene where surfers gather around to mourn the loss of Mark Foo. It then jumps through the early years of Jeff Clark, being that there is no footage of him during the early days surfing Mavericks because he was alone. And what a species of aloneness it was, to plunge into the cold ocean and swim out for 45 minutes only to gain a few seconds of exhilaration at the risk of your life. Clark and his kind live at the intersection of courage, madness, skill and obsession, a place where all that can remain is focus and determination. Consider Laird Hamilton, the once golden boy of the sport. As a kid he hung around Hawaii's big wave riders from the 1960s. He even introduced his divorced mom to one of them, who became his stepfather and tutor; Laird grew up to become surfing's number one superstar. Later on Hamilton decided to go further from land than any rider had thought to go, seeking "remote offshore reefs capable of producing unimaginable waves." The early stages of his plan had involved paddling for a couple hours and then waiting a couple more for a wave. After that stage Hamilton invented tow-in surfing, in which a jet ski tows him out to the reefs, where he is then slingshot onto fast moving waves. The jet ski driver has multiple jobs including picking up Hamilton again after his ride on the wave, or on standby to rescue him. In August 2000, Hamilton went to Tahiti in search of a legendary wave so big it is "a freak of hydrodynamics." He then found it and proceeded to ride it. We see him precariously balanced on this freak of a wave in what the film calls "the most significant ride in surfing history." Other surfers, providing voiceover commentary, say the wave's characteristics were so different from that of an ordinary wave, Hamilton had to improvise new techniques, some which violated years of surfing theory and instinct, all in the moment. Throughout the movie many filming techniques were utilized. Many of them weren't new or innovative such as fading in or out. However, one notable technique that was utilized was quite creative. Using a panoramic scene they proceeded by transforming the position of the camera to create a sense of 3 dimensionalism. "Riding Giants" is about altogether another reality. The surfers all admitted to being "addicted" to big waves. They live to ride, and grow depressed when there are no waves. They haunt the edge of the sea like the mariners described on the first pages of Moby Dick. They seek the rush of those moments when they balance on top of a wave's fury and feel themselves in precarious harmony with the ocean. They are cold, tired, battered by waves, thrown against rocks, visited by sharks, and held under so long they believe they are drowning, over and over, year after year, they go back into the sea to do it again.

Riding Giants in my opinion was a film about young men that had a passion for surfing and wanted nothing in their lives but to surf. The development that went into the making of this film took a lot of digging for old videos and films for the making of this film. The music and the film of the slow moving waves makes you love nature more than you thought, but when you hear people talk about the danger and the consequences of hitting the water and suffocating it makes you think twice about the beauty of the ocean. The way they start off the movie with slow acoustic music makes you fell the beauty in the waves and what they can do, but when the change it and use the hard rock music for the people riding these waves then you feel like "Woah man that looks sick" or "Oh my gosh man i need to try tha. The music affects the mind towards the film and it sort of plays with your feeling towards the film or these waves.

Stacey Peralta's Riding Giants, a documentary about both men and women surfers who have the desire, passion, and aspiration to become the biggest wave rider and take on the challenges of big waves. They also touch on how the waves have affected each of the characters personally, going into how having the desire to surf big waves caused them to find a sense of peace and tranquility. In the opening scene of "Riding Giants" it begins with an introduction to a black screen with soft background organ and choir music. The usage of the "church" type music was intended to tie into the religious aspect of the "surfing big waves" meaning, which plays hand in hand with what the waves have done for the riders, and how they have come to peace with themselves through surfing. The film takes a turn from the black screen, fading into dramatic, crashing waves with heavy rock/metal, hardcore music to match the set vibe of the intense, thirty foot waves that are being surfed. The purpose of that switch was intended to build suspense and cause the audience to experience a dramatic switch. From the faster cuts in the introduction with lower fading into scenes, the film makes a hard turn going into longer shots, with more meaningful shots that builds the emotionality of the movie and how the surfers feel connected to the ocean and desire for surfing big waves. The editing and color correction goes into the usage of black and white instead of color to possibly show the time frame that it's referencing an older time that's less recent. There is also voice over used in this film over both intense waves and softer waves to mellow out the vibe of the movie to tie back into the emotional connection that the characters have towards surfing and with big waves. Near the middle to the ¾ of the movie, softer music is used, softer scenes with less cuts and longer shots which gives the film a more emotionality. Instead of constant hardcore, heavy-in-your-face surfing movie, it goes beyond the surfing culture and shows what connection the Mavericks and other surfers like Noll and Hamilton, had with surfing. Softer-type piano notes were played, like a symphonic style tied with ukulele-ish notes playing in the background while the characters gave their commentary throughout the movie. The narrative was played in the background while scenes of less intense, calming surfing were playing in the foreground. The spirituality and sort-of-healing aspect plays a part in these scenes. Going into how the waves made them feel and what the waves have "controlled" their lives and depicted their actions in life. Rolling into the end credits, upbeat guitar music is played, overlapping with shots of surfers and the waves, focusing on softer waves. Other shots consist of up close people in the city alongside surfers and their boards. Scenes of the characters narrating and giving commentary with quicker cuts and less shot fading. Throughout the credits, background of a combination of big waves as well as softer waves, characters and in the foreground, rolling the credits of the movie. Greg Noll, Laird Hamiliton, Jeff Clark, and many other big wave surfers, all had their roles and experiences to share throughout the movie and show how impactful big wave surfing has been.

Stacy Peralta's Riding Giants is a documentary about surfers such as Greg Noll, Laird Hamilton, and Jeff Clark, who give up their normative lives to pursue their believed purpose to surf and their experiences surfing the most massive waves like the Mavericks, Pipeline and waves in Waimea. Although Riding Giants is a documentary, that is not the word I would better describe the movie as an informational comedic drama. The visuals of the film attract the watchers' eyes and movement of the camera that contributes to the overall effect the movie has on the watchers. There is a portrayed sense of informality within the interviews and how the informational part of the movie is given to the audience. The producers and editors use music that matches the emotion the director wants the audience to feel, such as getting more dramatic and dark when there is a lot of dangerous activity going on at that moment in time. There is movement of animations and pictures while the pictures are motionless, the movement of the camera along the cartoons build mayhem within the watchers' minds. The editors or producers also often change scenes more often when they want the watcher to feel a sense of anxiety or nervousness to put them on the edge of their seats. This captivates the audience and makes them more interested in what is going on. The boring or dull aspects most associated with documentaries are eliminated due to the fast pace transitioning of clips and development of what happens in the moment of the movie. A prime example would be when the surfers were discussing with the camera about their experiences with wipeouts and how they are "being sucked into a hole" and how when they came to the surface and it was like they were in a trance and came back to reality. The animation had a darker theme to it and the camera is constantly moving, zooming in and out, and also spinning around the picture. The camera goes through the motions that their bodies go through while wiping out which gives people another way to relate to what was happening to them underwater. When showcasing surfers during their interviews, they often seem to be telling a story together as if they were having a conversation within themselves. The producers do a good job in how the interviews aren't as formal as normal educational documentaries. The interviews being executed this way grabs the attention of the person watching the documentary and being engaged in conversation as opposed to feeling as if they are sitting in a classroom watching a lecture and taking notes. Music plays a very important role in the emotions each scene has in this documentary. There is usually a sudden change in the music or sounds throughout the movie which demonstrates the sudden changes a surfer would encounter while surfing. As mentioned in the movie, there will be times when surfers will be riding a wave then all of a sudden be taken over by a wave and feel uncertainty about whether or not they will survive. As for the musical aspect of the movie, the editors try to give the emotions surfers have while swimming through the music. Producers of the film do an excellent job at making this documentary fascinating and captivating with their informal aspects of the film along with the way background features such as the music contribute to the effect intended by the images and clips. I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in nature or surfing, although even if you're not as interested in these subjects, you will not be bored!

The film "Riding Giants" directed by Stacy Peralta was an entertaining piece on a culture of being free from earthly problems and just enjoying nature. It had an adventurous tone as the surfers would leave their homes and go to Hawaii and just surf. They would be in groups and would hunt and make their own food and build their own shelter. They would surf for hours each day in the hot sun and would repeat this cycle for years. At points where there were no waves, they would be sad and depressed because they didn't know who they were without surfing. Riding Giants had quality editing of surfers conquering magnificent waves like it was nothing and the shots showed the audience how dangerous it was as well. There were also different forms of music ranging from soft piano effects to the Jaws theme song to let us know something dangerous was about to happen. Those features were well edited and at the right parts of the film. Sometimes the tone in the background would change depending on what the movie was focusing on. At one point it would be calm and the surfers would be relaxing and riding easy waves and the next second the music would increase in intensity while the waves would grow larger and the surfers would struggle or get swallowed up by the waves. Stacy Peralta's aim when making this film was to inform us viewers of a unique and wild lifestyle some consider unhinged. We learned the benefits about it from surfers different personal experience The producers did well with finding different surfers who live this lifestyle and interviewing them. After I watched the movie, I had a good idea of what it was like to experience the best part of their lives and why they did it. There was also some history of surfing and the first islanders that got a board and just stood up on the waves. The film overall feeds the audience new information that is interesting and makes you want to live like the surfers that were interviewed. They were just normal Americans with jobs and family that left for a few months or years and just had fun. One thing that I wished I had seen in the film was life after the surfing experience. It focuses on all these different surfers who had the time of their life in the few years they were there doing what they loved everyday for hours. I want to know what it was like for the transition of going back to society and having to have a normal job. I want to know more about their families and how the experience changed their way of life. Maybe some people retired and went back to Hawaii to live the rest of their life in their own paradise but we viewers do not that. They interviewed several expert surfers like Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Darrick Doerner, and Titus Kinimaka. They all had similar experiences but hearing it from different perspectives made it more in sync.

Riding Giants is one of the most unique documentaries I've watched and director Stacy Perelata did a great job showcasing an overlooked sport. It goes back to the early days of big wave surfing in Hawaii. It documents how big wave riders moved all across the world from Waimea bay, to the Mavericks in California, and then back to Hawaii with the new addition of tow in surfing. This documentary has a great use of classic home video footage which really gives it that nostalgic feel but at the same time it still has that modern film pop.I don't surf myself but it generated a big interest and I would love to try it one soon on a nice summer day to understand how the many people in the film that were documented felt. I love how this documentary has many types of footage. You're not bored looking at the same type of film because there are various clips of footage from different eras of surfing. You can also bet on seeing cool clips of art while stories are being told, which just really keeps you interested and want to keep on watching. Riding giants also really does a good job of showcasing how surfing can be looked at more than a silly water activity, it really shows how surfing can almost have a religious outlook on it and surfing is a faith and something you dedicate your life to and in return it can stick with you forever. A lot of the surfers that spoke in the film described that when you see someone who puts a bunch of their time and effort into a religion, no one calls them a religious bum, so therefore if you put all your time and effort into a thing such as surfing there is really no such thing as a surfing bum. The commentary is also great in this film. It's very engaging and Sam George, Greg Knoll, Jeff Clark, and Laird Hamilton did a great job of narrating not only their experiences but many other great big wave surfers. The amount of footage this film was able to retain and put in the movie really helped tell great stories and it showcased the evolution of big wave surfing really well. The way the documentary captured tons of footage from different areas and periods of surfing really helped imagine and put "yourself" in the surfer's shoes, and it almost felt like you clearly understood what these surfers felt when in reality you never surfed before.

Riding Giants, directed by Stacy Peralta, is a film about surfing and how special it is to those people during which time. They do this by including different shots of the surfers and waves, interviews, and the editing. I think this film was fun to watch, the shots, music, and editing make the film very enjoyable. The different shots of the waves and surfers made the film very intriguing. The different sizes of the waves made surfing appear dangerous, they edited the waves and music they used is what made surfing appear that way. I like how the shots were edited in black and white, and 3D. This is a good way to keep the viewer interested in the film.The shots of the surfers surfing and having fun made surfing seem like a fun experience. One thing I really liked about the film is when they showed all the surfers together because of someone who died, it shows how important surfing is to those people. The interviews during this film is a really important part of this film, because the surfers tell us their experience and stories. One example was talking about a place where the waves were huge, and how people were scared to surf there. Then they tell a story about these two surfers who did surf there, we learn one disappears and the other washes up on shore. This shows us how surfers are, because this shows us they took risks, and were rebellious. One really important part of the interviews was Laird Hamilton's. We learn about how he got into surfing and his life experiences. Like how people didn't like him because of his skin, and how his parents met. I like how some parts of the interview would be voice overs of the shots of the waves. The surfers' stories being voice overs of the wave shots went well with the mood of the film. The editing in Riding Giants is what really makes this film interesting. The music they chose went really well with the shots. The film had intense, sad, and guitar music to go with parts of the film. The way the shots of the surfers and waves were edited, is a really important part of this film. The shots would be edited in black and white, slow motion, and a really memorable part is when a shot of the wave was edited to be in 3D. I also really liked the different camera angles included, like the establishing shots of the places they surfed. Riding giants is a really fun film to watch, the editing, interviews, and shots really tie everything together. I think this film does a good job showing us how surfing is, like how it's dangerous and surfers took that risk and had fun. But as much as I enjoyed this film this isn't something I would want to rewatch. But if you want to learn about surfing Riding Giants is a good choice.

I very much enjoyed the film "Riding Giants" By Stacy Peralta and I thought that the movie was entertaining overall. I enjoyed how they almost focused on each individual surfer throughout the movie (including people such as Greg Noll,Billy Hamilton,Laird Hamilton). Showing us the individual surf spot as an almost least to most dangerous scale starting with a casual surf spot all the way to spots that are used in competition to this very day such as "mavericks" in California. The music seems to always really cap off every scene by fitting perfectly into the sequence of events. The film also included these cool 3D-esqce still frames that was a very interesting touch for the film and a welcome addition overall.It almost gave the same effect as those movies in which you wear the 3D to get the effect. The fact that they put details such as the different types of surfing as well to the point of give a timeframe of when things originated such as how they talked about tow surfing with jet skis and such and when that originated so that was something that they didn't have to do but it added more context to this movie and what it surfing is all about. They also mixed film from different time frames so was more modern day then they can take it back to the 60's in the very next scene talking about some previous great surfer and such which is just very interesting while moving through this film. How it starts to talk about what the magnitude of surfing has on some people such as the almost religious following that it has which the film is trying to show you and help you get a better understanding of what those people feel and experience.

Such a well done, touching movie.

Great documentary looking at the search for the biggest wave for surfers. Fun history and nicely photographed.

An absolutely stellar documentary on the history of surfing. Whether you're a fan or if you've never surfed a day in your life, you can't deny the brilliance of this film. Bravo.

Another Stacy Peralta homage to surf and skate life style .....amazed at the fact that these old school big wave surfers survived the technology of the time...awesome movie ...

Addictive Viewing. Having A True Connection To the Lifestyle, Not Just Antics, Has A History & (Counter) Culture That Is So Pure. I Don't Think Big Is Often Better, But Pushing Your Wave-Riding Limit Mos-Def Is Livin' A Dream, So Much Fun To Be Had. You Gotta Give It Up To Greg Knoll, Jeff Clark & Laird Hamilton, Big-Up Respect To The Pioneers. It's Whack, It's Dope, It's The Freedom To Chase That Perfect Tappering Ride On A Crisp Offshore. A Thrill Forever Remembered. It Makes Me Ecstatic.

Quite simply one of the best documentary on Surfing in general let alone big waves. It begins by the origins of surfing & then begins to introduce the key figures of BIG Wave surfing. The guys that migrated from California really paved the way for Big Surfers to come. It is filled with not only the most amazing surfing footage but insightful interviews with the unique personalities of Big Surf. A standout in the film is the scene where on an off chance a surfer photographer catches a once in a lifetime photo where he captures what is believed to be the largest recorded wave. The doco goes on to show with the invent of Tow-In that photo becomes the standard wave ridden. True a great film on the impassioned sport!

'Surf''s up' - & Up & UP in this intelligent & moving film (..want to get both your feet wet & your eyes) - it recounts surfing's earliest history, it's evolution in style & technique (both boards & boarders), ending with the guys who discovered (& invented) the most current BIG wave theory & practice - no girls.. yet !?!.. it makes one wish one rode - even the small waves.. after all only guys such as Laird Hamilton should ride the over 50 footers - or, for that matter, even over 10 to 20 footers (..well, a lot of experienced guys & gals can handle these - & bigger.. but the truly BIG ones ??).. I write more about surfing than film-making because this film is a very direct & 'clean' use of the medium.. probably the best 'Surf Film' out there * - I should know (at least film-wise)... * along w/ #2: 'Step into Liquid'

5/13 i was shocked at how engrossed I was with this film. I never know there was so much to know about surfing ( and that the sport has evolved so much). One of the best documentaries that I have seen in memory. Even a couple weeks after watching it, I am still thinking about the surfing culture.

5/13 i was shocked at how engrossed I was with this film. I never know there was so much to know about surfing ( and that the sport has evolved so much). One of the best documentaries that I have seen in memory. Even a couple weeks after watching it, I am still thinking about the surfing culture.