A Deeper Shade of Blue (Jack McCoy, 2010): Australia

Review by Tim Lopez. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011

Sitting on the Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara is home to beautiful weather year round, and is in close proximity to some of California’s premiere surf, so it is no surprise that it’s annual film festival attracts a variety of surf documentaries. Of all the documentaries this year, none shine as brightly as Jack McCoy’s latest addition to the surf world, A Deeper Shade of Blue. McCoy puts together a remarkable documentary that covers not just the sport but the meaning behind it.

A Deeper Shade of Blue takes its audience all over the world, starting in Hawaii where the sport itself began. McCoy’s documentary bounces around a lot, offering both a history of surfing and insight into the future of it. Most importantly though, A Deeper Shade paints a picture of what surfing has always been and will forever be; a spiritual and meaningful ritual practiced across the world. To many, surfing is a just another sport with a board, but to some, it is a way of life. McCoy does a good job of capturing this as he covers everything from its Polynesian roots to it’s international appeal in today’s age.

McCoy provides a history of the film while going back and forth between past and present. He does so successfully as his primary focus is on the spiritually driven experience that surfers of all generations share. A Deeper Shade does an excellent job of getting to what’s at the core of surfing that keeps the sport alive. This is all helped along by beautiful footage and groundbreaking photography. Submersible jet skis with cameras attached like the one in the picture above offer unreal and never before seen images of wave riders from below the surface. This footage comes from a variety of places including Hawaii, California, South Africa, and Australia; the continent McCoy currently calls home. Filmed in different locations around the world, A Deeper Shade reiterates what is already known about surfing in that while the waves and riders are different, the experience is the same.

To fully comprehend what this awesome documentary represents, I think one has to understand the man behind the camera. An Oahu native, Jack McCoy’s passion for surfing is written across his chest. He was at the film’s second showing at the Lobero Theatre, and he talked before the show about how important this film was to him. His demeanor mirrors much of the ideology behind surfing, and fans of the sport will enjoy this film.