Step into Liquid presents a diverse range of people enjoying surfing in a myriad of different locations in order to convey that surfing can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere. By breaking through the stereotype of the male, athletic surfer, viewers believe that surfing can be enjoyed by anyone, including themselves. Children, women, handicapped people and people surfing oil tanker wake in Texas are presented in Step into Liquid, all surfing for fun. By presenting a diverse range of people surfing, Step into Liquid enforces its view that anyone can surf, anywhere.
The audio codes used in Step into Liquid helps the documentary film to achieve its purpose of affecting a positive response to surfing in the viewer. The musical score in the documentary adds to the mood of each segment, in cases enhancing the viewer’s response to content. The audio mutes in one scene at the point where a large wave is breaking, emphasising the sheer power of the wave, awing the viewer. Audio in Step into Liquid plays an important role in the documentary’s purpose of presenting surfing in a favourable light to the viewer.
Camera shots under water behind waves help the documentary in achieving its purpose, visually inviting viewers to step into liquid. By having the camera behind the water the viewer is involved and almost experiences the feel of being surrounded by water, stepping into liquid. This technique greatly assists Dana Brown in giving viewers cause to surf by enhancing the viewer’s response to surfing.
Step into Liquid presents the eccentric character of surfer Dale Webster in order to achieve the films purpose. Webster represents the view that surfing is a lifestyle for some, not just a sport. Having never missed a day on the waves over a period of 30 years, he very much supports this. By having Webster in the film, viewers are encouraged to believe that surfing is a lifestyle, more than just a sport.
Low camera angles in the documentary film shape the viewer’s response, therefore helping to achieve the film’s purpose. By using low camera angles when filming children surfing, the viewer is encouraged to have a positive response; the children are not seen as vulnerable. Therefore the viewer is encouraged even more to believe that anyone can enjoy surfing, not just the stereotypical surfer.
The documentary film Step into Liquid uses a range of strategies and techniques to encourage viewers to surf, to step into liquid as the film’s title evocatively suggests. The presentation of a diverse range of people enjoying surfing and others who surf as a lifestyle stipulates to the viewer that anyone can surf, anywhere; that ‘surfing isn’t a matter of life or death, it’s more important than that.’ By filming in water below or behind the wave, the documentary involves the viewers, drawing them in. In this case, the film’s theme is most prominently expressed: to implore viewers to surf, to “Step into Liquid.”
