Date: 2/2/04
Author: Christopher Stack

Related Items:
WakeWorld Video Guide: Scrubs of the South
Review: Invisible Cinema
Review: Blacklist

I have a confession to make. When I first watched this film some time ago I wasn't that enthused with it. It was late at night, I was tired and I was annoyed at the white flashes and the quick editing in the first section. I quit, went to bed and finished watching the film the next day, but the overall taint of that first experience stayed with me and I never pulled the film out again to watch it.

Admittedly this was lazy of me, so when Dave asked me to review Scrubs, I was curious to see what I would think of it this time around.

Mea culpa.

Although I'm still not fond of the MTV-style edit sections (Any flick that starts off with a warning to epilepsy sufferers because of the white flashing technique it employs, scares me.), overall this is an excellent video with good music, great riding talent (both amateur and pro) and more running time than I've seen lately, though not quite as long as its makers advertise.

Scrubs of the South is the debut title from See What I See Productions (you can read more about producer Bob Knapp and some background on his vision for the film in an article we published last year). The intent for this film was to create an experience that would make you want to go out and ride. This video definitely accomplishes that. As the producer himself said, if you're looking for a video to study moves or learn new tricks from, this might not be for you. But if you're looking to get motivated by watching a ton of great riders, both pro and amateur alike from all over the south, going strong and loving every minute of it, then you should definitely enjoy this.

Breakdown
The film is divided into regional slots and three CWB rider sections with a separate piece of music accompanying each. First up, CWB section part I…

Section I
Opening the film (after the opening credit sequence), are Andrew Adkison and Zane Schwenk in their own sequence. If you've ever seen Andrew ride (or if you saw the original Scrubs trailer), you know he's phenomenal - and he doesn't disappoint here throwing down his signature suicide raley, a 313 and various mobes and sevens. The overall impression of this section is definitely technical with Drew and Zane capping off Moby Dicks, whirlybirds, KGB's and crow mobes. Zane also whips out a few moves not so often seen, such as a halfcab roll to blind, a slim chance and a move of his own invention, the slurpy (a toeside backroll with a backside three, but done with the rider approaching the wake with both hands behind the back).

Section 2
Next up is east Tennessee at the Hiwassee River and along with it a change of scenery to green tree-lined shores. Here you'll see local riders doing their thang with a little spine-riding and wakesurfing thrown in. They may not be pros, but you'll see plenty of spins (including toeside/heelside 5's), flips and a few mobes.

Section 3
The film moves to Tupelo, Missouri for its next episode. With the previous three sections (counting the opening credits) being accompanied by rock, we switch up here for some solid hip-hop. Everyone in this river-scenic amateur section tears it up, with the standout being Nathan Strange. He goes huge with great style, throwing mobes and raley-based moves.

Section 4
The second installment of CWB riders features what might be referred to as the "young guns." Joey Arcisz, Derek Grasman, Scott Hopkins and Devin Rogers rip it up and look like they're having a great time doing it. There's plenty of serious riding with highlights that include a backwards underwater start, a toeside off-axis osmosis five by Derek Grasman and Joey Arcisz's toeside off-axis wake-to-wake 900.

Section 5
If this section is any indication, Board Bonanza at Nashville, Tennessee is a damn good time. Scrubs captures all the action with folks dancing on boats linked up together, doubles riding and everyone from the little tikes to rippers like Brian Brech tearing it up. All the footage here is from the back-of-the-boat angle (no chase footage). The old-style funk track that accompanies this section is one of my favorite tracks from the film.

Section 6
At six minutes and some this is by far the longest section of the DVD. The producers liked Hyco, North Carolina so much they went there twice to film the End of the Rope Gang. As in the last section, all the footage is from the back of the boat. Set to a trance electronica selection this section has it all, with a little wakeskating, hydrofoil and (gasp!) kneeboarding. Adam Fields stands out here and a highlight is Austin Langston's toeside backside three - a spin you don't even see some pros doing.

Section 7
The third and final installment of the CWB riders features the talents of Trevor Hansen, Chris Law, Joel Cahill and Laura Lohrman. Riding to the smooth vocal hip-hop styling of Grits' Ooh Aah (as heard in our recent A Day in the Life of Mike Schwenne feature), these riders put on

a show, with highlights like Hansen's whirly 5 and a heelside mobe off the inside of the wake. But for me, the true revelation here was the riding of Laura Lohrman, whose name I'd heard but never had the pleasure of seeing ride. This lady rips, breaking off a whirlybird, wrapped KGB and a trick I've never seen a woman do, a tantrum-to-blind. Seriously impressive.

Section 8
Staying in Nashville, the film moves on to Old Hickory and Center Hill lakes where we see the most slider footage of any section - although it's still just one rider hitting a massive contraption. There's doubles riding here too with the highlight being synchronized inside-out rolls by both riders as seen from the boat

Section 9
The crash section. Four minutes of obliteration, but with a twist. About 80% of the crashes are shown in slow-motion…backwards. Yep, a veritable ballet of reverse photography. The majority of these crashes happen from the moment of impact to takeoff. Some are shown backwards and then forwards again to relive the carnage and a few are paused at key moments for some great "OH $#%*!!" freeze frames.

Section 10
Just when you thought the crash section signaled the end, the film continues with a finale, which looks like it was assembled as a possible alternate trailer - and not just because it uses the song Switchback, which was featured in a trailer for the film. This section plays like a greatest hits compilation of previous scenes from the film.

Section 11
The end credits. These roll by to the strains of a humorous hillbilly country song with outtakes and lifestyle clips of the riders. Don't miss Andrew mimicking Zane and the driver on their cell phones.

Section 12
The final section of the film exclusively features Andrew Adkison blowing it up. Although you may have already seen it, as its footage makes up the original trailer for the film mentioned above. One irony is that in this section Andrew is riding a Hyperlite Premiere (Andrew now rides for CWB and they sponsored the film), which is perhaps why the footage is tacked on the end of the show and not featured at the beginning.

Extras
The extras section, like many current wakeboard DVD's is rather slim. In fact, very slim. Perhaps an argument could be made that all the footage is in the film itself, but for whatever reason there's basically nothing in the extras. There are only two items and both are repeats of a sort; "Trailer," the second trailer for the film which was released publicly, and "Closing," which is literally just the clip of extras that accompanied the credits, only here it's presented by itself and in full screen. So nice they played it twice, I guess.

Conclusion
This is an excellent film. Bob Knapp wanted to put together a motivating, energetic and exciting film and he's accomplished that. The film is non-stop riding with a good variety of music and a style that won't leave you waiting for the next trick. There are interesting variations in the look of the film, from different filming angles to varied color treatments and it's a refreshing change to see local talents mixed in with the pros.

The music in particular for this film stood out for me. Although all the bands are lesser stature/unknown groups, I've already purchased two artists' discs just from what I heard in the film (Celldweller and Beston). The music is predominantly heavy rock with a couple of hip hop tracks and a sprinkling of funk, punk and trance. There's really not a bad track in the group except maybe the closing credits country song. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hatin' on country. I like it, but a redneck backwoods ditty about a three-legged dawg just doesn't do it for me. But hey, it's the credits. Anything goes.

About the only thing missing from this film are sliders. There are a couple of token slider shots thrown in the CWB sections and one rider hitting the monster in section 8. But this is really a pure wake movie with very little wakeskating, surfing or anything else.

Quick white flashes are used throughout the film to add impact and rhythm to the editing, which I could have done without. They didn't add anything for me and occasionally were very annoying. And in a few sections when the music gets more frenetic, the editing does also, with cuts and blends so fast you can hardly make out what's going on. Granted, as Knapp said, he was going for emotion rather than an instructional film, but I still like to be able to fully enjoy what I'm watching. Some tricks are really trimmed or even just partially shown, which can be frustrating.

The producers claim a running time of "over fifty minutes with no filler!" but the reality is more like 40 minutes. The main feature is 48:34, but that includes an almost four-minute opening credit sequence (3:43) and the final credits (3:45) with the Adkison trailer (3:51) tacked on the end. Regardless, it's a solid forty and you definitely finish the film feeling full.

Scrubs of the South is a film that bears repeated watching (I didn't even catch Joey's 900 until the second time) and there are gems strewn throughout, which aren't limited to the pro sections. Unless you're dead-set on seeing a ton of slider action or Florida pros represented, you shouldn't have any problem making room for this in your library. Just be sure to take your seizure medication before viewing.

To review this video yourself, see other reviews or get more information like music listings, rider listings, video clip and retailers where you can buy, check out Scrubs of the South in our Video Buyers Guide.

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