• by Deanna Zammit , March 13, 2008

Red Bull aims to strengthen its ties to the surfing community this month with "Inside Tahiti," a series of documentary shorts that offers a 360-degree look at the Teahupoo surf break in Tahiti.

The video, which bowed on Red Bull's niche surfing site this week, amps up the vicarious thrills of surf footage by allowing fans to take control of the action. Using Immersive Media's interactive video technology, viewers rotate perspective by manipulating the mouse to look to the right or left, up or down, back or front.

"We've always supported action sport athletes," says Josh Kendrick, athlete marketing manager for Red Bull North America. Surfers "allow for more innovation, creativity and individualism than in baseball or football and we dig that." In "Inside Tahiti," Red Bull uses the new technology to tap into surfers' passion for innovation and their love of surf footage-a cult genre that dates back to 1966 surf doc "The Endless Summer."

"We wanted to pay homage to that ... and to take it to the next level," Kendrick says. "Red Bull is one of the first companies ever to use the Immersive technology in an action sports application," a company release said.

To record the footage, Red Bull brought together professional surfers Jamie O'Brien, Jamie Sterling, Raimana Van Bastolaer and Ian Walsh for five days on the shores of Tahiti. The Red Bull team spent that time surfing Teahupoo--one of surfing's most challenging and awe-inspiring waves, particularly known for its heavy barrels and shallow coral reef.

The surfers strapped on 25 pounds of gear, including the special Immersive video camera and computer equipment and towed into the biggest waves of the year. "There are a couple of iconic waves in the world, and Teahupoo in the last 10 or 15 years has become world-recognized in the way it's configured. It does the crazy morph--it's an anomaly of nature," Kendrick says. The technology brings viewers inside the wave in a way unlike any POV technology has before, inside a surfers' "most sacred space."

While other Red Bull-sponsored footage can be viewed on YouTube or GrindTV, a site dedicated to footage of sports like surfing, skateboarding, motocross and mountain biking, the unique perspective of "Inside Tahiti" can only be viewed at RedBullSurfing.com. The effort will drive the surf community to the Red Bull-branded site, Kendrick says.

"We're giving back to that community. We want to speak credibly to them and be a part of their language, provide a platform that is going to make sense to them," Kendrick says.

RedBullSurfing.com bowed this month. It includes interviews with Red Bull-sponsored athletes, surf competition news, photos and videos.