Under The Radar, the new surf dvd by Pete Matthews has a definite Sipping Jetstreams-esque feel to it, and that's definitely not a bad thing. Following his 2006 release of Shades of Bali, on which he was the principal cinematographer, Matthews has teamed up with Ryan Ray and Donaldson Miele of Seven Films, based in San Clemente, CA. Under his Thirdstone Films banner, Pete can truly call this surf movie his own, although Ryan Ray and his young protege Taylor Rambo take home the editing credits. Sponsorships from Town & Country Surfboards and Split Clothing ensure that Under The Radar will receive ancillary marketing and promotion.
Pete Matthews, who owns Thirdstone Surfboard Factory in Hawaii, which houses a number of major label surfboard shapers, has been working on the other side of the camera for a number of years as the second unit camera for Pete Frieden, longtime Surfing Magazine staff photographer and a prolific videographer in his own right. Matthews claims shooting credits on a number of films, including Frieden's The Game and The Circus.
Having stepped out on his own as the man behind the lens on Andrew Kopjak's 2006 release, Shades of Bali, Matthews now claims the spotlight with Under The Radar. Conceived as a collaboration with Surfing Magazine staff photographer Nathan Lawrence, similar in concept to Taylor Steele and Dustin Humphrey's collaborative effort on the much-heralded Sipping Jetstreams project, Under The Radar is cinematically driven from a photographer's perspective. This visual thread is evident in the surfers featured, all of whom have pleasing open-face styles, the locations, including Morocco, Bali and the Mentawais Islands, and the shot framing, which steps up from the industry standard of setting your tripod up directly in front of a front-lit wave and shooting your brains out.
Mikala Jones is the star of the film, and the timing is not uncanny. Mikala's star has been on the rise as of late with magazine covers and tons of editorial coverage to an extant almost unheard of for an itinerant pro outside of the Malloy family. This journeyman Hawaiian has been steadily plugging away for quite a while, although it's only recently that he's gained the recognition he deserves. I mention that the timing is not uncanny because Nate Lawrence, Matthews' traveling companion and staff photog for Surfing Magazine, has his journeys and photos well-documented on a monthly basis, and Mikala Jones is a frequent subject.
Josh Mulcoy from Santa Cruz is the surprise standout of the film. Little-known outside of NorCal and rarely featured on celluloid, Mulcoy's style is pleasing to the eye and his linking between turns is reminiscent of Joel Parkinson. Seeing Mulcoy tee off on roping Moroccan rights is engaging and in some ways preferable to the herky-jerky style that some WCT surfers raised in beachbreak conditions bring to the table in similar conditions.
Jamie O'Brien tends to steal the show on any surf trip and he's up to his usual antics during the North Shore's off season. Having spent the last several years making his way to Indo to hang with Mikala, Jesse Merle-Jones and locals like Australian/Indonesian mix Lee Wilson, Jamie O's got these reefs dialed, pulling in and switching stance on sub-sea level reefbreak barrels that would have most simply racing for the light at the end of the tunnel. Never mind his aerial antics in the beachbreaks, Jamie O' appears to find anything other than twelve-foot Pipeline to be lacking a risk factor as he hurtles himself into Kerrupt flips, Rodeos and as-yet-to-be-named contortions.
The Balinese crowd gets the spotlight with the godfather, Rizal Tanjung leading his band of young proteges including Bol, Betet and Garut into the fray. This new crop of Indonesian surfing talent has already been widely-accepted as a new wave of surfing strength, similar to the Brazilian breakthrough in the 90's. These wiry and acrobatic rippers can also lay down a mean rail and their barrel riding is superb. Who can lay claim to more tube time than Indonesian locals?
Dustin Barca gets a shout-out with a too-short section to really display his talent, although glimpses are evident in every wave he rides. Longtime friend Andy Irons claims him and there's something to be said for that. In fact, this Kauai native's style is similar in a very good way to the Irons brothers' trademark flow with punctuations of explosiveness.
Although the film is titled Under The Radar and the surfers it focuses on are, for the most part, on the fringes of surfing's WCT-centered media crowd, the Billabong J Bay WCT event gets a section, as well, featuring Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow, Mick Fanning and Andy Irons at the legendary South African right. Californian South Bay ripper Alex Gray gets a cameo appearance, throwing down some nice punts in Durban, as well.
All told, Pete Matthews has done the surf culture a service by focusing his lens on a number of surfing's (relatively) unknown soldiers and bringing them to our attention. Some, like Josh Mulcoy, needing this a little more than others, to keep them in the water and out of a suit and tie for the foreseeable future. A good watch, with beautiful scenery and snippets of interview footage to give you an idea of the characters behind the magazine photos, Under The Radar should be on your radar for surf films to watch in 2007.
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