Video by Ed West | Words by Izzy Henshall | Surf imagery by Tyler Boyce
When you receive not just an excellent short film, but also an immaculately organised media kit alongside words written exclusively for WT, you can’t help but wish it was always this easy. Having had the pleasure of speaking to Izzy this time last year, we asked Miss Henshall to write some words this time, recounting how this project came about and some anecdotes whilst on the road. Once you’ve sat back and watched Ed West’s latest work, get the back story from the talent herself…
“Tea Breaks and Tiger Tales – A nine minute longboarding film based in South Sumatra made with no documentary style waffle, no excessive b-roll (at least not heaps), a bit of slow mo (but hopefully not too much) and a whole lot of surfing.
Ed West is a filmer and photographer from the UK who was based in Cornwall, about 40 minutes from where I grew up. I would often see his work on Instagram, and I was always eager to create something with him, but this never ended up happening in Cornwall. About a year into my ‘Australia trip,’ my partner Tyler and I set off on a trip down south. During the drive, I realised that Ed was living just a few hours away, so I sent him a message. We ended up meeting in a small town called Yamba. Long story short, we became good friends. A few brief conversations later and we’re on our way to Indo to make a film. We didn’t know exactly what to expect from the trip and frankly even google couldn’t find us a notable log wave in the region but we wanted to give it a shot.
During the first 7 hour drive through the jungles and small Sumatran villages, we were warmly welcomed by packs of waving children hollering ‘hello mister!’ and some of the prettiest landscapes I’ve ever seen. Prior to this trip, I’d spent a total of about 12 months in Australia and probably only shot about 4 rolls of film. It’s not that Australia isn’t incredibly photogenic, but I haven’t found myself being particularly inspired out here so it was a nice feeling to pick up my film camera again in Sumatra. The landscape ranged from dense, tiger-infested jungles – complete with some wild stories from our driver – to live volcanoes, then endless fields of sugarcane, and eventually, the surf.
The first half of our trip played out pretty much as I’d imagined in terms of waves. We were supplied with empty, picture perfect barreling beach breaks and long overhead walls on the pointbreaks and I couldn’t really complain. The only problem was that I’m not exactly a shortboarder, and I wasn’t sure how we’d turn footage of me riding smaller boards into a proper film… unless we padded it out with a whole lot of b-roll.
We’d heard rumours about a wave known for its immaculate barrel, which should supposedly get half the amount of swell as the other spots we were surfing. So we departed for a 30 minute scooter ride to this break following some loose directions. When we got our first glimpse of the beach we weren’t sure where this supposed ‘immaculate barrel’ was meant to be. The only ones in the water were the local kids helping to launch the fishing boats out through the channel. But as the tide dropped we started to notice what looked like knee high onshore waves hitting the different parts of the reef. They were the most loggable waves we’d seen so far so I took my pick of a peak and went for a paddle, only to be pleasantly surprised.
A slight increase in the swell led to waist to chest high sets coming through consistently and with a strike of luck the wind dropped too, cleaning it up just in time for sunset. With Tyler on the drone and Ed switching between the long lens and the water housing, we got some of our favourite clips of the trip this afternoon. We returned back to the same break for another four dreamy sessions, each getting better and better as we learnt the tides and swell direction that the reef favoured. Ed had gained some new fans; the local kids were obsessed with him and his camera gear, surrounding him as he filmed and wanting their portraits taken with their friends. They also seemed to enjoy giving us the middle finger with big grins on their faces. Assuming that this was a friendly gesture, we felt very welcomed in this little town and I look forward to going back; especially now that I know to avoid touching the razor sharp reef and moped exhausts.”
