Stab Magazine | Must Watch: Chippa Wilson's "Video No.4"

Live Now: Chapter 11 Mini-Documentary With Dane Reynolds

58 Views

Must Watch: Chippa Wilson’s “Video No.4”

“It’s sooo fucking crazy!” Jack Freestone says of the new Octopus film!

cinema // Oct 24, 2018
Words by stab
Reading Time: 6 minutes

“It’s soooo fucking crazy,” Jack Freestone says of Chippa’s new edit, and we’ll be the first to agree. 

The ten-minute heater above, filmed on a four-month, post-breakup bender, is certainly one of the most radical of the year, a raw collection filmed entirely in Indo this spring and summer. 

Having just wrapped two months away from his beloved rural Australian hideout—traveling to Stab High, as well as a string of European premieres while competing in the WSL’s fledgling Air Tour—we caught up with Chippa as he was headed home, finally, for chrissakes, to work on his Chevy pick-up and his Travels With Charleyesque camper setup before hitting the road…

A99Q5752 1
Chippa (unsurprisingly) is planted into the “Chippa II” and “The Front Deck II Corduroy Grip” by Octopus.

So this new flick came together pretty fuckin’ quick, brother? When did you start filming? And mostly in Indo, right? 

Yeah, I did four trips altogether—I think we started around March, and we filmed until June.

We did two trips at the start, and the footage was sort of going nowhere, so I figured I’d put those trips together, and then I went on two real quick ones after to finish it out.

The first one was to South Sumatra. The second one was a boat trip to the Mentawais. Then we did a week in Bali, which was sort of a write off. Well, we got some shit, it’s in the movie. But we went pretty hard, partying.

The fourth one was to the Maldives, another boat trip.

When you’re approaching a project like this, are you going into it with specific waves in mind or tricks you want to tick off, or are you just going on surf trips with no plans, just seeing what you come back with?

This was the first one I ever worked on like this, so it was sort of new. When we came back from the two trips, like, I really wanted to get some backside stuff, because it was all lefts up to that point. That was why we went to Bali. To try to hunt down some backside ramps. But not so much tricks, I’m just trying to make something cool. I mean, there’s not a crazy amount of variety of tricks in the movie, it’s a lot of fuckin’ straight airs… [laughs]

 

A36I1199
In Stab’s honest opinion, Octopus pads are the premier pad for the technical aerialist. They’re also the most aesthetically pleasing for those who like to look better than they surf.

Well, a lot of people came away from the premiere claiming it was the flick of the year so far…

Well, that’s exciting. I can only watch myself surf for, I don’t know, about thirty seconds [laughs]. So I’m glad they could watch ten minutes.

Who were you working with on this one?

I worked with a couple of filmers—Dave Fox, Beren Hall, Shane Fletcher, and Michael Cukr.

 At what point did you feel like this was finished?

Dude, for me, I only worked on this for four months, but I would have loved to work on this for like an entire year. And still keep it at that length—ten minutes. I think that’s a good length to keep people interested. It’s plenty.

But for me, there were a bunch of clips that I kinda would have liked to leave out, and film more, really hunker down. I might do that next year, just settle in and film for a year on one project, and do that—one film each year. I really like the idea of working on something a little more long term. 

 

A36I0198
“I would have loved to work on the film for like an entire year. And still keep it at that length—ten minutes. I think that’s a good length to keep people interested. It’s plenty.” – Chippa Wilson.
Photography
Octopus.

So how’s Octopus going? I feel like every grom I see these days is running a full Octo kit—is it cool to see your guy’s influence with so many kids rocking front pads and jumping on the wagon? 

Man, our front pads are sick—we sort of lucked out first sample, with that ¼-inch grip. We haven’t really had to change anything. It’s mental. It’s thin, you don’t feel like you’re on top of your board. A lot of the front pads that I rode before felt like you were just so on top of your board.

Disconnected.

Yeah, disconnected, like an entire other layer under your feet.

But we got really lucky with the corduroy grip. I feel like with pads you gotta keep it as simple as you can. The whole gang at Octopus just wanted it to be simple, not loud, and that grip really worked out perfectly.

I feel like surfing with you guys the last couple years, and seeing just how fucking prone to injury you all are, the front pads really do help with confidence and seem to keep you guys from just blowing up your fucking knees.

One. Hundred. Percent.

For sure, man. Two years ago I would sort of throw them on here and there, not really all the time. But when I started going to Indo a lot, and just dealing with fucking melting wax and then slippery boards in colder places, after using front decks it’s just… you can’t not fuck them.

It’s a saving grace.

And when you land a big air on a front pad and it’s all nice and spongy…

 

Chippa on location in Indo, filming for “Video No. 4”
Photography
Octopus.

For me, it’s night and fucking day.

I love being able to slam down on it and not, you know, hitting the stringer—just fucking heel bruises and shit like that [laughs]. It’s insane. I love it. 

But those corduroys grips, I feel like I can move my food around plenty for like tuberiding and shit.

Yeah, totally. It’s a happy medium. You aren’t locked in, you know?

And when you get booties on, that combination is pretty amazing.

Fuck booties.

Ha! Really?

Yeah, I’ll hold out until my feet are fucking stumps before I put booties on.

I love em. I fucking love booties. The corduroy grip with good booties… That’s the shit. 

I feel like I’m walking around in aquasocks.

Ha! I’m backing ’em, for sure! We just gotta get you some better booties. 

Holmes, I run a surf mag, I’ve tried ’em all. Fuck ’em. So are you working a new signature pad?

I have one in the line right now that’s just a straight three-piece with a big ol’ vertical kick tail. But I’m working on a front pad. I just haven’t had time the last two months to design it.

I want to do sort of a combo tail pad and front deck, so I might make some adjustments to my tail pad. Just watching the footage [from Video No. 4], I walk up the board a bit when I’m tuberiding, and my back foot comes off the pad a bit when I’m getting barreled, so I might work on something new. A kind of old school, retro-vibe modular pad.

What else you got planned for this year?

I’m done.

I gotta go home for a bit, and hopefully spend a few weeks working on my camper and my truck, hopefully hit the road from there—that’s the next adventure. The truck’s ready to go, and the camper’s probably a couple weeks out.

You built yourself a freedom bird, man.

You probably won’t hear from me next year…

 

A99Q8033 1

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Pittar’d And Feathered

Do the WSL judges deserve the internet's wrath? We asked the man of the hour.

Mar 28, 2024

Robbo, Pickles, And Tyler Wright Become The Underdogs Breakfast At Uninspiring Winkipop

The foreboding blade sharpens and inconsistent judging prevails on Day Two in Torquay.

Mar 27, 2024

“I Don’t Always Win Heats, But When I Do, I Try To Beat John John”

Slater shines and the axe begins its descent on Day 01 at Bells.

Mar 26, 2024

Back Against The Wall: The Ramzi Boukhiam Redemption

Morocco's first CT surfer on speaking six languages, having no coach, and snatching Fil Toledo's…

Mar 25, 2024

Will Kirra, Babies or JJF Stop a GOAT Winning at Bells?

Bluesky BOAG advice from a Superman specialist and former Trials winner.

Mar 25, 2024

Bells Preview: The WSL’s Victorian Sword Dancing Equinox Ritual

Will a Brazilian crack the Top 10 at Bells?

Mar 25, 2024

69 Shin Bones Later + the Anticlimactic State of Big Wave Record-Breaking

Lucas Chumbo might have surfed the biggest wave ever this year. But how will we…

Mar 23, 2024

Watch: ‘Fresh and Fried’ Ft the Quik Kids

How taxing is it to tackle the Gold Coast’s Triple Crown in a single day,…

Mar 23, 2024

The Popular Vote: The People’s Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino Champion

Which board looked best — to you —under Kolohe's talons?

Mar 22, 2024

João Chianca Opens Up About His Brain Injury, Rehabilitation, And Targeted Return To Competition  

"I don't just want to be the same surfer that I was. I don't even…

Mar 21, 2024

Six Key Learnings From Portugal

Three CT events in, what do we know? 

Mar 21, 2024

‘Zipper’ Is Going On Tour, Here’s Where You Can Watch It  

Dates, times + locations for the Venice, Encinitas, Sydney + Byron premieres.  

Mar 20, 2024

Dane Reynolds On His Future, His Past, And Chapter 11’s Raison D’être

Our 9-minute plunge into the collective psyche of Ventura's pillar(s).

Mar 20, 2024

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley Explains Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024

The Secret Behind Lungi Slabb’s Inconceivable Greenmount Funnel

Six broken boards, one leaking forehead, and five days of Superbank mysticism.

Mar 16, 2024

Cheat Codes: A Million Miles Worth Of Travel Advice From Coco Ho

Hard-earned wisdom from more than 2,000 hours in the troposphere.

Mar 15, 2024
Advertisement