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Post Codes DVD Teaser and Review

21st January 2010

Post Codes by Martin Yelland
Review by Mike Searle

Back in the day St Ives had a huge and dedicated bodyboarding crew. Guys like Martin Craven, Colin Stirling and Johnnie Wells were some of the first Brits to charge in Hawaii, and whilst they have long since forsaken the boogs, it's great to see St Ives-based bodyboarder Martin Yelland take up the reigns and produce this movie.

The high-impact opening section, slickly-edited to a heavy soundtrack has a definite Rampage feel to it, hardly surprising since Rampage editor Johnnie Wells himself does the honours in the edit suite on the Post Codes DVD too.

Post Codes centres around a small group of mates loosely based in St Ives: Tim 'Albino' Brown, Darren 'Dirtbox' Stevens, Yelland himself, Mark 'Sugar Lips' Baker and Yorkshire maverick Richard 'Smudge' Smith. Many other characters crop up on the vid, including a bunch of young Hawaiians on a boat trip in Indo. There's tons of sick footage from around our shores, with Cornwall obviously heavily featured, along with a sick Scotland section. The North East coast is a highlight, the place absolutely goes off. Smudge's deep throaty keg on a right hander is the wave of the vid.

Post Codes has a good matey feel to it. You get an insight into these guys' lifestyle and since they seem to be having so much fun, you do as well.

Interview with the man behind the lens

What brought on the inspiration for the DVD?

I have been all around the world bodyboarding, before I got into filming, and remember seeing loads of cool, random, and sometimes sad things, and thought it would be fun to try and capture some of these memories on camera. I work as a postman in Cornwall, England, and my friends and I started surfing more regularly and went on some big foreign trips (Sumatra, Sumbawa) in order to gather good footage. The title 'Post Codes' is in reference to my job, but also the pride which goes with coming from / or living in a certain area. Localism is apparent in Cornwall, as it is throughout the world, and we have had post codes waxed on our car windscreens before for surfing a break we weren't local to. I think the title 'Post Codes' sums up the tightness of each group, and the passion that goes with it.

What has been the reception so far with regards to public feedback?

The feedback has been really, really good! Thank goodness! I invested a lot of time (and money) into getting a top of the range water housing, and it certainly paid off! My friends and I worked on 'Post Codes' for nearly four years, and what I think makes the DVD more special, is the large amount of water footage, and sick angles you can get with it. It wasn't until about two years into the project that I actually got a tripod, and we thought that it would be important to actually get some land footage! Below is a review from the Three Sixty Bodyboard Magazine's website...

We have also had good reviews in the Royal Mail's 'Courier' magazine, and 'Circular', a south-west England magazine based in St. Ives and the local area.

How is the UK bodyboarding scene at the moment? It seems as though there is a marked interest in exploring and new discoveries worldwide, has this translated to the UK?

Definitely. With better wetsuits, and a massive increase in surf media, I would say that finding new spots is vital, as a lot of the one-time lesser-known spots are now regularly plastered all over the magazines (usually stand-up mags) here in the UK. It seems a lot of the surf media cannot keep a secret, and love nothing less to expose new spots, giving weak nicknames to the waves which of course 'they found', which in actual fact had been ridden, named and kept quiet for years, by - you guessed it, bodyboarders!

What are the plans going forward for Post Codes? Are you going to look into a follow up production?

We would love to make another DVD, and hope to make another sometime in the future.

Where can we obtain a copy?

Check out the links below, 'Post Codes' is available to buy online, at Three Sixty Mag's website:

Three Sixty/Post Codes

and Magic Seaweed are also stocking some copies at:

Magicseaweed/Post Codes

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