In February 1971, Australian surf filmmaker, Alby Falzon, was filming for Morning of the Earth on the Gold Coast; the time period is known for some of the most significant swell ever seen at the history of the location (12 continuous weeks in which the waves rarely measured below "head height"). Previously, Falzon had published a picture of Peterson in the magazine, Tracks (co-founded and published by Falzon), accompanied by an article about the "underground" Gold Coast scene; on the day of the Tracks photograph, Falzon happened to be filming at Kirra, Queensland, while Peterson was exposing his talent on a surfboard.
The result of the February 1971 filming session was a three-minute sequence that was included in Morning of the Earth, while numerous were printed in Tracks. The photograph of Peterson that gained the most attention became known as "the cutback"—it featured Peterson, tall and muscular, with his long hair flying, executing a "cutback" manouvre at Kirra. The "cutback" picture became the cover for the July 1972 issue of Tracks, following the release of the film.
Peterson did not attend the local premiere of Morning of the Earth on 10 January 1972. Peterson's mother, Joan, transported him to the hall at Miami High (his old school) where the premier was occurring, but Peterson balked at being the "centre of attention" and both returned home. Peterson's nervousness at presentations and gatherings would be a repeat occurrence on numerous occasions in the future.
One of Peterson's secrets for surfing barrels at Kirra was the "rocker" (underside curvature) design used in his boards. Rather than lifting the nose near the end of the board, Peterson transferred the apex closer to the middle of the board and would ride with one foot either side of the apex. By shifting his weight onto the back foot, the rear of the board would be receive the primary emphasis and the board would stall as a result; this would allow Peterson to slow down in order to re-enter deeper into the tube. Then, shifting weight forward onto the nose of the surfboard would lead to the board shooting forward. Peterson revealed to Mike Perry, who shaped surfboards alongside him for a period of time, that "It's just like cheating, man."
Read more about this topic: Michael Peterson (surfer)