Focus Bikes x Paul van der Ploeg

About the project

After the success of Tilly On A Bike, I was approached by Focus Bikes through world champion Paul van der Ploeg to make a film about him and his recent ambassadorialship with the world renown organisation. They wanted a brand film that communicated to the world their ethos as demonstrated through someone who had spent his life riding bikes and engaging with the cycling community.

Paul is from a small country town in regional north-east Victoria, so it was only logical to go back there. When we arrived, it became obvious that our plans needed to change. We had this whole sequence built out that involved a beautiful golden hour shoot, with Paul shredding the trails up at Falls Creek. During my recce of the locations, I managed to get some lovely timelapse shots that showcased the area and what we were after.

When we arrived, it was a different story. Driving to the top of Summit, you felt like a kite in the wind, ready to be blown off the mountain. Couple that with an inability to see beyond 10 metres, the ideal of golden hour was quickly squashed - we had to pivot.

There are no problems in filming, only opportunities.

What we ended up capturing worked better. It gave a greater sense of Vandy’s dedication to mountain biking and why he loved it in the first place. As he says in the film: it’s like being a kid and jumping in muddy puddles. The moodiness of the low hanging fog and the grunginess of the dirt flying everywhere created a far better impact, beyond the purely visual. As sexy as cinematic, slow mo sunset shots are, capturing something that is actually connected to the story is far better. And knowing when and how to pivot is what makes filmmaking the exciting journey it is.

Filmmaking is all about the story. It’s easy to get caught up in the gear, the beautiful shots, the locations - but all of it without the story means nothing. When we have a moving piece that connects with people, everything we do as filmmakers is about making that story as impactful as possible.

And when you follow that you create something that works.

And when you get feedback like this, you know you’ve done something right:

“The direction and narrative is exactly what we're looking for.”