Brody Jones: Behind The Lens of Macduff's Video
In a time where videos are easier than ever to produce, people don't always realize how much of an impact the quality of the content can have on an athlete's career. In order to get professional results, you must work with professionals, and that's exactly what Matt did when he teamed up with Brody Jones for his latest Welcome to Title video. In extreme sports like mountain biking, a filmmaker's talent is only as important as his attitude. Most often referenced-to as "the guy holding the camera", an action sports cameraman needs to have nerves of steel and an ability to keep his cool is the most dangerous situations.
When you watch a video of a rider alone in the woods sending tricks that have never been done, the reality behind it is that it's most likely him alone in the woods with a cameraman, hours away from civilization. That kind of situation can be equally stressful for both parties which is why a healthy and positive relationship between the athlete and the filmer is primordial to achieve great results. We reached out to Brody Jones to see how it was to work with Matt on such a project as it was their first project together, keep on reading to find out how it went for Brody.
Related Post: Behind the Scenes with Matt Macduff
TR: How did you and Matt meet up? How did you get involved in this project?
Brody: I was working full time with Brett Rheeder and TITLE on a bunch of different projects so I naturally started hanging out with Matt as he lives with Brett! As Matt started scheming plans to build some stuff I happened to be there so it just worked out!
TR: What was your first reaction when you saw the constructions in real life?
Brody: I was totally blown away and maybe a little skeptical at first, but the opportunity and resources to pull it off were there. The scale was hard to show in video but the drop off the backside of that quarter pipe was close to 35ft. Matt had definitely built a masterpiece of a compound.
TR: What was your approach for the video?
Brody: The most important thing to me was to not miss the shot and not put any pressure on Matt. Tricks like these only happen once and there’s no room for error. The other main goal was keeping the rest of Brett’s yard out of each shot while also getting the best angle of each trick which was not an easy task but we made it work!
TR: How long was the whole shooting?
Brody: In the end I think we shot 16 days total. A few of the bigger tricks like the fakie flip line and the cork 7 each took a few sessions to get. It was pretty impressive to watch Matt’s composer and focus each day. The routine was real and it totally paid off.
TR: What was the hardest moment of the shoot?
Brody: Honestly thinking back it was such a positive experience it’s hard to pick out a bad moment. I had the opportunity to hangout with Matt a lot during his training so I had faith that he knew how to do the tricks and that helped a ton. There was definitely a few big crashes but that’s all apart of the game.
TR: What was your favorite moment of the shoot?
Brody: I think the cork 720 was the highlight of the shoot for myself. We had already bagged most of the shots for the video and it was just the perfect cherry on top.
TR: How would you describe Matt?
Brody: Haha that’s a tough one. I feel like there is 2 sides to Matt, the crazy IDGAF Matt and then the more calculated, calm and cool Matt. At the drawing board he is like a mad scientist dreaming up these freak features but once it’s game time I could see the wisdom and experience come out. I think Matt has really harnessed past mistakes and brought his mental and physical game up to a new level.
TR: How do you, as a filmmaker, choose your angles and your shots, knowing that the athlete is doing something dangerous and might not be able to do it a second time?
Brody: Yea I mean like I said, the most important thing is to not miss the shot. It’s always good to have a “safety” angle on the tricks you know he won’t do again and then you can take riskier shots on something he is maybe comfortable doing 2-3 times. It’s always best to just communicate with athlete in that sense.
TR: How would you describe the vibe of the shoot?
Brody: The vibe was awesome. We got into the routine of showing up to the house around 9:00 AM drink a coffee and go stack 1 or 2 clips each day. The crew was dialed and everything ran smooth throughout the entire shoot!
TR: Is there anything you would like to add?
Brody: Just want to give a big shoutout to Jordan Sullivan and Kadison Pelletier for all their help on the media side of the project. Also a big shoutout to Brett Rheeder for providing the opportunity to make it all possible!
