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Rupert Walker on pushing the limits in mountain bike filmmaking
Rupert Walker and Brandon Semenuk partnered to create Revel Co. in 2014. With the release of Parallel, Walker gives us a look inside the production company.
Back in 2014, Ruper Walker was feeling creatively stagnant while working for a large corporation when he had the opportunity to film with Brandon Semenuk. It was their first time working together and they quickly developed a strong partnership that led to Revel Co.
On the genesis, Walker recalls, “We just wanted to come together to create exactly what we wanted to create with no limitations.”
In 2019, after the release of their edit, Parallel, Walker took some time to talk to us about what life behind the scenes with Revel Co. looks like and how his life has changed in the last five years.
What is it about Revel Co. that makes what you do different than other video production teams in the industry?
We don't do much client work. We do some high-end commercial stuff but for the most part, what separates us is that when we're creating, we're just creating for ourselves and that final product. At the end of the day, no one else has a say about how the final video looks or feels. It's all our decision and we run with everything.
We’re very fortunate to have the clients that we do. This year will be for Red Bull and they enabled us to basically just create with no limitations — to just let Revel Co. be Revel Co.
Collaboration amongst the team
© Ian Collins
What is your process for working without parameters? How do you narrow down or focus in on your ideas?
Honestly, we just throw around ideas. Sometimes I'll have an idea and we'll just be like, "Yeah that's awesome. Let's just do it." Or sometimes Brandon will have an idea and we'll go do it. It's really straight forward.
Our concepts can be pretty vague when we first jump into a video. They start to really take a shape of their own in the post-production and the editing process. I'll just sit and edit for weeks to turn a bunch of random clips that we accumulated over maybe three months on a big concept into a full-blown concept that makes sense to us.
Brandon, Rupert, and the team plan out the next shot
© Ian Collins
A lot of your project have pretty intensive behind-the-scenes logistics. Who manages all of that work?
The way that Revel Co. is structured is that Brandon essentially produces everything. He takes care of getting permits for locations and finding locations. When it comes to mountain bike features, he's really – and not to sound cliché – a visionary. He sees things, he sees land, and he can form his riding features into just the most creative and ridiculous features.
For me, it's really great because I know that he's got that taken care of so I can really focus on how I want the video to look and how the concepts are going to come together and make sense to the viewer. I can deal with all the post-production, directing, editing and the shooting.
Building the right lines is a team effort
© Ian Collins
Have you ever missed a shot? How do you manage the pressure of it?
I've definitely missed shots before. It just happens when you're filming, but I never miss a major move.
A lot of times when he is getting set up to do something that's bigger and more intense where you can't miss it — and I hate to say it — but we'll almost look for more of a stock angle that just shows the trick as best as possible and where it's almost impossible to miss it. When it comes down to doing tricks that have never been done before or that could result in serious injury, where he is only going to do it one time, it's not worth the risk of missing a shot to get an insanely artistic shot.
Brandon really operates on his own schedule when it comes to doing his tricks. So when he's ready to go, it's go time. Beforehand I'll scout everything with whoever we've got on helping to film and we'll make a plan. When we're shooting riding, I take a very instinctive approach. As soon as I see a feature, I think about what trick he’s doing and what angle to shoot it from. I know exactly where to go.
Unorthodox angles is a part of the process
© Ian Collins
How has creating Revel Co. pushed you creatively?
I feel like I can really apply myself. I can really express myself how I want to. I just like doing my own thing at the end of the day. I don't really like answering to people. Frankly neither does Brandon, which is why Revel Co. is what it is — we are both stubborn. We both do what we want and make the product that we make together, we really don't give a shit what people think of it because we like it.
What have you learned from working with Brandon?
I've learned to be patient. When Brandon’s getting ready to do something super gnarly, it's totally up to him. I can't ask him to do gnarly things. He has to choose to do it.
If I'm going to be documenting it, I have to be there to support it and be patient through the process. This stuff doesn't just happen overnight. He thinks about riding and about doing tricks probably years in advance of him doing it. So my role is just trying to adapt to the creative process and understanding that I can't miss moments when things get really heavy.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I love mountain bike content and I love watching my good friends who make videos; I love watching their videos and I love watching a great video. I also respect it. But I think I get my inspiration from really good commercials — commercials that feel like it's almost personal work, but that it's representing a bigger brand. I really like that kind of stuff.
I like short films, short narratives. I get really inspired by music and certain songs. When I hear a vibe or a melody or just a song that connects with me, it tends to inspire images. I can't really listen to music these days without trying to put it to a video in my head, which is why sometimes I'll just resort to really bad rap music because I know I'll never use it in a mountain bike video.
To date, what is your favourite Revel Co. video? And what was your favourite video to work on?
I think my favourite Revel Co. production is a video called Gallery. There are so many different frames in the video and it's just footage that I collected of Brandon and of my girlfriend and of my other friends. I basically mashed everything into this one video called Gallery.
Throughout the film, there's all these different screens and different cool edits and at the end, I kind of superimposed a pullback. It reveals this crowd of people of all my friends in this video watching the film. It's almost like an Inception moment, where it's like a film within a film type of deal.
As for the most fun Revel Co. production for me... we did these Subaru Canada car commercials. I really enjoy doing those because we have a big crew. It's a big job and everyone depends on each other. It's just a lot of fun to crush a big job in two or three days and have everything go as planned.
With those big shoots, or any big productions, what does a day in the life of filming look like for you?
It really depends. We really like shooting in flat light, so if it's flat light we pretty much try to shoot all day until we either run out of batteries or until Brandon runs out of battery and gets exhausted.
If we're hunting for a certain kind of light, like for example on this production of Raw 100 that we're doing right now, it needs to be a certain kind of light that we can only really get in the morning or evening. We try not to make any compromises. If we are going for a certain look or aesthetic, we make sure that we get it.
It really doesn't matter how long it takes us. We just really strive to have our stuff look as best as it possibly can, whether it takes all day or whether it just takes a morning session to get what we need, then we keep doing that.
The lighting is just right to capture Brandon Semenuk
© Ian Collins
How do you see the role of Revel Co. in pushing the creativity in mountain bike films moving forward?
We try to separate ourselves. We're in a fortunate position because by just having Brandon's talent on a bike, it already separates us from so much mountain bike content because he really is outstanding on a bike. He's always trying to do tricks that haven't been done before. He's always thinking of creative ways to do new maneuvers and build new features. I'm very fortunate to be part of that because Brandon is one of a kind when it comes to building these courses and these builds for videos.
Creatively we just always want to be doing something different. We take inspiration from skateboard films, from BMX, from things that aren't mountain biking like commercials as I said earlier.
2 min
Raw 100 Rupert Walker
Raw 100 Rupert Walker
