It's always really nice when someone helps you out, especially when it's a larger company. FedEx has long emphasized supporting small businesses, and to that end they have developed a new video series called “The Makers Series,” which focuses on innovative brands that use their services. At Niner we're more than excited to have been chosen as the first business to be featured in that series, not only because it suggests that FedEx considers us an innovative brand, but also because they created a great video for us.
 | The Makers Series showcases brands in a highly dynamic way. In each video, beautifully crafted products will be featured, with the focus on the intended use. The Makers Series of videos will feature innovative products and exciting b-roll footage for viewers. A key element of the Series is to show the innovation that exists from ideation, creation, testing and production - and how that extends through to the delivery of the product to the consumer. FedEx is shown in that supporting role, connecting product to customer.. - FedEx |
It's really exciting to see a company like FedEx market themselves by promoting their customers, it creates a win win situation for all involved. And while the marketing efforts of smaller companies are usually limited to their own specific markets, FedEx is pushing this content out to a large non-endemic audience, which is a great way for smaller companies to gain more exposure.
Behind the Scenes on the Niner shootDay 1 - Call time 5 AM for a 6 AM startGreg Massey and Ryan Goble prepare the drone for the first days sunrise shoot. Being ready to shoot at first light means being on location long before the sun comes up. While it might be a fairly basic job for everyone else to get ready, it does take a bit of time to get the gimbal calibrated and the drone ready to go.
5:42 AM, waiting for the sun...
The Cinestar 8 drone with a Movi M10 Gimbal and Canon 5D mk 3, about as good a package as you can get for this kind of stuff. The only real way to make it better would be a bigger camera, but the Canon was the right tool for this job. Lighter weight means longer flight times, and less time spent changing batteries.
It takes two people to really get the most out of a drone. Ryan flies the Cinestar while Greg controls the camera.
Even though we had permits and were able to drive to the trailhead there are no shuttles out here. Niner's Nate Adams pushing his
WFO 9 back up for another go and it's still not even 6 AM yet.
Matt Fremstad filming from the ground. Matt ran two different cameras on this shoot, a Canon C300 as well as a Sony FS700 for all the slow motion stuff. Nate Adams and Stu Travis were the riders for the Trail Bike portion of the shoot, riding sections of the Spring Creek Trail over and over again. Their Strava times on that trail should probably improve a bit.
A birds eye view of the trail on Greg's monitor.
| For me the highlights of this project were getting to ride my bike non-stop for two days straight in hero dirt, and getting to drive my truck up the mountain that I usually have to suffer pedalling up. - Nate Adams |
It takes a crew to keep everything running smoothly, there were 7 people not including the riders working on this shoot.
The Canon C300 is a workhorse camera, several notches above the DSLR, but at a price, $12,000 body only...
Day Two - Another early morning shred session for Nate and Stu.Day Three - XC shooting in the valleyCormac Dunn (in the red kit) rides for the CLIF Devo Team and was elected to be one of the athletes for the XC portion of the shoot.
| Everyone at the shoot was awesome to work with and everything came together perfectly. After six hours of shooting they had every possible shot we needed and headed back to the Niner office. On the ride back I was able to see a preview of some of the overhead shots, and I realized how amazing the experience was. Everyone worked hard to make this happen and the final video really shows the commitment Niner and FedEx have towards their work. In the end, any day of school missed to ride bikes and work with awesome people, is a day well spent. - Cormac Dunn |
As a bike company we have some solid riders on staff which is beneficial in many different ways. Niner employee and ex-pro racer Brad Cole putting the
AIR 9 RDO to work for the cameras.
It takes a special skill to run up a rocky trail while filming behind you, Ryan Goble has that skill.
CREDITS - It takes work to make this stuff all come together, and we'd like to thank everyone that helped make this shoot work out.
FedEx -
Niner Bikes -
Troy Lee Designs -
Capo Cycling -
Deity Components -
Suplest Shoes -
Giro -
Oakley -
ENVEMENTIONS @NinerBikes @troyleedesigns @deityusa @GiroSportDesign @ENVE
It's also good to here Chris pointing out 150mm rear travel is difficult endeavor on the 29er wheel platform
Nicely shot. Anyone know where those trails are? Looks very mid-Cal.
Nate drives a ford RAPTOR! ! Where are the rally shots niner ?
Ironic though that they mention standover height in that video, when I checked out the new WFO 9 a while back the 31.5" standover height on the XL frame surprised me, in a bad way.