Directed by: Revel Co DP/Editor: Rupert Walker Producer: Brandon Semenuk Photographer: Ian Collins Sound Design: Keith White Audio VFX: Dan Gaud Course Build: Dan Fleury, Evan Intern, Will Clifford Special thanks to Jhon Bonham
Me: "Ok, when will the real face melting stuff really start?" *Brandon does the fakie nose manual* Me: "Ahh I see." *Brandon does a foot plant 720* My face melts for real.
You see it a lot in other sports too. Often the best guys don’t want to compete. They want to do what they do just to show you the most interesting, Insanely artistic side of their sport. They’ve gone to a place where other have yet to, or will ever go. It’s like he’s cracked the code and we just stand back, in awe, and take it all in. Live that life dude. It’s cool as f*ck
That was my first thought as well. This vid is probably the best "excuse" ever why he did not compete in any of the last Crankworx events. Absolute mind blowing. Once more...
@jackmasta for you have not seen the way of a shredder shurikan, I tell thee, he can do tha videos for he competes, one does not exist without the other, no man can master the art by following just this art. When a painter is painting the background he is in fact painting the foreground. This way you must follow. This is the way of the strategy!
He is just unreal, but Rheeder could do it too. They can take as many takes as they need to get the shots. Danny Mac is a legend in that respect, showing you all the behind the scenes trick abortions and everything.
Semenuk's high speed manuals though. Just, wow.
@jaame: Rheeder is a tech wiz but he's nowhere near as stylish as Semenuk. Just the little transition skids and the footplant judo - Rheeder may be able to emulate those but I don't think that he would have come up with them or would be able to make them look so fluid and natural.
Unpopular opinion but I kinda feel like he's getting a little slop on the bike (always slamming the front tire down way before the back kinda like a drum flam), I think quite a few other riders in the slopestyle circuit have deeper and more dialed trick bags now, but Semenuks always been my favorite and always will be. This is a fandom that'll chase me into my old age, I'm sure. Knowing he shows up at Joyride every year makes me slightly nervous these days because the rest of the field has been battling through the rest of the crankworx circuit, spending all their time and energy progressing on their bikes throughout the year, but Brandons not fully in it anymore and also spends his time doing other things (rally driving, making videos, etc), and the child in me dies when he's not on the podium. But as I get older I acknowledge that a variability in past times is healthy and I can't imagine trying to commit all my time to one thing like some sort of olympic ice skater. Sounds miserable.
However my thoughts are mostly this: He's made his living with biking and now has the freedom to make art. We all know plenty of idealistic kids who sought out to do this and failed, we may have even tried ourselves. Competitions got him there, and despite not really caring to be a contender anymore, if this life is sustainable for him now, he has basically achieved the most fulfilling way to go through life. I hope he continues this because I would give a lot if I could find a way to be supported through creative endeavors, deep down it's what many of us want and Brandon made it happen while still having lots of access to other activities he enjoys. I hope Redbull/Trek/TLD give him continued support even if he doesn't compete much here on out, because he's done a lot to earn his spot and he's brought so many eyes to mountain biking and many open wallets to his sponsors brands.
Also: Not enough appreciation goes into the tracks he builds for these parts. They are always 11/10.
@anchoricex: I don’t know how does one put himself into the state of mind where he has a f*cking nerve to tell a master of a particular art what he should or shouldn’t do. What exactly does Brandon owe such potential fan to deserve such counsel which comes from nowhere else but the self proclaimed sage arse. What else? Is Brandon wasting his time driving a rally car? I know the kind of sick mind that can come up with such outrageous ideas, I have one in my family, an ex alcoholic who has never realized his wish to be an athlete, early fatherhood “stole his dream” as of he had it planned. Over the years he grew smart arsed and resentful, living up to no standards meanwhile setting the bar for literally everyone, one step higher than where they are. He will tell Gold Medalist that he only barely won it, having absolutely no experience in the discipline himself, he would tell that Pavarotti missed a tone. Nobody is ever enough and he knows exactly why. This is living in hell. This is ongoing death process while being alive. If one is able to draw conclusions to what Brandon should and shouldn’t do then he is fundamentally flawed, he as much lesser to Brandon at riding the bike as he is at living a good life. Time to wake up and get your shit together. There cannot be mastery at one art without excellence in others. Specialization is a myth, is a grudge. It’s a balloon that explodes under pressure of always changing conditions. Once it blows it becomes an iron ball chained to your leg. I see it in my work every day in my work mates and in consultants as in clients.
@WAKIdesigns: I'm curious if you've misinterpreted my post, I've never felt like I have any say in what the dude does with his time. I'm just saying as he spreads himself out over other things it's expected that he's probably not going to top the podiums I grew accustomed to seeing when I started biking, but I'm also acknowledging that it's very healthy to embrace other endeavors and I understand this more and get older, and wish him continued support from his sponsors because of what he's already achieved. This is kind of my answer to all the kids in every Crankworx comment thread on Pinkbike saying "Where's Brandon?" or "things would be differnet if Brandon was in this competition". If that was somehow hard to gather from my above post, I apologize.
I heard that the real Brandon Semenuk died years ago, and Redbull had funded a project for them to create a clone of him, but mixing in the DNA of the original Brandon Semenuk, a spider monkey, and a common housecat. Thus creating something that looks like a man, but is nimble and acrobatic, yet always lands on his feet.... err... ummm... Wheels...
Also explains why he gives zero fucks about judged comps.
Correct me if I'm wrong but these were sounds recorded separately then added in yes? There's always something that seems off when that's done...take Danny Macs Epecuen, they added in all kinds of sounds that his bike just doesn't make, likewise with this video the tyre noise is just too much and the hub noises don't seem right to me...the riding is so good it doesn't need anything more than a shotgun mic on a separate camera in my opinion...I ended up getting pretty distracted by it.
@aliclarkson: In all likelihood they would be. I've not seen it yet as I'm in work, so I can't be sure, but for downhill skiing for instance, you'd be wrong to think they'd mic miles and miles of snowy courses. It's likely bits were recorded section by section if necessary and then put into a sampler. Someone would then assign each sample to a note on a keyboard and then play it like a piece of music. The practicalities of having a mariachi band following every cyclist in Mexico on a truck or an oompa band following every rider in German on a truck are pretty low.
@aliclarkson: That's part of editing. You watch video skillfully cut, highlighting the good parts stitched together to help you focus on the parts the editor wants you to. The same goes for audio. The good parts are highlighted to focus your attention so that everything comes together like a symphony. When done well, it's pure magic!
@KeithWhiteAudio: Fair enough, it was actually pretty hard to tell, it sounded right but there was something that seemed a little weird, not sure if it was just louder than other videos or what.
Great video all round though, I think everyone involved can be proud of it
How hard would it be to strap a mic to the bike? And just sinc the audio with the footage? No making a statement asking a question because I don’t know.
@thenotoriousmic: because the sound of the freehub would be consistent even though the distance between him and the camera changes. Think doppler effect, at least I think anyway.
@thenotoriousmic: near impossible to get something good. Way too much wind, clothing and bumpiness to make it work well. Microphones don't like wind. Trust me.
There’s actually more audio post production done in one of these than most normal edits where music covers a lot of the natural sound. Cheers to Keith white’s post audio work!
The Jackie Chan editing technique is the secret sauce, amplifies the impact of the trick alot more. Always a perfect package of a video from the Revel Co. Great riding, filming, editing and soundtrack.
Fast plant 720 and x-up tailwhip and other top-level tricks aside, I can't even figure out how he does all that scrubby sliding up and down jump faces. That, and the berm destruction, are things I could maybe aspire to emulating 1% of someday. Kind of like how the girl next door can more attractive than supermodel du jour.
Semenuk's riding is awesome but, damn, the builders on this line did a masterful job. Berms, jumps, everything looks so precisely shaped, and surfaces are smooth as (peanut) butter... both in this RAW clip and the previous one. Does he build these lines himself, with help, or is there a known team taking care of this? In the latter case, can they be hired for a backyard project? :-P
I was at the bike park yesterday and when I was leaving with a big grin, I reflected on my favorite moments. The whir of the dirt then silence as you leave the lip and then the whir upon touchdown. Coupled with the weightless float and that is one of the best feelings in the world. These raw videos are my reminders to get back out there.
Ok so... part of me just wants to say Brandon F—-ing Semenuk! Part of me is screaming inside jumping up and down like Bevis in a manic tantrum, part of me wants to build an altar and engage in the ritual burning and sacrifice of various bike parts, because honestly... this guy is god as far as bike riding goes. No one touches him. He’s taken mountain biking into the realm of actual art. With a capitol A.
I love showing these to my girlfriend cause it's funny seeing her wondering how anyone can do this on a bike.
And then I realise that the look on my face is probably exactly the same!
He might be the best freerider out there today......scratch that, he IS the best freerider out there today.
His control is amazing, it's like the bike is an extension of his body and not an object he is trying to control. He flows like water.
Said it a millions times before... Nobody. I repeat nobody in any bike discipline has better bike handling skills and bod mechanics than Semenuk. Also... Preview of some tricks likely be tossed at Joyride? I don't see any of the current slopesters throwing anything as smooth..... Bring yer game faces boys.
So amazing. You have to love seeing the course built around and through old gnarly tree limbs covered in moss. Supremely smooth riding. Great video. Almost as good as the guys in my local park!
Obviously the riding gets most of the credit for how rad this is, but I think the creativity of the trail build is almost equally as impressive. And pure art when they come together!
Really good!!!!! But I think he works the best when he’s not under pressure!!! This wasn’t a competition so he preforms... give him a competition and one little mistake and he’s done! With not competing at competitions anymore, and Brett Rheeder with the pressure of ROGATKIN, by now Rheeder does better than that in his new front yard!
@cpeper21: So glad there's somebody else that caught that! The footplant 720 too. Remember Square One's "Wide Awake Nightmare" video where Aitken did that footplant 360 over a hip?
Cool to see Semenuk take influence from that though. Love seeing BMX style on a mountain bike.
Foot plant to step through? Either the Trek Ticket has a much lower stand-over than I thought, or we should have monthly Yoga tips from Brandon and not Abi.
Yup! Must mace been a camera trick. Half of that video looked like a Mission Impossible. Well thought out and carried out with style and grace. 180 to fakie nose manual to Allioop out. WTF just happened?
*Brandon does the fakie nose manual*
Me: "Ahh I see."
*Brandon does a foot plant 720*
My face melts for real.
Hahaha! Spot on!
It’s like he’s cracked the code and we just stand back, in awe, and take it all in.
Live that life dude. It’s cool as f*ck
Everyone in the comments "Lets' turn this into a hypothetical competition."
However my thoughts are mostly this: He's made his living with biking and now has the freedom to make art. We all know plenty of idealistic kids who sought out to do this and failed, we may have even tried ourselves. Competitions got him there, and despite not really caring to be a contender anymore, if this life is sustainable for him now, he has basically achieved the most fulfilling way to go through life. I hope he continues this because I would give a lot if I could find a way to be supported through creative endeavors, deep down it's what many of us want and Brandon made it happen while still having lots of access to other activities he enjoys. I hope Redbull/Trek/TLD give him continued support even if he doesn't compete much here on out, because he's done a lot to earn his spot and he's brought so many eyes to mountain biking and many open wallets to his sponsors brands.
Also: Not enough appreciation goes into the tracks he builds for these parts. They are always 11/10.
Sorry too much lecture of Musashi lately...
Still an amazing video I had to watch it twice and it’s midnight on a family holiday.
The practicalities of having a mariachi band following every cyclist in Mexico on a truck or an oompa band following every rider in German on a truck are pretty low.
Great video all round though, I think everyone involved can be proud of it
Yo @Onyxhubs sponcer this dude, all I wanna hear is 60+psi tyres not that shitty ratchet noise. IMO yadda yadda yadda.
Does he build these lines himself, with help, or is there a known team taking care of this? In the latter case, can they be hired for a backyard project? :-P
Cool to see Semenuk take influence from that though. Love seeing BMX style on a mountain bike.
Oh shit panic attack!!!!
when people ask why Semenuck doesn't compete any more
&
MY GODS that 360 nose pivot!
m.pinkbike.com/news/making-the-speed-of-sound-with-masters-and-mcmillan-video.html
Half of that video looked like a Mission Impossible. Well thought out and carried out with style and grace.
180 to fakie nose manual to Allioop out.
WTF just happened?
"nuh uh honey you did not just say that about me"