It’s amazing how the strangest sounds end up on a mix , from lion roars , guns loading up  and cd drives spinning fast. I love when a video gives you a challenge and this video was quite a big one.

From the early moments of the project development we decided that all the soundtrack for the “tubular heads” video will be made from scratch in the studio. And so I did , with no production sound whatsoever I received 2:47s video with absolutely no sound.  We’ve being working Bike videos a lot lately for several brands including Vittoria and Geax They are always a challenge but at the end of the day I always receive that 30% of production sound that gives me a big hand at post. This time because we where using a Quad-bike on the “outside” location of the video all sound was simply unusable.

First things first:

From the start I always knew how the lab would sound like. I started by layering all the ambience and editing the fx tracks: hums, fans, machinery, alarms, chimes, steam etc…  After that I started  the foley process for the lab : footsteps, clothes, tire squeaks and all the movements  and actions for both the scientist and the team.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes.

Usually when I have to do bike videos I get my bike in the studio and use it for foley , so I get the sound of the chains and pedals. This time we had 4 bike on the video. So the usual approach wasn’t working.  I decided to try and record my bike while riding it (for a more organic feel). First I placed my shotgun mic in to the tire pump holder (it fitted perfectly)  and attached to my Zoom H4 recorder grab my helmet and went for a spin. Since the vibration of the road was passing on to the bike frame and consequently to the mic I obtained a really nice surface noise (contact of the tire with the ground).
I also wanted to layer a more open sound, so I attached a shock-mount to the frame (with tape) pointed the mic in to the gears and the back wheel and went for another ride. I rode fore about 2 hours in all the surfaces I found: asphalt, cement, grass, dirt and even a bike race track near the sea. I got all I needed.

Mix

For the mix I edited the recording to make 4 uniquely different “bike” tracks, prepared all the FX for the tracks  and layered them with the rest of the project. When the music from Andrea Alvino arrived everything was ready for the final mix and the print.

It was a very challenging project but also a lot of fun !  I always like when a project like this arrives to the studio, It gets me thinking of mad ways to record stuff.

Dino.

The new video for Geax  is finally public. It took a lot of time and energy ,but we are satisfied with the results. We hope our efforts shine through the work.  Building the set was quite challenging, it measures 10mx13m, the construction work was quite complex.  The two designers, Marco Menegaldo e Mattia Federici did an extraordinary job. With a little bit of our help they were able to fit everything in a week.

While building the set, we started the casting with Giada Mazzoleni’s assistance. We managed to find our mad scientist perfectly embodied by Ireneo Gerolomino. Our stylist Michela Meni created the actor’s outfit and we where ready to shoot. We had everything we needed to start. After having built the scenery the pre-light was very simple.

The shooting lasted 3 days. During the first two days we filmed on the workshop set , the exit from the building and all the green screen.

After a  week  we started our third production day, we filmed on location in Brescia in an abandoned quarry in the countryside. We are used to filming cycling videos with motorcycles and steadycams , but this time we managed to get a quadbike that  helped us a lot on the rough terrain. Special thanks to Adalberto Roncalli, our intern and driver.

After we finished filming, Claudio mounted a rough cut for the customer to get an idea of how it would look. With their clearance we started the post production; meanwhile Andrea Alvino began preparing the soundtrack.

Finally, when we were almost at the end of the edit with the majority of the effects done, the whole project was sent to Dino Gervasoni (our sound designer) for the sound dubbing and mix.
Meanwhile I started the color correction but the fist version did not convince me so I had it redone  and here’s the result.

Looking at the final project is, for us, a great satisfaction. Although it is just a little video in which we put great passion and hard commitment. Our idea was to try to create something new and curios, never done in the mountain bike world before.

Thanks to the team Axevo for their help.  We would also like to thank Geax for the great trust and opportunity they  have given us, particularly Michela Fenili who has supported and helped us throughout the project.

We hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed  making it.

Another part of Vittoria Identity project has been completed. Today, to our great happiness, we met Francesco Moser, near Trento, in his beautiful estate nestled in the vineyards. We had a long chat about cycling. After, we were offered a good glass of Moscato. We also had the great fortune to see the bike in which he did the Hour Record on the 23 January 1984 in Mexico City and the bike of the Indoor Hour Record on the 21 May 1988 in Stuttgart (Germany).

Here is a preview of the shooting for Pelizzoli. The 2012 frames will be available on Pelizzoli world.

While we where shooting the backstage of Imetec Sensuij and Imetec Acqua for the New Target Web our friend Antonio Milesi made these beautiful shots of us at work.  Here you can see some of his works.

Thanks Antonio

Today we went to the Montichiari velodrome to shoot another part of the  Vittoria Identity Project. The pistard‘s received us while they were training.

Special thanks to Elia Viviani Giairo Ermeti (in the pictures) & Marco Villa CT of the Italian National Track team.

Finally, our office is beginning to take shape.  The first works include  the offices and the studio. Electricians and plumbers are working and we hope to have it ready  at the end of January. We are sure that this place will improve our work.

We interviewed Hubert Pallhuber, 1997′s cross-country world champion, for the Vittoria Identity Project.

Surrounded by mountains covered with a thin layer of snow, Valdaora is a perfect setting for our chat.

Hubert thanks for your hospitality.

Well, working with the guys of 341 it’s an absolute pleasure;
They’re young, like us and they’re really creative, like us.
The project was not the usual client-agency deal, was much like a costant sharing of thoughts and ideas.
From the start point they we’re really sure of what they wanted, but they was kind and smart enough to listen us while we had different point of views. Of course they listened us as web experts, that seems natural but sometimes is not.
I think the result is pretty good, the overall industrial feeling is perfectly in contrast with the high quality production, big bold fonts match nicely the overall feeling.
It’s technologically up to date with HTML5, CSS3 and AJAX, so it plays nicely in iPods, iPads and whichever device you say.
We really hope to keep working with the guys at 341 in the future.

Federico Vezzoli