Interview | Stu Thomson on making Danny MacAskill’s ‘The Ridge’

October 17th, 2014

We caught up with Cut Media’s main man, Stu Thomson, to find out just what it took to create his latest film – Danny MacAskill’s ‘The Ridge’.

We’re pretty sure that you’ll be more than familiar with the riding skills of trials super star Danny MacAskill and have watched his latest video release ‘The Ridge’ a good few times. With just under 18 million views and climbing the latest creation from the Isle of Skye mountain biker is already another ‘banger’ finding viral popularity around the globe with cyclist and non-cyclist alike.

Creating videos of this level is no easy task even with a talent like Mr MacAskill in front of the camera. Simply clicking record and pointing the camera just doesn’t cut it at this level. Tasked with the massive job of directing, producing and filming the video was fellow Scotsman Stu Thomson and his company Cut Media (formally MTB Cut) who you’ll already be aware of from Danny’s previous videos releases (Imaginate, Industrial Revolutions etc).

A former DH racer Thomson is by all means not a new comer to the sport of mountain biking having previously stood on the world cup DH podium and raced all around the globe before finally swapping handlebars for camera and setting up his own video production company.

We grabbed five minutes with Stu to find out just what went into creating The Ridge and just how much work went on behind the scenes.

Filming The Ridge can’t have been easy. What was the hardest part of filming and producing the film?

The hardest thing was definitely the access to the Ridge.. It’s not an easy place to get too and required a lot of hiking before we could start filming. One day we hiked for nearly 8 hours in the day just for a few shots in the film. We had to take all our camera kit, drone plus our food and water for the day meant it was as much a physical challenge as a creative one.

In the film you see Danny riding some incredible lines but we know it wasn’t just you two up on the mountainside. How many people did it take to produce The Ridge and what were some of the logistical issues you had to overcome?

There were 6 in our crew (plus Danny) and also another 3 filming the BBC documentary who shadowed us most of the time. There was 2 of us on camera (and Drone Gymbal/operation), one to pilot the drone, a mountain guide and 2 of our friends along to help with bag carrying.

Logistically the Ridge is actually 7 miles long and one of the toughest mountaineering routes in the UK so we had to scout the Ridge well beforehand and pick our filming locations carefully given the timescale and access difficulties. The first time we actually got a bike there was during filming though so we definitely couldn’t go into too much detail with planning specific shots. The other logistical challenge was the drone filming. We had to carry it up to the Ridge and then when filming the batteries tend to last about 8-9 minutes so we had to take 8 spare batteries with us which are not light and added a lot of weight to our gear.

How many months planning go into producing a film of this level?

We had been talking over the idea for around a year before hand but in terms of production The Ridge has definitely been more ‘organic’ than some previous films but there is definitely a lot of work in preparation. As this was completely down to myself and Danny a lot of work was involved in raising the budget for the film, pitching the idea and then bringing things together for our amazing sponsors at Five Ten and ENVE. On top of that you then have to scout the location, book accommodation and crew and then developing the creative idea in order to plan filming, it’s a considerable amount of time. However in comparison to our film before this (Imaginate) this one was pretty straight-forward as we had to build and plan the set from scratch with that one!

Were the Cuillin Mountains on the Isle of Skye a location which you had been looking at for a long time to film? Did you know if you could ride a bike at the top before you got there?

Yeah, we’d been taking about it for a while. I was keen to make a film of Danny on a proper mountain bike and Danny was definitely keen to make something to promote the Isle of Skye so the Cuillin’s were an obvious choice. That said neither myself nor Danny had ever been up there so it wasn’t until we scouted it (without a bike and about a month before filming) that we had any idea what was ridable. It was only then we realised really how difficult it would be to produce.

What was the hardest shot in the video to film for you?

Probably the shot of Danny riding along the ledge, for a number of reasons really… Firstly it was a scary undertaking for Danny (in my mind at least) as it was pretty technical and any mistake could have been very serious so that made me very nervous. Secondly though, we wanted to shoot it from an aerial view with the drone which meant we had to be miles out of shot and no-where near Danny, so this meant our communication with him was via radios and our only view of it was from the camera on the drone.

What was the hardest shot in the video for Danny to ride?

As much as there is a lot of scary exposure in the film and a very dangerous location, I know Danny would have no hesitation in telling you that the hardest line was the front flip at the end. Due to the technicality of the trick and that he’s upside down Danny finds that stuff much scarier!

How many days did it take to film and how many days does it take after to edit?

We’d planned to be on Skye for 2 weeks. Generally we got very lucky with the weather but after 10 days of mostly dry days the rain came so we called in a day 4 days before the end. We had another couple of shots planned but we had 95% of what we’d been after and in some amazing conditions.

Did you manage to get all of the shots you wanted for the film and were there any lines which ended up on the cutting room floor?

There weren’t many lines that didn’t make the film but there was one big one we didn’t manage to film which was a shame. It was a pretty wild trials move on some huge boulders but it just wasn’t to be!

Did you have any idea when you finished editing the film that it would be so well received and amass so many views so quickly?

Genuinely no idea. Don’t get me wrong, when you make a film with Danny you know it will attract attention. However from the start this project had always seems a bit smaller than previous films. It was a personal project without a major brand like Red Bull to drive the PR/launch and with Danny riding a mountain bike and not doing so many tricks I sort of felt that it might not have the widespread appeal. Myself and Danny had the aim of 1-2 million views within the year and we’ve both been truly blown away by the response!

You’ve worked with Danny for a number of years but do you still get scared watching him perform some of the tricks and lines he rides?

Not really. Some sections of The Ridge I was a bit nervous due to there being no margin for error with the size of the drops to each side of Danny, but to be fair I was equally concerned for the crew who were having to work there. Generally with Danny I have total faith in him, he is always completely in control and is by far the best judge of what is/isn’t possible, so if he says he can do something then I believe him.

The helmet camera footage of Danny climbing up to the top of the ride shows just how high and small the ridge line was. Were you nerves at this point?

I was nervous, but Danny’s comfort and balance at height is phenomenal so I did have faith in him. The fact that one little mistake could have killed him was always on my mind though.

Whose idea was the front flip over the fence and did Danny pull it off first try?

That was all from Danny. He mentioned it a while before the shoot and although I generally consider myself a good judge of his ability I really did doubt this one. He’s had the bump front flip pretty much dialled on his trial bike for a while now but I didn’t think he had the height to get enough rotation, especially on a full size MTB.

Can you list some of the camera kit and equipment you used to shoot the film was?

1 x Canon C300

2 x Panasonic GH4

Canon Prime lens selection

1 x Tripod

1 x Mini Jib

1 x Movi M5 (electronic gymbal/steadycam)

1 x RC Helicopter (plus 8 spare batteries)

Lots of spare batteries and cards.

The video’s you produce with Danny are always well received by views. Industrial Revolutions and Imaginate have clocking up just over 34 million views alone but is there a set formula you follow to make sure your next film is also a ‘banger’?

Not really, although I’m a firm believer in not trying to beat the last film but just doing something different. I think that’s what we’ve managed with those 3.

What can we expect from the next Cut Media / Danny MacAskill film?

Absolutely no idea… I think it’ll have to be the right opportunity and the right concept to make another big film like this. You can’t force it so we’ll let this one settle, get on with all the different things we have going on in our own worlds/careers and just see what happens in the future.

Thank for your time Stu.

You can check out the finished product here: