Fabio Wibmer goes gamification as he takes biking into an alternate reality
54 min
Fabio Wibmer - Dangerzone
Go behind the scenes and find out how trial bike star Fabio Wimber and the team created the Video Game edit.
This new film, "Video Game," features an innovative and exciting cinematic approach – how did the gaming element come about?
I've always wanted to see if it's possible to produce something that's gaming-influenced with the bike. Doing things that don't actually work in reality - but become possible in a video game as a fictional character. The viewer should get the feeling that what he sees can't actually be real - but we shot it in real life, and everything is real. For us, that was both a vision and a challenge.
What were the biggest challenges for you and your team?
Where do I start... I actually wanted to come back from an injury break with a slightly smaller project, but when I'm on the bike, I want to get the best out of it. So it turned out to be bigger and more complex than expected. From heli backflips to jumping over a cliff, everything's included. The artistic challenge was the implementation as a video, how the edit should look, how to work out the gaming feeling and let the viewer be part of the action from that perspective.
You prove that with your new project, you can switch between three bikes as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
Yeah, there were three completely different bikes that require different skill sets – that was crazy. It wasn't easy to switch to the different bike disciplines during the shoot. But my aim is to be at a high level in every discipline and to deliver that in the best possible way. From a sporting point of view, that was the biggest challenge in my videos so far.
What makes this project so unique?
On the one hand, certainly, the combination of riding three different types of bikes in a single film and the feeling and vibe conveyed by the video. On the other hand, it was the balance between real and unreal and the challenge of finding ways to implement my ideas, for which I also have to overcome myself. I'm sure that even people who don't have anything to do with biking and are more at home with gaming will have a lot of fun with this video and maybe try a trick or two with the bike themselves.
When you think back to the shoot – how did it feel?
The feeling when everything is wrapped up is simply indescribable – relief, pride, nervousness, pure emotion. And the coolest part is that I can share those emotions with my team. There were five of us, and we spent a lot of time together - that was really fun again because we hadn't had that for a long time due to my injury. But we're a well-rehearsed crew – we quickly got back into the groove and showed on the Côte d'Azur that we can really deliver even when it's 40 degrees in the shade.