Sometimes You Need to Get your Hands Dirty

This was a fun and memorable mini-documentary featuring the very talented and generous John Hebert and his Triumph Bonneville out in Joshua Tree, California… We wanted to focus on the freewheeling lifestyle the bike affords him without beating the viewer over the head with an overt advertisement.

Cameron Mackey and I switched on and off between director and cinematographer duties. For the edit, I wanted the flow to be slow, personal, and nostalgic by triggering a variety of senses. The shots needed room to breathe to match John’s admiration for the concept of “timelessness” and fully immerse the audience in the primordial sense of freedom he experiences while escaping the noise of Los Angeles.

This edit would make a great vanity piece for platforms with long shelf lives such as a brand’s website or youtube channel.

The nature of shooting motorcycles doesn’t afford you the luxury of elaborate set-ups. There’s no patience for gear getting in the way. We shot mostly hand-held for a rugged, organic aesthetic that matches the “no-frills no fuss” design philosophy of a Triumph motorcycle. It just works with nothing to get in the way. We spent all day running the desert heat with dust in our lungs and caked all over our RED Komodos. My car got stuck in the sand and we had to spend a very unpleasant hour at twilight digging the wheel out with some shovels and pushing it back on solid ground. I also had a nasty cough for about a week after. But I regret nothing and couldn’t be happier with the results.