Anthill Films have released more behind-the-scenes footage from Follow Me, and this time it shows the most talked about move of the film – Matt Hunter's jaw-dropping gap-to-wall-ride.
In the finished film, Hunter effortlessly nails the massive jump, but it turns out that on his first attempt he wasn't so lucky and ended up crashing straight into the cliff.
Check out the clip below, which also includes footage from the start of the film where Hunter and Kurt Sorge ride a huge step-down. There's a mini interview with Hunter too.
Follow me in kamloops
When did you first get the idea to build the gap-to-wall ride and how did it come about?
Matt Hunter: A gap-to-wall like that one? Well it was sitting there in the “imagination” section of my brain. It didn’t get to move over to the “reality” section until I hiked into that zone and saw the run-in and the cliff wall. Even then, it took a while for my brain to complete the transfer from imagination to reality.
The first time you hit it things didn’t turn out so great. What happened? What went wrong?
I went too slow. It wasn't possible to judge the speed on that run-in, I had nowhere to go except off the ramp once I committed to going fast down that hill. I knew I wasn’t going to make it but I had to hit the jump anyway… So I kind of flying-squirreled my way across to the far wall and ditched my bike. I landed on the wall and bounced to the bottom. Thanks to Murphy and his stupid laws I happened to land on top of my upside-down bike, and cut my balls. I was kind of stressed about it but it turned out to be a non-serious flesh wound. A few stitches and they're fine!
For your second attempt, time was getting down to the wire for the film. What were you feeling waiting at the top getting ready to drop in?
I was really confident because I'd made my run-in about 200m longer, so I was pretty sure I'd have enough speed. I guess I was feeling pretty focused though, just wrapping my head around what I wanted to do.
The second time up there you dropped in before the crew was ready. Did you do that on purpose?
Ha ha, no not on purpose. We had a communication issue. I was so far away from them at the top of my run-in that they couldn’t hear me even though I was yelling at them. They thought I was just doing a test run.
What was going through your head right before you took off? Did you know you had it as soon as you left the lip?
Usually you know as you leave the lip, but this time I wasn’t too sure, as I ended up landing on a huge sagebrush. I thought it might make me crash, but I hardly felt it, it was a sweet bush-tranny.
That shot is one of the most talked about shots in the film. What kind of response have you gotten from people you’ve talked to?
People remember it for sure. That makes me happy, I always want to film something big, that’s fun, and that people will remember and enjoy watching. I was lucky to find the right setup for that move. I knew the instant I saw it that I had to try it… It’s really great when those things work!
