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Mountain Biking

Frames of Mind | 7 Must-See Moments from Matt Jones’ New Mountain Bike Video Epic

Including a fistful of MTB world firsts, two of which in particular we just can't stop watching...

You know when Red Bull go all out on a video that they’re going to produce something special. They did it with Kriss Kyle’s Kaleidoscope, they’ve done it with Danny MacAskill on numerous occasions and now with ‘Frames of Mind‘, they’ve done it with mountain biker Matt Jones as well.

‘Frames of Mind’ is a short film that uses ‘rotoscoping’ techniques to show how Britain’s top freestyle mountain biker visualises his tricks and pushes his riding. Rotoscoping is the process of transferring an image from live action film into another film sequence. If you’ve seen the Keanu Reeves/Robert Downy Jr/Woody Harrelson/Winona Ryder film ‘A Scanner Darkly’, it’s how that was made. In Matt Jones’ video, the end result is something that looks like it’s been taken straight out of a Tony Hawk-style video game.

Of course, the filming techniques in ‘Frames of Mind’ aren’t the only talking point though. Matt Jones is a hell of a rider, and by the end of the edit he’s managed to land a full five world first tricks on a mountain bike – as well as some bonus extras which are particularly good looking.

1) 270 Rim Bonk

270 Bonk. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 0:40 in video (1st trick)

What: Matt transfers between features with a 270, adding in a front-rim bonk off a tree to help him on his way. A ridiculous world-first to start off the video.

We’ve actually been known to hit a tree or two from time to time at the start of a mountain bike run as well, though admittedly when we do it, it also tends to be the end of our run…

2) Loop-the-Loop

Loop-the-loop. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 1:50 in video

What: This one is self-explanatory! Not a world first, but damn impressive. There’s something about a giant loop-the-loop that never gets old. It’s very existence is a challenge to the world.

Matt told Dirt Magazine: “This is not actually like a conventional loop-the-loop. It was five metres off-set. When you do backflips on a bike, you’re rotating backwards but you’re still travelling forwards. With this you ride up but the moment you start travelling back the way you came. It’s so weird!”

3) Superman Backflip to Tuck No Hander

Superflip on the big kicker. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 1:43 in video

What: Exactly what it says on the tin! Which is actually quite a mouthful in this case.

Matt does a superman backflip/Tsunami flip – where the bike goes behind him first, leaving his body parrallel with the ground, before he then goes to join it. He then still finds the time to chuck in a no-hander (taking both hands off the handlebars) before landing.

If you want a shorter name for this world-first to describe to your friends, just call it “madness” and direct them to 1:43 in the video.

4) The Bum Slide

The Bum Slide… Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 2:09 in video

What is it: It’s the ‘Bum Slide’! But while the name might be comical the move is genuinely one of the best things we’ve seen on a bike in some time.

Matt jumps onto a step-on-step-off but instead of riding, slides the length of the thing sideways and then gets back upright on the drop. This is probably the funnest move in the whole video. The final shot makes what must have been a very painful process look stylish as can be.

Matt admitted: “That was one of the hardest things to get because I always wet the top of the platform to slide, then every time you did it, it would dry out a bit more so it’d grip more. It was real trial and error. Quite a lot of luck went into that one, it took a lot of goes.”

5) Hitching Post flip to Feet

The Hitching post flip to feet. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 2:23 in video

What: This is one that you have to see to believe… So bare with us while we try and describe it to you in words.

Matt does a backflip off a kicker, then lands on his feet, on a log, while holding his bike. He then jumps back on his bike and keeps on going with the run. This is some Olympic-gymnastics-level riding right here.

The move is exactly as insane as it sounds. This is the kind of thing that if you were able to do on Matt Hoffman Pro BMX on your PlayStation would have been dubbed unrealistic. We’ve watched it about seven times now and are still coming to terms.

Matt told Dirt Mag: “I think I invented the flip on to feet and then jump back in. I did it at Corby skatepark on a jump box two years ago and people thought it was really cool. When we realised we were doing this film in the woods, it made sense to build a hitching post out of a log and do it on that. I think that’s the shot I’m most stoked on in the whole film.”

6) The Double Backflip

Dirty-faced. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 3:10 in video

What: A beautiful, perfectly-timed, neatly landed, wonderfully filmed double backflip to make you warm inside. The rotoscoping is particularly pleasing on this one as well, since Matt has to go through two ghost-images to land the double. It’s like watching him pick up power-ups.

The little section of flowy, golden-brown wonder that leads up to this flip is also guaranteed to make you jealous of this course. Though maybe give the giant kickers a miss if you’re not a professional…

7) The Outtakes

Matt reviews the footage. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

When: 3:45 in video

What: As is the case with this line of high-concept Red Bull videos, by the time everything is done and dusted it almost makes it look like the rider can do no wrong and nailed everything in one take. But of course that’s not the case.

That’s why we like that they always stick a little section in at the end to highlight the trickiest parts of the edit for the rider. It not only reminds you that the rider in question is human, but also highlights how much work they’ve put into making the clip.

For Matt, the outtakes from the bum slide looks agonizing, the loop looks downright confusing and the big air stuff just reminds you how mad it is that there’s people on earth who even attempt some of these tricks, nevermind land them.

And finally…

…because someone always asks. Here’s the song from the video. It’s called ‘A Question Isn’t Answered’ by Temples, and yes, it’s a tune.

You May Also Like

Introducing Kriss Kyle’s Kaleidoscope: The Must See BMX Feature… Filmed in a Moving Skate Park

Frames of Mind | Matt Jones Just Released One of the Most Creative Mountain Bike Edits We’ve Seen This Year

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