Rapha 'The Bryan Chapman'

Following the success of MassiveMusic London’s previous collaborations with Rapha, the music agency and cycling clothing brand have come together once more for the latest film in the Rapha Continental series.

 

Rapha’s latest UK Continental, part of a global journey documenting rides around the world, was inspired by the Bryan Chapman Memorial, a key event in the UK cycling calendar that sends participants from Chepstow in South Wales up to Menai, across from Anglesey, and back –  a staggering distance of around 600 kilometers, with over 8,000 meters of climbing.

 

 

The visual continuity and narrative is very important in making the Rapha films different from other fashion films being made at the moment.  There is always an interesting narrative in the films rather than just a montage edit with a soundtrack. The films aim to capture a cyclist’s point of view and make the riders look good on the bikes.

 

Director Mark Jenkinson encountered some quite challenging weather during the shoot in the Welsh mountains which provided some stunning footage and the inspiration for MassiveMusic to create a soundtrack that would follow our riders from the sunny bliss of the valleys to the virtually impassable mountain.  Jenkinson comments, ‘Music is always so important in setting the mood I want for the film and underpinning the emotion I'm looking to convey. The changing weather in this film was the visual drama and the music needed to transport us into it’.  He adds, ‘I wanted something quite moody overall with the riders’ enjoyment to add the lightness and the music to represent the action and weather. I wanted a train like rhythm to convey the movement of the pack of riders and I also wanted it to have beauty as the location was so stunning’.

 

Massive London’s MD, Paul Reynolds, describes a particularly unique working relationship everybody had working on this film.  ‘Mark [Jenkinson], sound designer Dan Weinberg and I are all past Firefly riders, that group of nutters who ride for charity from Geneva to Cannes over the alps every year, finishing up at the Cannes Lions advertising festival’.  Reynolds adds, ‘We’ve all experienced the extremities of emotions you can feel on these rides and this really helped us understand how to creatively approach the film’.

 

‘Working with Massive is always a pleasure’, says Jenkinson, ‘They have a real understanding for emotion and tone. The referencing stage is always interesting and the collaboration takes the ideas to a greater place. I hardly have to make any changes to the music they create, which tells me they are on the same wavelength’.