The making of Motorcycle Riders Hub – Promo Video (part 1)

It all started with a meeting with a few of the original team. I had a concept for a new business that was going to be called Video Biker. We needed a professional filmmaker to cast their eye over what I had produced, what the thoughts were and what was trying to achieve.

Promo video ideas

Calum sat there patiently and listened to the plans, he asked a few questions and listened some more. We were aiming for a promotional video that would capture an audience, show customers what we were investing our time in and also to help people study in a different way when they wanted to learn to ride.

The topics on the agenda were the three complete Academy’s, they would be the Learner, Module 1 and Module 2. I wanted to bring something very different to what was on the market already. We were in brand new territory as I had no previous video experience.

The cogs go to work

Calum pondered for some time, we could almost hear the cogs turning as he was scheming a cunning plan. Then suddenly from nowhere he came up with the idea and foundation to our promo video, called ‘Actualise your Escape’.

Actualise your Escape

The video would need between 3-6 characters who were at different stages of life and training needs. We’d need some learners (younger riders), some born-again bikers (older guys) and someone who was just into bikes in a big way (male or female). 

They all had to have one thing in common, they all thought about biking whenever they were not riding. It was their life, not just a part of it but their whole purpose, it was the life blood running through their veins.

Plans in sand (or on paper)

The film maker went away to put his ideas down on paper, this would be the initial foundation and base for our first professional promo. 

We waited with baited breath for the next 24 hours and then as promised the first edition of the new plan arrived for a first view. I was impressed and eager and a date was set to start next week

Reality kicks in!

Oh My God, what have we done! Now we realise the extent of the task ahead of us, start filming next week, find locations, actors who can ride a bike, extras and some more film crew! 

Easy when you talk about it but in practice, what a mammoth task and only 10 days until we’d start to film and then get the editing done.

There is a little saying that goes like this. The correct way to do it is READY, AIM & THEN FIRE, we were actually doing it differently, we were doing READY, FIRE & THEN AIM.

Getting organised

Calum was left to deal with the filming stuff while we set about getting the cast sorted out, then the locations and the logistics to pull it off. 

All the organization paid off, the promo video is now in version 2.0, it’s been trimmed down a little bit and rebranded from the first take, so I guess we did actually pull it off. 

Businesses start in bedrooms or garages

Businesses start in your head and then slowly transfer to paper and then the graft starts. It is usually in a quiet place like a spare bedroom or a garage and this business was no different. It was a great effort and I once again found that my favours grew far and wide as we set about creating a business on a budget.

For the record and once again, many many thanks to everyone who helped, got involved, got up early or worked late, gave up their workspace, gave up their time and of course for being wherever we asked at the right time. 

We enjoyed almost every minute of it and would not change a thing, thank you.