Mike Hopkins - RedBull Raw 100: Backcountry

RedBull Raw 100: Backcountry

Published on March 17, 2016,

The idea behind the “Raw 100” series is to see what cinematographers and athletes can do in the window of 100 seconds. No music, no slow-mo, just natural sounds, and the reality of 24 frames a second. Previous instalments of the series have been incredibly well put together, from camera movements to the natural style of the athletes, you might say, a rather lofty bar had been set. Now the question was simply… how do we make it different? After much debate we went with the obvious… tell a story. Show people a good o’l time in the mountains. Take a couple days, head for the hills, sleep under the stars, and capture an experience, rather than just a trail.

You might be asking yourself, Who is Scott Secco?

Well… (commence rambling) take the work ethic of a Himalayan Ox, the flock frequency of well caffineated hummingbirds, and a mind with an unbelievable aptitude for archiving mountain media. Mix thoroughly. Pour contents into the polite frame of a cross country runner, and “Voila!”. You have yourself one of mountain biking’s hardest working cinematographers, Scott Secco.

Bread amidst the hipster capital of Canada, Scott skirted the Victorian quo. Sidestepping the vintage clothing and prescription-less tributes to Buddy Holly, he traded the irony of “uncool” for muddy boots, a dusty camera bag, a Dodge caravan, and a serious amount of talent behind the lens. Fresh off the breakout release of his first feature film “Builder”, Scott teamed with photographer, friend, and all around badass Bruno Long and I for this hike in the hills. You might say it was about time Scott wet his beak in the backcountry. Never one to shy from a challenge this RAW100 is the product of his first unsupported multi-day trip. We like to think he did a pretty damn good job.