Red Bull
Kriss Kyle: Don’t Look Down
Campaign, Ride film & Documentary
Role: Producer
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50M+ Views
BMX athlete Kriss Kyle rides 2000ft in the air on a carbon fibre skatepark suspended below a hot air balloon.
I produced a hero stunt film for YouTube & 40 minute documentary for RBTV
TRAILER
Kriss Kyle rides a BMX park in the sky.
Over 1 million views on YouTube
+ millions more on social
The Crew
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2 x Helicopters
GB Helicopters
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FPV Drone
Andrew Lawrence
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2 x Alexa Mini ground teams
Jack Bailey & Tiago Kingwell
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3 x RED Rigged Cameras
Extreme Facilities
2 years in the making
A concept born in lockdown - whilst isolated, Kriss found himself riding in his native Scottish highlands, looking up at the sky and dreaming of possibilities. The concept was quick to flesh out, but the execution took somewhat longer.
We captured the progress of the project - or sometime lack of it - over the course of 2 years. From the initial wooden test bowl - lifted using a crane, through to the final successful flights after months of waiting for the right weather conditions.
We captured the unique, world-first collaboration between Kriss, Monolith ramp builders and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (the external engineering department from the F1 Red Bull Oracle racing team) to design the carbon fibre bowl and it’s support structures needed to secure it to a hot air balloon.
Behind the scenes Documentary on RBTV
Premiered at Red Bull Racing HQ in Milton Keynes, with the audience nestled in between the F1 cars from the last 10 years, the 40minute documentary covers the project’s 3 year journey, taking the concept from it’s early stage tests with a crane & wooden bowl through to the final flights on a cold morning in January. Available exclusively on the Red Bull TV Channel.
My Role & challenges
I led the production of the ‘Don’t Look Down’ films for 2 years, from early proof of concept tests to the final flights in December and January 2023. I collaborated with Director Matty Lambert on a hero ‘Ride Film’ and worked with Director Tigao Kingwell to create a detailed behind-the-scenes documentary for Red Bull TV, highlighting the projects numerous technical and creative challenges.
At times, the task seemed impossible, requiring engineering innovation, perfect weather conditions and insane bravery from Kriss to work out how to ride a bowl swinging in the air like a pirate ship in stormy waters.
With a custom built carbon fibre bowl designed by Red Bull Advanced Technologies - using the same techniques used for the F1 Oracle Red Bull Racing team - and a custom balloon from Cameron Balloons in Bristol - made to the largest possible size in europe - the project featured an insane world first.
Dir - Tiago Kingwell Ride Film Dir - Matty LambertRed Bull Producer - Jim HolmesAssistant Producer - Dana Leonard,
Assistant Producers - Ana Tapia, Kristina ToffiCamera Assistant & 8mm - Marko Steinberg
In the edit.
The documentary edit was managed incrementally throughout the years, creating scenes to showcase the progress to the Red Bull Media House Production team, to continue extended support from senior management for the project and to highlight any missing footage we needed.
Editor: Ross CasswellEditor ride film: Matty LambertPost support & social edits: Sophie Pham. Colour by Vlad Barin @ CHEAT Sound design & mix by Sound DispositionWith original composition by Louis SouyaveWith additional sound design by Keith White
Press.
Local news and national radio jumped on the story as the general public first spotted the balloon in the sky on the shoot days. The internet rumours were rife until our launch day a few weeks later.
Once live, the project was picked up by national newspapers and television including The Sun & ITV News. Reports and features were even spotted further afield on international news programs.
To round off the project there was a full centre page spread & feature article in Red Bull’s Red Bulletin.
“Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's a hot air balloon with a suspended skatepark of course”!
- Chris Evans – Radio DJ