COMMENCAL NEWS Im-mobile-Matthieu-Bonnecuelle-Olivier-Weideman

(Im)mobile - Matthieu Bonnécuelle & Olivier Weideman

“Throughout our history, we have worked with many photographers, videographers and artists of all styles and born from all walks of life. Olivier is not only one of them, but one of the very first, not least perhaps THE first. Out of contact for years, he called me up and asked me to lend him my personal bike. Him and a friend of his wanted to make a video marrying BMX Flat with a META POWER. Marriage could not be more surprising! Modern, nostalgic?

In any case, many thanks Olivier. I was honoured and I'm happy that this project gave us the opportunity to reconnect."

- Max COMMENCAL.

"How about we shoot flat pictures on an electric MTB?" Come on, we'll send Max an email and we'll see. Max answers the next day, he's up for it! But there was a problem, there were no more models in stock. The only COMMENCAL POWER available was his. I called Matthieu: "Hey Matthieu, I have something for you with an 29er eBike". "Why an eBike?" Was his only question. Zoobab answered him simply, "You might as well take the bike that is the most opposite of a BMX, there would be no point in a 24" or a 26"… They are too close to a BMX."

- Olivier Weidemann / Photographer.

"The sequel to that spark is the presence of the UFO; the balance of opposites, an incredible BMX Flat rider on a big COMMENCAL mountain bike with an engine! This meeting of different worlds yet very close; UFOs from riding, photography, editing - unclassifiable people and things in a world where everything has to be in its place. And above all, there is only COMMENCAL who will take on such a project!"

- Jean-Pierre "Zoobab" Garnier / Designer.

“From the inside, changing tools for something less practical was interesting because it gave me technical limits that made me concentrate on creating images more than what was technically possible to do with this bike. (…) I am in favor of movement with a bicycle in all forms, and it is nice to see that a movement can be executed with different geometries, to see how the sensations of the body change, and how the image of the figure also changes. It's an experiment, a bit like drawing with another tool than the one you're used to. "

- Matthieu Bonnécuelle / Flatland BMX Rider, 4th in the last World Championships.

“We had to surprise, innovate and ensure that Matthieu's performance, magnified by the artistic eye of Olivier, tilts into another dimension! There you have it, we had to SURPRISE even more! My idea was to subtly animate certain movements of Matthieu and bring the photos to life without altering them. (…) For the record, I was editing the video when Matthieu was participating in the final of the BMX Flatland World Championships. I really didn't know much about his legendary riding and watching his incredible final run live on the web really made me shake with excitement! A pure moment of poetry! I suddenly felt like I had a better understanding of his world and I finaliased the video with a different view. Magical!"

- Seb Ronjon / Director.

Rider: Matthieu Bonnécuelle
Original idea : Zoobab / Olivier Weidemann
Director : Seb Ronjon
Music & Sound Edit : Jeremy Korpas
Photographer : Olivier Weidemann