Tim Meehan, owner, 21stCentury Graphics

The Goal

Well-known energy drink company Red Bull wanted to capture the energy and intensity of competition through the eyes of extreme athletes, so they created the Red Bull Fuel + Fury freestyle snowmobiling and video competition. The goal was to transform snowmobile competitors into successful videographers. Tim Meehan, a member of the Apple Consultants Network, was hired by Red Bull to provide creative and technical support for the competing “sledheads” as they participated in the extreme seven-day event in the rugged Alaskan backcountry.

Red Bull® Energy Drink is favored by a wide variety of people—from top athletes to busy professionals—who want immediate energy, increased performance, greater concentration, and improved reaction speed. Much like their popular drink, the Red Bull company is a spirited, edgy organization that draws an international following through its sponsorship of extreme competitions and sporting events. By using leading-edge technology to communicate their message and by employing high-energy athletes within the company, Red Bull continues to intrigue and inspire their customers.

The Event

The 2006 Red Bull Fuel + Fury event took place at the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. Not only a freestyle snowmobiling competition, the event also included a videography contest featuring 16 of the world’s best riders and videographer teammates, who strove to express their creative perspective using digital video shot during the event. The grand finale was a highly-publicized party in Anchorage, where the final videos were shown on the big screen as well as streamed live on the Internet. Audiences around the globe voted online, or in person at select locations, to choose the winners of the videography contest. The videos were also made available to the public in the iTunes Music Store the day of the event, so fans could watch on their iPods or Macs.

A lot was at stake. The event was highly publicized, with fans anxious to view the riders’ final videos. But most of the competing “sledheads” were inexperienced videographers with only seven days to turn their creative ideas into professional-quality short films up to par for public viewing. Plus, everything had to be filmed and produced during the snowmobiling event in Alaska, where weather conditions, long hours, and physical injury added to the creative challenges.

The event required a lot of preparation. Red Bull’s own cutting-edge technical team wanted help from a consultant who was not only familiar with extreme sporting events, but who could plan ahead for the technical challenges the videographers would face in the Alaskan backcountry. Red Bull needed an expert who could provide ongoing creative and technical support during the event, manage the hotel-based digital video studios, and help the riders complete their videos on time.

The Assignment

  1. Recommend systems configuration for on-location video editing studios
  2. Set up DV workstations, an ad hoc network, and video editing software
  3. Provide continual technical support on location in Alaska
  4. Train and assist first-time Mac users and novice videographers through creative and post production DV processes
  5. Help produce and deliver final videos for live public viewing on DVD and for real-time streaming online in several formats

The Consultant

Tim Meehan, owner of 21stCentury Graphics in Arvada, Colorado, is no stranger to extreme sports—paragliding, snowboarding, and mountain biking among his many pursuits. He was already familiar with Red Bull’s extreme events when he was contacted about consulting for the Fuel + Fury competition in Alaska. His passion for extreme sports and his creative and technical expertise made him the perfect consultant for the job.

Originally a professional illustrator for print media, Meehan began his graphic design career on the earliest Macs. He founded 21stCentury Graphics in 1984, turning his creative talent and technical skill working on the Mac platform into a successful consulting business. Now, with over 20 years of consulting experience and a certification from Apple, Tim continues to run a successful business by delivering high-end Mac-based creative and technical services to companies around the world. He offers his clients turnkey creative and multimedia solutions, and has published numerous books about desktop publishing and graphic design applications, as well as Final Cut Pro techniques.

Thanks to these qualifications, Tim was able to offer superior consulting for Red Bull’s Fuel + Fury competition and assist some of the world’s best backcountry riders in turning their extreme passion into exciting digital video. From choosing the right technology to installing the systems that made-up the video editing studios in Alaska, Tim alleviated any concerns that Red Bull had about the technical needs of the contest competitors. By providing hands-on support to the videographers during the event, Tim helped to ensure that the final videos truly expressed the riders’ passion and creative visions while also meeting Red Bull’s high standard of quality.

“Tim Meehan’s qualifications as a certified Apple Consultants Network member really cemented his credibility with all of us here at Red Bull. His patience, skill and dedication to the project were as intense as those attributes in the athletes who took part. The project really did depend heavily on Tim's help and expertise. I'd recommend his services to anyone seeking to undertake a similar endeavor.”

— Herb Heneman
    Sports Marketing Manager
    Red Bull North America

The Solution

The greatest challenge that Red Bull faced during the Fuel + Fury competition was making sure the rider-videographers were able to deliver high-quality videos at the end of the seven-day competition. Severe weather, remote locations, and the lack of technical experience of the contestants added intensity to the extreme competition. Most of the riders were unfamiliar with using Macs and had never created digital video before. What they did have was intense passion for freestyle snowmobiling and plenty of creative vision. It was Tim’s job to make sure the technology he chose could be adopted quickly and easily, enabling the riders to feel confident about using the creative tools without the need for in-depth training.

Tim used 16 iMac G5s to set up video editing studios at the Alyeska Prince Hotel in Girdwood, Alaska. He used AirPort Extreme to create an ad hoc network that allowed the iMacs to easily communicate with one another, simplifying the task of sharing video clips and other resources from computer to computer. Riders used Sony HDV cameras to shoot their footage out on the slopes and LaCie 100GB portable FireWire drives to transport the video files. After shooting, they transferred their footage over to the iMacs for editing in Final Cut Pro. Tim helped the riders learn to make the most of Final Cut Pro’s easy-to-use but powerful features to edit pieces of video together, add special effects, and even include sound and music clips.

When the final videos were ready to be shared with the public they had to be rendered for release on the web in several sizes and formats using Macromedia Flash Player, Windows Media Player, and QuickTime. Because they needed to be compressed at the highest quality and framerate available, this process was time-intensive. On the final night of production, each rider spent three hours rendering and delivering their digital files to Tim Meehan, who then worked all night to transform those files into the final formats and upload them onto Red Bull’s server. Each video was rendered on a different iMac, so the processing could be done simultaneously to save time. The videos were also rendered onto DVD, using iDVD, for final delivery to the theater in Alaska where the viewing party was being held. It was certainly a crunch, but after only seven days of filming and post-production, the final videos were delivered on time—with just hours to spare.

“It’s always fun to work with Red Bull because everything they produce is so high-energy, high-quality and leading edge. It’s an exciting atmosphere to be a part of—combining the latest technology with the skills and passion of their athletes to bring their message to the world.”

— Tim Meehan
    21stCentury Graphics

The Results and Benefits

Thanks to Tim Meehan’s intelligent planning before the event and diligent support during the production process, the event went off without a hitch. Once again, Red Bull had produced an edgy, unique event that was compelling to their discerning audience. The competitors were able to translate their creative ideas into reality without being intimidated by the technology they used to develop their videos. Local fans were able to see high-quality videos in a professional theater setting, and fans worldwide were able to watch the videos in real-time on the Fuel + Fury website.

Most importantly, Red Bull was a satisfied customer—the investment they made in the event, technology, and consulting services all proved worthwhile. Tim’s hard work and expertise made the production process run smoothly, while the Mac-based solution was comprehensive yet simple for the novice videographers to learn. Red Bull was impressed by the power and ease-of-use of the Mac and pleased with the quality of service that Tim provided.

21stCentury Graphics and Red Bull look forward to working together on future extreme sporting events. To top it off, Herb Heneman, Sports Marketing Manager for Red Bull North America and, until recently a diehard PC user, is already enjoying his newly purchased MacBook!

To learn more about Red Bull’s Fuel + Fury competition, to watch the video clips, and to see who won the competition, visit: http://redbullfuelandfury.com/