ZERO GRAVITY PRODUCTION.
The list of directors to film in aeroplane-simulated zero gravity is shorter than the facilitating flight path itself. On an innovative commercial shoot, AJ Bleyer took the Red Monstro and added his name in unforgettable fashion
WORDS. Lee Renwick IMAGES. Advent Films
A converted aircraft rockets into the sky and then, at the hands of skilled pilots and having reached its peak, begins a controlled plummet. Suddenly, those on board are weightless – floating as if in outer space. There’s not enough speed to force passengers backwards. There’s no wind resistance to provide a sense of direction. As far as the body can tell, Earth’s gravity lever has been momentarily disengaged. To mark the momentous coming together of esports organisation Team Liquid and cryptocurrency giant Coinbase, AJ Bleyer threw himself and his crew head first into what happened to be a lifelong dream. The director and executive producer offered his expertise, not just during flight, but in the smooth operation of the entire shoot. “Team Liquid is one of the biggest names in gaming and Coinbase is huge in crypto. Having signed a partnership, the two required a larger-than-life announcement. It was a real first-time crossover for these industries,” Bleyer explains. “When they called and told me the idea to film in zero gravity, my brain broke. Let me explain, I’m a huge science guy – a total nerd. Being handed this opportunity was a level-ten fantasy.” The concept was rather simple. The clients wanted to show a handful of
A SOARING SET-UP The Red Monstro proved a capable beast, especially paired with a Fujinon Premista lens well-known gaming figures having a normal conversation on a plane, then all of a sudden cut to them floating. “Just like magic,” one performer quipped. For the crew, that meant shooting half on a set, and half in the air on the parabolic flight. “As a producer, you learn anything can be put together with enough research. You discover it’s possible to work with cheetahs or snow leopards, and that one’s good with kids, but the other has a better work ethic,” Bleyer jests. “But setting up a zero-gravity shoot went beyond anything I’d ever done before.” As one can imagine, this particular type of flight is not easy to come by. You won’t find a suitable aircraft in any old hangar, nor a capable pilot – and that’s without even touching upon FAA clearance and popular demand. “We found a company called Zero-G that possesses a giant, modified Boeing 727. They provide this experience to
29. JUNE 2022
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