ZERO GRAVITY PRODUCTION.
HIGH-TECH, LOW PROFILE Working off the advice of a camera operator from Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, Bleyer made sure to employ a small enough system that would handle well
But of course there were a handful of unexpected turns once in the air. “During the first take, my own legs got in the way,” the director laughs. “One person was holding on to my back, to secure me in place and control the camera movement, but my legs started floating right up into frame. There was no way I could push them down! “Our props were carefully considered. Things like water droplets behave in a unique way, but some solid items can read as slow motion rather than zero gravity. When you throw something, you’re used to arcing it because you expect it to go up and down. But in this case, we learned very quickly that if you do that, they fly way too fast in a straight line.” All in all, Bleyer’s chance to live out his dream was even more unforgettable than he imagined. As for the final visuals... they say more than words ever could. “I’ve seen zero gravity before, in videos of astronauts, Apollo 13 and an OK Go music video we studied a lot, but it all goes out the window when you’re suddenly suspended. There’s nothing touching your body, which is a very simple description of such an odd feeling. “I have an overwhelming abundance of gratitude for Team Liquid and Coinbase. I’m having the time of my life. I didn’t go to film school or even have dreams of being a director – I just spent my entire high school and college years making videos with friends because it was fun. If you spend that much time doing something, you’ll get proficient. When I realised clients would put money behind this creative process, I knew I’d be doing it forever,” Bleyer concludes. “Filmmaking has given me some incredible experiences, but this was the best of all.”
“I’ve seen zero gravity in videos of astronauts, Apollo 13 and an OK Go music video, but it all goes out the window when you’re suddenly suspended”
HEAVY LIFTING After as much preparation as the situation allowed, a few optimistic vomit warnings and some moments energising his crew out of mass panic, Bleyer had lift-off. More than ever, the filmmaker’s tools were of utmost importance. So the Red Monstro was called into action, paired with a set of Fujinon Premista zooms. “One of the first calls I made, when the idea was pitched to me, was to a camera operator from Apollo 13 ,” says Bleyer. “He gave me interesting advice regarding the system: keep it as tiny as possible. When you’re floating, you want easy handling; same when you’re ascending again. In those moments, you’re at 1.8x Earth’s normal gravity and don’t want a shoulder rig! We built the camera with two big side handles to grab onto, manoeuvre and set down easily. “I wanted beautiful and cinematic visuals, and for me, Red is the best system out there. The Monstro has this incredible 8K capability. With limited time in these parabolas, I could capture a wide frame and a close-up at the same time. All we’d have to do was crop in later, which was possible thanks to all that resolution. “Not only did I know Reds would work in these conditions – there are Red cameras on the International Space Station – but I also knew they were capable of high frame rate, for slow motion,” Bleyer effuses. “They could not have performed any better.”
people all over the world, so you can only really work with them when they happen to be in your city. I reached out, learned they were going to be in Southern California soon, and we secured them,” he recalls. “To prep, the best approach was one day on the ground, with everyone present for a full rehearsal. Then, the following day, we’d fly up and do this thing. We knew each weightless fall would only last 27 seconds, and we’d need five seconds to set up every shot because you have to lie down between arcs. Those were our windows to capture footage, which would be extremely tricky. “During rehearsal, the Zero-G team were timing us and running through the motions. As a director, I’m always into rehearsing and planning. Only on that day, we simply had to say: ‘We’ve done what we can, let’s see how this goes.’”
TAKING OFF AJ Bleyer surveys the Zero-G Boeing 727
31. JUNE 2022
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