Help from the pilot community, who worked in roles from driving to assisting in the landing field, also made the production go smoothly. Director Neil Burger even went up for a tandem and experienced the challenges of air-to-air filming in a paraglider.ĭespite the complexities, “We had zero incidents during our dozens of tandems and hours of flying,” says Nick, adding that it was a “true joy” to work with the production team. “The actors’ wings and the camera wings were constantly moving up and down and drifting closer and further apart,” making the gliders difficult to capture on camera. “Two wings will not stay in perfectly synchronized flight,” Paul explains. paragliding national champion) flew the cameramen-who were seated both forward as well as backward to help them get close-up shots of the actors.įlying in proximity safely, while maintaining enough stability for filming, were the most challenging parts of shooting the scene.

In addition to Nick and Rob flying the actors, tandem pilots Honza Remanjek (of Cross Country Magazine) and Mitch Riley (Red Bull X-Alps participant and U.S. The team spent the next four days filming Bryan Cranston and a Kevin Hart double flying around Rogue Valley. Still, “It took weeks for the weather to come together, and just when the production was getting antsy, we finally got good conditions,” he recalls.įilming the flying from the ground. “I had a fantastic producer who would listen to me in terms of waiting for the right weather window,” says Nick. They had the site, the pilots, the crew, and the equipment-everything but the weather. He also helped obtain permits and sourced other equipment needed by the production, including cranes and ultralights. Working with locals Paul Murdoch and Kevin Lee, Nick helped the crew settle on Ruch, Oregon, home of Woodrat Mountain.Ī site in Pennsylvania had already been used to film the paragliding launch sequences, so Paul scouted Oregon sites that were more visibly similar to the Pennsylvania hill than the initial choice of Woodrat Mountain. The flying scenes needed a launch that could handle the size of the production, provide reliable weather, and offer support from the surrounding pilot community.

The actual paragliding scenes were more routine to shoot.

It took 4 days of paragliding to get all the shots As a result, filming Hart “paragliding” required some creativity, including a flying rig that hung from a crane, a shade structure simulating the glider’s canopy, and a large fan for wind. Unlike Cranston, Hart did not fly in any of the scenes. The scene begins with Dell (Hart) clutching the spreader bar (the bottom part of the paraglider) and glancing nervously at the ground below as his pilot (USHPA instructor Rob Sporrer) sits behind him flying the glider. Rob Sporrer and Kevin Hart in the paragliding rig.

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