Our friend (and motion control veteran) Anthony Jacques worked on the signature ”elevator zolly“ shots used throughout the show, and came to us with a concept for a shot that could only be done with the Bolt X.
They wanted to up the ante for the opening scene of season two – starting with another elevator zolly, but then having the camera whip around Adam Scott’s head, landing behind him, and then following him out of the elevator.
To clarify a bit – throughout the show, a ”zolly“ (also known as a ”dolly zoom“), is an optical trick done with a zoom lens, where the camera is either pushed forward or pulled back (on a dolly), and as this is happening, the focal length of the lens is zoomed in or out, keeping he actor’s framing consistent through the move. As the focal length is changed, the background grows/shrinks, and the actor’s appearance is distorted as the lens shifts, creating a very interesting effect.
After a quick test in-house, we felt confident that we’d be able to make the move work, but our primary concern was safety, given how close the rig would be to the actor for the initial part of the shot.
With some extensive pre-viz work and internal testing, we were able to get a working version of the move that everyone was happy with – specifically the stunt coordinator. 😉
After the successful execution of this shot, we were thrilled to be asked to work on another two segments of Mark’s hallway run.
The next segment called for the camera to start from behind Mark, running at speed, and then fly past him, ultimately landing directly in front of him. To accomplish this, a full green-screen studio was built, and a large treadmill was placed in the center of the room. Adam Scott was secured to a truss above him with a safety line (should he happen to lose his balance and fall). The move came together quickly, and fit right into the sequence perfectly.
That transitioned into our final segment, which was the most ambitious – starting out with another orbital move around Adam, transitioning into a high speed dash down the hallway, running directly towards the camera, ending with the camera whipping around a corner at the last second.
This was set up in one of the hallway sets, with one of the walls removed to make room for the Bolt X, which would be traveling on an 80-foot run of track.
After a few rehearsals we got the timing dialed in, and again, everything came out looking great.
Kudos to the incredible team at Industrial Light & Magic, who seamlessly stitched everything together.