Written by new-contact on Nov 15, 2013. Posted in Production News

Filmmaker Devin Graham shoots Mid-West base-jumping stunts for Ford

Filmmaker Devin Graham headed to Twin Falls in Idaho and to Jackson Hole in Wyoming to shoot base-jumping stunts as a way of promoting the Ford Escape. The concept was to give Graham and his team the opportunity to do whatever they wanted using a single tank of fuel.

Choosing a base-jumping trip, the team jumped off the Perrine Memorial Bridge in Idaho, before driving across the state line to jump from airborne hot air balloons in Wyoming. Utah-based CineChopper filmed the action jumping using multi-rotor remote-controlled helicopters.

“We wanted two locations we could film at that we could get to on one tank of gas that looked different from each other,” explained Graham.

We chose the bridge because it's the only bridge in America you can jump off legally. We chose Jackson Hole, Wyoming, because it was super-photogenic.

Devin Graham, Director

“We were doing the video to promote what you could do with one tank of gas with a Ford Escape. We chose the bridge because it's the only bridge in America you can jump off legally. We chose Jackson Hole, Wyoming, because it was super-photogenic,” he adds.

Wind was the biggest challenge and the team had to wait for safe conditions both for the bridge jumps and the hot air balloons stunts. In addition, the remote helicopter had to be launched from mid-air as the pedestrian walkway on the bridge wasn’t wide enough to enable it to take-off from a grounded position.

Remote-controlled helicopters are being used more commonly in commercial production. They’re small and mobile, and offer the operational flexibility of Steadicam, crane and dolly rigs rolled into one. On the downside, battery life is often very limited and importing the batteries from overseas can be a challenge as there are restrictions on how Lithium Polymer batteries can be transported by air.

Credits:
Client: Ford Escape
Director: Devin Graham
Producer: Buddy Enright
Cinematographers: Devin Graham, Parker Walbeck, Jared Cook, Austin Day and Joseph Tilley