Free Fallin'
CrashCam takes stunt photography to the limit in XXX
By Andrew Takeuchi

"Like a million dollar egg-drop," was camera operator Ed Gutentag's quick description of the challenge he faced on the new feature XXX, running multiple video cameras on a car plunging 800 feet into a river gorge. While apt, the phrase hardly does justice to the research and design ingenuity that went into the remarkable stunt.

Originally approached by the film's prop department, who were looking for realistic looking camera crash housings, Ed Gutentag of CrashCam had no idea that this brief meeting would lead to one of the most unusual jobs of his career.

The prop department visit developed out of a referral from Panavision. Although CrashCam had only been in business for a couple of years, Gutentag and his partner, cinematographer Michael Kelem had built a solid reputation for their company and equipment by providing quality equipment as well as experienced service and project consultation.

CrashCam evolved out of discussions the two had while working together on the action unit of Chill Factor. Gutentag, at the time an assistant cameraman with considerable experience in action photography and Kelem, a cinematographer known for his aerial work, had been talking over ways to streamline stunt work. Existing crash housings were decidedly low-tech, sturdy, but requiring time-consuming effort to change exposure or focus settings. Using off-the-shelf components, Gutentag and Kelem designed a crash housing system that smoothly integrated remote control of iris, focus, camera speed and start/stop, along with video tap and microwave transmitter into a resilient, low profile housing.

The resulting CrashCam system was an immediate success, a durable, easy to use system with advanced electronic controls. Kelem says the name has become something of a generic term for crash housings, "like Kleenex is to tissue." So when the prop department from XXX went looking for someone to build them a custom camcorder housing, they were sent directly to Gutentag and Kelem.

The scene in question involves a stunt in which Xander, the lead played by Vin Diesel, surfs a stolen Corvette over the side of an 800 foot high bridge, parachuting off the car as it plunges into oblivion. In the script, Xander and his crew of extreme sports fanatics plant video camcorders on the car to record the stunt for posterity (and of course, laughs).

When XXX director Rob Cohen decided he wanted to include the "footage" from the car-mounted camcorders in the film, Gutentag received a call. What had originally been conceived, as props would now house working cameras.

"We need to pull the impact away from the recording device," Gutentag told Cohen, explaining that no camcorder would survive that sort of drop with the tape intact. The solution would have to involve separating the recording decks from the relatively light protection offered by the small camera housings. After some thought, Gutentag suggested using Sony XC 999 lipstick cameras in small custom housings with cables sending a picture signal to DV record decks in custom crash housings in the trunk.

Since the camera housings themselves would be in the movie, Gutentag asked Cohen if he wanted his art department to design the look of the housings.

He said, "think like garage--as if all you have is a hammer and a screwdriver--you don't have a machine shop." And I thought, 'cool,' because with that he was saying that he trusted me," said Gutentag.

Still Gutentag knew he had a big job in front of him. He had a basic concept in place, but he had a lot of work to do to ensure that the footage would survive. While the production had budgeted for doing the stunt twice, Gutentag wanted to be sure that his end would work the first time.

The stunt called for three camera placements, one on the hood of the car, one mounted on the passenger sideview mirror and one on the floor of the passenger compartment. Three cameras meant that the camera housings would have to be relatively compact so they would not overwhelm the available space on the car. Three cameras also meant that Gutentag would have to secure and protect three separate record decks somewhere on the vehicle.

Gutentag conferred with Kelem and worked out a general plan. Custom housings would be built for the lipstick cameras and the DV record decks would be housed in Pelican hardcases hidden inside the car's trunk. Since the bridge ran high over a river gorge, there was a chance that the equipment would be submerged for an extended period before the decks and precious tapes could be retrieved. Therefore, waterproof connections would be required for the housings and cable junctions.

Planning for two shots at the stunt, plus one test run, the production acquired three identical Corvettes. With a multitude of unknowns surrounding such an extraordinary stunt, a test run was deemed necessary. While the test was filmed to provide additional footage, its primary purpose was to allow the principals involved a chance to view the behavior of the actual vehicle as it plunged 800 feet and make whatever changes to their plans they deemed necessary for a safe and successful stunt.

After the test, Gutentag was convinced that none of cameras would survive the fall. The small camera housings and fiberglass body of the car simply would not absorb enough of the impact to protect even the tiny lipstick cameras. Although his plan had always focused on protecting only the DV tapes and did not rely on the survival of any of the recording equipment, Gutentag was understandably nervous.

Gutentag began to consider backup options including transmission of the video signal to two overlapping remote receivers and even found a company that claimed it could extract video information from badly crumpled tape stock.

Gutentag decided he had to consult with John Fraiser, head of the special effects department on the film, both to solicit his advice as well as to pay respect to a specialist he admired. Fraiser agreed to take a look at Gutentag's rig and offer advice.

Fraiser told Gutentag that he thought that Gutentag's approach was generally on the money. Fraiser then told him a story about a stunt man he had seen years ago. The stunt man was jumping off a one-story building and as a test he laid a sheet of plywood on top of a bunch of coffee cups. This platform served as his only crash cushion. The stunt man made the jump and walked away without injury.

"You need air," said Fraiser, "Why don't you go out and get yourself some bubblewrap." According to Fraiser, the lesson learned was that survival from a fall is all about deceleration and that air acting as a cushion is an ideal decelerator. The next day Gutentag went to an office supply store and purchased twelve rolls of bubblewrap.

Ultimately, Gutentag decided that one of his record decks would be housed in a hard Pelican case with a custom foam cutout and then wrapped in several layers of bubblewrap. Gutentag used the remaining bubblewrap to line the entire trunk. For the other two DV record decks, Gutentag employed a slightly different approach.

For some time, Gutentag had been fascinated with the notion of using silicone, of the type used by airplane manufacturers to dampen vibrations, as a cushion for camera crash housings. After a bit of research, Gutentag was able to find a source for GE silicone. Unfortunately, when Gutentag received the silicone, he discovered that it came in an A/B formulation that required him to mix and bake the ingredients. Lacking the proper facilities in his own shop, Gutentag was able to use Fraiser's studio to bake two large brownie pan-sized slabs of one-inch thick silicone.

The two remaining decks were each placed in individual Pelican cases with foam cutouts. Gutentag then lined an even larger Pelican case with the silicone he had made and placed the two smaller cases inside, sandwiching them top and bottom in the silicone slabs.

With his protection scheme complete, Gutentag spent the next couple of days working with the grip and special effects crews rigging his equipment to the stunt car. Working with Key Grip Fred Albrecht, Gutentag secured his camera housings into their proper positions and then carefully drilled holes in the car body to allow cables to thread back to the record decks nestled in the trunk.

The night before the stunt, Gutentag sat in his hotel room, creating a mental checklist of the operations necessary to get the cameras and decks rolling. He knew exactly how long it would take him to get his equipment running and how long they could run before a reload or battery change if there was any major delay of the stunt.

The following morning, the stunt went off without a hitch. The Corvette, weighed to nose-dive into the gorge, made a perfect arc as it plunged to its destruction. Gutentag, who had been at the top of the bridge for the stunt raced down to the gorge to see the results. By the time he arrived, the video crew had already retrieved the tapes. Fearing for the integrity of these master tapes, the video assist man was reluctant to show Gutentag the tapes.

Gutentag persisted, because as he said, "I felt like my whole company was riding on that tape." Video assist finally relented and the tapes showed that the stunt had gone off perfectly. Miraculously one of the recorders even survived the fall. More importantly, Rob Cohen, the director was elated with the footage.