Management was a very exciting project. The idea was that Steve Zahn's character wanted to show Jennifer Aniston's character that he can take risks and be spontaneous. So he jumps out of an airplane and plans on landing in the swimming pool in her backyard. I flew up to Oregon for a meeting with the production team and a location scout. We talked about different ways to achieve the stunt and came up with a good plan and I storyboarded the sequence.
I knew I needed a top notch team of skydivers so I called upon my friends Scott Smith and Joe Jennings as stunt doubles and Greg Gasson to film. We shot the freefall portion and pool landing on location in Oregon. Skydive Oregon provided their dropzone for the film and I can't say enough good things about the dropzone and their staff. The freefall portion called for a rodeo dive where one skydiver is riding on another's back. The director wanted Zahn's instructor to be riding on his back, and then pull out as Zahn continues on his own. Pulling out of a rodeo dive can be dangerous as it requires deployment at an unusually high speed. Scott felt comfortable trying it and it worked out great and looked perfect on film.
The biggest challenge was going to be making a pool landing look real without actually making a pool landing in a residential neighborhood. I came up with the idea of constructing scaffolding next to the pool area in a U shape, allowing Tony Boggs, Zahn's stunt double, to jump off a lower platform while two other's held the open parachute above him and let it go as he jumped. The camera was placed at the base of the scaffolding so that he jumped over it and into the pool. The 10 ft height actually allowed the parachute to inflate and fly for a brief second before hitting the water. It worked just as we'd planned and looked great in the film.
Credits
Aerial Stunt Coordinator / Director - Chris Burket
Aerial DP - Greg Gasson
Freefall Stunt Double - Joe Jennings
Freefall Stunt Double - Scott Smith
Steve Zahn Stunt Double - Tony Boggs
I knew I needed a top notch team of skydivers so I called upon my friends Scott Smith and Joe Jennings as stunt doubles and Greg Gasson to film. We shot the freefall portion and pool landing on location in Oregon. Skydive Oregon provided their dropzone for the film and I can't say enough good things about the dropzone and their staff. The freefall portion called for a rodeo dive where one skydiver is riding on another's back. The director wanted Zahn's instructor to be riding on his back, and then pull out as Zahn continues on his own. Pulling out of a rodeo dive can be dangerous as it requires deployment at an unusually high speed. Scott felt comfortable trying it and it worked out great and looked perfect on film.
The biggest challenge was going to be making a pool landing look real without actually making a pool landing in a residential neighborhood. I came up with the idea of constructing scaffolding next to the pool area in a U shape, allowing Tony Boggs, Zahn's stunt double, to jump off a lower platform while two other's held the open parachute above him and let it go as he jumped. The camera was placed at the base of the scaffolding so that he jumped over it and into the pool. The 10 ft height actually allowed the parachute to inflate and fly for a brief second before hitting the water. It worked just as we'd planned and looked great in the film.
Credits
Aerial Stunt Coordinator / Director - Chris Burket
Aerial DP - Greg Gasson
Freefall Stunt Double - Joe Jennings
Freefall Stunt Double - Scott Smith
Steve Zahn Stunt Double - Tony Boggs