HOW TO CHASE THE ROCK THROUGH A SKYSCRAPER

SKYSCRAPER

THE PLOT

An FBI agent turned security consultant (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) has to protect the world’s tallest building – plus save his family and clear his name – when a terrorist group frames him for setting the building on fire.

THE SCENE

Johnson flees down a stairwell before retreating back up the stairs and out the window. All while a camera trails him and tries not to get in the way.

THE STEADICAM RIG that I wear is connected by a mechanical arm to a harness on your body. It weighs about 27 kg. The arm has a whole bunch of springs in it that act like shock absorbers, so you get smooth shots even if you’re running or going up and down stairs. Steadicam shots are often what we call a ‘oner’, where the entire shot is Steadicam – there’s no cutting to other cameras. For this scene, I was about one metre away from Dwayne the entire time. The shot lasts 90 seconds, and it took half a day to get it.

1. The camera (and cameraman) follow Johnson out the door and into the hallway, while filming over Johnson’s shoulder.

2. When the bad guys shoot at Johnson, he turns and runs back to his apartment – toward the camera.

3. In order to clear the hall without stopping the shot, Anderson needs to get out of the way. When he gets near the apartment door, two men pull back a section of wall that’s been built on casters and five-foot rails. Anderson steps into the cavity just as Johnson runs by.

To mask the cut-out, the set painter painted strips of tape the same colour as the walls and put them over the seams where the wall pulls back. When the wall is pulled away, the tape stays attached to the non-moving part of the wall, and then when it’s slid back into place, the tape remains to cover the seam.

4. Anderson pans around with Johnson as he runs by, then follows him into the apartment. The wall rolls back into place just in time for Anderson to film Johnson closing the door from inside his apartment.