Club MotoAmerica

Years ago I was at an event where Oliver Stone was asked how he made a film, his answer? “Inch by mother-fucking inch” Fast forward to today and I can completely relate. Want to know how you build a motorcycle? “Millimeter by mother-fucking millimeter.”

 
Over the booming and echoing sound of the Ducati D16 and the MotoCzysz C1, idling only feet apart I yell to the other stunt rider “After the pass I’m going to lean on you pretty hard.” Adam nods his helmet; I think he understands, “OK?” I say? Then we hear “Rolling… Sound… Action,” off I go with the Desmo close behind.

We are gaining speed- to execute what the entire stunt crew has been referring to as “the shot” over the last 3 days. It is hardly the race thru the 3 foot opening in the fallen log that has our attention. More disconcerting is the road (actually a narrow path) that makes a left just past the log where we need to go right. What lies only a foot from the edge of the path- a deep ravine, “Cut.”

“Dude you hit me hard”… “You alright” I ask?” Ya but”… over the wakie talkies we hear “That’s a wrap, next location.”

It was very cold in up state New York; the streets were covered in leaves and often wet, making it risky to go very fast. “Should we go faster” I ask? “No” says one of the stunt coordinators “We can’t easily track and film you at a higher speed.” I am glad to hear this but can’t help thinking, “we are shooting a big budget film, and shouldn’t we go ‘a little’ faster.” The next day we get our chance.

The crew is setting up for one of the ’speed shots’ a long lens, shot through the woods towards a series of curves. We are wearing ear pieces but must relay our information to the director and crew through a PA and his wakie talkie. Over the com we hear “OK- for this first pass come by the camera at about 50 mph and we will see how it looks.” The C1 does not have a speedometer but during the first framing and practice runs I switch to a street bike, so off we go- 50 mph. On the way back I pass the crew doing about 75. When I get back to my starting mark I hear “That was cool how fast was that?” I tell the PA “75″, over the com I hear “OK this time 75″, so off we go- 75 mph. On the way back I pass the crew doing over a 100. “Wow that was really cool how fast was that?” the voice over the com asks. After the number is related we hear “OK let’s try a hundred.” This feels like a pretty respectable speed for this section of road but on the way back I pass the crew at about 125. The voice says “Noooo- let’s just stick to a 100- we’re good.”

MC

“Money Never Sleeps” the timely sequel to the classic film “Wall St.”, both directed by Oliver Stone will be in theaters April 21.

view trailer>

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 6:01 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.