![Hands-down the most demanding shot was the space jump in which Capt. Kirk [Chris Pine] and some of his colleagues jump out of a spacecraft and free fall onto an aerial platform. Initially, they tried hanging the actors upside down above the camera, but Abrams admits, “That wasn’t good for anyone.”
So it was onto Plan B. “There were no specific fallback plans,” Anderson laughs. “J.J.’s Plan B is being able to think on your feet.”
After looking at the set in frame, Abrams and Mindel determined they could shoot the scene from a raised platform looking down on the actors. “We placed the actors on top of these giant Mylar sheets that reflected the sky into the mirrors so the reflection was under their feet,” Mindel explains. They were still hanging and spinning, but head up this time. “That created the illusion that they were upside down when we flipped it. It worked incredibly well.”
But to get it, Anderson had to lean over a scaffold about 10 feet off the ground. “It wasn’t dangerous, but it was awkward,” he recalls. “And the whole time, J.J. is furiously shaking the camera to get the jittery effect he wanted. It was a brilliant example of making something tricky so simple.”](http://29.media.tumblr.com/RitNpY2Wdocd9o5zr7txhH7Oo1_500.png)
Hands-down the most demanding shot was the space jump in which Capt. Kirk [Chris Pine] and some of his colleagues jump out of a spacecraft and free fall onto an aerial platform. Initially, they tried hanging the actors upside down above the camera, but Abrams admits, “That wasn’t good for anyone.”
So it was onto Plan B. “There were no specific fallback plans,” Anderson laughs. “J.J.’s Plan B is being able to think on your feet.”
After looking at the set in frame, Abrams and Mindel determined they could shoot the scene from a raised platform looking down on the actors. “We placed the actors on top of these giant Mylar sheets that reflected the sky into the mirrors so the reflection was under their feet,” Mindel explains. They were still hanging and spinning, but head up this time. “That created the illusion that they were upside down when we flipped it. It worked incredibly well.”
But to get it, Anderson had to lean over a scaffold about 10 feet off the ground. “It wasn’t dangerous, but it was awkward,” he recalls. “And the whole time, J.J. is furiously shaking the camera to get the jittery effect he wanted. It was a brilliant example of making something tricky so simple.”
