A DIFFERENT KIND OF DEER STAND.
When Jesse Noll, 28 years old, Nortonville, Ks. paced off the distance from the barricaded target on Main Street to the corner of the building, late afternoon last week, he never thought of actually making the bow shot. It was at least fifty yards and from the roof of a two story building and at night.
He was quietly laying sidebets with another local bow hunter while sitting on a city bench watching the movie being made in Nortonville. A small bet about making a shot like that with his compound bow and a few hours later, Jesse Noll, was doubling as a "stunt archer" with spotlights glaring, forty feet above the street and a cameraman filming over his shoulder.
The production crew for the independent movie "Bunker Hill" had discussed and rehearsed on a previous evening how the scene was to be filmed. Director Kevin Willmott who along with Greg Hurd had co-written the screenplay for the movie had planned for a dynamite charged arrow to be fired into a barricade of straw and hay bales across Main Street of "Bunker Hill."
The special effect, the detonation of an explosive charge, burning over fifty bales of hay and straw created a large bonfire and limited the number of "takes." Nortonville's own volunteer fire department had been on duty on previous evenings, but after the bales were set on fire this night it would require their skills to control the burning in a large open space on the street, unlike the contained and staged explosions before.
NOLL'S LONG BOW SHOT
"MADE MY BACON."
- DIRECTOR KEVIN WILLMOTT
A special effects professional overheard Noll talking about the bet and suggested to Willmott to allow an attempt.
The movie director gave Noll thirty minutes to get his bow equipment and report for make-up and costume. Noll who had worked on his day job that day was "running on pure adrenaline" by the time he found himself late at night, standing high on the roof of the Nortonville downtown building.
The character, according to Jesse Noll, had been tortured and he was made up to have "cigarette burns" all along his arms with bruises. A similar shirt was given to him to wear and fitted to look similar to the character in the movie.
A spotlight and a small camera crew awaited Noll on the roof top. He carried his Hoyt XT 2000 Ultra Max compound bow to the top and later said that he, "wasn't real sure how to compensate for the bomb fuse with my pin sights." He was allowed to shoot several early practise arrows placing them near the barricade target. A bomb cord fuse was placed on the arrow shaft and Noll shot several well to the left of the target, since he was worried about the real explosive charge placed in the bales.
The explosive charge hidden beneath the bales of hay and straw was wired to a switchboard manned by a special effects professional out of sight from the cameras. The switchboard operator had to time the detonation of the explosion with the arrival of Noll's arrow at the target. Both had to have it in near perfect synchronization with the rolling cameras.
The attending film crew members on the roof top provided him with 28 - 29" shaft arrows, but Jesse insisted on using his own for the actual "take" since they were longer and he had set his fiber optic pin sights to compensate for the extra weight of the burning bomb cord fuse.
When the time for the final shot came, Jesse was aware of the camera filming over his shoulder. The crew and Director Willmot hoped that the stunt would be captured from the time the burning arrow was released from Noll's bow to the time it hit the target in the barricade.
Jesse released the critical arrow and the scene went off reportedly without a hitch.
Willmott later praised him after watching the replays and said the scene, "made my bacon."
Afterwards Jesse did wonder if he was going to be listed in the credits to the movie.
After all, he reasoned, he wasn't really a professional stunt archer.
A person working in the rented room next to the Bunkhouse Cafe where his make-up was put on confirmed that indeed his name would be listed in the credits. When asked about "compensation," Jesse Noll modestly asked that the three arrows of his that were scorched with the bomb fuse cord be replaced and that he wanted a possible autographed DVD copy of the movie when it comes out.
It was definitely a different kind of deer stand.
No comments:
Post a Comment