Remarkably for a man who has been flying professionally for over three decades, Björnsson says he is actually scared of heights and prefers low-level flying. through doorways, stuff like that and then we do the traditional high-action, high-altitude stuff that you get better from conventional helicopters.”. After two decades flying for films, Fitzgerald said the bridge scene in Extraction may be his favorite scene yet, though he had not watched the movie when he spoke to Vertical. The thundering waterfalls and deep valley gorges seen in TV's "Game of Thrones" and the movies "Oblivion" and "Flags of Our Fathers" are thanks to Björnsson's expert navigation skills. Working for so long inside the helicopter carrying the camera, Fitzgerald has little desire to see more of his flying exploits on screen. “The funny part of that is anyone who was with me would be laughing that I’m complaining about it, because my helicopter was the only one that had air conditioning. “We had locked down a bridge over a river and we had all the stunt guys and a whole bunch of pyro[technics] all set up on this bridge, and the bulk of the action we were shooting had to do with a scene that was on that bridge and you’ll see that in the movie,” Ftizgerald said. “When drones first came out in the form that they are today . That remote and lonely little lighthouse is known as The Þrídrangaviti lighthouse and is located on the Westman Islands, about five miles off the coast of mainland Iceland. . Working in the tropical heat was a nuisance, but Fitzgerald had an advantage in the camera ship. “We know exactly what we’re going to do before we do it and then we try it first from a great distance apart,” he said. Although Björnsson loves to showcase his strikingly dramatic country, many of the shots he enables filmmakers to create are not presented as Iceland at all. Use the “Unsubscribe” link in our newsletters that you receive. Later Wednesday, Wingo’s attorney, Eugene Trope, challenged Gavin’s credibility, producing documents to show he had been cited for reckless operation of a helicopter, that his license was suspended for 30 days and he was fined $1,500. But I wasn’t.”. They were killed when the helicopter piloted by Wingo crashed on them after flying over special effects explosions. In addition to work on feature films and television series, Björnsson is also responsible for getting the director and filming crew in the right spot for the. “It was complicated and fun and exciting and everything all at once.”. . When you sign up for a specific newsletter, we (Avfoil - Connecting Aviation, The Aviation Marketplace) add your email address to a corresponding mailing list. Thailand was fairly forgiving as a setting for helicopter flying, with a mean altitude of 1,000 feet above sea level. ″Do you want to pay me some money?″ the judge asked Mrs. D’Agostino, who said she had misunderstood his instructions on a question regarding photographs. ″Is it your custom to fly into explosions without checking the location and proximity of explosives?″ asked Deputy District Attorney Lea Purwin D’Agostino. “I always say it’s time for the fun part when I’m putting on my seat belt because all the paperwork is done and now we get to go fly.”. The aerial filming world is small, explains Björnsson, who describes it as a big family. It's just the most beautiful, wild, unbelievable river flowing from a glacier and spreading out over this silt sand," Mossop says. If you decide that you no longer want to use our store and would like to have your personal data removed from our database (or if you’d like to get all the personal data associated with your account that we have), please send an email to justin@avfoil.com, sacha@avfoil.com. Numerous witnesses have said Landis shouted ″Lower 3/8 Lower 3/8″ as the helicopter flew into the final scene. “We’re aviators, but we’re also the creative guys, too. He has been a camera pilot and aerial coordinator for some spectacularly complex live events, including the 2016 Heaven Sent project — in which his friend Luke Aikins skydived from 25,000 feet without a parachute, landing safely in a giant net — and Red Bull Stratos, which in 2012 saw Felix Baumgartner skydive out of a helium balloon high in the Earth’s stratosphere. Get every new article delivered instantly! And in the post-apocalyptic film "Oblivion," Iceland features as both a war-torn and ravaged Earth as well as its potential replacement, the planet of Titan. Gavin described the fragility of helicopters and said a pilot needs to know his exact flight path before taking off. Björnsson quips. Anduze and Fitzgerald conducted several rehearsal runs before each scene, tightening their patterns slightly after each sortie, until they were comfortable and satisfied they could catch the desired action. "One of the most remote places that we got to visit and one that you would never be able to experience in its full effect from the ground is called the Tungnaa river, and I think it's one of the seven wonders of the world. Gavin said he has flown helicopters for 27 years, often in scenes involving explosives, and is familiar with the dangers involved. You may have seen his work in "Game of Thrones" or various movies. You might even get a whiff of fresh mountain flowers as you glide over a meadow. Helicopters of all different shapes and sizes appear in this video for children. via YouTube Capture. The little lighthouse just south of Iceland is probably the most difficult one. Each scene and the necessary flight plan is briefed to the entire stunt and film crew before any aircraft take flight. Mossop and Björnsson have captured something far more thrilling and dramatic than an alien planet or a fictional and magical world -- they have served up Iceland in all its rugged, other worldly beauty. She said an attorney contacted her saying his client had bought a piece of furniture from Warner Brothers and found in it what appeared to be a confidential communication regarding the ″Twilight Zone″case. To see the country from Björnsson's point of view, however, you need to book a chopper. “We were there for a couple of weeks and did a whole bunch of complicated air-to-air scenes and air-to-ground and we worked together with the whole stunt team,” Fitzgerald said. Thankfully for those of us who want to see it for ourselves, despite appearances, Iceland is actually located on our planet. What you see on camera is usually one of the last ones once we’ve worked our way into really close, tight formation or close passes . Anduze, a former Sikorsky test pilot among other accomplishments in the U.S. Army and elsewhere, flew both the 412 and EC120. You can arrange a tour with the man himself through. “They’ve found their sector of the market and we all work together really well,” he added. It’s up to the stunt pilots to figure out the best and safest way to capture that vision on film. Everybody else was sweating, wilting, and I’m in the air conditioning trying to pretend like I was miserable, too. Once your account is registered, just sign in and unsubscribe from newsletters in profile settings. It is essential for operating an online store. The crew installed a Shotover K1 six-axis gyro-stabilized camera gimbal on that helicopter, which was used to film all the scenes with the blacked-out 412 that came from Indonesia. Jon Kjartan Bjornsson has been a helicopter pilot for 35 years taking camera crews, directors and actors to some of the most stunning spots in Iceland. The desolate volcanic deserts, glaciers and lush mossy valleys seen on the planets of Eadu and Hoth in "Star Wars," in "Game of Throne's" Land Beyond the Wall, and in Thor's home of Asgard were all filmed in Iceland.