Phase IV stuntman gets into position (yellow arrow).
Helpers keep wiping off the ledge as the falling rain makes it slippery.
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The director assembles everyone for a last minute peptalk. Right after,
assistants start fanning out to yell at anyone with a camera. One flash
from a spectator's camera would ruin the shot and, as one assistant
shouted, cost $17,000 (or was it $70,000?).
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The last shot before the jump. Unfortunately my camera's batteries decided
that they had had enough and went from 64 minutes remaining to zero at the
very moment that the hours of waiting were almost done.
The stuntman, connected with a wire harness and safety belt to the roof,
hung over the side of the roof by his hands. On the director's signal, the
safety line was cut and the stuntman fell straight down into the boxes,
tin-soldier style close to the building. It was all over in a second. A
moment later he worked his way up to the surface and waved he was okay.
There was applause from the crew and onlookers, who wasted no time in
clearing out as the cold rain started to fall in earnest, as if on cue.
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