WingSuit is the inimitable Chuck Berry's next project. It's big, it's scary and it'll be the first time that anybody in the world has attempted anything quite like this. Our documentary team is following Chuck's intensive training programme.

What's a wingsuit?
Chuck's commissioned an Italian designed costume (pictured) that adds surface area to the body, turning him into a giant bat (though not as blind and producing considerably less guano).

Instead of dropping vertically, a wingsuit allows skydivers to fly across country at roughly 27 degrees from the horizon.

CHUCK'S RED WINGSUIT
(He has a blue one as well)

So what?
Hey, if you're a skydiving fanantic it means you can stay aloft longer and cover a lot more ground. And yes, lots of people skydive, but there's more to this project than meets the eye. Chuck plans to jump out of a plane wearing a pair of skiis, freefall several thousand feet then land at high speed on snow without opening a parachute.

Hey - isn't that dangerous?
Yeah... right! (insert evil laugh here).

So where are you at?
It's early days. Chuck spent last winter practising high speed runs on snow. He favours a Squall (which is a bit like a skinny snowboard) and he generally travels at breakneck speed. Now that the snow has disappeared he's out checking locations, playing with his wingsuit, jumping off cliffs and falling out of helicopters.

Is it a bird? Chuck playing with his wingsuit

The filmmaking team is organised and we're working on the fundraising side of the project at the moment. If everything goes according to plan, Chuck will attempt his wingsuit-to-snow project next winter.

I'm a nerd... gimme technical stuff!
We're shooting the pretty stuff on widescreen DVCam with some interesting helicopter mounts. Chuck has helmet and chest mounts for the hairy material which will be shot on miniDV cameras fitting with anamorphic (16:9) lenses. The film will be offlined and onlined on Avid systems (of course).

Production Credits (so far)
Stunt coordinator - Chuck
Photography - Chuck, Jeff Aldridge, Alex Hubert
Production Manager - Brian Sacajawea
Avid Post Production - Alf West @ Digital Dog
Directors - Chuck & Alf

See also:

The One - Chuck & Alf's previous film

We've been plagiarised by Warren Miller
    Our cute line about bats (above) has been ripped off
    by the Warren Miller organisation.