Spider-Man: Morning Coffee Prank
Spider-Man is back, and this time he’s pranking a bunch of unsuspecting coffee drinkers
Guess spider venom doesn’t include caffeine.
Just before Spider-Man swings back into theaters on July 7 in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the famed web-slinger dropped into a local Starbucks for a latte … and naturally, it was all captured on video.
In a new viral video produced to help promote the upcoming film Spider-Man: Homecoming, Chris Silcox, star Tom Holland’s stunt double, dropped down from the ceiling at a local Starbucks to surprise unsuspecting customers.
Commissioned by Sony and shot by viral video gurus Thinkmodo (the same company behind Devil baby, Traffic cop lifts taxi cab), the video takes place in a real, retrofitted Williamsburg, Brooklyn coffee shop. As customers line up for their coffees, a Starbucks barista calls out customer names, including Spider-Man’s. A moment later, the teenage web-slinger drops down through an air conditioner vent right above the counter, grabs his coffee, and then zips back up through the ceiling.
The video was shot over two days with real Starbucks baristas and customers. The reactions are priceless and it clearly gave some customers an extra wake up jolt along with their caffeine.
Oh, and watch the whole thing closely for a big cameo by someone extremely well versed in Spider-Man lore.
While Thinkmodo has done its share of stunt videos, this new Spider-Man video is a bit of a departure from what the company has done in the past.
“It’s the first time we’ve taken a convention created by a brand and used that in the script,” said Thinkmodo’s James Percelay last week, referring to Starbucks’ custom of taking names, putting them on cups, and then calling them out when the coffee is ready. What’s more unusual is that Starbucks is not a Thinkmodo client — the viral video represents, according to Percelay, a “creative agreement” between Sony and Starbucks.
For Thinkmodo, this meant that they didn’t have to over-brand the video beyond promoting the Spider-Man character and his teenage antics in the coffee shop.
To create the realistic Spider-Man and his web effect, Thinkmodo went in search of a Starbucks with extraordinarily high ceilings, and then built a false ceiling below it that matched the original, right down to the wood paneling. Spider-Man rides down attached to a rig and a thin, remarkably strong Kevlar cable. Behind the scenes, the cable, which can support up to 1,000 pounds, was attached to a pulley system that kept Spider-Man’s web-slinging moves smooth.
To get the inside story on the viral video shoot and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Mashable sent stuntman Chris Silcox some questions:
How uncomfortable is that harness?
We spent the whole day together … in a skin-tight suit! So my harness and I have to get very comfortable! When you’re done at the end of the day you each have your bruises.
Were you worried that people might, out of shock, throw their mocha lattes at you?
When a very bright upside-down superhero appears out of no where, what do you do? Little kids seemed to take to Spider-Man best, which was funny! [They thought,] «Of course Spidey’s here … Why wouldn’t he be here to grab a Cap’n Crunch Frappuccino?! It’s hot out!» Plus, if a mocha latte was thrown at me, the amazing baristas working with us — who were actually working and gave every single person we surprised a drink and a smile — would have helped me clean my Tony Stark suit in a jiffy.
You have the Spider-Man voice down pretty well. Did you practice?
When we’re in the suit it’s necessary to be as much like Tom [Holland] as possible. While prepping and filming, we studied Tom’s approach specifically and had a few weeks of training with him. Being around him as much as we were makes the job easier. Plus, I’m a big Spidey fan, so anything I might have said comes from whatever Stan Lee left in my memory.
What percentage of the stunts did you handle in the new Spider-Man movie?
We had three stunt doubles for Tom: Holland Diaz, David Elson, and myself. We all shared as much of the load as possible. Our time there before filming was setting up & testing the action with George Cottle & Brycen Counts our stunt coordinators, and Ilram Choi, our fight coordinator. Two and a half months of prep/rehearsal prior to filming, we choreographed 8-10 different fight sequences, and tested out countless other gags for every stunt player, villain, and of course, for Web-Head himself. We did it all!
Is this your first Superhero gig?
Funny enough, no. I played a superhero on a huge set for a Cirque du Soleil show called Viva Elvis. I had this bad ass black & white suit with red gloves and boots. We flew through the air in circus loops and chased/battled each other on this gigantic trampoline, 30 ft. high, [on the] behemoth of a set! It was probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had. That … and on Spider-Man Homecoming of course!
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