Six Foot Human Inside Six Feet of Balloon, Rolling Straight Into Slow-Motion Glory

Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy of The Slow Mo Guys have spent years filling giant balloons with water and then filming the results at ridiculous speeds. Their latest outing takes the familiar setup and adds a slope. Dan, who stands six feet tall, climbs into a matching six-foot water balloon perched on a roughly five-foot ramp. Once inside, the balloon starts rolling. High-speed cameras running at 2,200 frames per second turn the brief tumble into something you can study for minutes.

The duo sets up the stage outside on a small platform with a slight inclination. The balloon is one of the larger ones they’ve used, allowing Dan to fit inside while still having some room to spare when filled with water. By the time he gets to the bottom, the water is up to his neck. Getting in is half the fun, as he wriggles one leg in the opening first, then twists and spills water over the side. Jackets are removed, and the rest is a wrestling match. When Dan gets into a low squat, the balloon appears less like a toy and more like a moist small room.

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They talk about physics as the cameras roll. The idea is that friction at the top of the slope will cause the balloon to rotate around rather than just go down the incline. The water within should also whirl around. Dan intends to stay relatively compact so that the entire thing can glide rather than tumble. However, reality tells a different story. The first run begins with a shove, and the balloon starts to roll. Dan’s body moves through the opening as water sloshes around inside. For a tiny second, it appears that one of his feet is ready to slide out, but it is dragged back in before he can react. The balloon then strikes the stones at the bottom, blowing its top. Water streams out in a heavy sheet, and Dan emerges from the ruins, coiled up tight, appearing like a baby coming from its birth canal.

The two of them laugh, and Dan rises to his feet, confused and rattled but otherwise OK and ready to try again. Later on, they experiment with other versions on the same concept. When Dan attempts to enter, they occasionally try to turn the opening upward. Sometimes they attempt adjusting it to one side so that the balloon can hold him for a little longer. One attempt really keeps him inside for the entire spin. As it turns, the water creates these cool thin sheets and foam patterns against the balloon skin. Dan describes the experience of sliding along a moving layer of water with the outer skin grasping and releasing as very wild.

One of the runs is particularly impressive, as he keeps tucked in, rides the slope all the way down, and ends up deeper down the grass than he thought. He awards it a nine out of ten for sheer entertainment value. The camera work is where they truly excel. Crammed full of shots at 2,200 frames per second, every movement and shift in weight is clearly evident. You watch the exact instant when the balloon skin releases the ghost against the earth. You can see Dan adjusting his limbs inside the whirling water. The final release occurs when the balloon either bursts or empties enough for him to spill out. The Freefly Ember camera is a beast, capturing every detail and displaying the small, split-second events in a very readable sequence on screen.