Kiwi special effects specialist Conway Wickliffe was killed while filming scenes for the latest Batman movie, an inquest has heard. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand special effects specialist Conway Wickliffe was killed while filming scenes for the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, an English inquest has been told.
The Te Kuiti 41-year-old was leaning out the window of a 4WD, facing backwards filming a test run for blowing up the
Batmobile, when the vehicle hit a tree in September last year.
He suffered severe injuries from the impact, and was pronounced dead at the scene near Chertsey, in Surrey.
Mr Wickliffe was filming a stunt car travelling parallel to his vehicle when the Nissan hit a tree at only 32kmh, the Guardian newspaper reported.
A jury at Woking Coroner's Court watched video footage of the stunt shot by Mr Wickliffe in the seconds before his death.
The Nissan driver Bruce Monroe-Armstrong said he must have gone a bit wide on a bend.
"We clipped the bank and the tree brushed the wing mirror.
"Then we came to a stop and I got out of the car. I saw Conway and shouted for a medic.'
He believed he had maintained control of the vehicle.
But fellow crew member Ian Mitchell said he watched the 4WD reach the end of the run but carry on into the grass.
"Instead of turning on to the service road it carried on and I saw it impact the tree. It appeared to be a glancing blow."
He ran over and found Mr Wickliffe "in a bad way".
Mr Wickliffe, who grew up in Paeroa, was buried in New Zealand.
His wife, Derryn (Dee) Chase, who brought their daughter Eden, 4, and son Sabian, 12, back to New Zealand for his tangi, told the inquest that he loved his job and loved life, taking part in extreme sports such as snowboarding and parachute jumping.
He had worked on a string of big budget hits, including Batman Begins, Children of Men and the James Bond films Casino Royale and Die Another Day.
He was commemorated in the closing credits of The Dark Knight, which read: "In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe".
- NZPA
