Obituary

 

Cinematographer - Roland Schlotzhauer

Roland Schlotzhauer figured it would be a one-day shoot, a nice fill-in after another job got postponed.

Because the Lenexa cinematographer had logged hundreds of hours filming from a helicopter, this gig for a movie would be routine. Also routine was Schlotzhauer's check of the helicopter's federal agency inspection records and an inquiry about the pilot before he headed to eastern Iowa.

"On his desk at home was the Internet research he had done on the helicopter," said Jim Wheeler, a close friend of Schlotzhauer for 35 years who also was best man at his wedding to Kathy. "He was a very safe guy. It was standard procedure for him."

But all his precautions couldn't prevent the helicopter from crashing into an Iowa cornfield Friday afternoon, killing the revered local cinematographer and injuring two others. Schlotzhauer was on board the Bell Jet Ranger III helicopter with the pilot, Richard Green, and producer Tony Wilson when it went down.

Family and friends in the area film industry reminisced about Schlotzhauer.

"Roland was just such an incredible guy. There are too many things to put a finger on," said Russ Hadley, a film director, owner of the film company Third Eye Productions and a close friend of Schlotzhauer for more than 30 years. "There are a lot of people like me in Kansas City who care about Roland and Kathy. ... He was huge across the Midwest."

Witnesses told authorities that the helicopter clipped a power line about 1 p.m. Friday while Schlotzhauer was filming a parade for "The Final Season," a movie about the storied 1991 baseball season of Norway High School.

Schlotzhauer was belted in at the back of the helicopter, according to witnesses, as he shot the parade from the doorway.

Julie Rohlena lives near the area where the helicopter made passes back and forth along U.S. 151. Once she heard it turn back again, she rushed to her porch to watch with her kids, all eager to see the film crew in town.

"The next thing I know, the copter is down and we're calling 911," Rohlena said in a telephone interview Saturday. "The pilot was flying treetop low. ... He just clipped it."

Rohlena, a nurse, rushed to the scene. Schlotzhauer was unconscious while the two others, both from Iowa, were somewhat responsive, she said.

Schlotzhauer was pronounced dead at the scene, about 10 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The pilot, Richard Green, 72, and producer, Tony Wilson, 49, were hospitalized with critical injuries, said Benton County Sheriff Randall Forsyth.

Close friends from the Kansas City area traveled to Iowa on Saturday to retrieve Schlotzhauer's van as others in the industry learned of his death. While living in Johnson County, Schlotzhauer worked his way up in the film industry from camera assistant to eventually a director of photography and cinematographer.

Known for his quick wit and dry sense of humor, Schlotzhauer was fueled by a gift for working with and on cameras. He quickly earned a reputation as an asset to any film or project, friends say, working across the region.

He also started a video camera rental business, along with Wheeler, known as Roll Camera. Wheeler, who is semiretired from shooting regional and national television commercials, said he'll help run the business with the assistance of a couple of Schlotzhauer's friends in the industry.

"He was a whiz at putting cameras together, fixing them on the spot," Hadley said.

Before Schlotzhauer ventured into cameras and filming, he worked for one of his four brothers -- he also has four sisters -- rebuilding helicopters. So when his career evolved and he became the Midwest's go-to man for helicopter filming, friends say he'd show up at a shoot and know more than the mechanic.

"Pretty much in the Midwest, if people needed to do a temporary (helicopter) mount, Roland got the call," said Roycee Schlotzhauer, who said brother Roland got him into the film business.

Wheeler spoke to his friend on Thursday after Schlotzhauer had picked up the helicopter mount from the airport and was headed to Iowa.

The two friends made lunch plans for Wednesday.

"It was his turn to buy," Wheeler said, his voice breaking. "In the film business there are a lot of wannabes, could-bes and I-ams. People who are full of themselves.

"Well, Roland wasn't that at all. He wasn't a poser. He was the real deal."