Even do-it-yourself filmmakers can get out and shoot impressive stunts.
Slams, punches and falls make action movies more exciting by staging realistic pretend violence. Big-budget movies pay out large sums of money for slam-bang stunts to wow audiences. But there are two ways to solve problems in the world of movies. The popular answer in Hollywood is money, but oftentimes a dazzling effect can be achieved by creative problem-solving. Even a low-budget movie can feature convincing stunts with appropriate planning, adequate safety precautions and wise editing choices.
Instructions
1. Storyboard your stunt in detail. Draw the action scene how you envision it appearing on screen with a separate frame for each key moment. Note the logistics of executing the stunt with the ideal balance of safety and realism. Diagram the safety precautions you will need to take.
2. Set up safety precautions on your set. Lay down mats where you plan to include a fall. Block off public access to sets where outside wanderers could potentially pose a danger. Keep a first aid kit with antiseptic, bandages and gauze close at hand any time you're shooting---even if it's not a stunt scene.
3. Talk to your cast and crew before shooting to clearly communicate the logistics of the stunt and your expectations for the scene. Explain each person's individual role clearly, leaving nothing open to interpretation. Rehearse the stunt step by step several times, if possible.
4. Shoot the stunt omitting the moment of impact. Place the ground---and mat---out of frame on falls. Direct your actors to pull punches or vertical body momentum just short of the intended point of impact.
5. Shoot the moment of impact intended in the last shot. Frame your shot close to the surface the actor will hit. Have the actor begin just out of frame and propel close-range to the target.
6. Edit the two shots together in your nonlinear editor. Trim off the end and the beginning of the respective shots until the momentum matches, creating the illusion of continuity. Lay an appropriate sound effect as an audio track at the moment of impact.
Tags: moment impact, safety precautions
