The other day, we had a stunt where a truck was supposed to crash into a tree, flip over on its side, then explode. For some reason.
Everything was set up and ready to go, and I noticed there was an extra guy at each camera. I asked the stunt coordinator what the deal was, and he told me they were stuntmen. Whenever you have a camera close to something dangerous, you have to have an extra guy ready to pull the operator out of the way, since the cameraman is focused only on what’s directly in front of the lens.
“Do they ever actually have to pull them away?” I ask.
“Not often,” he replied, “but it’s good to be safe.”
So, this truck that’s supposed to topple over on its side? It winds up sailing through the air, flipping completely upside down, and crashing on its hood about a foot in front of the A camera, whose operator had been yanked away at the last moment.
The stunt coordinator just turned to me and glared.
I’m pretty sure I deserved it.
2 Responses
I just have a few qniotesus1) to be a pa, do u go to film school, are higher ranking positions available to film school grads?2) What studio do you work for?3) What films are you and have you worked on?
I experienced a similar moment while working on a movie, the lead actor decided he would drive the picture car instead of a professional stunt driver. (mistake) His car was supposed to drive fast up to camera and slam on the brakes causing it to slide to a stop. Take 1: Car screams up to camera and does not stop on his mark but kept going, causing all around to gasp, causing a grip to pick the operator off the camera, causing the car to end up (like you said) a foot in front of camera. The lead actor (class act) apologized to the crew for the scare and admitted he should have the stunt driver take the wheel!
Nice blog, I’ll link it to mine!