Thursday, January 18, 2018
Movies Turn to Stunt Professionals to Keep Action Real
Variety: Filmmakers use visual effects to create spectacular images, but the technology has yet to be devised that can replicate all human movement. For that reason, many of today’s biggest and most ambitious films still use stunts for their most memorable action moments.
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6 comments:
This is such an interesting article to see how the Stunt industry is moving forward and integrating and evolving in a field that is seemingly more and more dominated by CGI. Seeing a multitude of different films all of which I had the pleasure of seeing and can say had effective uses of their stunt teams wether that be in a showcase role as in Baby Driver or Dunkirk or in a more supporting role like Wonder Woman. It doesn't surprise me though that the traditional Stunt doubles are able to put on such amazing performances that are still able to capture audience. I have to say that Baby Driver is a favorite for me in this department as I feel it does give the most to realism while still creating death defying and crazy stunts. Knowing Atlanta and the areas where the film was shot I can tell you in all confidence there is no way I could have done any of that and cleaver editing definitely played a key in making it more intense then it really was.
While I not was surprised to read that stunt doubles are still used in so many movies, I was surprised to read about the close interactions that they have with the special effects crew. I would have thought that the stunt team does these work and later the digital effects team did theirs. I was surprised to read about how Dunkirk incorporated aspects of history into its stunts. Though it is exciting to read about how stunt artist are influenced by the movie they are working on, I do wonder what specifically has changed with the introduction of more complex digital effects. For example, in the War for the Planet of the Apes they mention digitalizing the moves of the stunt artists and teaching them to walk like apes, but that is specific to the Planet of the Apes. Teaching stunt artists how to walk like apes is not a part of every movie. I would be interesting in hearing how overall, the field has changed to incorporate digital effects.
I agree with Damon Caro, the stunt coordinator for Wonder Woman, when he says that real stunt work will never be replaced. Human movement is just so weird and complicated that I don’t think that we will be able to reliably copy that movement in any way other than with real humans. If anything I think that the stunt industry may even grow larger. Even many video games nowadays have moved to using stunt people to layer the characters on top of using motion capture tools and green screens. What makes humans so hard to mimic is that there are so many different muscles, bones, and joints moving at any given moment. The difficulty in this is compounded by the fact that when all of those are moving they are not necessarily moving in a logical way. For example, when was the last time that you saw someone walking with their arms swinging perfectly straight, and each step landing perfectly the same each time? Moving even further past that is the matter of weight and how each person holds themselves differently. After all of this is considered and an attempt is made to replicate it, people will still think something is off, because we spend most of every day looking at other people moving. The difficulty of the job itself and the degree of precision and perfection it would be held to are what make it so impossible.
I find the field of practical stunts rather fascinating, as it brings an undoubtedly authentic sense of excitement and danger to the movie or show it is in. I agree with the article's assertion that we will probably never be able to convincingly replace practical stunt work, as if our current film trends are any indication, there is an increasing desire for more practical effects in general in movies, such as in the new star wars films (responding to backlash that the prequel films were overly computer generated and lacking in authenticity) and can be seen clearly in the success of largely practical movies such as Dunkirk and Mad Max: Fury Road to name a few. Well-executed practical stunt work and effects elevate the artistry and drama of the film by imbuing it with an authenticity that computer generated effects have yet been unable to replicate completely. In my opinion, the best movie effects are a combination of predominately practical effects with seamless CGI to elevate the physical props, sets, and stunts to achieve a wholly believable world within the film.
I agree with Patrick, when action is done in camera, it adds a whole other level of authenticity and nuance to the scene. And even better when fight sequences don’t have to be cut to bits because its a well choreographed fight and that is all thanks to excellent stunt work. Part of the fun of stunts, is watching people do amazing acts and all the more amazing when you know that someone actually did that. That knowledge adds a level of tension that immediately elevates the scene. When I see clips of stunts from old movies, they still hold up because there is something there that is simply irreplaceable even if the cgi makes anything possible. Special effects and stunts are often closely linked with special effects, and often a with the options of a director will just say “fix it it in post”. When that happens, you can tell when you watch the movie and I hope that attitude doesn’t overtake the stunt world.
It is interesting to hear about the coexisting of the stunt team with the special effects team in a film. This article picks out specific movies that came out last year and the relationship developed between the two sides. At first I was worried that the article would explain how technology has advanced so much, there was now a way to create a way to develop a digital version of the actor and manipulate that image for stunts, but it was good to read that the stunt ensemble is still working and that digital stunts are still far from happening and may never be accomplished. I also think that other industries should be looking towards this kind of co existing, because a problem I have been noticing over the years is the incline in machines replacing the jobs for many many people all over. The frustrating part is that I might understand why machinery is more effiecient and reliable, but I am in a generation that was raised to know how to work with this machinery. For all of those older than me, they struggle to understand and work with the technology that has replaced everythin they were so accustomed to. I am just hopeful for the film industry for not letting the same technology do the same by taking stunt jobs.
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