Arslanoski says that the performer who was scripted to swing a prop ax at his back, Craig Fairbrass, had been told to “tone down” the aggression of his approach during rehearsals. Nonetheless, Fairbrass missed the spine protector Arslanoski was wearing, hitting his lower back and causing an immediate and long-term injury.
2 comments:
Before reading this article I didn't realize that stunt safety was not universalized. It baffles me that the safety of stunt men and women are not being brought to attention although they have very vital roles to the production of most films. I believe that there should be universalized safety procedures that need to be in place for every stunt in every movie no matter the size. It is also frustrating to realize that the director can easily ignore the stunt coordinator if they think that a stunt is too dangerous. I believe that the director can give ideas of what they want, but the stunt coordinator can say ok or try to come up with something safer. Also, I think it is completely unfair for a stunt persons career to completely end, yet the contract they had to sign in order to get employment keeps them from getting any insurance for the medical help that they might require.
This article opened my eyes to the fact that accidents can and do happen in the stunt industry. In this particular incident, the stunt artist was wearing a spine protector and had made comments to the person sticking him that they needed to "tone down" their aggressiveness to prevent injury. Nonetheless, the person sticking the performer in the back cause serious injury to the artist leaving him to serious bowel problems and losing around 50 pounds. To make matters worse, the surgeon who treated him, an employee of the production company, diagnosed the injury as a simple abrasion when in fact it was diagnosed as "chronic low back pain resulting from soft tissue trauma". I believe there needs to be stricter standards in the industry for this type of dangerous work. Safety should come first, not the quality of the show in that type of production. There should also be people in management positions monitoring safety conditions, something that seems to not currently be present in this industry.
Post a Comment