www.indiewire.com: When stunt coordinator Brian Machleit signed on to Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “One Battle After Another,” the writer-director gave him one clear mandate. “Paul wanted to keep everything grounded in reality and to have the actors do as much action as possible themselves,” Machleit told IndieWire.
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The openness that these stunt coordinators go into productions with seems very welcoming. Their approach reminds me that a lot of the art and media industry is geared towards continuous learning. On large productions like the film “One Battle After Another”, there is so much planning that goes into the sharing of knowledge between crew and cast members. I think this aspect, especially of theater, is a part of why I love the art form. Theater invites the participants to learn from and teach each other. This aspect is emphasized by stunt coordinator Brian Machleit, who mentioned that he shaped the stunts around the discoveries that actors had while practicing them. Not only does this create a comfortable space for different experience levels to enter into stunts, but it creates a personability in the stunts that makes them unique to each actor. While I have not watched this movie, I would be curious to see how this approach translates on screen.
I really enjoyed how this article focuses on the collaboration that is present between not just the stunt coordinator and director, but also the collaboration between the stunt coordinator and the actors. It makes a ton of sense that you need the actors to feel comfortable doing what they are doing, otherwise the stunt is going to look incredibly fake. I was surprised to hear how adaptable the stunt team was on this movie, it feels like something that should be very planned out and then executed, and not something that can be improvised on the spot, but I suppose that speaks to the experience and skill of this stunt coordinator to be willing and able to pivot when the narrative of the story calls for it. It's also interesting to hear about how stunt coordinators have to deal with people at all sorts of skill ranges from seasoned professional stunt performers to new actors who have never done something like this before.
Stunt work is known to be a meticulous field requiring precision and dedication to ensure no one is permanently injured. I found it interesting to read about all the different ways that an actor is able to edit a fight sequence to include insights into the character they are playing. It is essential for the actors to rehearse and understand the sequence before any changes are put into place to ensure safety. After everyone has learned the fight actors suggestions are taken into account and attempted to be added. The article mentions that by the time of filming stunts should be 2nd nature to anyone who is taking part. For One Battle After Another many of the stunts included cars. I was intrigued to learn that they were still able to take actors' suggestions into account during those specific scenes because machinery can cause a stunt to possibly become more dangerous.
Stunt coordination is a fascinating area of live entertainment and acting. I have always been blown away by the ways that people think to pull of a stunt or make something look incredibly real. I appreciate that they approached the process trying to make sure that everyone would have the tools they needed to effectively do their own stunts. I realize how essential it is that actor feels comfortable and safe to share their own opinions and thought about a shot. If they have the sense of comfort, they will be able to put more effort into their acting and even be able to add to the scene to make it feel more organic. What this implies is that the stunt coordinator needs to be exceptional at planning and communicating so that everyone knows what is going on and the space that they can make creative decisions in. It shows throughout this article that the stunt coordinator understands how to make a collaborative and safe environment for the actors and director to play with. I am interested to learn more about how stunt coordination works in both film/TV and theatre.
What stood out to me in this article is how collaborative the stunt process is, even on a huge production with actors like Leonardo DiCaprio. I’ve always thought stunts are so cool, especially because I could never imagine myself doing anything that intense. It makes it even more impressive how the actors and stunt teams make everything look real. I always assumed stunt work had to be strictly planned, but Brian Machleit’s approach shows how much flexibility and creativity go into designing these moments. I love that actors are encouraged to shape the action based on what feels natural for their characters, whether they’re established performers or newcomers. It was also interesting to learn how much preparation is required for the technical parts. Even though I haven’t seen the film yet, this article makes me want to watch the action scenes just to see how the whole process plays out on screen.
I love reading and hearing about stunt doubles and stunt choreography, especially in the theater, but also in movies. I personally enjoy it more when it's live because it's much more impressive to fool an audience. In the movies, you can easily fake that with special effects. Meaning so, I was really excited to hear that this article started with the goal and intention of being grounded in reality and not making the action in the fighting all unreal and out of this world for the effects, and that the director and the stunt choreographer wanted it to feel real. I really enjoyed what thisInterviewee had to say about how their job was mostly to be there and make sure that they feel safe doing the stunts that they were doing and that the actors hadSome say in what their characterWas doing because so much of an actor's work is in what they do in their body and I think it's so cool that the actor can actually have a say in doing the most dangerous stuff with their bodies.
I really didn't enjoy "One Battle After Another" in terms of the plot. What I did think was redemptive, however, was the stunt choreography. I think actors who do their own stunts, or are trained in their own stunts, are very applaudable. Stunt choreography is such a cool and intricate form of art, and if incredibly dangerous if not done well. I think DeCaprio did a really good job keeping both of those things in mind, especially knowing how into his acting DeCaprio gets. Infiniti also did a REALLY good job with her stunts. I don't know how many of them she actually did, as some of her stunts looked like something that could kill or seriously injure the a-lister if done wrong, but she looked great, too. Paul Thomas Anderson knows exactly what he's doing, and Brian Machleit was a great coordinator to bring onto the team. I just wish the movie had been a little better,
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