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Thursday, August 27, 2026
‘Lanterns’ Stunt Coordinator Breaks Down Episode 2's Highway Chase
www.forbes.com: Lanterns episode 2, “Trust Fall,” sees John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) attempt to escape alien captors on the highway while maintaining custody of Hal’s (Kyle Chandler) lantern and trying to keep his conjured bird alive.
When I initially saw this article, I was hoping there would be more technical details, but despite the lack of those, I still found it very interesting on how the stunt coordinator worked not only to create the first major stunt scene of the TV series, but also tie together the plot and character of the scene and the whole episode. It made me think of the details we've learned about in our design class or the rhetoric we've been discussing in our law class: how the micro-details of the blocking matter; how they make sure that there are similar protagonists and obstructions throughout and tied together with the bird; something the audience would only notice if it wasn't there. That is definitely a common requirement in traditional theater too.
As I was reading this article, I found it interesting how important small details in the script are to things like escape chases, specifically the bird, and it made me wonder if those were included purposefully for the stunts or if they were added later, and if that has an impact on the primary editors and scriptwriters. Similar to a discussion I had in Foundations of Drama, it's interesting to see how specific aspects of a writer's work almost have to change over time and where that line can be drawn even for things like television. Same thing with the dynamics they talk about when they are close-quarters combat versus large-scale chases and how that impacts the actual filmmaking process and the technical aspects a team needs to overcome to establish a certain setting and feeling. I also noted how the terms we use can be correlated to terms the film industry uses, such as how. The stage manager could just as easily fill in a role similar to the assistant director and other things that they could borrow from film and vice versa.
For a show like green lantern, the use of CGI is pretty much unavoidable, so its inclusion makes a lot more sense than alot of other things. Usually when digital additions are brought up, its often in the context of how the actor is affected by not being able to see their scene pattern or surroundings. I like that this article focuses on the difficulty of making the CGI things make sense in the scenery of the show. It makes sense that it would be important to think about that, because it's as much a part of the scenery as it is the action. I also really like that this show seems to be thinking about character and how that impacts the action scenes, not just the idea that a superhero show needs a big flashy action scene, the dramaturgy is clearly at work making sure that the story and the character are being developed through this scene. Fight scenes are really just a massive dance piece happening, and I’m happy to see that the Lanterns show is taking that job very seriously.
Stunts in both theater and film production are one of the most unique and specified communities within the industry. Everyone in the entertainment industry is trying to pull off the impossible while maintaining a safe and effective environment. This specific instance makes creating an effective and realistic fight sequence more challenging due to the inclusion of a CGI character. What I found particularly interesting while reading this article was the importance of storytelling that the stunt choreographer reiterated throughout the interview. Connecting different scenes through the characters gives the audience a through line when all the fight causes chaos and could make the scene harder to follow. I wish the article also focused on how the physicality of the actors interacting with CGI components affected the choreography of the fights. Fights either on screen or on the stage are heavily detail oriented as they are one of the only parts of entertainment that is truly a trick of the eye and adding CGI must only make that illusion more challenging.
Stunt coordination has always been a really cool area of movies and TV for me. I think its a really incredible skill to be able to make good fight scenes that tell a story and entertain the audience at the same time. I have seen a lot of media that hasn’t done a good job of being able to achieve both things. It’s hard to even just get regular fighting to look dynamic and not rehearsed. What’s special about this one is that it centers around a bird and how it moves through the scene as action goes on around. There are always new ways that people are finding to look at situations and how to give them a perspective that hasn’t been done before. I would like to learn more about the process of planning out this sequence and what practical effects had to go into it to achieve what the directors wanted.
5 comments:
When I initially saw this article, I was hoping there would be more technical details, but despite the lack of those, I still found it very interesting on how the stunt coordinator worked not only to create the first major stunt scene of the TV series, but also tie together the plot and character of the scene and the whole episode. It made me think of the details we've learned about in our design class or the rhetoric we've been discussing in our law class: how the micro-details of the blocking matter; how they make sure that there are similar protagonists and obstructions throughout and tied together with the bird; something the audience would only notice if it wasn't there. That is definitely a common requirement in traditional theater too.
As I was reading this article, I found it interesting how important small details in the script are to things like escape chases, specifically the bird, and it made me wonder if those were included purposefully for the stunts or if they were added later, and if that has an impact on the primary editors and scriptwriters. Similar to a discussion I had in Foundations of Drama, it's interesting to see how specific aspects of a writer's work almost have to change over time and where that line can be drawn even for things like television. Same thing with the dynamics they talk about when they are close-quarters combat versus large-scale chases and how that impacts the actual filmmaking process and the technical aspects a team needs to overcome to establish a certain setting and feeling. I also noted how the terms we use can be correlated to terms the film industry uses, such as how. The stage manager could just as easily fill in a role similar to the assistant director and other things that they could borrow from film and vice versa.
For a show like green lantern, the use of CGI is pretty much unavoidable, so its inclusion makes a lot more sense than alot of other things. Usually when digital additions are brought up, its often in the context of how the actor is affected by not being able to see their scene pattern or surroundings. I like that this article focuses on the difficulty of making the CGI things make sense in the scenery of the show. It makes sense that it would be important to think about that, because it's as much a part of the scenery as it is the action. I also really like that this show seems to be thinking about character and how that impacts the action scenes, not just the idea that a superhero show needs a big flashy action scene, the dramaturgy is clearly at work making sure that the story and the character are being developed through this scene. Fight scenes are really just a massive dance piece happening, and I’m happy to see that the Lanterns show is taking that job very seriously.
Stunts in both theater and film production are one of the most unique and specified communities within the industry. Everyone in the entertainment industry is trying to pull off the impossible while maintaining a safe and effective environment. This specific instance makes creating an effective and realistic fight sequence more challenging due to the inclusion of a CGI character. What I found particularly interesting while reading this article was the importance of storytelling that the stunt choreographer reiterated throughout the interview. Connecting different scenes through the characters gives the audience a through line when all the fight causes chaos and could make the scene harder to follow. I wish the article also focused on how the physicality of the actors interacting with CGI components affected the choreography of the fights. Fights either on screen or on the stage are heavily detail oriented as they are one of the only parts of entertainment that is truly a trick of the eye and adding CGI must only make that illusion more challenging.
Stunt coordination has always been a really cool area of movies and TV for me. I think its a really incredible skill to be able to make good fight scenes that tell a story and entertain the audience at the same time. I have seen a lot of media that hasn’t done a good job of being able to achieve both things. It’s hard to even just get regular fighting to look dynamic and not rehearsed. What’s special about this one is that it centers around a bird and how it moves through the scene as action goes on around. There are always new ways that people are finding to look at situations and how to give them a perspective that hasn’t been done before. I would like to learn more about the process of planning out this sequence and what practical effects had to go into it to achieve what the directors wanted.
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