Old man rolling down the stairs

chromeboy007

chromeboy007

Well-known member
Hi filmmakers,

I'm preparing for my second short to be filmmed late Spring. One of my scenes involves an old man rolling down the stairs. Obviously, I'm not gonna have any one rolling down the stairs because that will be a bit dangerous and cost way too much.

So how do I shoot my shots and choreograph the action so I would have enough cuts in there to make it look decent? I have been thinking about this for a while, I know the least I'll have to show is:

1, man loosing balance
2, shock of onlookers' face (dub with sounds of the man falling)
3, man at the bottom of the stairs

Is there a clever (and safe) way on doing a quick cut of the man some where between 1, and 3, ? I have been thinking... I can do a quick shot of the man right when he hit the ground... like I can show his hand hitting the floor. That would be ok... would anyone of you have any other ideas?
 
Can your actor fall slowly? Then speed up the footage in post.

How about a whole bunch of static shots in various tumbling-down-the-stairs positions, then string 'em all together all jerky and quick? ( A stylistic choice which not fit in with the rest your film, though. )
 
Get Jarred to strap a CineAlta to his chest, and stair dive, feet first...

Actually, your own suggestions sound good. Perhaps another "stunt" actor could make a fall, or dress similiar for a few of the more body jolting, tumbling shots. Shoot it through the stairwell, from the top, from the bottom, in slow motion, or just the landing after losing his balance like you said originally.
 
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I'd just have your actor fall down the stairs... at a slow pace of course. Then speed it up in post. Thats what they do in Hollywood, only they shoot "Fast-Motion" on the set, probably around 12 FPS, which will speed the action up twice as fast when played in the theater.

It's still relativly safe to take a slow, controled stair-dive! It's the uncontrolable ones that pose a problem.

Take it slow, do it right and it will work just fine.
 
hey speeding up the footage in post is a great little idea! thanks men! I'll most likely go with that.

as for the stunt man... I wouldn't mind hiring one, but would the location provider demand prove of location insurance? and would the insurance provider bankcrupt me in the process? I heard this kind of insurance is ridiculus (for our level)
 
Shooting a stair fall slowly is a little bit like sort of having sex. You either commit to the act or you don't. A stair fall is way safer to do fast than slow and i have done about 137 of them. I would hire a stunt man to do the fall. Shooting it without a fall will be extremely disappointing in the final product. I don't know what to tell you about production insurance cost wise.
My suggestion to you is to contact somebody from stunts canada or an organization like them that can help you.
 
maverickstunts said:
A stair fall is way safer to do fast than slow and i have done about 137 of them.
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well.. if you know how to do it properly I guess... if I have to personally fall down the stairs I would do it slowly haha!
 
I think if you cut away from him falling down the stairs just to see the reaction on other people's faces, that not only will it be dissappointing, but it might have a comical effect. If that is what you are going for, I think you can get away with a cutaway; otherwise, I would find a way to do it physically.
 
-zach- said:
I am just wondering how would it cost way much

?
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stunt man costs money.. and once the location owner realizes that I'm pushing somebody down a flight of stairs they would want to see prove of insurance to cover their butts. then I'll be forced to buy insurance and I'm sure the insurance company would charge me as much as they can due to the nature of the shoot.
 
I have also thought about using a mannequin to do it. dress it up with the old man's clothes and do some quick close-ups of its' back, feet, anywhere but the face, etc as it falls down.

now building one would be interesting...
 
chromeboy007 said:
nicely done!

how much did that cost you?
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Nothing extra. The stunt man was an actor in the movie, although for the stair routine he was dressed as a different character in the movie.

Okay, it was basically free. Robb was up for just about anything we needed to do for stunts. He oversaw all the stunts we did.
 
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chromeboy007 said:
I have also thought about using a mannequin to do it. dress it up with the old man's clothes and do some quick close-ups of its' back, feet, anywhere but the face, etc as it falls down.

now building one would be interesting...
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A mannequin is going to look like a mannequin. Always, it won't move like a human, even an articulated one, and those weigh about 150#.
I agree about if you can't figure out how to do it with a human, you should change the script.

Nice stair fall for "Gothic", who's Robb? i probably know him, would use him because of the fall.
 
Landon D Parks said:
I'd just have your actor fall down the stairs... at a slow pace of course. Then speed it up in post. Thats what they do in Hollywood,
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I dont know where you get your information from but that is certainly not what "they" do in Hollywood. For a start, "they" would not have an actor fall down the stairs at all, as insurance would not allow it. If the actor were to get hurt that would put a stop to production for X amount of time. "They" would have a stuntman do the fall. If he were to get hurt they can bring in another stuntman.
 
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