I'm making an indy short, and the actors will be performing their own falls. One actor gets her feet kicked out from under her and falls, and later she gets shot in the back and has to fall on her face. Now that I think about it, our female lead has the worst falls in the film. Any suggestions for what I should buy for her to fall on? Thx.
Cushion for stunts
- Thread starter carbon3c
- Start date
Simon Höfer
Veteran
I did some stunt shoots recently and we used two soft mattresses to fall on. Worked pretty well. Of course they can't get into the shot. And if you want to see how she hits the ground, you have to fake it with a closeup.
Where those the cheap foam mattresses? One on top of the other?
Yeah I plan to get a CU shot of someone kicking her ankles, then a medium of her falling over to the side, and then a med-cu of her hitting the ground at the moment of impact, so she's really only falling an inch onto the ground for the final shot. Similar for the gunshot, but since she'll be falling on her face, I'll probably lay her on the ground and just have her jolt herself forward for the impact shot.
Yeah I plan to get a CU shot of someone kicking her ankles, then a medium of her falling over to the side, and then a med-cu of her hitting the ground at the moment of impact, so she's really only falling an inch onto the ground for the final shot. Similar for the gunshot, but since she'll be falling on her face, I'll probably lay her on the ground and just have her jolt herself forward for the impact shot.
maverickstunts
Well-known member
Go to Costco and buy a couple of the fold out black pads they have for sale. They are about $40. They are about 2 feet wide 6 feet long and 4 inches thick. Do the start of the action wide or at the very least overlap the action. Stack up the pads and have her fall out of frame to the pads. Do it as wide as you can head on, shoot it once where she falls through frame from the side. The final shot should be framed up on the floor/ground where she is going to land. Let her sit down and drop her into frame the last few inches. Piece of cake. Do the same with the gunshot.
Nathyn
Low Budget Ninja
You want to go here: http://www.tiffinmats.com/ for mats. We were lucky as Columbia College lets us use all their mats. I do my own stunts and flew though the air a couple of times. Maverickstunts is right. There's several tricks to it actually but they all generally consist of the same tactics. In a scene in my last film I was thrown out of a doorway. It looks like it was bad but I was never in any real danger of being hurt. I used my foot to go down easier then hit the mat. We cut and I simply threw myself to the ground in the next shot.
-Nate
-Nate
Back to One
Member
Another option is to go to a local gym (gymnastics) and rent some from them or just offer a couple of bucks and tell them what your using it for and that you'll really take care of them. It will probably be cheaper than any other option. good luck
FYI - the costco mats are being discontinued. I went last week and the local store had 6 or 7. Last night I went to buy some, and they only had a demo model (black) and an already opened tan model. I bought those last two. And the price was lowered from $43 to $33. If you need something like this, go quick before they're gone.
I measured the mats and they are nearly 3ft wide, over 6ft long, and 3.5 inches thick. I stacked one on top of the other and fell from a standing position and they work perfectly.
Thanks for the tip, Steve.
I measured the mats and they are nearly 3ft wide, over 6ft long, and 3.5 inches thick. I stacked one on top of the other and fell from a standing position and they work perfectly.
Thanks for the tip, Steve.