Standing on a ledge

[JonB]

The climax of a short film I'm making is someone standing on the ledge of a tall school building (about 4-5 stories tall). I have a building that will work perfectly, my only concern is how the school administration is going to feel about a student standing on the edge of the roof. Obviously this poses serious safety risks. Does anyone have suggestions/thoughts on how I can:

A. Make the administration feel more comfortable with it
or
B. Fake it

For faking it, I figured I could just do a little masking work to make it appear like hes standing on a high ledge, but I feel like the real thing would be so much better.

I figure I'd need a few shots from the ground, and then the rest of the shots on the roof. It wouldn't require more than 4-5 different angles of the kid on the ledge, just enough to get the idea. The rest of the shots could all be tighter shots of the torso and face. If I do get the administrations "ok", any suggestions on how to prevent my lead from accidently killing himself?:shocked:

Thanks for everyone's help!

Jake

 

[badhairdude]

maybe have him attached to wires? then mask it out/clone stamp.

 

[clang]

For your wide establishing shots, yes, somehow wire/belt/tie your actor so he CAN'T fall.

Then cheat for all your closeups and shoot your actor in a safe place - so long as you match whatever's behind the real building (sky? another taller building?) , the audience will believe it's all happening on the roof.

 

[drk3p]

To fake it just have the camera at the same angle and go find a smaller object for your actor to stand on and just mask