Falling from a platform

[Lazerlight]

I don't know if this is the thread that this should be in but I will ask here anyway. I am helping out with a show and in one scene, an actor has to fall off a five foot platform as if falling off a building. What would be the safe recommendation to break the fall preferably without the audience seeing the catching device?

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Do you know any fight choreographers?

I don't know any in the area but I'm sure someone on here does. They are the person you want to help you with such a stunt.

 

[alyx92]

No stunts of any kind should be attempted without a trained stunt coordinator there. There's way too much risk envolved.

Have you thought about other ways to make him "fall". You could have the lights pan up while he screams or even just blackout.

 

[derekleffew]

We have a previous thread on this topic, but I can't find it from my phone.

Don't do it without training and supervision, in person, by a professional. Perhaps even a qualified gymnastics coach.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Found one thread that I was thinking of, and another that seems helpful.

http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/11903-safe-landing-pit.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/24527-throw-someone-air.html

 

[StNic54]

I sat in on a Cirque presentation about KA with some of the performers. Cirque stars train diligently for extended lengths of time in how to fall properly. I believe one of them said they will train for weeks and months on something as simple as a 6-foot fall before moving up to the death-defying heights. That being said, without a fight/stunt choreographer, there are a myriad of things that can happen. Head and neck injuries, concussions, collarbones, shoulders, arms, wrists, ankles, legs, pride, and insurance contracts can all be broken if your group just wings it with a stunt like that. Film and television have worked their magic on us to keep everything believable and realistic, and they all involve highly trained individuals and willing insurance companies, and plenty of understudies.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox. Don't do anything dumb. Even if you saw Johnny Knoxville do it.