Faking
a Big Fall
by
Tom Patrick McAuliffe
with
Chuck Peters
Visual
special effects have risen to new levels becoming
a mixture that's part art and part computer science,
but complicated composite effects can be costly and
time consuming. Luckily some of the most effective
special effects can cost next to nothing and provide
effective results. Let's take a look at a basic stunt
that is useful for just about any action movie: a
big fall.
Your
video calls for a scene where your hero chases a suspect
across a rooftop, when suddenly, the bad guy loses
his footing and falls several stories for a trip to
the morgue. Although your actors are thoroughly dedicated
(and well insured) they would prefer not to go through
the real thing, so you'll have to find another way.
You could try to use blue screen, computer-based effects
technology and fake sets like they do in Hollywood,
but you're probably on a tight budget and don't likely
have access to a giant blue screen. You need to keep
it simple.
Falls
and other sight stunts have to utilize the power of
suggestion to be effective. Remember the Alfred Hitchcock
movie Psycho and the shower scene where actress Janet
Leigh is knifed to death? If you review that scene,
you'll notice that you never see a knife or an actual
stabbing. You see the shadow of a man with his hand
raised over his head, hear the shower running, see
the curtain ripped back, hear screams and then see
blood (actually chocolate syrup in black and white)
mingling with water and spiraling down the drain.
Cleverly, Hitchcock used editing and the power of
suggestion to create one of the most memorable horror
scenes in all of moviedom. The power of suggestion
uses the viewer's mind to "fill in the blanks"
between one event or action and another. To create
your falling stunt there are really only a few ways
you can go.
OPTION
#1 - Hire a Stuntman
You
could recruit a professional stunt person to actually
fall off the roof of a building onto a mattress or
into a large air bag, but this option really isn't
practical for most of us. And (for the record) Videomaker
doesn't recommend that anyone untrained try this.
Surely there must be a better way.
OPTION
#2 - Substitute a Dummy
You
have filmed your actors running across the roof and
now the suspect is at the edge of the roof. Stop your
camera and substitute a fully dressed dummy made from
stiff (starched) cloth. The more human-looking you
can make this dummy appear, the better. A wig, makeup
and the same clothes as the actor can all help to
achieve a more believable fall. It also helps to ensure
the dummy has some weight to it (at least 25 pounds)
and that most of the weight is distributed in the
torso, with some also placed in the hands and feet.
By putting the weight here, the dummy will fall in
spread eagle position that makes for a more believable
visual effect without limbs flapping in the breeze.
Shoot
multiple angles from the ground, and again from above
as the dummy falls. The multiple angles will let you
cut between shots during the editing process to suggest
a longer fall and to provide some interesting perspectives
for your viewers.
Now
that your dummy is in flight it's time to bring him
back down to earth. Before the dummy hits the ground,
cut to the live actor who jumps to the ground from
a stand just a few feet up.
In
all honesty, none of these "dummy" techniques
work particularly well and it is likely that your
audience will detect the dummy. It'll work to great
effect for a humorous gag and is very fun to shoot,
so we'd recommend you give it a go, but don't expect
it to look realistic.
OPTION
#3 - Imply the Fall with Clever Editing
The
easiest, and arguably the most effective approach
to creating a falling effect, may be to simply
imply the fall without showing it at all. Stuntmen
aren't cheap or easy to find in most parts of
the country and mannequins tend to look stiff
and unrealistic when falling through the air
(they don't flail around like a real person
would). But, remember, you don't have to show
the action on the screen if you can make it
take place in the mind of the viewer, like Hitchcock
did in Psycho. Let's take another look at our sequence.
A
low-angle shot places the actor on the top of
the building. (A steeper shot will make the
building appear taller.) A shaky, handheld,
closeup of the actor's face adds to the feeling
of instability. Cut to a shaky point of view
shot over the side of the building and then
back to the face of your fearful actor as he
wobbles and falls out of the frame. Cut to a
terrified reaction shot of the actor who had
been in pursuit. He looks down as if over the
side of the building as a shriek is heard. The
scream rapidly grows softer, implying that the
distance between the falling actor and the rooftop
observer is growing greater. Crossfade the sound
of the scream into the sound of a wailing siren,
then to a shot of the hero and a few police
officers looking on as the medics wheel the
sheet-covered body from the scene.
Sometimes
what you don't show can be more powerful than
what you do. This is especially true when amateur
special effects might detract from an otherwise
powerful or exciting scene. With good pre- production
planning, tight framing, convincing actors and
careful editing, you can make your viewers believe
that a character in your video has fallen from
a great height without breaking a bone, or the
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Slow
motion can be an effective way to add suspense and
time to something that just a few seconds of actual
time. The last scene of the movie Die Hard is a great example of
slow motion adding drama to a fall.
You
might end the sequence with a wide-angle shot from
the roof looking down on the body spread out on the
ground. This reinforces the height and the gravity
of the event for the viewer without the need for a
gruesome closeup. Views from above are often used
to imply death.
Viewers
believe what they hear. Create a convincing thud by
positioning a microphone near the floor and dropping
a five pound bag of flour near it. Edit the thud into
your sequence to add impact to your impact.
