This blog, brought to you by UPP Studios, discusses the stuntman and action sequences in film. Safety is a major concern when making a movie.

Sequences that pose a potential threat to the safety of a cast and crew, are not only meticulously planned, but they are also often overseen by a professional from the field necessary for the completion of that particular stunt. When weapons are involved, even if they are fake and/or solely shooting blank rounds, there is a specialist standing by, as well as a member of the fire department if charges are being used to emulate gunfire.
Even when everything is pre-planned, and there is proper stuntman supervision, things can still go wrong. Such was the case with Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son. While filming the movie The Crow, which Brandon Lee was the star of, Lee was accidentally killed by a gun that was supposed to be firing harmless blank rounds; a shell had gotten stuck in the chamber of the gun, and Lee took a fatal hit.
Since being your own stuntman can be extremely dangerous, and subsequently very expensive because proper sets require insurance, most productions try their best to refrain from using an actor that isn’t a trained stuntman to perform their own stunts. Some more established, more notorious actors, however, insist on being their own stuntman, despite the inherent risks.
Tom Cruise is known for doing his own stunts in an effort to pull off the most realistic shot possible. In Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise was dangled off of the side of an airplane, a stunt he insisted on doing himself, even though it sounded extreme even to the veteran stunt coordinator. While the stunt was life-threatening, Cruise pulled it off, and furthermore, his desire for realism was absolutely realized in a beautiful final product.
UPP Studios
UPP Studios producer
David M. Goldman loves being his own stuntman. His philosophy is simple, and insane: anything for the sake of comedy. If it’s funny, he’ll do it, even if it hurts. Sure, he could have chosen not to get tackled in the
Arrow Ambush ad, but he thought it would be funnier for the audience to see him get hit. This was not the first, and would not be the last stunt that David would undertake. Even once UPP Studios is in a more advantageous position financially, in which it can hire stunt people and body doubles, chances are they won’t if they can achieve the desired shot.
Adam C. Lively and David M. Goldman strive for realism, and would prefer to perform a role in it’s entirety. As you continue to watch their content, you will continue to see that sense of realism, and hopefully appreciate the effort that have gone into producing that kind of content. Thank you for your interest in UPP Studios. There is a new
blog every Friday and an original
new media sketch comedy video every Monday, right here, at
UPPStudios.com so stay tuned!