Hints for Stunt Driving – What Stunt Driving Really Means
Stunt driving also involves precise timing. You must be able to make it all happen at the right time and at the right place. And finally you must have the ability to adapt and bring energy into each new and challenging situation.
Stunt driving is undoubtedly a precision exercise. A good stunt driver needs to share a bit of that vision with the director to bring something fresh to the physical challenge of the situation; as well as ensure that the timing and placement of the stunt is spot on.
A perfect example of required stunt driver skills is the story of my friend’s experiences while working on a car commercial. The sequence was to show the car racing through very heavy rain. The creation of this effect was something new. To create the right look necessitated mounting a jet engine at the rear of a truck, shooting water out of a tank and across the car (a true ‘film’ moment!)
Talk about driving at the limit and under pressure! The heavy rainfall shot required the stunt driver to cruise at speed just a foot from the lorry. If the spraying water, jet engines and close proximity weren’t enough – this all had to be done in a convertible, with the roof down and without the use of windscreen wipers!
Though I have dozens of stunt driving stories, this one illustrates some of the crazy things stunt drivers are expected to handle. In one of the scenes of My Boss’s Daughter, I was driving a BMW when an owl flew in through the passenger side window, knocked the passenger’s head into my lap, and then hovered right in front of my eyes, flapping its wings.
I subsequently ended veering across the median strip, headlong into the oncoming traffic and tearing through the wall of a house! No matter how skilled you are as a driver there is nothing you can do that prepares you for this type of situation.
Stunt driving can take all you know about driving and turn it on its head. You will be challenged in ways you could not conceive.
The most effective way to become a good stunt driver is to do as much varied driving as possible to be ready for any challenge that comes your way.
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