Watch a stunt in action

Vince Deadrick Jr. is a professional stuntman and has been the stunt coordinator for the Nickelodeon channel for 12 years. He is an expert at making stunts that both look realistic and keep the stunt performers safe.

In this video, the script called for a girl riding a bike to get “clotheslined” by a steel pipe and knocked to the pavement. The performer wore a harness with a cable attached to the back, the other end of which was attached to a truck. A high-density pad, tied to the back of the bicycle with monofilament line, trailed behind. Once the performer reached the end of the cable, about an inch before hitting the pipe, she was pulled from the bike and landed on the pad. The pad was then erased in editing so it looked like the girl hit both the pipe and pavement.

Computers make this editing possible. Green screens, CGI, post-production editing, padding and cables all make stunts safer. Even so, things can still go wrong. That’s why a coordinator like Deadrick is needed to ensure safety.

You can read more about stunt performers in the December 2013 issue of Boys’ Life magazine.