car chases make up some of the most thrilling scenes in movie history. We've
seen them in some form or another since the early days of moviemaking
We talked to Wade Eastwood, a stunt coordinator who most recently worked on
"Mission Impossible: Fallout." One of the movies best scenes was a car chase
through Paris. We asked him: how do you train to be in a car chase,
how do you plan one, and when the day comes how do you actually shoot it?
Here's a little peek into how an epic car chase is brought to life.
Before a shoot stunt drivers will drive around in a variety of different
vehicles to get the feel of how each of them drives. Training most often focuses
on improving drift and precision skills. Actors and stunt drivers will drive
around surrounded by cones to keep them on mark. Being a stunt coordinator
doesn't just mean planning action scenes. Productions sometimes pour millions of
dollars into a given car chase so it's necessary that it is done as safely as
possible.
[Wade] Before I start testing I have to look at what we want to do and see
how much risk I can eliminate and then during the testing phase we evaluate
my risk assessment and when I get to a place that my risk assessment is
not a high risk assessment it's a medium to low risk then it's a doable stunt.
They have to assess the surface they're going to be shooting on.
[Wade] Terrain
plays an important role when building a car chase. The cobbled streets in Paris,
obviously slippery surfaces. Cobblestones
can move you've got you know then
you keep transitioning from cobbles to tarmac, asphalt, so you've got different
grip levels and you might be on a mountain road that's dusty because the
winds have blown. When I'm doing a sequence I'll always try and sweep the
roads and clean them so there's consistency to the surface. [Narrator] Once the casting
crew is thoroughly prepared it's time to film the chase
To capture the most dynamic chase scene it's important to shoot it from every
possible angle. It's not unusual to see a car covered in cameras. Camera mounts are
attached to a car as well as lights.
The cars in Fallout were free-driven. In some
instances though the car being filmed will be towed. This is usually done when
there's a lot of dialogue and a need for the driver to concentrate on their
performance. It's also best to do this if the performer's vision is too obscured by
all the cameras mounted to the hood of the car. To get every angle imaginable a
crew will use a 'Russian arm' camera tracking system. In addition Eastwood
swears by a tracking motorcycle that he uses. He mounts a stabilized camera to a
bike which can go from one inch off the ground to seven feet off the ground in
just two seconds. A lot of the car chases you see are done practically. Sure visual
effects have to be used for certain details but it's rare you'll find a car
chase done completely in front of a green screen. You'll really only see that
for certain stunts that are too dangerous to do in real life
Even when a car chase is shot practically there will always be an element of
visual trickery involved. [Wade] Making fifty miles an hour
looked like a hundred miles and look exciting which is the trick that we have
to do in film because for everyone to keep up with you at a hundred miles an
hour cameras and things happen far too quickly and accidents would happen.
So we have to tone things down but make the car look exciting.
[Narrator] But making a good car chase is about more than just producing thrills, driving fast
and conquering the most impossible of terrains. [Wade] That's not always the big
spectacle for me with a car chase, it has to be story. If I'm invested in the
character in the car, then what happens with the car is immaterial to me but it's
more about going on the journey with that character in the car. [Narrator] It's why
Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel, and audiences everywhere will never be able to get
enough of a good car chase.