Stunt Woman Research Paper

Why did you decide to become a stunt woman? Did you have any influences growing up that inspired you to go on this path?

As a baby my older brother would take me over the jumps on his motocross track in my pram. The bigger the jumps, the harder the landings, the faster the laps and the more G-force generated on hard drifting turns in that tractable pram with independent rear suspension, the more I would laugh and giggle. When I went quiet it was time to up the ante.
I spent my formative years training extreme sports of one sort or another, but fell into professional stunt work when performing with physical theatre company Legs on the Wall for the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games.
My years working with this company gave me a wealth
For one scene in Suicide Squad we were being trained by a world-class free-diving instructor, Kirk Krack. Each session we would push our respective boundaries in an attempt to surpass each other’s underwater breath hold, which meant we went far above & beyond what anyone thought possible at the outset. Kirk was soon in high demand with other cast and crew determined to pit their lungs against our standing record of 5 minutes. When Margot heard one of the crew had passed us by a mere 6 seconds, she said “I don’t care which of us wins, as long as the guys don’t beat us” (in the end they didn’t). This working dynamic translated throughout most of the action sequences… a constructively competitive drive that brings out the best in each other, alongside the camaraderie of being in it together and striving for whatever most serves the
I have to say learning to hold my breath underwater for five and a half minutes & equalizing hands-free while sinking to the bottom of a tank stuck headfirst through a Lamborghini windshield was definitely a personally satisfying scene, however there was quite a unique challenge presented to the stunt team when we were asked to shoot a 60+ person fight in 360 degree virtual reality from the lead character’s POV.
This entailed fighting while wearing a custom 3D printed head & neck brace with 17 cameras mounted to it along with the accompanying power sources. Operating the cameras meant essentially floating through the scene without moving my head & torso or changing the horizon line, but as the cameras can see everything from my chest down, the rest of my body was simultaneously fighting a dozen of the guys. It was kind of like patting your head & rubbing your stomach while walking a tightrope in high heels.
In the VR realm the cameras are seeing the ‘whole world’ at all times which meant major timing issues for the other performers who could never be off camera. The action had to sell for all of the cameras all of the time & all in the one take as there are no additional shots to cut away to if one small element of an otherwise perfect take didn’t