Stuntmen seem to be an entirely different breed of human being. They do things to themselves that can only be qualified as insanity, all for not much money and totally ZERO recognition. Anyone remember that show The Fall Guy?
Well, it looks like the stunt guys aren’t going to take it anymore (why do I have Twisted Sister in my head?). They want an Oscar category created for Stunt Performers. The good folks over at NetIndia give us this:
Hollywood stunt performers have stepped up their campaign for a new Academy Award category recognizing their contribution to film. About 75 people picketed Thursday outside the Beverly Hills headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The demonstration was timed to influence the academy board of governors, which is scheduled to meet next Tuesday to consider voting guidelines for the 2006 Academy Awards
I’m really not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, the stunt performers are extremely valuable to a film (at least action films). They do great work and receive very little recognition for it. So why not give them their due?
But on the other hand… MANY people are valuable to a film’s production that don’t get recognition. A good cameraman is worth his weight in gold… but there aren’t any Oscars for them. Where do you draw the line? I don’t have the answers… I just ask the questions. What do you think? Should Stunt Performers have an Oscar category created for them?
Stunt professionals deserve at least the same recognition that set and costume designers as well as makeup artists get via the Academy. We wholeheartedly support the addition of Best Stunt Coordinator, as well as Best Stunt Person (Male & Female) categories.
Rich
http://www.stunt-baby.com
The Stunt community hosts its’ own awards and has for years and now it’s aired on television as well. Arnie (California’s Governor) even showed up on the show I saw in 2004.
It takes a lot people to put a film together and they should all get whatever props they deserve but I really DON’T CARE TO KNOW WHO THE STUNT PERSON IS. Stunt people have to realize and accept that they’ve chosen a profession that is dangerous and needs a lot of skill and courage but the red carpet (and being a household name) is for stars and directors. That’s just the way it is.
Personally I think that the stunt people should be the actors. Now and days an actor should be able to do their own stunts. A friend of mine in Houston knew a guy who was working with Billy Bob on the Alamo. He said that when they did the stabbing scene at the end, with retractable fake knives, that if someone “accidentally” touched him with one of them he screamed like a little b*tch about it. So just replace them all with the stunt people, phase out those who don’t do there own stunts and let the people who do take there place. Show a persons face enough times and they can become the next Tom Cruise.
Yeah, the technical awards are awarded either a day before or on the afternoon of the awards. As well camera work I think is awarded but it’s for the whole catagory not an individual, say best cimematograhy. If the stunt people want something like that, such as best stunt cinmeatograpy or something to that affect ( just throwing things out here) then give it to them. To give the award to an indiviual though seems too much.
there are a lot of sections in the oscars nowadays that aren’t televised anymore, to save time/to make more time for commercials. i get the feeling that something like this, even if it *was* enacted, might merely get d/relegated to the off/camera awarding process.
lol try to bear with my rant.. I think and type two different things a lot of the times, and I tend to keep repeating my same points..
Anyway it was just my opinion… its the right one.. but you all got your own wrong ones.. lol
Im sure you can tell I didn’t put much thought into my first post.But after thinking about it I still think stuntmen deserve a oscar(over other canidates that are overlooked).I know there are tons more people who deserve it that don’t get one. But when you go to see a action film and they do a cool leap of a bridge like in XXX.. You don’t think to yourself.. what great camera work he really captured the whole thing perfectly.You think to yourself that was awesome, what crazy son-of-a-bi**h would do that? Stuntmen is a on-screen talent. I know it takes talent to control the camera and various other things but the movie goer doesn’t see this. The Oscar’s is a big T.V(public)deal.The
public want to see what there interested in. They don’t want to see what john doe was behind the camera, or what jane doe was flicking the lights on and off.I can see a person saying I wonder who was the real driver in the Bourne Surpremacy then them saying who was behind the camera keeping up with those cars and how did he do it?…
BUT.. saying they deserve an Oscar over cameraman isn’t me saying they should get ones,Im more of a neutral
Hey Ray,
I see what you’re saying… but I don’t think it’s a valid point. What do you mean by “IN” the movie? The camera man is a part of the production of the movie a lot more than the stunt man. He’s there from day #1.
Also, if you use the argument “one is in the movie and the other one isn’t”… then are you saying that a guy who is an extra in the background in some crowd is more important to the movie than the director? Afterall… the extra guy is “in the movie” and the director isn’t.
My opinion is that the people BEHIND the camera are far more important to the quality of a movie than those in front of the camera… but that’s just my opinion.
Cheers!
I gota few words to put an end to this.. Stuntmen are in the movie.. cameramen arn’t.. case closed
as of now I am for it, maybe my mind will change. DOPs get credit for cinematography.
Hi,
I agree, stunt performers are great…but then again are the people who organise sound, lighting and other invaluable aspects of film.
And as it is the Oscars are VERY long to sit through especially when no movies that you like are not receiving awards. If the Acadamy keep adding awards they are going to keep on loosing viewers simply because the show is getting boring because of ‘non-celebrities’, that quite frankly no member of the public wants to see getting an award.
Thats my opinion anyway…