What Makes A Good Bay Area Stunt Studio?
What You Need to Know to Get it Right
Stunt work is a unique part of filmmaking, one that adds safety and choreography into the mix next to technology and art. While Hollywood studios have large stunt spaces at their disposal, Bay Area productions needing stunt space and wire work have a more limited set of options.There’s being able to handle wire stunts and then there’s truly providing a space for stunt coordinators and filmmakers to fulfill their respective visions; for the latter, here are the criteria for an effective space in the Bay Area.
Wire Work
Modern stunt work has made great use of wire work in the past two decades, and a big part of that is having the technology to safely support complex choreography. It all starts with the lighting grid, and the first question you should ask any studio is if they have some way to support body weight. Wire-capable lighting grids need to be able to support at least three times the weight of a standard setup to ensure safety while providing choreographers the freedom to perform intricate stunts.
Green Screen
The green screen has revolutionized the way effects and stunt work have been achieved over the last two decades of filmmaking. When a green screen is combined with wire work, seamless compositing allows for intricate choreography and up-close filming without looking out of step with the rest of the production. This doesn’t apply solely to effects-heavy sci-fi or action productions. For example, a scene may take place at a Cirque du Soleil-style circus, and filming the stunt work for something like that would cause many practical headaches for camera setup and lighting. But using a green screen with wire work allows for an easy and seamless recreation, one that blends right into the rest of the scene.
Ample Space
Having a grid capable of wire work is great, but unless you’ve got a large grid, your wire work may be limited to specific areas of movement. Large wire-ready grids are truly the only way to provide choreographers with the space capable of fulfilling their vision. These also allow the director and camera crew to move around as necessary, ensuring that the cinematic side of the production gets exactly what they need.
Space To Decompress, Plan, & Prepare
Stunt work is hard. It’s physical, meticulous, and requires strict attention to detail. That’s why a good stunt space needs to have the right resources to keep everyone comfortable. From clean showers to a large green room to conference rooms/offices for discussing details, these help keep things moving while ensuring that the stunt performers, production people, and stunt coordinator can quickly get on the same page, unwind, or mentally prepare to perform.
The Choice For Bay Area Wire Work
Meets the Eye is proud to say that our facility can fulfill all of these needs, making it the perfect choice for any San Francisco Bay Area production to handle stunt work. Located conveniently in San Carlos (SFO: 12 miles; SJC: 22 miles;OAK: 27 miles), Meets the Eye Studios has two large soundstages with wire-ready lighting grids along with an immaculately kept facility with showers, offices, cozy green rooms, and free parking. We invite you to schedule a free tour so you can discover why it’s the studio of choice for professionals such as Bay Area stuntman Tony Vella.
