During pre-production of a film, assistant directors need to break down the script and let the creative team know what they need to focus on the production date. Some of the elements that the assistant directors would need to highlight in the script are the actors, hair/makeup, props, sound effects, music, and stunts. Every element listed on a script breakdown sheet is always honored during awards season, especially the Academy Awards. Out of all the film award shows, the majority of people would tune into the Academy Awards due to existing in the early ages of the film industry.
However, the only element that continues to not have its own category at the Academy Awards is stunt choreography. At the beginning of cinema, stunt work has always been an important element for filmmakers to focus on. For example, there’s a lot of stunt choreography in Edwin S. Porter’s “The Great Train Robbery” in 1903. In the film, one of the scenes featured the protagonist and antagonist tackling each other on a moving train. Slowly, filmmakers learn how to craft these stunt-choreographed scenes even better, as there are people who specialize in the craft and upgraded camera equipment. As a result, some of these modern action scenes stand out in pop culture and are referenced in other forms of media. Likewise, this includes the slow-motion action scenes in Lily and Lana Wachowski’s “The Matrix.” Neo (Keanu Reeves) avoids the incoming bullets and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) freezes in midair before kicking her opponent in the face. Not only does stunt choreography play along with the film’s climax, but it is extremely entertaining for the audience to watch their favorite characters fight each other on screen.
When “John Wick: Chapter 4” was released in theaters early this year, it reminded the audience of how important stunt choreographers are in the film. Thus, the film led to critics and insiders discussing the ongoing debate that the Academy Awards should add a “Best Stunt” category because it is an important art form in crafting films and crucial to character development.
Who should be recognized under this category?
In the Academy Awards, each category is given a certain type of talent. Likewise, the awards shows recognize producers in the “Best Picture” category and production designers and set decorators in “Best Production design” Therefore, the ones who should receive recognition for the “Best Stunt” category are the stunt performers and coordinators. Unlike the Academy Awards, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards does have this category, which is “Best Stunt Ensemble ” for film and television shows. Likewise, the organization recognizes these types of talent in this category as well. The Academy Awards should take notes from the SAG awards and do the same when crafting their “Best Stunt” Category. Thus, people would wonder why stunt coordinators and performers should be the ones recognized for this award. First, stunt coordinators are responsible for crafting the stunt sequences and working closely with the stunt performers, directors, and assistant directors at the same time. Currently, a lot of well-known action directors started the film industry as stunt performers and coordinators. This applies to “John Wick 4” director Chad Stahelski who started as a stunt double for “The Crow” and a coordinator in “The Hunted.” Lastly, stunt performers should be awarded because they help make the scene come to life. As it is difficult for some actors to perform their stunts in a very intense scene, stunt performers will help take over. Some of these stunts will put these performers at risk of severely injuring themselves on set. Hence, it would make sense to reward these performers’ talents and bravery in making these action scenes happen.
An Artform
Stunt choreography comes in a variety of forms, where stunt coordinators have to be creative in coming up with an action sequence. In other words, some characters would be required to use the prop as their way of combat against their enemies. For instance, coordinators need to know how the character will fight with a sword, gun, or fist. Therefore, sword battles are featured in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. This fits into the pirate setting of how the group only used swords as a weapon. Aside from that, some films focused on the characters doing kung-fu against their enemies. In other words, these are wuxia films and originated in Hong Kong, China. A lot of these films came out in the 1970s when Hollywood began to reflect the number of people interested in watching this type of art form. Many well-known stunt coordinators and directors came out of this movement such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In reflection, stunts have so much history, and take skill to know how to create these types of action sequences. Therefore, if the Academy Awards added a stunt category, then Hollywood would be able to directly acknowledge these different types of skills that coordinators and performers have. All of the nominees in the category would be representing different types of stunts.
Action Heroes
Another reason why the Academy Awards need to add the category is that stunt is what makes up an action hero on screen. Some of these action heroes include John Wick (Reeves), Terminator (Arnold Schwarznagger) and The Bride (Uma Thurman). These characters attract a lot of audiences due to how well they can fight a lot of enemies by themselves. As a result, people would be fascinated by the intense action sequences that these characters perform. For instance, in “Kill Bill Vol.1,” The Bride fought an entire army with a samurai sword. Like the slow-motion action scene in “The Matrix,” this sequence is also referenced and inspired by other forms of pop culture like SZA’s “Kill Bill” music video. Currently, the most popular action heroes are superheroes such as Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Without stunt coordinators and performers, these characters would never be well-known in the public eye.
Conclusion
Overall, the Academy Awards should add a stunt category by next year. If they do this, then they are appropriately highlighting stunts as an art form that people can learn and take seriously. Also, stunts are the most important aspect to get right, as they make up the entertainment value of a film.
