a prop, propped up

although the job title is "stand-in", the position is often off the feet. in the best case scenarios, i'm led to a bed or chair where i'm comfortably planted while the crew erect lights affected by reflective and filtering materials. as long as i fill the frame and remain awake, my duty is fulfilled.

tricky imaginative special effect shots present a worst case scenario. a particular concept looks awesome on a storyboard: at the moment of impact, two characters are suspended in the air while their aircraft collides with a mountain. illustrating these floating horizontal people is easy; bringing the split second fiction to fruition requires creativity from the designers, and a patient pawn like myself.

the set is dressed impressively. seatbelt straps and headsets are dangling from invisible wires, while a fire extinguisher and a medic pack are propped up by grip stands. indeed, from afar, objects appear to magically hover. i wondered how i would achieve the same result in the tableau. would i, too, dangle from above, or would some unobtrusive structure support me from below?

upon closer inspection, i noticed four metal stands positioned close together, each sporting a small rubber pad at the top. surely my body couldn't comfortably lay across four weight-bearing points...

'hop on up there,' the assistant director advised.
'how?'
'these two for your thighs, your torso side here, and your arm lies on this'

yes, much easier sketched than executed. with some awkward assistance, i clambered onto the pads. i immediately felt the pressure in each muscle responsible for supporting my body; my quadriceps, bicep, and obliques burned from bearing the brunt. twisted in a cumbersome position, my remaining body parts either cramped or twitched. lying on a bed of nails would offer more contact points, but i had to endure my job as a "painful-sprawl-in".

naturally, the sequence required the camera to slowly dolly alongside the exposed aircraft interior. since the scene was complicated, many trial runs, along with laborious adjustments, were conducted. all the while, i was to retain my frozen pose, ignoring the symptoms of improper circulation. any slight grunt or twitch would expose my struggle, effectively pronouncing me unfit.

from my floating prone position, my field of vision was reduced to the square foot of floor directly below. for what felt like many minutes, my view was unchanging. suddenly, a lackey slipped a paycheque onto the small patch at which i was consequently staring. like a carrot dangling before a donkey, the white envelope spurred me on. with both eyes on the prize, i endured the hardship's homestretch.

the fanfare accompanying the actor's arrival overshadowed my physical feat, and i silently stumbled off into the shadows to tend to my residual anguish.