Stirton Productions and Beyond

What a drag!


Well, finally managed the main van drag on Saturday and I didn't die. A limited cast and crew spent the day dragging me around a little access road behind Ken Fraser's place in beautiful Aboyne (Ken is our partner and financier on this movie) .

As head of the stunt team (which consists of me and Kerwin) I had performed a full risk assessment and concluded that the arse protector made from carpet tiles and a baking tray was ISO compliant and safe up to speeds of 20mph. After a few set up scenes for the German hiker character (me) we went onto manual drags with 2 guys pulling me on a rope wound round my boots before attaching the rope to the van for the proper drags.

It's funny how speed is different depending on perspective: from my pov on the ground, sitting on some carpet tiles and a baking tray red hot with friction, I thought we were going about 30mph, but the top speed was only 16. Mark had also devised some cunning ways to avoid doing bluescreen side shots, by getting me to hang out the side door of the van so he could film the road flashing by my screaming head parts. Looks very effective on screen and saves heaps of post production. It just needs a skilled stunt coordinator (or in my case an idiot) to make the shots work.

All in all, it was an enjoyable and safe day out thanks' to the excellent driving of Patrick Wight (Andy) and the care and attention of the team led by director, Mark Stirton. I will get the publicity shots from that day up soon so you'll get a chance to see how little material I had left on my trousers after the dragging.