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American Morning
How Moviemakers Use Modern Magic to Keep Costs Down
Aired September 26, 2003 - 05:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Movies, after all, are a business.
CNN's Jen Rogers shows us how moviemakers use modern magic to keep costs down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He shared the screen with George Clooney, Mark Walberg and Johnny Depp. But you've probably never heard of Jayson Dumenigo. That's him doing a back flip in "Ocean's Eleven."
Dumenigo is a stuntman, a combination of athlete and artist. He trains constantly to stay in top physical condition, but he still loses jobs to these guys.
JAYSON DUMENIGO, STUNTMAN: What's cheaper, to bring in, you know, a hundred people and, you know, have to feed them and pay them or, you know, you have one guy on a computer?
ROGERS: Computers, like those used on this summer's blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean," are fearless and some say they're taking away jobs from one of Hollywood's most storied professions.
DUMENIGO: On "Planet of the Apes," for instance, they took a lot of the guys that could lope, run like an ape, and they multiplied us.
ROGERS: While competition for jobs may be tougher, many performers are adapting, learning the new skills needed to work in a blue screen world. And technology does have an up side.
CONRAD PALMISANO, STUNTMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF MOTION PICTURES: Our jobs have become much safer because of the computer generated world. For example, where we used to fly on little piano wires that were very hard to see, also easy to break, you now put on a heavier, stronger cable because they can erase them so easy. They're so easy to track and get rid of.
ROGERS: What may be harder, as special effects technology continues to improve, keeping the stunt industry an integral piece of the moviemaking machine.
PALMISANO: I don't think that people will want to go see movies if they know that it's just a computer generated image, right? If there's no excitement of saying like, oh my goodness, look what that guy did, somebody could have got killed doing that.
ROGERS: And for any stunt performer, that, of course, is the ultimate compliment.
Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 26, 2003 - 05:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Movies, after all, are a business.
CNN's Jen Rogers shows us how moviemakers use modern magic to keep costs down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He shared the screen with George Clooney, Mark Walberg and Johnny Depp. But you've probably never heard of Jayson Dumenigo. That's him doing a back flip in "Ocean's Eleven."
Dumenigo is a stuntman, a combination of athlete and artist. He trains constantly to stay in top physical condition, but he still loses jobs to these guys.
JAYSON DUMENIGO, STUNTMAN: What's cheaper, to bring in, you know, a hundred people and, you know, have to feed them and pay them or, you know, you have one guy on a computer?
ROGERS: Computers, like those used on this summer's blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean," are fearless and some say they're taking away jobs from one of Hollywood's most storied professions.
DUMENIGO: On "Planet of the Apes," for instance, they took a lot of the guys that could lope, run like an ape, and they multiplied us.
ROGERS: While competition for jobs may be tougher, many performers are adapting, learning the new skills needed to work in a blue screen world. And technology does have an up side.
CONRAD PALMISANO, STUNTMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF MOTION PICTURES: Our jobs have become much safer because of the computer generated world. For example, where we used to fly on little piano wires that were very hard to see, also easy to break, you now put on a heavier, stronger cable because they can erase them so easy. They're so easy to track and get rid of.
ROGERS: What may be harder, as special effects technology continues to improve, keeping the stunt industry an integral piece of the moviemaking machine.
PALMISANO: I don't think that people will want to go see movies if they know that it's just a computer generated image, right? If there's no excitement of saying like, oh my goodness, look what that guy did, somebody could have got killed doing that.
ROGERS: And for any stunt performer, that, of course, is the ultimate compliment.
Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
