Behold one of the coolest pieces of original content to emerge from the quarantine era. France’s Campus Univers Cascades, a school that specializes in training stunt workers for film and television, rallied together dozens of stuntmen and stuntwomen to show off their best work for a video that seamlessly edits together their skills into a single fight scene. The ingenious two-and-a-half minute video has gone viral with nearly 10 million views and counting on social media, plus it’s made big fans out directors like Edgar Wright.
As if blockbuster action films like “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” weren’t enough proof, the viral video below proves what an artistic craft stunt work is in film and television. The ingenuity on display in each action beat makes yet another strong case that stunt performers deserve to be recognized at the Academy Awards. Actors such as Helen Mirren have been vocal in the past about making stunt performers eligible for Oscars, as have filmmakers such as Christopher McQuarrie.
Not long after the Academy floated the idea of introducing an Oscar for Best Popular Film, McQuarrie said he detested the decision and argued that the Academy should honor stunt performers instead. McQuarrie has directed various “Mission: Impossible” films and made a great point that honoring stunt performers would allow the Academy to recognize blockbuster films that often get shut out of the more competitive categories. The only major awards ceremony that recognizes stunt workers is the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
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“[Stunts] are an art, that’s a skill, that’s a craft,” McQuarrie said. “Those are people risking their lives and doing things that are absolutely and utterly truly amazing and are so much a part of an experience like that. You go look at ‘Hell or High Water.’ ‘Lone Survivor.’ The stunts in that movie were absolutely incredible. In terms of a new category, I think you need to do that.”
Stunt coordinator Jake Gill has been lobbying for years to get the Academy to create a Best Stunt Coordination award. Gill revealed in August 2019 that many stunt performers were considering boycotting the Oscars over the Academy’s refusal to recognize their craft. Perhaps Oscar voters should watch the viral video below, which is just more proof that stunt work is a singular art.
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