WHAT IS A STUNT PROP? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Photo Credit: Bruce Bisbey

WHAT IS A STUNT PROP? (In the Entertainment industry.)

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WHAT IS A STUNT PROP?

Stunt props may be a gun or a chair smashed over an actor's head. They are often made of special material, such as breakaway glass, to protect the stunt actor. They're also made of material that can be easily destroyed, and are not subject to close-up shots. In a gun scene, for example, a prop gun for a hero will be made to look as authentic as possible, and rigged to fire blanks. Copies of the gun will be used as stunt props, but those guns won't be seen in close-ups and won't fire anything.

Breakaway objects, or stunt props, such as balsa-wood furniture, or sugar glass (mock-glassware made of crystallized sugar) whose breakage and debris look real but rarely cause injury due to their light weight and weak structure. Even for such seemingly safe props, very often a stunt double will replace the main actor for shots involving use of breakaway props. Rubber bladed-weapons and guns are examples of props used by stuntmen to minimize injury, or by actors where the action requires a prop which minimizes injury. Safe regulations are usually very strict and stunts well supervised.

Stunt props are used in action scenes, where use of the real versions could cause serious damage or injury to an actor or crew. From rough cut to highly detailed replica tools, bats, axes, wrenches and even a frying pan are professionally molded and produced for Film, HD TV and Theatre productions.

A prop weapon (such as a stage gun or a stage sword) that looks functional, but lacks the intentional harmfulness of the corresponding real weapon. In the theater, prop weapons are almost always either non-operable replicas, or have safety features to ensure they are not dangerous. Guns fire caps or noisy blanks, swords are dulled, and knives are often made of plastic or rubber. In film production, fully functional weapons are mostly used, but typically only with special smoke blanks with blank adapted guns instead of real bullets. Real cartridges with bullets removed are still dangerously charged which has caused several tragic instances when used on stage or film. The safety and proper handling of real weapons used as movie props is the premiere responsibility of the prop master. ATF and other law enforcement agencies may monitor the use of real guns for film and television, but this is generally not necessary with stage props as these guns are permanently "plugged".

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, How Stuff Works, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Bright Hub, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Liberty Me, Careers Hub, Sokanu, Raindance, Film Connection, My Job Search, Prospects, David Mullich, Video University, Oxford Dictionaries’, Boredom Therapy, The Bold Italic,

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Photo Credit: Bruce Bisbey