About a month ago me and my classmates were suppost to make a main inquiry question for our Capstone. Recently we were supost to make an essay about answering our main inquriy question. My essay was five paragraphs. The first paragraph is my intrduction. The second paragraph is about why actors are not that safe. The third paragraph is about CGI. The fourth paragraph is about crash dummies and spending more money. The last paragraph is my conclution. This is one of the best essays I have ever written. this is the essay.

Do you like action movies or action TV shows? Do you think that the actors might not be safe while filming? Well, I think actor safety needs to be improved in many ways. At the moment actor safety is not being taken seriously and actors are getting hurt everywhere. There are two main ways actor safety can be improved. One way actor safety can be improved is using CGI (computer-generated imagery). (explain) Another way actor safety can be improved is by spending more money on safety and using crash dummies.

I am going to prove to you that actor safety needs to be improved. For example, when Sylvester Stallone was filming the climactic fight scene between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV,” Sylvester Stallone instructed Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren to actually try to knock him out. Lundgren obliged, and hit Stallone so hard in the chest that Stallone’s pericardial sac became swollen and began pressing against his heart. Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Stallone went to a local hospital only to be put on an emergency flight to Santa Monica, California where he remained in intensive care for nine days. Oddly enough, his insurer, Lloyd’s of London, initially refused to pay his medical bills since an injury of that type is usually indicative of a head-on car accident, and not a boxing match. The insurance company eventually paid the medical bill after watching the footage of the fight. Another example, is when Jackie Chan was filming the movie “Armour of God” and he was seriously injured during a stunt. During one particular scene, Chan was supposed to jump from a castle wall and land in a nearby tree. He performed the stunt quite easily on the first try but when Chan attempted a second take, he missed his target and fell 25 feet to the ground, landing headfirst on a rock. His skull was fractured, a piece of bone shot up into his brain, and blood started leaking from his ear. Chan was then rushed to a hospital for emergency brain surgery, and to this day, he wears a plastic plug over a hole in his skull “to keep my brains in.” he says. These examples prove why actor safety is so important and needs to be improved especailly when filming action scenes.

One way actor safety can be improved is by using CGI. CGI is a really good way to help actors be safe while filming because they don’t even have to be on set to make the action scenes. Let me explain how CGI works.  First, the editors will take photos or look at an actor and then make a computer generated image of them. Second, they make the computer generated version move and do what the actor would have done. Third, they add a backround and make the image look like it is in the background. Finally, they are done with that scene and the actor never had to be on the set. CGI is already being used in some films. If companies used more CGI it would take 80% of actor injuries away.  This would make films much safer for actors and would reduce the filmmakers insurance and medical costs. Overall CGI is a great way to improve actor safety.

Another way actor safety can be improved is by spending more money on safety and using crash dummies. If the company that is making the film can more acurately prediction of how much money it will make when the film is released they will know how much they can spend on safety. If movie companies spend a little extra they can make better equipment so that the acting community can be a lot safer for everyone in it. Crash dummies are normally used to predict car crashes and rollercoasts, but what if we used them for testing stunts? If companies used crash dummies it might take longer to release the film but it will be worth it.  

In conclusion, actors are not safe now but if we use CGI or crash dummies their jobs will be a lot safer. And to all the directors out there paying a little bit more is not always a bad thing. Do you think actor safety needs to be improved? If so, which of my two possibilities would be better for the actors?

Answering my main inquriy question was really hard and it took a lot of research. I really enjoyed writing this essay and i’m really happy I got it done.