Movie magic

Remember the days of VHS? It was a bore to have to rewind the tape, and if you wanted a bit somewhere in the middle...forget it. DVDs have been a wonderful advancement in so many ways - chapter selections being one of them. I also enjoy the 'making of' featurettes, and sometimes the movie with commentary can be very insightful. If you have any interest in learning how movie magic happens, a good commentary is the place to begin.

Watching a movie with the commentary can present as many questions as it answers, however. For instance, I recently watched Catch and release that way, with the Director and DP's commentary. More than once throughout they pointed out scenes where a double was used in place of Jennifer Garner. Not unusual, you're thinking to yourself; what is Tess going on about now? You are right, dear reader. We know that doubles are often used, for body parts (Julia Roberts in Pretty woman) or for dangerous or difficult sequences (Bruce Willis in Live free or die hard). Natural and understandable. Studios pay their star talent a great deal of money. I know many stars are forbidden to ride motorcycles or go hang gliding etc. when under contract for a movie. The bank accounts of many people rely on them being in one piece and able to complete their role.

What struck me as being a little bit absurd though, is that three of those instances of a double being used for Jennifer were walking scenes. Walking! When she walked away from the camera, they tended to use a double. Did test audiences object to the way her behind moved? Could she not handle the danger of walking down an ordinary paved street? Keep in mind that Garner is trained in martial arts as well as dance, and rose to fame as Agent Sydney Bristow on Alias - known for its action sequences. Apparently a competent kickboxer cannot safely collapse into bed from a standing position either, cause they used a double for that scene, too.

Interesting.