ETV Classics
Studio See - Stunt Kid (1978)
Season 8 Episode 4 | 29m 16sVideo has Closed Captions
This episode follows a stunt kid, and a makeup artist.
Reid is a professional stunt kid living in Los Angeles, California. Reid gives a behind the scenes look at how to prepare for stunts. Rick Baker is a professional makeup artist who worked on "Star Wars". Rick shows the process of making face masks for movies and the materials he uses.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
ETV Classics is a local public television program presented by SCETV
Support for this program is provided by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.
ETV Classics
Studio See - Stunt Kid (1978)
Season 8 Episode 4 | 29m 16sVideo has Closed Captions
Reid is a professional stunt kid living in Los Angeles, California. Reid gives a behind the scenes look at how to prepare for stunts. Rick Baker is a professional makeup artist who worked on "Star Wars". Rick shows the process of making face masks for movies and the materials he uses.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch ETV Classics
ETV Classics is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ ♪ ♪ [indistinct chatter] You get those new wheels?
(boy) No, I got trucks.
Are we going surfing this weekend?
[indistinct chatter] Whoa... look at this hill!
(boy) That looks crazy.
Let's go!
Look at it; it's too big!
Man, it looks so good.
It's too steep.
You gonna go?
(boy) Go first.
You really want to?
This is insane.
Hurry up, man, it's easy.
Just swerve it a little.
♪ Come on, you guys.
♪ ♪ Go for it; it's easy!
♪ [brakes screeching] Are you crazy?
You all right, son?
(man) Okay, cut.
Great, Reid, fantastic.
That was fantastic.
Did it sound all right?
No elbow problems, knee problems?
Nothing.
(woman) Did you hit your head?
Nope, it's perfect.
Didn't tear the pants, either!
The car's okay!
No damage to the car.
Great stunt, Reid.
(voice-over) I used to go to the set with my father.
I learned a lot from that.
When I was ten, he got me a job on "Mod Squad," which he was stunt coordinating.
That's coming together.
We've got some more shots we're gonna have to make prior to coming down the hill.
(voice-over) As far as Reid becoming a good stuntman, he's already good.
Reid and I were more than father and son.
We were good partners.
[car engine revving] The skateboard stunt was something Reid could do better than I do.
The timing involved is strictly up to him.
He's got to keep his balance, jumping at the right time so he gets up on the car rather than mashes in the grill like a bug!
He just has that ability.
He's gymnastically inclined; he's supple.
When he falls, it looks like he's dead, and he just gets up.
He's got like a fail-safe factor.
No matter how much trouble he gets in, he kicks into automatic survival and pulls it off.
(man) Stand clear.
All right, we're rolling.
All right, quiet.
Action.
Did they cross?
Marker.
Ready, action.
Did they cross?
(man) Action.
Did they cross?
(man) Cut it, cut it.
All right, how've you been?
This is the sequence we're doing at the mountain.
And we'll start-- we've got one shot of Daniel and the boy.
You and Larry will pick up at the bottom of the mountain.
Uh-huh.
What do you think, the cliff's about 120 feet?
The last 50% of it's straight.
We'll use the cable as a safety.
Guys on top will be keeping it snug in case you start to slip.
We'll set up safety stuff and go for it.
(Reid) Let's do it!
(man) Take...mark.
All right, action.
(Reid, voice-over) When an actor who I double feels he could do it, he'd tell the director, but he's smart.
I don't think he'd do anything he couldn't do.
I wouldn't have been able to do it without Larry.
There were parts where I could not reach to areas I felt were secure.
He said, "If you slip, don't worry.
I'll grab you."
He kept giving me confidence.
(man) We got a skateboard we'll give you if you want to try again.
Uh, no, I'll pass.
When I slipped back, he said, "Oh, my God."
You thought I had taken off.
I'll never leave you.
(woman) You're all done now, right?
Your old man's gonna be proud.
(man) Before you do your big jump, do some small falls into this bag.
It's got a safety bottom so you can't bottom out.
Just fill this whatever height you want.
We'll cut the vents real loose once you hit.
Okay.
I'll throw the brake loose.
Don't sit up too soon.
Once you hit, stay flat.
Then there's no way of bottoming out.
Okay, she's closed.
And any time, yeah.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Reid, where are you?
Come on, quit hiding on us.
[laughter] Went through.
We're gonna blow the pad.
Take him up and spot the bag.
Nobody his age has ever done this stunt.
It was easier for me and Reid to take instructions from somebody other than his father.
Alan Gibbs is an expert.
That where you want it?
Come in just a little bit.
We want it square.
Whoa!
(Reid) That's too much.
Bring your end in.
When I say, "Go," it's up to you.
When I say, "Go," don't go, "Aaah!"
Wait until you're ready.
Let's back up and try it.
(voice-over) I consider it a dangerous gag.
It's not for anybody to try to attempt or even think they could do it without professional help around.
We're gonna have to go back.
You're gonna paint me right here, right?
We're gonna step you up here.
I'm gonna paint you here.
This gag is more difficult because you're putting two gags together.
We're putting a fall and a fire gag.
Both can be critical.
If you miss the pad, you're in trouble.
Keep your legs apart.
I'll paint you here.
We're gonna step up.
Get me the torch.
(voice-over) The fire gag is only as good as your safetyman.
Whatever you and the person talk about, those things must happen.
With fire, it's difficult to see.
If you haven't walked your routine out, you could get in trouble.
I'm gonna light you.
When I say, "Ready?"
I'm gonna turn you loose.
Chin down; somebody put it on his chin.
Okay, we're ready.
You light your torch.
Don't step up the next step until I light you.
(Reid) All right.
(Alan) You ready, Roy?
Gotcha.
♪ Okay, step away.
Hold your hands out in front of you.
You guys are going to have to back off.
He's going to have some fire on him.
Don't step up until I tell you to.
I got you.
♪ All right, everybody ready?
Stand back, step back.
Okay, step up.
That's good.
Let me light you; let go.
(man) Go!
♪ ♪ ♪ Yeow!
♪ (voice-over) I don't think the average kid can do a stunt.
He's got to be with the right people.
You really got to know what you're doing.
♪ Did you get warm?
A little; it felt itchy.
But you didn't get warm?
Uh-uh.
Super good, super good.
Somebody go with him and take a CO2.
Don't let him out of your sight.
♪ Yeah!
♪ Cowboys, Indians, and an old fort in the hills.
In just a few seconds we've switched locations from one of the newest stunts back to the old frontier.
But, hey, wait a minute.
Don't let your eyes fool you.
This old fort is just another false front hiding all of this TV equipment.
The problem with TV and film these days is they use so many special effects, it's hard to tell what's real... like "Star Wars," for instance.
The makeup and the sets make us believe in creatures we know don't exist.
Makeup, stunts, and sets like this can fool us all.
That's part of the entertainment.
When you're watching television or at the movies, remember, most of what you're seeing is just pretend.
["Star Wars Theme," disco version] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Here they come!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ["Binary Sunset"] ♪ ♪ ♪ ["Princess Leia's Theme"] ♪ ♪ ["Cantina Band"] ♪ ♪ ♪ [shutter clicks] ♪ [shutter clicks] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I think we should take these off.
Yeah, I'm getting hot.
Let me see now.
(voice-over) When I was a little kid doing makeup, the makeups I got the best reaction out of were blood and guts stuff.
I'd make friends up with burns, gashes.
Their parents would just about die, and I would never be allowed in their house again.
That's the stuff that got me interested, to get a reaction out of somebody because you did something they believed was real.
(voice-over) I met Rick when he moved across the street.
I heard he was a makeup artist and that he had some great masks.
I went over to see them.
Let me put this on a stand.
You have other "Star Wars" masks.
Not all of them are from "Star Wars."
That guy was made for "Star Wars" only it was never used because the cuts didn't match.
This devil in "Star Wars" is one of the first ones you see.
I remember; that was funny!
This guy next to him you'll probably recognize from "Star Wars."
He's the one that had a drink.
I like his eyes.
They're light bulbs from a model train.
Here, I'll put this back up on the shelf.
There we go, back where you belong.
Eew... what's this made of?
This is foam rubber, Judd.
It's custom made to the actor's face.
It's very flexible material.
The inside conforms to the actor's face.
It's for a film called "The Incredible Melting Man."
In the film, we pumped out Karo Syrup so he was oozing all the time.
Oh, yuck!
It's progressive: this is the second stage.
You go into this mask.
This one's the final stage.
Want to see how we make this stuff?
Let's go into the other room.
Who left this in here?
[growling] What are you doing?
This is just rubber.
I'm showing you this stuff is fake.
I've got these teeth... if I can get 'em out!
Sure they're not real?
We make these anytime a person plays a monster.
This arm was on a man that blew up.
Stuff in films are just rubber pieces.
This blood is made out of Karo Syrup like you find in your kitchen.
That's all phony stuff we make for films.
First we start off on any makeup or mask with a life mask of the person's face.
In this case, it's me.
We start with modeling clay.
We start sculpting new features over my face.
I'll add more to the cheekbone.
I'll start on this side.
(voice-over) Making a mask is time-consuming.
It takes up to a month to make one mask.
It's very complicated, technical, and elaborate.
It's how I design monsters or aliens and stuff.
I refer back to anatomy books and animal books.
I work from pictures of things that already exist.
I'm getting much closer to being finished.
You can see the form's taking shape better.
I think about another two hours, I'll be finished sculpting.
How do you make this into a mask?
We have to mix up some plaster of Paris and pour plaster over this face.
And when that hardens, we can remove what we call a negative mold and put rubber in there.
I've got a mold over here.
Okay.
This is a mold for another mask.
We remove this plaster from your clay sculpture.
Inside we have a negative of our original sculpture.
We put the rubber inside this negative.
Want to see?
Yeah!
Now we put the foam rubber in.
This is the back half of the mold.
Here we have the mask as before, only slightly different.
We've cleaned the clay out.
Help me hold this back piece on, and I'll put the front on.
I'll take this foam rubber we already made up, and we'll squirt this stuff in.
Here we go.
(voice-over) Once the foam rubber is cured, you remove it and have your mask.
Fairly stretchy, we'll take it off here.
Looks like you're smiling.
Pull this through; here you go.
[high-pitched voice] Hello!
If that was glued on, it could work.
Yuck!
(Rick) I became fascinated with gorillas because it was the closest thing to a real-life monster.
I started studying gorillas.
I went to zoos, got books on gorillas, and just became fascinated with the animals.
[growling] Hey, Judd!
How ya doin'?
How do you get that mouth to move?
I don't know.
[giggling] Oh, boy.
You've got to paint around your eyes so it blends in.
There's little levers and little toggles that move the lips when I work my jaw.
They're inside here.
The stuff that's inside the mask here, these mechanical parts move everything.
Oh.
When I work my jaw, it works the jaw of the mask.
You've seen how we make rubber masks and those special effects things.
Why don't we do makeup from the kit?
I'll make you up so you look like something you could even do yourself.
What do you want to be?
I'll tell you what: You just wait and see.
We'll clip your hair back, get this out of the way.
(voice-over) The makeup I do is specialized.
I didn't start out doing this.
There is basic techniques that anybody can do using nose putties and waxes and paint.
They're fun and very effective.
Using nose putty, which you can blend onto the skin, you sculpt the piece on the person's face.
The blood is made from Karo Syrup and food coloring, things kids could make in their own kitchen.
I've been doing a lot of blood and guts in films and feel it would be better for the kids who see the films to know that it's phony.
They can watch, laugh, or be frightened by it, but not be concerned that someone is getting hurt.
That's about it, Judd.
Let's take a look.
Oh, I don't feel too good!
What did you do?
What'd I do?
What'd you do?
I'm gonna be sick all week.
(Rick) You have to be a kid to do this stuff and not go crazy.
I have that Peter Pan feeling.
I don't want to grow up.
Doing these films keeps me that way.
I don't want to change and be something I'm not.
I'm a kid and always will be.
Okay!
"Studio See" wants ideas from everybody that watches the show.
If you have any, just put 'em in an envelope and send them to... [hoofbeats clattering] Get 'em there fast... any way you can.
♪ ♪ Captioned by: CompuScripts Captioning www.compuscripts.com ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [giggling and laughter]
Support for PBS provided by:
ETV Classics is a local public television program presented by SCETV
Support for this program is provided by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.













