Zev Eleftheriou
Zev mainly does film work. He used to do live events, but these involve too many unknowns. A stunt sequence in a film can take several days of filming, with bits put together to make a short sequence. Sometimes CGI is used to create effects or to take out assisting devices like wires. He said that stunt men are just as susceptible to injury as everyone else, but have a higher threshold of pain.
When working with actors, it is necessary to rehearse beforehand, look at their physical capability. Sometimes it is necessary to work with a double, particularly with kids.
Zev illustrated his work with stories about a number of the films he has worked on. He spoke about the challenge of working with children in a water rescue scene in the ‘Ned Kelly’ film. In working with children, it is important to keep it fun, because they give a better performance if relaxed.
He also spoke about ‘The Water Diviner’. The scenes in an Istanbul hotel were also shot in a Sydney studio. The steam train scenes were done in the Flinders Ranges and the Gallipolli scenes in an old sand quarry south of Adelaide. A lot of the scenery in South Australia is similar to Turkey. Wind machines and CGI were used to make a dust storm scene. The scenes of Istanbul city were shot there and edited with CGI to make them look true to the period.
‘Red Dog’ involved challenges of working with animals. There were 6 dogs, each of which could do certain tricks, but one dog played the main role. It was necessary to familiarize the main dog with various actors to it could interact naturally. The scenes with a dog might be much longer when shot and then edited to a small fraction of the original.
In ‘Underbelly’actors had to be trained to simulate fights without hurting each other. Fighting styles vary historically and must be appropriate to the period. Special effects technicians provided pyrotechnics and blood bags. Car chases are done at 60-80 km/hour, but look must faster on screen.
Zev described the long hours that filming takes. 10 hours per day of actual shooting is standard in Australia, with other time added in the day for breaks etc. Shooting has to take place in all weather, whether a heatwave, cold or wet.