Richardson emails that she “can’t divulge trade secrets about exactly how this stunt was created and performed,” but she says cinematographer Lubezki and director Russell “planned a move very specific camera movement to accompany the action, so the stunt was designed to work in concert with the movement of the camera to achieve the desired result.
While Richardson points out that she felt safe on set and in the care of the stunt coordinator Frank Torres, his biggest concern was the cold. They filmed all night, and the set was frequently watered down to make it look rainy and humid. Richardson would be soaked in the process.
She doesn’t remember how many setups and takes they did the night of the shoot, but writes that “I remember a lot of chills and chattering of teeth and rushing inside towards the heaters warm whenever I had the chance.”
Sounds effective
The scene’s piece de resistance might be its sound design. Created by sound designer Anne Scibelli, the sound of a car running over Liz’s body makes the message clear: 90 years ago, rush-hour traffic in New York City stopped for no one (or not) body).
“David just wanted there to be a lot of chaos,” Scibelli says of the build-up to the crash. She was asked to emphasize the various screams and confusion of figures on the street and she also researched what car horns and tire screeching would have sounded like during this era.
As for the part where the audience sees Liz’s body, Scibelli says she wanted to play on shock value. The trick was that it couldn’t get too morbid or campy because the camera was already doing enough. There are no bone crushing sounds or anything too gory.
“There’s a fine line,” Scibelli says, adding, “I use car impact and then a low beat like a body drop, but a bit muffled.”
All this to play the shock factor of the scene.
“We don’t expect her to be pushed out and then run over by the car,” she says. “Visually you can see she is affected. The camera does not cut. So it’s definitely on screen.
Memorable moment?
There’s no debating that this scene is meme-able, there is a question whether he should be. The plan may allow audiences — and if we’re particularly meta, Swift herself — to poke fun at the star’s pop culture status. But it is still a scene where a woman is run over by a car.
King Jay’ana, a doctoral student in counseling psychology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, who works with the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, sends emails stating that “memes can further perpetuate racism, stereotyping and sexism “.
“Memes that involve women and racially minority people, especially those who are black, are often used with racist and/or sexist undertones and humor, even if shared in an innocent way,” King continues. in the email. “This is often because women and people from racial minorities are stereotyped as overly emotional or incompetent. Memes depicting women and racially minority people are often ones in which the person/character is emotional, incompetent, and/or uneducated. Additionally, memes are often created from a white, heterosexual, and/or male perspective.
It’s also a scene featuring a woman who has won a lawsuit against her sexual attacker and led by a man who has his own history of assault and harassment allegations. And since that’s the nature of GIFs and memes, it’s easy right now to be taken out of context even if the person sharing does so innocently.
Stuntwoman Richardson admits it’s not the first time her work has been memorized, referencing Westworld as well as the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and the FX series Legion.
“After a quick GIF search earlier, [I found] at least five [of me] fight a CG shark on The lowlands,” she emailed. But because of this article, “if this stunt takes off as a meme, maybe it will be different because it will be the first time I’ve been directly associated with the image.”