Airbags are fine. But when it comes to high falls, sometimes all you need to land safely is a stack of cardboard boxes.

That was one of the takeaways from the Round Top Film Festival ’s “From the Jump: Film and TV Stunt Designers in Conversation” panel in Round Top, Texas on Nov. 9, which featured veteran stunt coordinators and second unit directors Chris O’Hara, recipient of the fest’s Maverick Stunt Award, and Vic Armstrong, who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“You can tuck a cardboard box into the little corner over there [if] he’s coming off that deck and landing in the alleyway,” said Armstrong. “You get an airbag, you can’t fit it in there.”

“If you hit the edge of an airbag, it’s not good. … You’re going to roll right off to the ground,” added O’Hara. “You can hi

See Full Page