I'm working on a project where a character is hung from a noose tied to a tree branch. The scene is currently storyboarded so the only shot of the actual hanging is from about the knees down, with the block kicked away and the feet dropping about 6 inches.

Pulling this shot off without risking the actor is giving me some problems. I had originally planned to make some kind of a harness so the actor will simply stand there, and when the block is removed the harness will take the weight so the feet will dangle realistically.

However, I haven't been able to buy/make this. My second thought was to make some kind of armature for the legs and feet, dress it with pants and shoes, and hang that from the tree branch (only the lower legs and feet will be visible). However, making it move realistically will also be difficult. It seems like my best option is to use a real person, but I can't think of the safest and cheapest way to stage the shot. Your ideas?

What's the problem with riggin the guy like the girls in Heathers rigged themselves to fake the hanging?

elliott.

Could you shoot the crowd reaction instead maybe?

if you are only shooting the knees down, have your actor stand on the block and rig up a rope for him to hang on to with his hands that has a mild amount of slack in it. Keep it as close to taught as possible so their shoulders arent hurt, and their weight alone will stretch the rope giving the effect you are looking for. Just be careful! If you do this wrong they could stretch ligament or worse! We're talking about a drop of maybe an inch or two, thats all it should take.

FYI - in puritan times they swung people off of ladders instead of dropping them. they swung until they were strangled - usually the necks never broke. This method may yield a safer knee down shot, as the actor would only have to swing, not jerk.

i like the crowd reaction idea... if you could film from the legs down but have the crowd's reaction in the backgorund in focus and the legs in the foreground out of focus/.. it would make for a pretty cool effect

you could just have the actor hang onto a rope with his hands, the rope would be tied to the tree. then you wouldn't hurt the actor at all when you drop him.

Can't he hold onto the tree branch his hands, do a half pull up, and suddenly drop? (Still holding on to the branch).

Yeah, but it wouldn't be as crisp as I wanted. I wanted the drop to be sharp and dangerous looking, not like the actor lowered himself from a pull up.

Without making a harness, I doubt the results would be satisfactory. I also came up with the idea of doing a hanging without the drop and having him slowly suffocate. This would greatly pad the running time.

The other option is to change to another form of execution - the frequently used third world gunshot to the back of the head method.