Who’s the dummy?
Australia is definitely a country where you are going to have problems shooting if you have not played by all the rules. I remember I wanted to do a shot of a man jumping off the Sydney Bridge and I was told I was out of my mind.
Indian filmmaker Vikram Bhatt complains about Australia.
He goes on to say that he proposed the [unidentified] Sydney authorities to throw a dummy off the bridge and the permission was still denied, because people might see a ‘body’ falling and that could trigger an emergency service chaos.
It might be Indians in general or just me in particular but I did not feel very welcome.
The top of the arch is 134 metres above sea level and the clearance for shipping under the deck is a spacious 49 metres. Which leaves the height of around about 55m from where a stunt guy would jump from the sidewalk. Considering cliff diving takes place at heights of 20 m to 30 m. There is a limit to how high one can jump from and survive, regardless of water depth. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge is 220 feet (66 m) high and overlooks water deep enough to not hit the bottom, but the result is certain death or serious injury. I am pretty sure 55m is pushing the bounds of safety for a start. Stick to a green screen and a digital effect.