Legendary stuntman Grant Page put some students through a rigorous set of learning activities during a workshop at the North Coast TAFE Port Macquarie campus recently.
The former commando and science teacher, whose film credits include Mission Impossible 2, Mad Max, Death Ship and The Lighthorsemen, gave students studying the Diploma of Screen and Media an insight into everything from staging realistic fight scenes to leaping from tall buildings.
Regarded as one of the world’s most fearless stuntmen, Mr Page tutored the class of film makers on how to safely capture what audiences believe to be extremely dangerous scenes. During the six-hour session the students found themselves flying through the air before landing on a giant crash pad below. After conquering their initial fears, all were falling backwards by the end of the activity, with no hesitation.
The group was also introduced to the art of “fighting”, adopting the role of actors while the best-in-the-business demonstrated how it’s done.
Soon the students were throwing punches and flipping each other to the ground in a dramatic fashion, while ensuring they walked away from the experience unscathed.
Mr Page is one of several industry based professionals who’ll be sharing their skills and knowledge with the TAFE students during the year-long diploma course.
Steve Cutmore, Creative Industries Head Teacher, said it was a wonderful opportunity for students to get first-hand experience and knowledge directly from industry leaders.
“All the students make a short film and a documentary as well as work in a film crew to cover various local events during the course, while having a lot of fun in the process,” he said.
