Mattress Pit.
How do you remove the drama from something as intense as the “I am your father,” scene? That’s simple, just zoom out slightly. Because of the need in this part for Mark Hamill to drop down after confronting the truth, it was necessary to take some safety precautions.
In order to remove some of the danger from the stunt, a special system was implemented hoping to make the landing as soft as possible. What better way to cushion the force of gravity than with dozens of mattresses and comforters?
We can see an entire warehouse’s worth of soft items piled around this special fall zone to prevent injury from occurring to the actors. Despite the height not being life-threatening, it is definitely better to be safe than sorry, especially in a setting as unpredictable as a film set. Also visible from this angle is the specially designated “Mattress Lifeguard.”
This man’s responsibility was to go into the fluffy mass and help get Hamill out of it after he had to jump. Now that’s a dream job ladies and gentlemen. Mattress pits are still used commonly in the film industry to help with free fall stunts however, now it is usually just one enormous mattress filling the pit.
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