This is how actors stay still when they play dead, and I imagined it to be different

HBO

It doesn't matter if you're into soaps, gore, romantic comedies or dramas; Rarely has the television lover managed to avoid the death of his favorite character on screen.

And if you've watched a series with a particularly high character death rate, like Game of Thrones, you've probably seen post-battle scenes that would make Napoleon feel uneasy.

But once you're over Why Your beloved character has gone to Hollywood heaven, the question is fair How The actors manage to lie so convincingly still for so long during the body shots.

Luckily, Marina Hyde, co-host of behind-the-scenes podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, has answers for us.

Which are?

Marina spoke to a producer before the podcast about forensic pathology and learned that people actually slide corpses.

She explained that “some people freak out” when they play corpses, and not everyone can lie still long enough to get a good shot, “so you have to audition.” [for corpse roles] by lying still.”

However, in the perfect cadaver casting, the shots didn't stick to the chest because it's very difficult not to show the rise and fall of breathing.

“But now – this is like one of the great routine instances of VFX – they can capture it in a moment at rest (the chest) and then overlay the still image onto the rest of the footage.

“For those where there is a corpse with open eyes, the VFX is particularly useful,” Marina added.

Her co-host Richard Osman said: “Essentially there are some actors who are very, very good at being still and now they're cheating on the 'not breathing' elements.”

Woah.

I know! A Reddit thread asking people who have played dead on screen to share their experiences also provides some gory insight.

“I starred in an episode of Chicago Fire. “I found myself in a scene of rubble after a marathon bombing,” site user Citrous_Oyster wrote.

“The camera was on a crane looking at the file and I was lying on my back over the rubble. I was instructed to try to hold my breath for as long as possible or take short breaths. I wore a yellow jacket which also covered some of my breathing, which helped,” they shared.

“I work in post-production and can confirm that I have removed breaths from dead actors. “Generally not particularly complicated,” Redditor Jewel-Jones added.

The more you know…

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