Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1544153
PROPERTYMASTERSGUILD.ORG 11 come back here, use the staff to fight off the sword. When we shot the wide angles, we were supposed to use the rubber sword and the staff. The guy playing the sword-bearing stuntman, whose name shall remain nameless, and it was the stunt coordinator who I hold responsible for this, did not switch from the iron sword to the rubber one. I was told to stay with the balsa wood staff, which I did. In one of the pushbacks, the sword went straight through the balsa wood and sliced my eye open. I put my hand to my face, and it filled with blood. It did not hit my eyeball, but it was terrifying. It was Friday night. Everything stopped. My eye is bleeding. Cliff Bole, the director, said we got the shot, we better take Frakes to the hospital. So, I go to the emergency room still in costume, with my silly little Robin Hood shoes on and a belt around my head. We were in West Hollywood, coming out of Paramount. I'm on a gurney and nobody's thinking this is weird at all because this guy's in costume like this because it's Friday night in West Hollywood. They stitched me up, just a couple of stitches around the eyebrow. But it was terrifying. It has affected me forever. I tell it as a cautionary tale because it was irresponsible not to make sure the sword had been switched to rubber. I could have been cut either way, but with the iron sword, it was a very big deal. PROP CULTURE: It is a powerful reminder that even when everyone thinks they are prepared, one detail can make all the difference. That is exactly why the handoff between stunts, props, and direction must be airtight. And now we are entering an era where some of those details can be designed or even generated digitally using AI (artificial intelligence). What are your thoughts about using AI and its impact on the future of filmmaking? JONATHAN: I'm terrified! I'm very excited about what it can do with the medical profession. I'm very excited about what it can do for location, people in the middle of nowhere. All that stuff is without question, incredibly valuable. I'm friends with Sean Astin, who's now president of our Screen Actors Guild, and he's struggling so hard to figure out where the line is. The toothpaste is out of the tube already. What do we do? How do we address it? On a philosophical level, my kids, who are 30 and 28, tell me, you cannot do anything with AI. Dad, it's bad. It's certainly bad for us as actors. And it feels to me in many ways, like it's going to start taking people's jobs. What is your take? PROP CULTURE: The same conversation is happening in the property and set decorating world. People are asking whether AI will start replacing the artistic contributions of the Property Master, the art director, the set decorator. Though what actually is AI? If you look at science fiction, at what point did CGI (computer-generated images) enter the picture, and is that also a form of AI? JONATHAN: That is a great question. I am thinking about it as you are speaking. When a visual effects supervisor says I can take care of that; I can add the smoke. I can add the fire. It does not have to be practical. He can handle all of it. And it's just money and time, I get it. PROP CULTURE: That is really the rub, isn't it? Visual effects can absolutely expand what is possible. But there is something different when an actor is reacting to real smoke, real fire, or a real object with weight in their hands. When everything becomes something that can be added later, don't we risk losing some of that tactile collaboration between props and performance? Maybe the real question is not just about money and time. Maybe it is about how much of the human element we want to keep in the process. JONATHAN: I am thinking about Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. There is a time machine, the Leonard Shelton device, that comes from The Big Bang Theory. It is a big prop, maybe 24'x12'x15'. There is a practical version where all the knobs work, all the buttons light up. Kevin Sussman/Stuart has worked out the sequence that triggers the jump because the premise of the show is that each episode takes place in a different universe. At the end of an episode, they shift, and that shift involves this device. Now we "QPID" EPISODE STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT STAR TREK: INSURRECTION TRICORDER PATRICK STEWART AS CAPTAIN PICARD