Latest news with #SpecialtyStuntAward

Vancouver Sun

Vancouver stunt company wins Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement

Article content Fire4Hire, which has 52 films and 76 TV series under its belt, has used its fire gel technology on bold-type projects including The Last of Us and Deadpool 2. It won the Specialty Stunt Award at the 2019 Taurus World Stunt Awards for a Deadpool 2 scene where actor Anthony Moyer is running around on fire in the background for a full 30 seconds while Deadpool fights a room full of bad guys. Article content Fire4Hire's handiwork can be seen in the soon-to-be-released film Final Destination: Bloodlines, the sixth one in the franchise. This job was special, as the fire gel was first used on Final Destination 3. (Fans will likely remember the gruesome tanning bed deaths.) Article content Article content Article content There are other fire gels on the market, but they are used over clothing. Fire4Hire's water soluble, non-toxic gel, which Decker and Brooks developed through trial and error in Brooks' backyard two decades ago, is designed to be used directly on skin. Article content 'Imagine putting your hand in a pot of water, putting it on the stove, and turning it on. At first you feel nothing. Then it slowly heats up until you feel discomfort. Then you put it out and you're fine,' said Decker, describing how the product works. 'If you push it, you could get into trouble. But if you're smart, you're fine.' Article content Decker also explained Fire4Hire's gel doesn't have to be refrigerated, which makes it way more comfortable for the people it's applied to. Article content 'It definitely puts you in a state of hypothermia, which also reduces the mental state of the person being set on fire,' said Decker of other cold-gel formulas. 'You have to rush and hurry because of that situation. So, all in all, it's just a far superior product than what was out there in the past.' Article content Article content While the number of naked skin burns is small, Decker said last year was a red hot one for the company. Article content 'Last year was probably the greatest year of fire I've ever had. On average, I would say you might do six burns a year. And last year was close to 100,' said Decker, who himself has over 200 stunt credits to his name. 'Final Destination 6 was one of the biggest. The Last of Us season 2, hands down the biggest. I had my biggest sequence ever, where we set 10 different people on fire all at the same time. There was a crowd of zombies that are infected, bombs going off and fire everywhere, snow machines — it was absolute chaos. It went so smoothly and so perfectly, and no one got hurt.' Article content