(Not so) risky business: How Tom Cruise's impressive-looking stunts are made easier than they seem



Clinging on for dear life, Tom Cruise desperately holds on to a car bonnet as Cameron Diaz drives it down the street at breakneck speed... at least that's what the director wants you to think.

But this is a stunt sequence from their action-comedy Wichita, where nothing is quite what it seems.

Get off my car: Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise film an action sequence in Wichita but it's not quite this simple



Look below at our more loosely cropped picture and you will see the bigger picture.

Although Ms Diaz is behind the wheel of the black Cadillac, this is just a dummy car covering the actual low-lying vehicle.



Peering out underneath Tom's flailing legs is the real stunt driver wearing a crash helmet and all around them are lights, cameras and a host of gadgets and film tools.



Cruise and Diaz perform a scene from their new film Wichita. But look closer under Tom's legs and you will see the actual stunt driver who is controlling the vehicle as it swerves

Intrigued, MailOnline asked stunt co-ordinator and performer Steve Truglia, who designs and arranges shots for movies, TV shows and commercials, to cast an expert eye over our pictures from the Cruise/Diaz set in Boston.

He pinpointed the uses of each piece of equipment and the information he passed on is fascinating - not just to film geeks.



'The very reason for this elaborate set-up is to make it look real,' said Mr Truglia.



'A lot more movement can be captured using this technique.'

Traditionally in car chase scenes, the car is placed on the back of a low loader trailer. In this case a specially designed low loader has been set up with a dummy car at the front, allowing a stunt driver to control the vehicle from underneath.



'The advantage of this method is that cameras can be placed in a variety of angles showing the artist on the bonnet, the artist driver and the background moving past in a realistic manner as the whole mechanism drives down the road,' Mr Truglia said.

'It looks like the stunt driver is providing sideways swerving by driving the wheels which are on the road behind the low loader. This allows shots of the car apparently skidding all over the road.'

Although making up just seconds of footage, the expensive stunt scenes can take weeks to prepare and film.



'In most cases, storyboards are drawn up so that everybody knows exactly what the director wants to see,' the British stunt co-ordinator said.



'Then the stunt co-ordinator offers safe solutions to the director. Given the budget, we can achieve almost anything visually without hurting anyone.

Tom Cruise prepares to stand up next to a dog co-star as his car in driven by a stunt driver behind a film truck... ... Look closer and you'll see the dog has been replaced by a puppet as Tom Cruise clambers over the top of the moving vehicle. He is supported by wires at the back.

'Where the action is potentially dangerous for the artist, we use stunt performers to test the limits of what's safe. In this case a stunt double would have ridden the rig to determine the likelihood of the artist falling off the bonnet.

'A location manager will oversee the pre-arranged use of the public highway, often with police blocking roads off. Medics will be on standby in case of an accident.'

Only then can the cameras start to roll for real. The action can be shot anything from one to dozens of time, depending on lighting issues, dialogues glitches and background noise.

The low loader would travel up to 60mph in a straight line or 30mph during swerves, according to expert stunt co-ordinator Steve Truglia

Although it looks risky, Tom Cruise has very little chance of falling off the car. He would be secured to the vehicle by wires and a harness, which is digitally removed in post production.

'For this kind of shot I would probably set a maximum of 30mph with swerving and up to 60 driving in a straight line on a completely locked off road,' Mr Truglia said.



'I would insist on safety wires. I notice that in one picture the bonnet seems to have some stuck on grippy patches to reduce Tom's sideways movement.'



A lot of clever editing follows with cuts between close-ups showing the artists, wider shots of an actual car with stunt doubles on the bonnet and the action in the context of the street.

'It is usually very expensive to create stunt shots,' Mr Truglia said.



'You have the specialist building of dummy cars, special effects people, stunt people, and the extra time taken to do something like this whilst keeping everybody safe.

'It is a huge team effort to make a great movie and everyone plays their part.'

Steve Truglia specialises in designing and arranging stunt action sequences on any scale. For more information visit his website www.prostunts.net





But whoever said Tom doesn't take risks...

Far from shirking danger duties, Tom Cruise has had his fair share of on-set thrills.



In Mission: Impossible II, for example, he insisted on doing his own stunts on motorbikes and cars - and one memorable 'knife-on-eyeball' sequence.

The scene involved a fight between him (as Ethan Hunt) and the villain Sean Ambrose, played by Dougray Scott.

Watch out: That's Cruise's actual eye very near a real knife

Don't look now: Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) (L) tussles with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) (R)



Cruise insisted that a real knife be used - and that it stop precisely one quarter of an inch from his eyeball, against the wishes of director John Woo.

The weapon itself was connected to a wire that was carefully measured to achieve the effect.