Stunts › Sequences › Avengers: Endgame (2019) ›
Vormir cliff (Natasha's sacrifice)
Black Widow's sacrifice on Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone. Heidi Moneymaker performed the rigged fall from the cliff edge on a hydraulic decelerator system, with the upper section of the cable disappearing in compositing. The decelerator was tuned to produce a 6-G arrest profile in the last two metres so the body's pose at the bottom of the fall would read as motionless on impact rather than rebound.
Credits
Stunt team
Coordinator
Double
- Heidi Moneymaker(doubling Scarlett Johansson)
Performed the rigged fall on a twin-line hydraulic decelerator.
Rigging
Equipment + technique
decelerator
Mfr Performance Air-RamsTwin-line hydraulic decelerator; arrest profile tuned for performer mass + costume weight.
high-fall-airbag
Backup catch beneath the decelerator stop point.
Harness
Back-mounted carabiner concealed under the costume; cable removed in compositing.
Safety
Officer + bulletins
Bulletins observed
Rigging glossary
5 rigs used in this sequence
Each entry explains how the rig works mechanically and the safety bulletin that governs it. Click through for the full glossary detail.
descender
High-fall airbag
The standard catch for free-falls above roughly 25 feet. A pneumatic bag whose deflation curve absorbs vertical energy progressively rather than abruptly.
descender
Decelerator
The hydraulic ratchet rig used to arrest a high-fall in the last 6 to 10 feet, replacing or augmenting an airbag for daylight exterior work where the bag would be visible to camera.
descender
Pole-cat (telescoping ejector pole)
A pneumatically-actuated telescoping pole used to launch a performer or stunt dummy through a window, off a rooftop, or into a fall in a controllable arc.
fall
Pad arrangement (catch-pad layout)
The choreographed layering of foam, airbag, and pad elements behind set walls and props that catches a performer hitting an unrehearsed surface during fight choreography.
References
Further reading
- Heidi Moneymaker on the Vormir sequenceTHRinterview