Interview: Shogun Stunt Coordinator Lauro Chartrand-DelValle

ComingSoon spoke with Lauro Chartrand-Delvalle about his work on FX’s acclaimed series Shogun and CBS’s Tracker. As a veteran Stunt Coordinator and Performer, Lauro has performed every type of stunt imaginable, from high falls, gymnastics, and fight scenes to car chases and work with animals. His well-rounded expertise has shaped him into one of Hollywood’s top Stunt Coordinators who creates authentic and intricate sequences that serve the specific needs of each of his projects.

ComingSoon: Can you elaborate on ensuring that each stunt in Shogun was authentic and aligned with the dramatic and emotional context of the scene?

Lauro Chartrand-Delvalle: That was a huge team effort. First and foremost, I would consult with the episode director, the producers, and the showrunner, Justin Marks, after reading the scene. As the show’s Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director, it is my job to first read between the lines and find my take on the dramatic and emotional context of the scene and how it relates to the characters involved in the action. After consulting with the aforementioned Execs, I work with my stunt team to choreograph what I feel has the right tone and length to bring out that tension, emotion, and drama that fits with the characters and scene.

Once we have a blueprint of the action scene laid out and approved by the director, I invite the actors portraying those characters to join us for rehearsal. At that point, we start very slowly to help them gain muscle memory in their action so eventually they won’t even need to think about it, because when the adrenaline kicks in, and you’re going full speed on set, you don’t want to be thinking about “What is the next move?” Of course, when you’re swinging Katanas and Naginatas around other actors and stunt performers, this is a big safety concern that has to be addressed from the beginning.

I also invite the actors to collaborate in the rehearsal stage and add the nuances of their character, as long as it’s safe and doesn’t take the action in a completely different direction. It can be a lengthy process, but I found that 90% of the time, we were all on the same page and had it dialed in relatively quickly since we were on a TV schedule. The biggest difference with this show was making sure we did everything correctly within the cultural aspect of Japanese history and tradition. However, with the guidance of Producer and Star Hiroyuki Sinada and many other cultural experts brought from Japan, we had all the support and guidance we needed to achieve success.

CS: How did you approach creating the storm sequence in Shogun: Episode One, mainly using a life-sized ship on a computerized gimbal?

LC: The biggest challenge for this sequence was the movements’ timing , especially when certain elements were introduced. We had to work very closely with our special effects team, which is typical for most action sequences, but these were such big elements, and the timing was crucial. The elements involved wind, rain, waves crashing over the deck, the movement of this massive ship (controlled by a computer console 100 feet from the boat ), and the action of my stunt performers and stunt riggers.

First, we just worked out the action of the Japanese Captain (Nobuyuki Obikane) from my stunt team as he slides across the deck and is propelled over the railing off into thin air, suspended forty feet above the concrete below. For this, he wore a low profile harness and was suspended on safety lines controlled by my stunt riggers headed up by Key Stunt Rigger (Alistair King). We had to figure out the angle that the SFX team had to tilt the ship to get Nobuyuki to slide fast enough across the deck to propel him over the side believably. Then we incorporated Blackthorne’s Stunt double (James Coupland) to get the right timing to reach Nobuyuki in time to grab him just as he goes over the side and make it, once again, believable and not look “super-heroic.”

This was further complicated, but Blackthorne improved it himself. Actor Cosmo Jarvis had the idea of Blackthorne being washed over a smaller railing on the ship but landing on the deck simultaneously as the Japanese Captain was being washed across the ship’s deck. This made the timing trickier because he had to get up and get to the Captain in time to grab him as he went overboard. We worked that all out with just the rocking and tilting of the ship, which I had to coordinate with Cameron Waldbauer’s SFX team. So we got that dialed in, and then it was time for the FX team to add the wind, rain, and waves that would be dropped onto the deck from enormous dump tanks suspended 10-15 feet above the ship deck to create strong storm waves to wash my guys across the deck. Getting the timing of both the waves and my stunt performers’ movements took a lot of time and finessing, as everything changed the moment we added water – especially water that propelled them much faster! Last, but not least, I was asked early on if I could have all this action done by Cosmo Jarvis! Cosmo was very game, but then it all sits on my shoulders to keep him safe from harm while all these crazy elements and actions are going on. So, we fitted Cosmo with a harness and got him involved in the rehearsals. I had his double, James, show him the required timing and movements. Fortunately, Cosmo is tough, athletic, agile, and could have been a great stunt performer. He performed everything perfectly , taking his lumps and getting a few bruises . A s you saw, it came off as a great and believable scene enhanced beautifully by Michael Cliett and his amazing VFX team.

CS: Among the various stunts in Shogun, such as the cliff rescue and the cannon chain shot sequence, which one posed the most significan t challenge for you as a stunt coordinator?

LC: While they were both very challenging, I would say that the cliff sequence was a bit more complex , mainly because there were many more elements and locations to deal with. It was shot both between the main and 2nd units off and on over about a month. Therefore, continuity and matching everything between what I and Director Jonathan van Tulleken had filmed was tricky. This was my first-day directing 2nd unit for Shōgun, and we started with that sequence on day one out on the rocky shores of Vancouver Island near Ucluelet. We found the perfect spot where the waves came crashing intermittently between the rocks, creating a natural washout that would smash a person against the rocks and potentially wash them out to sea. Since we couldn’t actually allow that to happen to our stunt performer Hiroo Minami, I had to get Alistair King and his rigging team to construct two twenty-foot towers on the rocks on both sides of the wash and run an overhead safety line. That way, we could run another safety line down to attach to Hiroo’s harness under his costume to control him from being smashed too violently against the rocks and being swept out to sea. This was the wide shot of the Yabushige character pulling out his sword just as the wave smashes him and delays his attempt to kill himself.

So that was location 1 of 4! Then, it was up to our amazing production designer Helen Jarvis and her construction and art team to build us a forty-foot cliff to work and rig off of. On this set build, we did all the repelling down the cliff with both stunt double Hiroo Minami and actor Tadanobu Asano on safety lines. We also had to choreograph and film the rope rubbing on the rocks, breaking, and the start of the fall, which we shot over two days: one day of the main unit and one day of 2nd unit. Then, we moved to another amazing set that Helen and her team built. It was another rocky cliff, approximately 20 feet high, which was built in a huge wave tank that they constructed. The cliff ran down to a ledge where we had to drop our stunt double on wires to finish the fall, and we filmed Tadanobu getting up and moving along the ledge to go and rescue Nestor Carbonell. Nestor was trapped on another rock below near the water line as Cam, and his SPFX pounded him with waves they made with a huge dump tank and their wave machines placed in this huge water tank/pool. We assisted the lifting of Nestor up the rocks with another wire rig, all suspended by a Sky-track armed over the huge water tank set. Then, of course, the character Yabushige slips as he’s dragging the Rodrigues character to safety, and again, our stunt double falls into the water and gets trapped in the wash between the rocks that Helen and her team recreated to match the one we filmed in the ocean on Vancouver Island on day one. We also had to build a platform under the water to give the actor and stunt double some stability so that they didn’t have to try and tread water the whole time Cam and his team were smashing them with waves. Last but not least, we had one other set 30 miles away at another location where Helen and her team built a 9-foot-high cliff, which played as the top where Cosmo and Tadanobu act out the scene of who is going to repel down and save Nestor’s character. We also had a wire rig set up there to initiate the lowering of Tadanobu.

In comparison, the cannon chain shot sequence was a bit easier since it was all in one location. However, it was still challenging since we had to ratchet nine stuntmen approximately 15 feet at different intervals to simulate them being hit by the chain shot. Some were standing still, and others tried to run as they were hit/pulled. To add to the challenge, we had three horse stunts simultaneously. One was to buck one of the Samurai off when the cannon fired, another reared up as the Samurai was supposedly hit with the cannon shot and taken out of the saddle, and the third was a full horse fall where the horse was trained to fall with the rider and go to the ground (which we softened for the horse and rider). Getting the timing of that together and shooting it over two days, one main unit and one second unit, was still challenging and couldn’t have been pulled off without the multiple days of rehearsal my stunt team put in to make it all work.

CS: Could you walk us through the coordination of the visceral chase scene in Tracker’s pilot episode, including the elements such as the truck going off a cliff and the two-performer high fall?

LC: This, again, was a bit tricky and challenging, as it was shot in 5 different locations between director Ken Olin on the main unit and myself on 2nd unit. Since I’m the stunt coordinator , choreographing everything that happens action-wise on the main unit, it’s much easier to match what happens in 2nd unit when I’m directing over there. We started with Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) getting squibbed (simulated gunshot wound) in the arm and the truck taking off with the kid in the back, all filmed on the main unit. Then Justin’s stunt double, Jordan Davis, jumps off a steep slope and runs down a hill through the forest to initiate the chase for Colter as he tries to catch up to the truck. This was made plausible because the truck was going down a windy road full of switchbacks and, therefore, must go back and forth down the mountain while Colter ran straight down through the forest.

From that point, the sequence flipped over to 2nd unit, where we had Justin Hartley racing through the woods down steep slopes, sliding down embankments, and getting closer and closer to the truck as it ran down the mountain. Then came the stunt where the truck was going too fast, and our stunt driver, Quentin Schneider, simulated losing control and almost hit an embankment. Our Colter stunt double then catches up and jumps off the embankment into the back of the truck as it’s going by. It took some rehearsal to do this safely and get the timing right. I had our SFX team, headed up by David Allinson, rig a remote control trip on the tailgate of the truck so that when the Colter double lands in the truck , rolls to the back and hits the tailgate, it slams open, and falls out of the back. We cabled him into the truck so he could only fall out so far and then drag behind the truck as it slid around corners and then off down a long straight away while he managed to pull himself back into the truck with one arm (remember, Colter got shot in the arm at the beginning of the sequence).

From there, the sequence flipped back to the main unit, where I had Quentin slide the stunt truck around a bunch of corners with both stunt doubles in the back of the truck at another location. From there, the police came into play with a helicopter and an SUV police vehicle driven by stunt driver Janene Carleton. I had Quentin drive into a very tight location and throw the truck into a 180-degree spin at the edge of a 200-foot cliff at the Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver. Then Janene slides her SUV into a 90-degree position to block him from being able to exit. The truck comes to a stop, with the rear of the truck facing the cliff edge, and my two stunt doubles, Jordan Davis and Matt Phillips, are still in the back. At that point, the character driving the truck commits suicide, and his foot slips off the brake pedal. To pull this off, we switched trucks from our drivable stunt truck to a shell of another matching truck with no motor or transmission to keep it light. The FX team cabled it off so they had total control of the shell truck, with one cable to pull it slowly so it rolled backward through a fence and over the cliff edge. The art department and the SFX team collaborated to make a collapsible fence around the cliff’s edge . They allowed the shell truck to roll backward just enough to get caught on the cliff edge and hang over the 200-foot drop. They had the truck cabled off and controlled with a sky-track crane and huge cement lock blocks to secure the shell truck so it couldn’t go over the edge. At the same time, I had both my stunt doubles cabled off to another larger 60-ton crane controlled by Alistair King and his rigging team. They were attached to a descender rig, which allowed the rigging team to prevent and stop their fall. We set the fall in two stages, where Alistair is running the descender rig, which has two different marks on the cables that run up through a pulley at the top of the crane and then down to my stunt performers. Initially, they would slip to the back of the truck as it stopped and hang over the cliff’s edge . So they slide to the mark that Alistair has on the cable, and he stops them so that it looks like they have grabbed onto a tarp in the back of the truck and are hanging onto that. Then, on my count 3-2-1 drop, Alistair lets them go, and they drop from the truck, approximately 70 feet down over the 200-foot cliff, and hang in midair when Alistair catches them with the descender at the 70-foot mark. We pulled them back up, and all was good.

A few days later, we moved to the stage, set up a similar rig, and hoisted up half of the shell truck in the stage to get close-ups of our actors cabled into the back against a green screen for their dialogue and to initiate the fall out of the back of the truck. We let them fall about 10 feet out of frame over top stunt pads for added safety. Additionally, we picked up shots of Justin dragging behind the truck during the chase scene part of the sequence on the stage with the back of the shell truck. Finally, we went to another location called Lynn Canyon, where we had stunt doubles Jordan Davis and Simon Pigeon jump off a 50-foot cliff into the water to finish off the fall we had started over the 200-foot cliff. To cap it all off, we had our water safety team oversee the actors as they swam to shore in the freezing cold water.

CS: What were some key considerations in choreographing the 40-man battle sequence in Shogun: Episode Nine , both in terms of safety and authenticity?

LC: Regarding safety, it all starts with slow-motion choreography and finding your spacing between and around other performers so that no one gets hit when they aren’t supposed to. The other thing I stressed over and over again with my stunt team was when they raised their swords to cut someone, only raise to the point of being straight over their head. We couldn’t have them raise it past that point and have it pointing back behind them, as there would be a huge possibility of stabbing someone behind them accidentally without either of them seeing it coming. Spacial awareness and proper distancing were key in the safety of it all; for example, spatially knowing where they were falling when they were supposed to die so that they don’t fall on another performer unless it’s pre-choreographed and done safely. And, of course, always setting the distance between you and the performer you are supposedly cutting so that it appears to make contact but doesn’t, especially for throat cuts.

The authenticity came from how long the fights went on and the techniques used. In reality, those deadly sharp swords and spears ended things pretty quickly once they made contact, so we wanted to depict that lethalness within this battle to make it quick and tell that story. This also added impact and tension to Mariko’s situation, making it feel like she could die at any moment.

CS: As a veteran stunt performer, what are some essential factors you always consider when designing and executing stunts for television series like Shogun and Tracker?

LC: We specialize in making it look as dangerous as possible while adding as many safety factors as possible, all without compromising the shot. We also want to make each action look as painful as possible. Oftentimes, it can be painful, but we try to set things up so they are repeatable, trying to mitigate the pain by hiding padding under the costume or integrating it into the set. Sometimes, you can do a stunt as a “oner,” and other times, you have to work in a cut and reset things to be done safely, especially when switching from actor to stunt double. This all helps in taking the audience on a thrill ride and adds to the drama and the reality of the stunt . I like hard-hitting stunts, so I will sometimes try the stunt first (or I may have already done the stunt before myself), as I would never ask any of my performers to do something I wouldn’t do myself.

CS: How do you balance the need for realism and safety when choreographing intense action sequences, especially in shows like Shogun, where historical accuracy is crucial?

LC: The balance often starts with the collaboration I have with the director in prep and what the look and style of the show is . For something like Shōgun that is so heavily based in reality, I often have to ask my performers to go the extra mile, suck it up, and endure some painful hits. That’s a big part of being a stunt performer. I often say the best stunt performers are the ones who learn things quickly and are as tough as nails. That said, I always set up the stunts so they are safe enough to be repeatable. We want everyone to go home safe and sound at the end of the day, so if we need to use wires, pads or help from the VFX department, we do.

CS: Can you discuss any memorable behind-the-scenes moments from the production of Shogun or Tracker, particularly related to stunt work?

LC: There were a few here and there, for sure. The nine-man ratchet stands out because it is a complete and total mud pit. All my stuntmen looked like a bunch of guys who had been hired as mud wrestlers. The poor costume department had such a tough time take after take, trying their best to clean them up enough so that it wasn’t a continuity nightmare for the editors during post. But the stunt guys had such big smiles on their faces, like a bunch of mischievous children who had been caught playing in a mud puddle they had been told to stay out of. When we did the battle sequence in episode 9, I was so adamant that the stuntmen were realistically accurate with their sword attacks – especially no sword contact above their heads, like you see in so many movies and shows that are just filler to make the fight longer. I call it “Bullshit”! You must aim for a legitimate target! As we were rehearsing and I was pre-vizing the fights (pre-visualizing – filming them to show the director and producers for approval), I would yell, “Okay, here we go, and what will we have none of during this fight?” And all of them would yell, as if it was our battle cry, “No BULLSHIT!!” When we were filming, we did the same thing, and the director and Producers had a great laugh every time all 40 of them screamed it out. It was fun!

When we were rehearsing the man overboard sequence on the ship and washing the Japanese Captain across the deck, he would slam into the railing on the other side and then flip over the railing as if the wave washed him over. This was before we even used any water. He must have done it 7 or 8 times. On the ninth take, Nobuyuki slammed right through the railing, smashing it, and it swung open like a huge door on hinges with him precariously hanging on. Of course, his eyes got huge, and he wondered what was going on. All the other stunt guys were laughing at him as he dangled out midair from this big chunk of wood that had peeled off the ship. It was completely safe since he was suspended on a wire and held by our rigging team, but he looked funny – like something out of a cartoon – and gave everyone a good laugh.

Just before Christmas break on Tracker, I jumped in to help with a fight scene that we were choreographing, and someone misjudged their distance and took a hard punch to the nose. We all heard the crack like it was a stick snapping. Yep, I got my nose broken by accident right before the holidays and wound up looking like a raccoon, having two black eyes and a broken nose over the Christmas break! We always do our best to play safe, but it’s the law of averages being a stuntman. There is a 100% chance that you will sustain injuries during your career; you just do your best to keep it to a minimum and, hopefully, nothing too serious.

CS: What inspired you to transition into writing, producing, and directing, as seen in your upcoming feature film Protectors of the Land? How does your background in stunt coordination inform your work in these new roles?

LC: Storytelling! We all work in the film industry as storytellers, no matter what job we do on set. The director tells his story by directing not only the actors but also the crew to help facilitate his vision of how the story should turn out. The Director of Photography, in turn, paints the picture with light and helps tell the story by setting moods and looks with that lighting. Stunt Coordinators tell their part of the story by choreographing the action , infusing story beats to add drama and tension during those scenes. I’ve always been intrigued and attracted to telling the whole story, not by doing all the jobs but by learning and understanding how each job contributes to the story. Throughout my career, I was a sponge who watched everyone work and tried to understand and learn as much about everyone’s job as I could so I could understand them and how they related to the overall storytelling process. So, from a stunt performer, I became a stunt coordinator, and then, as I learned more about camera angles, lenses, and camera movements, I became a second unit director. I paid close attention to the actors and how directors would collaborate with them to get the best performance they needed to tell their story in the best way possible. Starting as a stuntman allowed me to be paid to go to the best film school possible! I constantly watched and learned what to do and what not to do. Even after 35 years of film school on set for me, I learn something new every day!

I started writing because I knew that if I wanted to tell the stories I sought to tell , I had to create them myself. While you always have help from the people you collaborate with, you must take the ball and run it up the field because no one will do it for you . Producing is my least favorite part of the three, but it became a necessary evil . I’m a creative person when it comes to storytelling and choreography, but my mind doesn’t appreciate the creativity it takes to chase money, do all the monotonous paperwork, deal with lawyers and bankers, and do all the behind-the-scenes business it takes to produce a film. If I didn’t have to produce to get my projects made, I’d gladly leave it to someone else so I could just focus on the storytelling. One day, I will have that, but for now, I’ll keep muscling through the producing, writing, and directing all as one. Many people have helped me along the way, especially my partner Sharlène Royer, who has now taken on a producing role. She’s great at it, so eventually, she’ll probably completely take that part of it over, and I’ll completely focus on Directing.

CS: In Shogun and Tracker, how do you collaborate with directors and other key creatives to ensure that the stunt sequences enhance the overall storytelling and character development?

LC: As mentioned earlier, it all starts with the script and sitting down together to formulate a plan. All the creative heads of each department are working together to get a grasp of what the director’s vision is to tell this story. He or she helps you understand the tone and pace of how this story will play out, and from there, myself and all the other key creatives can start our process. I can then start to create the choreography of the action to enhance those story beats while fitting in with the correct tone and pace of his or her storytelling. My team and I stay in close contact with the hair and makeup department to collaborate on the performers having the right look. Sometimes, this can be complicated because we need a performer with the right skills to pull off a dangerous stunt and do it as safely as possible. This is often based on that performer’s experience as well. So many times, the hair and makeup team has to work magic with wigs or bald caps, facial hair, and prosthetic makeup pieces – especially when we bring in someone to double an actor who looks nothing like them. Sometimes, we can find a performer who could be the actor’s twin and has all the right skills, but not always . So there is a lot of give and take there. We also have to work closely with the costume department, often from the very early stages of designing a costume. If a costume is not designed correctly , it can significantly hinder the stunt performer’s movement, making the stunt they need to perform more dangerous, if not next to impossible. The costume has to look cool and beautiful, but it also has to be functional for the action, so once again, there is a lot of give and take there .

Oftentimes , the most important department we collaborate with is the special effects department. These are the men and women who set the explosives that blow us up, catch us on fire, and rig our cars to flip and roll for all those spectacular crashes you see on screen. As the coordinator, we have to work together with them and pre-test these types of potentially life-threatening effects to make sure they are big enough to be scary and realistic but not to the point that they will injure our performers. Of course, we use all the precautions and safety gear possible during these gags, but everything and everyone has their limits, so we have to work together to ensure we keep everyone safe. All through these processes, testing, and filming ( pre-vizing ) we can show the director and ensure we are all on track and on the same page. Then, when we finally get to set and film it, if we’ve all done our prep properly it goes off beautifully. T he story is told in the director’s vision, and everyone goes home happy and healthy, reading for the next day’s work.

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