Hands

It takes a lot of hands to make a movie.



On a film set, hands hold the boom mic. Hands set up the camera for the next scene. Hands move light stands, sandbags, props, and costumes. And those are just the behind-the-scenes hands.



Often, after a film set has wrapped for the day, the crew isn't quite finished. Yes, the actors have been released for the day and are able to go home. But, while the equipment is still set up, the crew will often try to grab some shots that didn't make it off the shot list of that day's filming.

So, we film some inserts. And most inserts involve... Yep! You guessed it... Hands.

And that's where we need the "hand double". In this case, instead of the actor's hands, someone else's hand is used for the shot. And sometimes, once the film is pieced together, it's hard -- even for us -- to spot whether that insert is really the actor's hand, or the double's hand.

Substitutions are supposed to be like that.

You shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Kind of like the hands of a certain carpenter...

Could I behold those hands which span the poles,
And tune all spheres at once pierc'd with those holes?
John Donne (1572-1631)