When directing the fall, you want to make sure that it looks as real as possible. You also want to make sure it is well timed. To do this, you have to set the fall up. The set-up is nothing more than having the actor walk very naturally towards the camera looking very self-assured, enjoying the day - not a care in the world. Suddenly the actor trips and falls just below camera shot and immediately jumps up, look around to see if anyone saw the blunder and recovers as if nothing happened. Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality is a great example of this. She comes out of the building where they just spent hours trying to make her look like a beauty queen, and begins to walk towards the camera. Suddenly she falls off her high heels, goes down below camera shot so you never really see her land and pops back up smoothing the hair out of her face. The result is very funny. It works because of the set-up: she is looking gorgeous and together. The fall: it is very sudden and unexpected. The recovery: she reacts as if nothing happened, swipes at the hair on her face and keeps going.

By placing the camera shot in such a way that the actor falls below the shot, you can hide any protection matting needed. You set the scene up by showing the actor in a long shot so we see the feet. The actor naturally walks into the camera with the bottom of the shot rising above the body. The shot is even funnier when the actor suddenly disappears from the screen and then reappears - all disheveled and acting like nothing even happened.

If the fall is more of a head-over-heels fall, you definitely want to put down matting. In this type of fall, you must rehearse with the actor the placement of the fall and make sure you have a shot that allows recovery off the mat without its being seen. The mats should be solid enough that the actor can spring back up. Remember, the recovery is more important than the actual fall. Set up the shot so that the audience thinks they are seeing the ground where the actor is walking, and then the trip, fall and recovery, and perhaps a cut to another shot that shows a perfectly clean sidewalk or street and then cut to a puzzled look on the actor's face.

In the whole sequence, the fall is set up by a long shot that lasts for a little bit, then the fall. If there is an audience, perhaps a quick cutaway to their faces with a look of shock, then a quick cut back as the actor recovers, a tighter shot of the face and then a longer shot as the actor moves on as if nothing happened. The setup is slow and peaceful, followed by a flurry of shots, and then it is finished by a slow and peaceful shot after the actor's reco…