Stuntman explains to Vermilion Parish students how science and movies go together

Sometimes Steve Wolf gets blown up or is set on fire. But he claims his job is not really dangerous at all. He works as a stuntman and a special-effects expert for movies and television. He says his breathtaking activities result from science. And he likes to share that science with school children.
Wolf visited LeBlanc Elementary School, located north of Erath. He told the students that stunts and special-effects -- the tricks we see in movies -- look terrifying, but are under control.
“Movie fire takes direction. So it’ll do exactly what we need on the movie set.”
He told a group of talented and gifted students from the parish that special effects result from physics and chemistry -- not magic.
Wolf showed the students how an explosion is created in a movie.
As part of the
demonstration, Wolf dangled TAG teacher Leah Trahan in the air using pulleys. He called up parish students Seth Noegel, Blake Henson, Reed Guarino and Phillip Summers to pull Trahan in the air with pulleys.
Then he called up LeBlanc student Regan Granger to take hold of the rope and then the four boys let the rope go. Wolf told Granger she was as strong as the four young men because she was able to hold the teacher in the air using only one hand thanks to the pulleys.
He also set his hand on fire and blew up a flower pot during a Hollywood re-enactment. Don’t try any of these stunts at home, because Wolf is a trained professional.
“It’s a huge satisfaction to watch kids get as excited about learning science as they do about action, adventure movies,” said Wolf. “Then I know that we’re making a difference, that we’re doing something that gets the kids jazzed up.”
The stuntman used fuel, oxygen, heat and chemical reactions. He asks the children what that makes, and they all answer: “Fire!”
This year, LeBlanc teacher Leah Trahan ‘s theme is the TAG program is science in the movie industry. Her students read about Wolf in a school science magazine Odyssey. The process to get him to Vermilion Parish began in August.
Through the “Donor Choose Grant Program” and local donations, she was able to bring Wolf to Vermilion Parish.
Wolf says he became involved in science education 20 years ago. At that time, he learned that the United States was not rated among the top 20 nations in science education. That did not seem right to him. He remembered that when he was very young, he watched an American astronaut walk on the moon.
Wolf decided to establish a program for students. It is called “Science in the Movies.” Over 20 years, he has performed more than 4,000 demonstrations at schools and science events around the world.