Gymtastic Voyage: A martial arts test fight on the DVX

[Shauntron]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time poster. I recently nabbed my friend's DVX100 when he upgraded to an HD option, and I'm having a ball with it. I love the manual features. After a few years of VFX work on other people's DVX footage I already know my way around the NTSC nightmare of 24P and 24PA, so I can jump right in without ruining my footage on import or export. Here's a goofy little thing we shot saturday (I'm the guy in the red pants)

http://files.filefront.com/gymtasticvoyage1mpg/;13471298;/fileinfo.html

Filefront offers an FLV preview of the footage, but I highly recommend scrolling down and downloading the MPEG2 option. It took me a while to come up with a descent encode, but I'm happy with how it looks for ~1/4 the file size of DV AVI.

Thanks for watching!

[Paladin]

Not bad! Not bad at all!

[Jeff Anderson]

Very nice - camerwork, sound effects, and the fighting were all top notch. You guys definitely need to make a martial arts short of some kind.

[Shauntron]

Very nice - camerwork, sound effects, and the fighting were all top notch. You guys definitely need to make a martial arts short of some kind.

Thank you, we've got plenty! Plus a few features...

http://www.thestuntpeople.com/?page=films.php

[jambredz]

excellent stuff shaun. Multiple cams? or one?

[Shauntron]

Just the one DVX100. We never really shoot for coverage, we tend to choreograph on the spot and edit in-camera- give or take a few moves at the start/end of each shot.

[DPStewart]

Duuude.
Some of the best fight choreography I've seen....and I've seen a lot!
Why?
2 key points:

Your strike follow through is more realistic than most. Not pulled short.
Your impact reactions are stunningly real. Perfectly timed - not telegraphed. and correct in reaction angle, timing, and degree.

I suggest you put a few of these on a reel and find a Hollywood specialty agent to rep you guys as fight choreographers.
You should be doing big production work and that would be the path.

~Dane Paul

EDIT: HaHa! Just checked your website...Never mind...you guys already ARE big time!
Rock-on dudes!

[Norm Sanders]

THAT was kick ass!!! Soooo impressed by that ... obviously you guys got some skills as well, but much of it looked like full on contact! Very well choreographed to say the least! :thumbsup:

[Gillvane]

I thought it was most entertaining. Good job! Love the somewhat cheesy sound effects.

[Jim H]

Just the one DVX100. We never really shoot for coverage, we tend to choreograph on the spot and edit in-camera- give or take a few moves at the start/end of each shot.

Just like in Hong Kong, eh? Personally, I think doing segment shooting like that leads to greater spontaneity and better coherence in fight scenes.

While some planning does help, I think shooting coverage in a fight scene is.. Iffy. It often ends up being slower and will have worse continuity if you're trying to construct a fight scene more through careful editing of a large batch of footage rather than choreography and performance.

Great stuff, by the way!

[Shauntron]

Just like in Hong Kong, eh? Personally, I think doing segment shooting like that leads to greater spontaneity and better coherence in fight scenes.

While some planning does help, I think shooting coverage in a fight scene is.. Iffy. It often ends up being slower and will have worse continuity if you're trying to construct a fight scene more through careful editing of a large batch of footage rather than choreography and performance.

Great stuff, by the way!


Thank you!

I think you and I are on the same page. There are are a few reasons I prefer to choreograph shot-per-shot and not to shoot coverage in fight scenes, and these preferences formed from personal experience working with directors who insist on shooting coverage from a mastershot. Not to mention they formed from a strong preference for making the kinds of fights I actually want to watch.

1) A punch or kick must cross an invisible line between the camera and a person's head, which means to perfectly time a reaction, a camera can only be placed in one position or exactly 180 degrees in the other (which would be nonsense). This is why fights shot with, say, three or four simultaneous cameras look a bit... off. Ask that director which camera he will use for the strike so you can time your reaction, and expect a blank stare.

2) Given #1, it's hard to devise a mastershot of the entire choreography while keeping camera angles in mind. Better to devise the choreography shot per shot while a fight-savvy DP finds an angle and provides feedback on how that choreography is working for said angle. In addition for that, the DP may also find lighting solutions that compliment Every. Single. Shot. Neat!

3) And given #2, while everyone is providing feedback to each other with a blank slate, and creating the fights in real-time, the neat little ideas that spring into people's heads are more likely to be used (like punching someone in the leg so hard they fall over at 0:28).

4) If there are multiple cameras running, or a director wants multiple shots of the same choreography for "options," this usually means the editor will pull a Bourne Identity and make a cut every 1-2 seconds and pick the closeups to hide flaws- that were created in the first place by shooting multiple angles! When editing in-camera more or less, the editor won't have much of a chance to put a "special touch" on the footage.

5) Finally, workflow. Our process (the HK process really) is not only organic and provides good results, but its very efficient and fast. My 1 minute of footage took only 1.5 hours to shoot. Granted, we're shooting in a gym with no crew, props, lights, sound, dollies, or seriously dangerous stunts. But if the entire crew is really with-it they can find the camera angle, set up the dolly, and set up lights/sound WHILE we choreograph, that doesn't add much time at all to the entire process. It can still be faster than traditional methods in a professional setting.

My favorite examples are the Undisputed II fights, which were all shot in one day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBQMe16J0iw&feature=related