CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Young-H._Lee

Young-H._Lee

Well-known member
Today (Sunday), I gathered my cast and crew of 8 people, bags of film equipment and went down to DC to shoot the first scene of my feature film - a kungfu fight scene.

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Things generally went well, though it took longer than I anticipated and we will need to venture back down next week. Here is a clip of the movie. The clip is rough, but it gives you an idea of how the action will look.

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE/chinatown_fight1.mov
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

that looks excellent, any specs you'd like to give out? what'd you use for stabilizer? cam settings? lighting? it just looks really pro, Im assuimg some magic bullet is added to this?
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Nice job Young. I cant wait to hear the 'effects'. The stabilzer shots are great and in particular the one where homeboy slides out with a machete. I love the quick zoom on the dude but think it might work better by holding on him a little longer after the zoom. After the first shot I think it might work better with a reverse angle revealing the dude chasing man in white. I like to see a wider shot of man in white turing around to reveal bad guy standing behind him.

OKay, you didnt ask. Those are totally my humblest of opinions and Im rambling tonight.

Seriously nice job. Keep us up to date! That steadi shot was money. It was exposed nicely and the blow out at the end of alley works well I think.
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

I liked it, the music was appropriate!!! Did you use a crane? How did you get that camera angle from up high?
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Thanks a lot Carlos for those nice words

The two shots in the beginning with the chase was with a wheelchair. I had a guy sit on the wheelchair and another guy push him down. then the ground got rough so we switched to the $15 steadycam that I built from parts made at homedepot. lighting was just natural lighting - 11:00am - 4:00pm. Magic bullet was used for color correction. A lot of shot actually came out dark - (my mistake) so I had to increase the brightness and contrast in some shots - but I could salvage it.
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Thanks John! Yea, I agree with you on all those points. I put together the clip in about 15 minutes so it was rough - I also noticed it doesnt flow. I also only got 1/2 the shots so there are a lot of continuity holes. I'll probably going to need another few hundred hours of quality editing before it can be professionally presentable :)

Jkim - all I did was pick up my camera mounted on the tripod and raised it up ;) hehe...seriously!! you should see our hilarious behind the scenes footage - crazy bunch of crew guys
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

oh wow, I have that 15 dollar steadicam (if its the steel pipes one) that was pretty smooth! Mine didnt come out like that on my test shots.
Well very impressive, cant wait to see the full thing when it's done, I'll be expecting some DVDs :)
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

The trick of the steadycam is all about the user - this one guy who was helping me crew today was a freakin beast at getting smooth shots. In my hands, the shots are much more shaky haha...I'll see if I can get him to share some secrets of the $15 steadycam with us heh
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

that looks like the Miami MB preset

I'm anxious to hear the sound effects.  I remember back in the day when I had to do a ghetto edit, I hooked up my SNES to my vcr and loaded up NHL 98.  I went into the sound effects menu and anytime there was a punch or kick in the movie, I'd press a button and presto.  Boomin sound!  Indiana Jones had nuthin on me!

BTW, what city is this shot in?
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

hey you are right! Miami in MB. I havent really figured out how to color correct to match MB looks yet, so Im just using it now as quick fix. I shot this in DC and chinatown
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Super Job. And to think you said its only your "rough cut". :o
The only problem that I had with it was that I wanted to see More !
(Also, I can't tell for sure, because of where you ended the film, but the last kick that was thrown looks a little weak. It might be because of where you cut it?). But all in all I really liked it. Very smart to have the "lead" in a white shirt. It adds to the action and really helps to keep the focus on him if your gonna be using even faster editing.

--Bop
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

that was awesome. What made it really cool was how the camera movements and the mood of the scene matched the music

very professional :)

good job... post some more pls :D
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

thanks thislebob :) you are right, that is where I am going to cut...my actor's tight pants made it hard for him to kick fast and strong, so we are going to film some better inserts next week.

yes lloydc, expect more chinatown in the future!
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Yuppii! More good stuff keeps coming here... I like it a lot.
I can see some CU or XCU of the fighter’s faces working well after they stop running and prior to start fighting. I want more! ;D
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Great job Young :) Happy to see the little cut :) heheh Mark looks ferociuos.
 
Re: CHINATOWN: Part 2 - Kungfu Fight Scene

Great Job! Reminded me of my summers watching "Saturday Afternoon Kung-Fu Theatre" ;D
 
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