Cockfights anyone?

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Kentertainment

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I'm not sure whether or not this should fall in directing or cinematography... oh well.

I've been on a filmmaking drought for long enough and am finally getting myself into gear to make a new short. This idea I've been lingering around for a very long time involves a portion of the film to center around cockfighting.

When I write the script, I'm planning on interviewing whoever I need to in the police department to get some facts and also get a clear on doing a film on something that is... well... illegal.

My dilemma comes with the actual filming of the scenes. Obviously through all the organization that goes into cockfighting there is the actual fight itself.

How would you go about filming a cockfighting sequence without causing harm to the animals?

My only idea was to take the Indiana Jones vs. Cobra approach and stick a plate a glass between the two chickens, but problems arise with 1.) chickens jumping into a window 2.) a window 3.) money for the window.

Also... when I do this, I plan on having somebody from the humane society monitor everything going on to make sure we're in line. I'm sick of these previous guerilla "oh-hello-officer" shoots I've been on lately.

Thanks for any responses.
 
I'd probably use a few shots of angry birds and human reactions to sell it, so the fight is more implied than anything. The glass could work if the fighting isn't shown in detail. The bird could jump into the glass, but remember that eyes don't have polarizers (which would be ideal to make that work). And even if they did it wouldn't be too hard of a hit.

So your glass idea could work for some of the shots, the rest of the shots shouldn't be of the fight itself. At least if I were doing it.
 
You could always go to Mexico where it is Legal, or CG it. If you have to use real animals in a friendly way, I suppose it would be possible to fit their spurs and beaks with some sort of safety tip. I just don't know if you would be able to make it still look real with no budget though. I mean seriously, if you can't afford a sheet of glass, realistic looking Rooster prosthesis are likely to be pricey too.
 
Kentertainment said:
My dilemma comes with the actual filming of the scenes. Obviously through all the organization that goes into cockfighting there is the actual fight itself.
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You could have just black screens with a herd of angry chicken sounds, rather than showing any gore, or anything at all... the audience will 'focus' on the sound... of course this doesn't carry over well for subtitles for the hearing impaired... but at least you avoid any PETA or even SPCA action... or worse... criminal complaints...
 
Not too sure about the legality of it but hopping on what Capt Quirk suggested why not archived footage imported from out of the country (in this case Mexico)?
 
He'd be encouraging the animals to be hurt in those fights if he did either of those things, going or importing footage. I gather that's not the goal.

Capt Quirk said:
I just don't know if you would be able to make it still look real with no budget though. I mean seriously, if you can't afford a sheet of glass, realistic looking Rooster prosthesis are likely to be pricey too.
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That's why I didn't say it, but just in case... can anyone recommend a good rooster prosthetics specialist?

Also not possible on a tight budget, but are there such things as trained roosters for this kind of thing?
 
Casalen said:
He'd be encouraging the animals to be hurt in those fights if he did either of those things, going or importing footage. I gather that's not the goal.
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Back a few seasons ago on the Survivor reality show, the Animal Rights people had a fit when somebody ate a Rat. That was an internationally aired program, and nobody was encouraged to go eat a Rat. Bullfighting is a national past time in Spain, and you can view footage of them stabbing the Bull with darts, and everything else up to the point where the Matador kills the Bull and cuts off it's ear. Animal Planet even showed a guy who literally bites the Balls off of Sheep. And exactly what is the issue with importing some footage from Mexico, of Roosters doing what they instinctively do on their own?
 
Turn it into a Comedy and use Puppets. Gold.

Sometimes the limitations of a budget can draw the creativity right out of you. =D
 
I wouldn't discourage going to where cockfights are legal to film it, or importing footage of a real fight. It's not like you're the one organizing the fight, it would have happened with you there or not... Anyone offended by it has the right to not watch it in the first place. (Don't even get me started on PETA, haha)

I don't condone it or anything, but being there to film it doesn't make someone a bad person if they're doing it for something like this in my opinion. Now if you were just going to cockfights and filming it for your own sadistic enjoyment, that's another story altogether.
 
Capt Quirk said:
And exactly what is the issue with importing some footage from Mexico, of Roosters doing what they instinctively do on their own?
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I know it's late, but I wanted to get this response in.

I assume that any footage would be bought, not given by strangers with no attachments. If the OP doesn't want animal rights people to bother them and wants to not cause harm of any animals or whatever, paying someone else to do so doesn't really end the problem. This is based on the tone of the original post.
 
Casalen said:
I know it's late, but I wanted to get this response in.

I assume that any footage would be bought, not given by strangers with no attachments. If the OP doesn't want animal rights people to bother them and wants to not cause harm of any animals or whatever, paying someone else to do so doesn't really end the problem. This is based on the tone of the original post.
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It's like this- While I don't agree with nor condone animal fights, it still happens whether you want them to or not. It is a fact of life, much like Whale hunts, Ivory Poaching, and clubbing baby Harp seals. I am not sure of the original poster's intentions, but I am sure he is not looking to glamorize or promote Cock fighting... at least I hope not. The point was, he is on a very tight budget, and needs to get footage for his project. He also doesn't want to get busted shooting the footage, or be responsible for harming animals. This leaves him with only a few options-

1) Shoot an actual fight, or have somebody do it for him. It is Legal in Mexico, and I am sure he could find somebody to do it pretty cheap. While I am sure that somebody there would be happy to put on a fight just for the shoot, I also guarantee that there will be a fight somewhere, without the shoot.

2) C.G. the fight, but that is likely to either look really bad, or be just as expensive as a trip to Mexico.

3) He could also shoot quick flashes of the pit, the guys with the Roosters and crowd reactions, leaving out the birds, adding the sounds in Post. This could be pulled off, but could also end up looking as bad as cheesy C.G.
 
If you are doing some serious research about how to film it, there was a Seinfeld episode that involved a rooster than Kramer buys and names him "Little Jerry". There is a scene where they are at a cockfight but they really don't show much, the violence is implied. I am positive that was shot with ASPCA approval being that it was photographed in Hollywood. Would be a good episode to watch for reasearch for you.

Dan
 
^^^ I've been waiting for it to be on, haha! I have a bunch of Senfield season's on DVD... but not the one with that episode.

To clear things up, I'll be shooting this next project of mine on an HVX200 with a 35mm DOF adapter. The problem I see with stock footage is that, if you want it to look good, you're going to need to match the quality of the camera. I don't see cockfighting footage being aplenty, or even being shot well, haha!

I DON'T want to cause harm to the animals. I have found that large sheets of plexiglass can go for $100, which is definitely do-able. The problem I see is that, when two chickens fight, they jump into each other feet first and a fake claw attached to the leg is what does the damage. I don't want the chickens jumping into glass. Birds kill themselves doing this when they are protecting their nests and think their reflection is another bird.

Obviously the more realistic the better. By showing them jumping at each other, it'll sell it much better than with sound effects. Though, if this is going to be a problem, sound effects is the way to go.

Thanks for the idea's so far guys, keep 'em coming if you got 'em. I appreciate it. :thumbup:
 
Dont mean to be juvenille but you could tape them mating, this would portray an act of 2 confronting each other
 
Capt Quirk said:
Roosters only do that to other roosters when they are in Prison...
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LOL!

You can google "cockfight footage" and find stuff in about two seconds that you can obtain the legal rights to.

1. Stock footage for $60 from pond5 shot in 1080p:
http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/307664/cock-fight.html

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wVNunEZRuI
Undercover footage shot by an animal rights group that would probably give you the rights for free or little money if you explain the need.
 
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