Filming & Directing Action sequences

F

FilmBoy77

Veteran
anybody have any good experience or tips for directing cool fighting scenes?

i'm getting a few actors together soon in order to experiment and shoot a test practice fight scene that has nothing to do with a story, just practice for me and the actors so if anybody can point me in the right direction of any online behind the scenes clips or even samples of your stuff that'd be great.
 
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I don't know of any online clips, but you should be able to google up the basics on how to do do it. It's all done with camera angles. The actors should come no closer than 6 inches to to hitting the other person, ideally, 12 inches is better. The person being hit is the one who really sells the hit with their reaction. Later you can make some sound effects with fruits and veggies to drop in.

The big thing is practice practice practice! Work out a combo with the actors and have them drill it over and over until they have it. Shoot it. Do another combo. repeat.
 
Yeah, the actors really don't have to come close to make it look real. It's all about compressing the space between the actors using camera angles and long lenses to make it look like they're coming close.
 
A fight choreographer can help you out greatly.

It's safer for the actors, and you can learn a bunch very quickly without having to re-learn stuff pros have known for years.
 
Look over in the GH1 section for streets of SF and ask them how they did it. Then you can look up the boys of WestHavenBrook films; they have some tutorials around.. google them. Also, there is a lesson on YouTube hosted by James Lew that's part of the Ultimate Fights DVD extras. The thing that we had to remember is that a lot of the work has already been done for us- in movies. We watched and follow their cadences, mixed their techniques and paid attention to distance, selling the hits, and camera angles. Plus, all of our guys are experienced fighters who are nationally ranked, so they were not afraid to take hits, but found movie fighting difficult because it's not about getting hit but about fully selling the illusion of the hit, or the combo, or the technique. Another good thing to watch is martial arts floor demos to see how choreographed fights look without cinematic angles and work out what you want to see and what you don't... and drawing pictures of the angles never hurt. In fact, it's good practice for bigger scenes later.
 
thanks good advice, when talking about camera angles, are we basically supposed to be shooting from any angle where we don't see the actual blow hit? then go back in for close ups and have them redo just the parts where the close up or special punches/moves take place?
 
FilmBoy77 said:
thanks good advice, when talking about camera angles, are we basically supposed to be shooting from any angle where we don't see the actual blow hit? then go back in for close ups and have them redo just the parts where the close up or special punches/moves take place?
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What sort of fight scene do you have in mind? If it's a kung fu type, you'll want to check out Wushu schools in your area. You'd probably find a few people happy to help out. Where are you located? I could look up a couple for you if you're close to a bigger city.
 
thanks good advice, when talking about camera angles, are we basically supposed to be shooting from any angle where we don't see the actual blow hit? then go back in for close ups and have them redo just the parts where the close up or special punches/moves take place?
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Yes. You need to hide the miss. Over the shoulder shots work well for this.
 
El Director said:
Yes. You need to hide the miss. Over the shoulder shots work well for this.
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Exactly. Also, who's attacking and who's defending will motivate where you put your camera and which direction to move it. Usually, the camera moves with the aggressor whether it be hero or villain and will switch when opportunities open. It will tilt based on techniques and flow with the timing of the shots. Frontal shots will allow for specific techniques and escapes. You can create your fighting visual language as you go.
 
The other problem with most amateur level "fight scenes" is that ... who cares? The characters are usually thin to non-existent. It's all been done before, and much better. The story motivations aren't up to par. The fights are made front and center to be some spectacle, and aren't very realistic.

I could go on.

Bill Martell has some good articles on how "action" scenes need to be character scenes. Character must be revealed, or the whole thing could (should) be cut.

That's where 99% of these things could use improvement -- including big budget Hollywood fights. They get lost in the spectacle, and forget why we should give a damn. From action to action, it needs to be going somewhere. New information needs to get to the viewer. If you aren't carefully crafting the scene, it becomes repettive, boring, cliche, a time waster.

It's harder than it looks, and it starts at the script stage.
 
I just found out that it's hard to get workers comp insurance if your film has fight scenes.. or if you do, the insurance can get expensive really quick. I'm wondering how indies work around this expense?
 
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