Graduation - A Karate Story

S

Shauntron

Member

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qowGV2-LsdA

This was my little weekend project! Shot in a boxing gym in San Mateo on the G13. I used the 14-140 kit, the 20mm pancake, and a 50mm Minolta MD 1.7.

I color corrected it in After Effects using curves to darken the whites a little bit and selective color to improve the skin tones and make the strong blue pads around the pillars less distracting. I love nice, low-contrast and the fluorescents gave me the opportunity to indulge in that.

Try to ignore my typo in the music credits ;)
 
Sooooo dope. Shaun you did a fantastic job. Love the color correction and the speed ramping. Good camera movement to emphasize the choreo, too.
 
This may sound like heresy but I actually don't like Fist of Legend that much. Not the fighting nor the cinematography. I draw inspiration mainly from the kind of restrained but dynamic camera work done by the Jackie and Sammo camp in the 80's.

eg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXVp9938Uq4#t=0m15s

It's very steady and gives the action room to breathe, with a variety of camera angles mainly picked to suit the action while the performers create the drama and intensity. I probably won't use a low angle unless it's going to make an action look better while conveying a message simultaneously, and my two low angles in Graduation do :)

My personal gripe about my camera work on this fight is that I sometimes leave too much head room. I need to work on that.
 
i think this fight is great not because of how its shhot bu because of mood between benny and jackie,they respect each other in the match ,its not just a regular fight,cinematography is so so.Its also shot in 22p so it looks like typical jackie fight because of speed up to 24p.
Maybe try to shoot in 24p and speed up to 25 ?Also there are many close shots when hit connects,you shot your portraits on wides during fight so it looks different.
In your short i like shot on 1:09,looks very nice and stands out.
 
bwwd said:
you shot your portraits on wides during fight so it looks different.
In your short i like shot on 1:09,looks very nice and stands out.
Click to expand...

Ah, this point is true. With zoom lenses and without the specific training/experience working with primes, this tends to happen to myself, too. Certain shots just look more aesthetically pleasing (also a fair amount of viewing conditioning) with certain lenses. A wide focal length for wider, sweeping shots, a 'normal' focal length for medium shots of handwork, and a narrower/portrait focal length for close-ups.

I can see the point about lower angles giving a bigger look to things. These guys can get away with it because the choreo and performance is top-notch, but yes, one would wonder how much more impressive it could look with a bit more cinematography consistency regarding lower angles to give the fight a specific look. The more and more you think and put into it, the more and more it comes out looking a specific way. That way may not be everyone's cup of tea, but at least it's a fully-steeped one.

However, it is also the case that certain angles can block certain movements. At which point, you either have to change the angle or the choreography.
 
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