Martial art films

[jleo]

Hong Kong action fragments the the fights into a series and action reaction shots with the camera as a participant in the fight. CU's are intercut with shots of the whole body in relation to the opponents body. Sometimes they use dancers like Michelle Yeoh who are not martial arts experts. Jackie Chan also studied old Hollywood movies with Buster Keaton, musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley because of the choreography.

From Ip Man, biopic of Bruce Lee's sifu:

the kid on the tricycle says something like " Mom says if you don't switch from defending to attacking, everything in the house'll be broken"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt34aHAFkV8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqSWIcDghjk&feature=related

 

[Gord.T]

...I like to see it all, keep it wide and cut to a tighter shot when it matters.

Good point. I prefer that myself. It lends more authenticity, more excitement and more appreciation than I'd get with a spliced up scene. Never thought of that but your right. :thumbup:

//Cool vids jleo.

 

[Nathyn]

Is it just me or is this intentional? When it comes to fighting scenes especially in martial art, western movies tends to hide the art and only show the studio crafted sound bytes. I barely see any western movie that shows fighting skills like Iron Monkey with Donnie Yen, Hero with Jet Li, or any of Tony Jaa's three latest movies. Most if not all of the punches or kicks that lands on contact are edited out in western type of fighting movies. The framing was up so close that the viewer barely see any beautifully kick or punch.

So my questions are, is this just a cultural differences or is it a director's call? Are there sources on how to shoot fighting scenes like those movies I mentioned above?

You may like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=889wiT7IXdo second part more than the first probably.

-Nate

 

[Lor]

Here's an American film that has both story and kung fu fight scenes(wideshots)....with no special effects and wire work.

Kungfused


Don't let the silly title fool ya.

I will try to check it out when it's out in the US. And yes, I agree with you too about camera shaking and CU.

I will try to check out some of the links here in youtube.

Thanks for posting.

 

[poe]

Despite what a lot of people may think, it IS actually a cultural difference.

Martial Arts films have been in production for as long as cinema has been around. Early martial arts films were short, silent, documentaries of actual practitioners displaying their abilities for the "posterity" of film.

The first martial arts films to have narrative were silent film adaptations of BEIJING OPERA - dramatized tales of mythology and folk tales incorporating dance and kung fu.

Showing the choreography in Chinese Martial Arts has ALWAYS been considered as part of the storytelling.

As cinema developed in Asia, the technology and film-craft got better, but the camera stayed back, stayed wide, kept the tradition of showing choreography as a storytelling technique.

There's a very superficial, but information-riddled, documentary called "The Art of Action" hosted by Samuel L. Jackson that runs through some of this stuff. Do check it out.