Settings for a martial arts fight scene?

[filmguy123]

We are shooting a 4-5 minute fast paced martial arts scene. Almost everyshot will be moving and on a steadicam. Lots of motion, panning, camera moving, people moving, etc. Trying to decide what settings to use...

1.) thoughts on 24p VS 30p for this scene, and why?

2.) Thinking of shooting at a faster frame-rate, ie 26 or 28 @ 30p, or 20-22 for 24p. Should I do this for EVERYTHING, or only some shots? Where should I and should I not shoot with this frame-rate, and why?

3.) Shutter speed - thoughts on normal 180-degree shutter, or making the shutter faster to get rid of motion blur... how would this look for different kinds of shots, and/or where might I want to or NOT want to employ this?

 

[Justyn]

Congrats on shooting something. Hopefully with martial artists instead of actors.. but that's just a personal pet peve.


The 24 vs. 30p needs to be answered by your intentions. Broadcast, stand alone DVD, film out, etc. There are advantages and disadvantes to both.


The slightly faster frame rate idea can be good but I think it depends upon what you are doing and sometimes you might want to shoot 60 or so as well. It will require some testing on your behalf to figure out what you like.

For the shutter speed, I prefer to get a faster shutter as it adds a crispness to the motion but this will require a lot more light. Getting a 1/120th inside requires a good amount of light. So your location and lighting will dictate what you can pull off. Again for the desired effect you might want motion blur.


What I would do is get a group of them together and just run through some basic choreography. Get a dry erase board and write down what you are shooting, the techncial aspects, etc and show it to the camera before everything. Be as detailed and as thoroguh as possible. Try lighting set-ups and TEST TEST TEST


If you can shoot your fight scenes from 2 angles it will help speed things up. Make sure to watch your footage and even edit on set to make sure your punches are matching and you are "selling the shot".


There's a lot to this so don't be too upset if you learn more what not to do than what to do. It's a hard thing to pull off well, but think it through, test and when you think it will take an hour, it will really take 3. Give yourself Plenty of time.. This kind of work is slow and methodical.