Filming a fight scene

[chickenmonkey]

(in best Dr Nick voice) Hi everybody

I am a new member, so please play nice, light contact to the body only etc.

Is anybody else fed up with trend of filming fight scenes too close in and, what appears to be, hurling the camera at the actors/artists? I have become more and more annoyed with this. Not just in martial arts films either. In The Bourne Supremecy, there is a car chase, whcih could have been really good, except for this annoying camera technique. If you ask me (which nobody has) the best way to film an action sequence is to stand off from it.

Is it just me, or are perfectly good films being ruined by "creative" camera work?

[Matt Boxall]

Hiya!

Cleaver camera work helps to hide the actors martial arts abilities, these are actors who have been trained to do a sequence over probably a month, if they did a straight shot of it their lack of martial ability would probably shine through :)

If you really want to see some wide shots in film check out Ong-Bak (http://www.ongbak-lefilm.com/) It’s got some full contact shots with guys getting hit hard and you see it in slow motion, no 45 degree face shots so you know they are missing.

On one bit you see a guy as he’s about to get kicked in the face wince and clench his fists because he knows it’s going to hurt!

Anyway, check it out ;)

Cheers

[Tripitaka of AA]

Also, bear in mind when watching a Movie on TV that the screen proportions may not match the cinema release. Widescreen movies on a TV may seem like a lot of wasted space, but those bits on the side more than make up for the overall reduction in picture size. Particularly in Action Movies, where the split-second timing of a fight scene relies so much on the audience ability to identify the attacker coming into shot, BEFORE the hero makes the move to despatch them. Jackie Chan fight scenes should never be watched without Widescreen.

[ninjandrew]

Also keep in mind that these camera techniques are often used to cover up things which cant be done. It saves time\money if they just film two guys screwin around and shake the camera a bit, than to hire a fight scene choreographer and to teach complicated katas and good camera angles. Or maybe to cover up something that is impossible to do without some chismo (or expensive) CG.