Business Insider: Fight scenes in movies and TV shows are more realistic than ever. The art of fight choreography has evolved significantly since the era of Bruce Lee. Today, movies like "John Wick" and "Jason Bourne" incorporate high-impact martial arts like Judo and Jiujitsu to create intense staged combat that thrills audiences with every punch and kick.
11 comments:
I am always fascinated by "behind-the-scenes" looks into how the film world works because it is so different than the theatre world. I do see a lot of similarities between the way fight choreography develops in the theatre world and the process outlined in this article for film. I appreciate that they explain the whole process so that people understand how much time and effort goes into making sure every motion in a fight is planned out and safe for everyone involved. I also think that the different specializations even in fighting and stunt type are fascinating, just as we have specific distinctions within skill areas in theatre. I also thought that the mention of how fight choreographers have to think about time period as much as any other designer or choreographer was very interesting, as I had not really considered how a certain time period might affect the way people fight.
Stage combat has always interested me so getting the opportunity to read more about it from one of the industry leaders was an interesting read. The amount of consideration that goes into choreographing a stage combat with camera angles and types of film styles is something that hadn't really occurred to me. Different styles of stage combat work in different ways depending on the type of camera style that is being used since actors don't actually hit one another with full force, the type of punch thrown or kick has to be altered to look as real as possible on camera. This article did, however, make me curious about the differences between stage combat and film combat. For the most part, actors on stage have an audience on one side of them so the fight has to be catered to that viewing angle. One of the biggest challenges I can think of for stage combat would be in a theatre in the round style where there are sets of eyes on the actor from all sides so there aren't much options to hide a punch.
This is a fun article about stunts in movies. Though the article doesn’t go into many specifics, Vincent and Caldwell come across as charming. The moment where they talk about saying “action”, reads as comical, but makes a very important point for both theater and film. If everyone is not aware of what is going on especially with stunt choreography, the safest, most basic stunt can become dangerous and potentially hurt the actors and crew. At the end of the day, everyone’s safety is more important than a movie or a television show. Additionally, it was really interesting to read about the motivation for the fights. I would not have realized that the characters motivation factors into the style of the fight. Going forward, I’m going to look more carefully when I’m watching movies and television to see how the character fights compared to others and how the staging changes the stunt dynamics.
It can be so interesting how much training and focus goes into making something look real on camera or on stage. When simulating things like fighting or special effects in the entertainment industry, this focus and pre-planning is crucial to the safety and the outcome of the actions. I agree with Anthony Vincent about the fact that fight scenes seem to be getting more and more realistic. I think this is because we are spending more and more time focusing on these aspects. In today's time, more and more people are specializing in the field of stage and film combat. There are now classes and certifications coming out in which help to qualify these people for the job. Overall, I think it's good that we are taking the time to really think about stage and film combat, making it more safe and realistic.
My first time learning fight choreography was on this year’s production of “Peter Pan”. While I had a blast working on it, it simply cannot be compared to professional on-stage fighting. I am always blown away with how realistic fight scenes look, even if they’re in a cheesy unrealistic situation. There’s so much that goes into deciding what style fits the story, actors, and time period the best. My favorite Kung Fu movie has to be “The Forbidden Kingdom”. While every single fight scene is hilarious in its defying physics, I’m sure so much hard work was put into making it just right. Without the style of fighting, I don’t think I would’ve liked the movie at all. There’s something charming and awe-inspiring about the style of fighting that really fits into the story and makes “The Forbidden Kingdom” worth watching several times over.
The art of stage combat is one that is very hard to perfect. For one to look as though they are punching someone without actually hurting them takes skill and control. Though stage combat is a form of arting, it is also martial arts. A stunt devil or anyone partaking in stage combat needs to be flexible and strong. In many iconic movies, the fight scenes are some of the best, and most interesting to watch. The audience knows that no one is actually getting harmed and that it is just a movies with special effects, but what makes it so interesting is the fact that no one can comprehend how it is not real. With most plots the climax is a conflict that more often than not entails a physical fight scene or more. In this article, Anthony Vincent, a film stunt coordinator was interview. It was cool to hear some insight of what it takes to be a stunt coordinator and how the industry works in terms of stage combat. He also mentioned, when introducing himself, that he has a “deep background in martial arts” and that fighting is his specialty. This article shows the perspective from the choreographer.
It’s interesting because stage combat and film combat are almost exactly the same in many cases. It is all about working through the sequences with an attention to angles and for both. However, one of the biggest differences is really in the length of sequence as film is afforded the opportunity to stop and start. This also means that a combat sequence can be filmed from multiple directions and this changed slightly over and over to get the best shots. There are also circumstances in which the actions can be masked through simulated violence and they must actually hit, kick and more to those around them. This is when control of one's body becomes even more important. And in both situations safety is absolutely vital. This is why fight directors and trainers are so important.
I really enjoyed this article because it shows how stunts and fighting are not just not landing the punch it is more like a well choreographed dance, a ballet of fists and fury. I think it also showed how undervalued the fight coordinators are because of the idea that fights are not that complex. However, I believe that with an ever growing concern for safety in the dramatic world their value will only increase. I will say though that because of the camera it is a lot easier to achieve fights on film than it is onstage because there is no one singular point of view from a theater. Punches or slaps have to me much more precise and the reaction that much more convincing because of the proximity. It has shown that mishaps are more likely to happen, multiple times in Wicked the Elphaba or Glinda has actually landed the slap when they fight. Lastly, I think fighting in films can never be undervalued because without it no one would go to the movies, we love watching war films, martial arts films, and all around dramatic duels.
It's fascinating to me how much of the film world is the same and how much of it is very different. Fight directors and fight coordinators are some o the most sought after people n our business and the ones that are good at it are very good. I worked on a show two summers ago with a huge 3 minute long 20 person fight scene. I was fortunate enough to watch the way that the fight director worked with the actors and how long it took him, and two assistants to properly devise and then teach the actors what they were going to do. I was also amazed by how easy it was for them to change things based on the ability of the actor. I think stage or screen it is vital to any project that needs it that they have a well trained fight choreographer and that as an industry we need to value their work a little more. Without them no project would look as good, and we'd probably have a bunch of actors with accidental black eyes.
I for real love comparing fight scenes from older movies to fight scenes from modern films. The contrast is hilarious. Looking at hard boiled film noir films during a fight scene is the best. Our rugged detective is muscling around a suspect and punch slaps him to get the truth out of him. Except the punch slap hits the air about 8 inches from the suspect's face. Anyway, looking at modern fight scenes are so impressive. And not the crummy Marvel DC action films fight scenes, but those filmed in a creative way. I always like the fight scenes in hallways with a slow tracking shot of the hero slowly walking forward and muscling his way through all the baddies. I'm glad that the actors who participate in these fight scenes actually are willing to put the time in and learn all the complicated choreography. I'm interested to see where action scenes go next in the future of films.
The art of Stage Combat is a difficult one to perfect since it involves not one or two, but several other people, each of whom have different responsibilities but must come together to put up a 2-3 fight scene. And this article truly gives a feel of how that might feel and come together by the end of the day.
The actors involved in a stage combat have to be especially careful when enacting and rehearsing the scene because unlike others, who are off stage working on the combat, these actors are going to either pretend to be hit or would have to practice the entire fight choreography. A slip in either of the two can result in serious injurious for the actor involved which can then result in monetary damages for the production team.
But the actors can only do the scene properly if they have proper instructions by the people offstage like the fight choreographer, camera man and director. These people know exactly how they want the fight to look like, it is their vision. Hence it is paramount to understanding and listening to whatever they might say because that will result in the best fight scene possible.
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