The Art of Fight Choreography

I would need some SERIOUS help to do it for film, since I'd be focused on the acting/directing, and have no idea (nor want to learn) about lighting, shot setup, continuity, effects, post and all that.

If someday people want to help me with it (and can follow through), great. If not--you know how pipedreams are.

However... the full length theatrical play version of BOP (including backstory and more + EP I, II, III) is something I'm continuing to work upon. You never know, maybe SOMEDAY I'll get that in the works.

But... ahem... you know how pipedreams are.

For now, I'll focus on what I *KNOW* is possible... which is BOP II and III.

 

quick question: I am wondering, if it is possible for a force user to kick a saber out of someones hand and catch it? Its for a fight.

 

You don't even have to be a force user - you can do this in real life!

I managed to pull it off ok (IMHO) in PwNN (see the link in my signature, PwNN is at the bottom of the Spiffy Productions page) as an homage to Bruce Lee in the Chinese Connection.

-Spiff

 

Anything is possible. Especially if it's film, and you have take after take after take to do it.

They did this in "Duality" (everyone knows this video I hope), although the Darth who kicked the other Darth's staff away did not catch it.

 

How would you reccomend me doing this? My opponent has two lightsabers, I have zero, he attacks, what is the best way to pul this off, specialy the catch. I was thinking of getting a ladder, and having someone catch it, but off screen, then camera cut and catch. Or, should I kick the saber, then kick him out of the way so that I dont have to use the force, or worry about him?

 

Why don't you just literally kick it out of his hands and catch it? It's really not that hard.

-Spiff

 

In real life? Forget it. He'd cut you in half, or least of all, your foot off.

In a filmed fight use camera work!

Have one shot where you kick the saber, then cut away to you taking a step back, and catching the saber.

Easy, and cool IMO.

 

So could I have me kick near his hand(camera facing his back, and to a angle focused on us), then make it convincing and have him sorta throw it up, just for faking reasons.

 

Actually, I just noticed that they did a version of this move in '3 in the Afternoon'. I would suggest you go find a copy on Youtube, and see how they did it.

 

I agree with doing it in one shot - I'm trying to picture it, and it just looks "cheap" done with cuts. For what it's worth, here's what I would do:

2Saber: slash downward-diagonal from right to left with sabers paralell (he needs to really commit to this cut, as if he's fully prepared to hack 0Saber in half in the most demoralizing and grisly fashion imaginable)

0Saber: dodge to the left and kick 2saber's wrist from underneath (PLEASE be careful faking this and don't break the poor dude's hand. ). Make sure that this reads as a vertical kick, because it won't sell if you kick him sideways.

2Saber: toss the saber in to the air and "sell" the impact of the kick. Acting is very important here.

0Saber: Catch the saber in mid-air and carry on.

I like using the double-slash because it keeps the second weapon out of the way. You don't want your audience thinking "Yeah, that was a cool catch, but he would have totally been bisected there."

If you want to get flashy with effects, but save yourself some headache with the props, you might consider having the lightsaber deactivate as it leaves 2Saber's hand. It'll make the catch a little easier because you won't have the stick flying around, and you get a nice "money shot" of 0Saber turning it back on before the fight continues.

Just some random thoughts. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

 

Thanks. I have an extension idea for the shot, but I dont want to reveal it. I discussed it with my partner today in the locker room b4 gym, and he liked it. I even practiced that fake kick in the locker room. This is for LCC, so it wont be a while till you guys see this.(WOuld still be a while, with effects and all). Thanks for the help, I got some great ideas. After we film, I will write back and give a basic lowdown of what happened.

 

Looking forward to seeing it all worked out in the competition.

 

a recent live action starwars performance, in conjunction with St. Patrick's Day parade last sunday.

a 1 v 1 followed by a 4 v 1, involving all 6 active members of SEJA with collaboration with 501st outpost in Singapore.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3552032301041720827

comments pls. thanks ^^

 

Two thumbs up on that one, personally. I loved every second of it. The moves were great, song was bitchin, and it's refreshing to see a whole bunch of Jedi getting taken out by one dude! Boo-yah! TAKE THAT!

Dude.....this movie gets you pumped. I'm going out to choreograph now.....muahahahaha....

 

thanks! haha. the outline was supposed to be; first set jedi tries to persuades a jedi-turned-sith to come back to the light side, failing, fights him hoping to defeat the newbie sith. 4 more jedi turn up in time, onli to see the first jedi die, and then tries to kill the sith. last jedi manages to do it, onli to have order 66 issued, and dying in vain... HAHAHAHA lol.

 

Nice. I wish there was something like the SEJA around where I live.....twould make life sooooooooooo much easier in finding willing participants in my choreography.

 

actually, there is. which state are you in?

 

I'm currently living in Idaho.....stop laughing. Not funny.

 

i'm not laughing. there's a group in NY that does similar stuff like us, cept they only concentrate on starwars related stuff like lightsabers, which we don't just do.

you can find them over here at http://www.nyjedi.com

 

Out of sheer curiousity, is there anything anyone is/would be looking forward to seeing in a live performance?

At present, I think I have several things lined up for BOP II that are totally unique. About 10 real "hooks" if you will (in addition to the dialogue, story, main battle(s), and all of that).

Whether or not these hooks will be as effective as they could be in a film environment rife with close-ups, special effects, graphics, and the correct camera angle that doesn't change from... uh... "screening" to screening... will remain to be seen. They will certainly be unique to any live performance *I've* ever seen... and to be honest, I haven't seen some of the things we're doing in fan films either...

Anyhow... let me know what you'd like to see... via PM or my e-mail which is located on my profile.

 

By the way... who is going to C4? PM me, and I'd be happy to meet some of you folks...

I'll be there on Sunday/Monday after our debut performances of Balance of Power II in San Mateo, CA.

 

For those interested, I went ahead and posted a basic "rehearsal teaser" of BOP II online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynV6G8-M7co

Enjoy! We'll be at BayCon in San Mateo, CA during memorial day weekend (Fri./Sat.)... and then some of us are driving down to L.A. to catch what we can of C4. Should be fun, we're eager to meet all sorts of contacts/friends that have been made over the past year... all of whom are people we've never even met face to face!

Even my LED SABER designer (Corbin)... I've not met him face-to-face... so that ought to be interesting.

Hope to see some of you there.

 

bump...

 

You know, lately the problem I'm having with choreography is going from one move to the next.

I find that when I'm out there on the practice field with my partner it's a lot of 'what would I do next'? And then we try to come up with something that works. That's not enough, it feels. There's got to be a better method.

Sometimes there's moves I have in mind, but those usually get skipped over because we can't bring the fight to a reasonable context where they'd be used.


It's like a writer's block. It's killin' me.

-Vaportrail