Research into Fight Choreographers' Work
Yung Lee- London Brawling
In this fight scene choreographed by Yung Lee, the camera moves with the action and stops when the action stops. This makes the audience feel involved in the action and allows them to see every movement perfectly. The low angles are used to show the one guys power with the weapon that he has, which is an umbrella. This fight scene carries comedy value along with it, making it fun and entertaining for the audience. Close ups on the action makes the audience feel as if they are in the action along with the actors.The camera angles change frequently to keep the audience entertained and to make some of the hits look more realistic as from another angle it wouldn't look realistic. The use of dutch angles to follow the action throughout the fight scene- creative way to create movement in a fight scene. It allows the audience to follow the action throughout the fight scene in a creative way of movement and angling. The camera moves a lot but isn't using shaky cam. This style works incredibly well in following the action in the fight scene throughout the whole fight scene. The choreography is smooth and well planned, allowing four people to go against one. This meant they spent an incredible amount of time practicing this fight scene to get it as smooth as they did.
Tony Jaa- Skin Trade
"Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee are my masters; they're the inspiration for my work. Bruce Lee was a heavy fighter who threw hard punches. Jackie moves very fast and uses a lot of comedy, and Jet Li is very fluid. I've tried to combine all of their styles and added some things of my own."- Tony Jaa
The camera in Skin Trade doesn't move too much with the action and stays very still. It works well for this style of fight scene which is quick action and straight, direct blows. Although the camera doesn't move frequently, lots of editing is involved to change the camera angles as frequently as they do to follow the action and keep the audience entertained. There are lots of close ups involved in this fight scene to show the hits and expressions of the characters throughout the fight scene. The sound effects work well and are very realistic for this fight scene, making the punches sound more brutal to the audience.
There are a lot of stunts used in this fight scene to make the scene look more brutal and slightly unrealistic. It is quick and smooth in the actions and runs to a quick pace, making the fight scene entertaining to watch and keeps the audience's eyes on the fight on the screen.
Yuen Woo-Ping- The Matrix
The sound effects used in this fight scene sound brutal and realistic, making the audience intrigued in the fight scene. The fight scene, choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping, is well choreographed as it is very brutal and involves many stunts throughout the fight, such as throwing each other into walls. It is also well paced, having movements of calm before attacking again, keeping the spaces between this pacing short enough to keep the audience entertained. There are lots of close ups on the hands to show the action and get the audience involved in the fight scene. The close combat choreography flows well and this can be seen in this fight scene. It flows well but it is definitely the most complicated fighting style to replicate for choreography. This is the work of one of the most famous choreographers who also worked on "Drunken Master", explaining the complexity behind some of the moves but most are the work of the "bullet time" shots. He is known for his work on Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Drunken Master (1978) and Tai-Chi Master (1993). There are lots of unrealistic movements but the camera angles add to the action that occurs throughout the fight, making the action feel fitting to the World they are in and keeps the audience entertained at the same time.
Corey Yuen- Dead or Alive
The birds eye view shots are used to show the amount of enemies and is also a good angle to hide some of the sloppy movements in a fight scene. It was well choreographed for it's time but it seems slow and has lots of moments where it reminds you that it is a scene from a film. It doesn't make the audience feel involved from the long and wide camera shots used.There are lots of camera angles used throughout the fight scene but maybe too many used for some parts in the fight. It's an ambitious task to do a group versus one person as it can make the fight seem slow and not flow as well as you may wish it to. It can feel very unrealistic and as if some people aren't fighting when they could be. Corey Yuen, the choreographer for this fight scene, is known for his work on The Transporter (2002), The Legend II (1993) and Above the Law (1986). Although it is not one of the best fight scenes I have watched, the choreography is still well done and performs well. There are some shots where you can tell the person hasn't actually been hit and some of the fake falls but this is mostly the poor work of the camera angles.
Brad Allan- Kingsman
Brad Allan started studying martial arts, boxing, gymnastics and Chinese circus arts from the age of 10 years. He was also the first non-asian member of Jackie chan's stunt team.
Similarly to "London Brawling", the camera moves with the action, giving the audience something to watch and to keep involved in the fight scene. The camera stays behind the actor, keeping the audience balanced and understanding where the character is in the fight. It's well choreographed and timed for the amount of people involved in the fight scenes for the longer shots used.
First person camera puts the audience in the action and allows them to see the action through the character's eyes, keeping them entertained and to see what they are also seeing in the fight. It's an impressive camera angle to use in a group fight. The camera blurs between moving from one character to another but it adds speed to the fight scene. The fact that everyone is doing something in the fight makes it feel much more realistic and frantic. The pacing through the editing by speeding up or slowing down the action makes the fight feel brutal as you see every movement and the final blows in great detail.
Tak Sakaguchi- Versus
The sound effects are very unrealistic and takes away some of the elements of this fight scene. The camera is also too shaky throughout the fight scene and doesn't allow the audience to see the action taking place. It makes the audience feel disoriented and as if they aren't seeing a great fight scene. They use zoom ins to the faces and movements to show the power and emotion but it feels misplaced in some of the movements used in the choreographing of this fight scene. The long camera shots are favourited and takes the audience away from the action, making the audience not interested in the fight scene that is happening as they aren't focusing on the action. There's lots of still moments in the fight scene where it feels as if they should be fighting or moving and not staring at each other. Some fitted as it shows growing anger but the rest felt out of place and not needed. As a martial artist, Sakaguchi typically stars in films featuring copious fight scenes, where he performs his own stunts which he does in this fight scene from Versus.
References
"Dead Or Alive - Helena Vs. Guards". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"Kingsman - Church Fight (1080P)". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"London Brawling". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"Skin Trade Fight Scene Tony Jaa". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"The Matrix - Neo Vs Smith - Ultra HD". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"Versus Final Fight Scene (HD)". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.
"Tony Jaa". IMDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
"Woo-Ping Yuen". IMDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
Yuen, Corey. "Corey Yuen". IMDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
"Bradley James Allan". IMDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
"Tak Sakaguchi". IMDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.
