whats the best way to shoot a fight scene?

[OmegaK2099]

Im personally a fan of the 80s Jackie Chan style of shooting a fight, because the camera pulls way out so that we can clearly see both fighters show off their their technical prowess by showing what they can actually do. But I understand that fights like that sometimes dont really fit in well with the movies overall narrative, like they cant really do that in a batman movie, they have to go for more dynamic shots of them catching the action, or if its a fantasy flick, they go for a heightened reality feel where everybody is doing the matrix.



I also like the jason bourne style of doing action but im not big on how they choose to portray it, they either cut in really close to them fighting or ruin it by shaking the camera. Anyway let me know your thoughts

 

[Gold]

Your first sentence nails it.

The only thing missing in those older fight scenes was the visceral brutal nature of every hit.
But as far as the "best way to display choreography", those old Jackie Chan movies



Nowadays some of the shyt you have just looks like the cameraman is having a stroke


I did like Cap vs Bucky the fist to fist parts. In fact that whole movie (cap 2) had great fight scenes for a Western film

 

[Notorious 1 E.Y.E.]

they way they shoot em martial arts movies

they used a multi cam set up
with a wide shot, a tight 2 shot and close ups on each fighter



the less cuts the better

 

[OmegaK2099]

actors are getting spoiled these days with the use of computer effects, nowadays they can do all the flipping they want because the wires could be removed in post production.



remember how unbelievable it used to be to see a chubby dude like sammo hung somersault off of sh1t?

 

[Dwolf]

Steady cam and minimalize the cuts.

 

[NoGutsNoGLory]

Kinda like this. I like fights that aren't really clean but messy.

 

[Spaceman Piff]

 

[TrebleMan]

When multiple attackers they don't show any, or at least keep it to a very minimum, the fighters not in the action standing around doing air karate.

It shouldn't be that hard to show fighters not in the scene, or show them hurting and unable to fight at the instance rather than them standing around shadowboxing.

That said, the way they shot Achilles during the end of that beach battle sequence was very well done. Through the movie I also loved how Achilles had a very unique fighting style.

The 1-on-1 duels from the Kenshin Live Action movies were very great, also showcasing Kenshin's unique style. The fight with him vs Shishio showcased what a fight coming down to sheer will between two skilled fighters looks like.

This one was dope too:

 

[R-Typ3]

 

[Bruce LeRoy]

To me this is the perfect fight scene that is edited with quick cuts but you can comprehend everything that is going on in it.

 

[TransJenner]

The cameras cut wayyyyy to much these days


AKA the half ass way

 

[flo]

Your first sentence nails it.

The only thing missing in those older fight scenes was the visceral brutal nature of every hit.
But as far as the "best way to display choreography", those old Jackie Chan movies



Nowadays some of the shyt you have just looks like the cameraman is having a stroke


I did like Cap vs Bucky the fist to fist parts. In fact that whole movie (cap 2) had great fight scenes for a Western film

TWS had the greatest fight scenes of any comic book film



Making of

 

[Spiider]

 

[King Poetic]

The raid 1 and 2 had excellent scenes especially part 2 and hammer girl

 

[Soymuscle Mike]

I thought the CREED fights were shot brilliantly to highlight how much work Mike B put in yet to hide his flaws as a non-boxer (were exposed more in the final fight)