Slow motion boxing

[Aiden K.]

I'm sure you've all seen boxing movies where actors are getting hit in the face in slow motion and you see their faces become all warped as if they were really getting hit. How does this get accomplished? I'm sure Brad Pitt wasn't getting punched in the face full force in Snatch, was he?

 

[Mitch Gross]

You'd be amazed at how pliable the human face is. About half the time I demo the Phantom cameras to groups, someone decides he (it's always a guy) would like to check out what it looks like getting a slap in the face. Trust me -- it looks pretty sweet. But also believe me that no one ever gets a full-on smack, because whoever tosses the slap is generally holding back (thank goodness). So a fairly mild blow creates a huge-looking impact when it is viewed around 1000fps. I'm sure even 120fps on the RED would look fairly intense.

 

[David Wyatt]

I've also seen punches filmed undercranked that look fairly convincing when played back at normal speed (seems to work best if it's a quick close-up cutaway of the punch landing - it's also best if it's a locked-off frame since hand-held wobble can give the game away when speeded up). Basically one of the stunt guys throws a real punch as if in slow motion that connects (so the other stunt guy is actually getting hit for real but only at a fraction of the speed of a real punch!!). When played back at normal speed it looks fairly like a real, connecting punch (especially if it's part of a quick succession of shots).