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Achieving a realistic fist fight scene

Yousuf Abbasi

Yousuf Abbasi

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I'm curious how others have gone about shooting a fight scene that looked real (i.e. real punches to the face). I've seen it done indie style a number of ways, such as slow mo then speeding up the hit. Experienced fight-scene shooters, what works?
 
not sure what level of experience required =)
but I like hand held, 30+ mm lens, and 45degree shutter
follow punch with a bit of panning..


José
 
I shot a short with some fist-fighting in it, and what made the biggest difference was tons of rehearsal by the actors, they knew the choreography perfectly. We shot at varispeed 22fps, then when played back at 24, it looked fantastic.

To make the puches look real, you need to be on axis with them or behind the person being punched, and a longer lens will help compress the depth.

I'm sure there are other ways to do it as well, this is just what worked for us.

Tim
 
Really good stunt guys. A good coordinator, and guys who can really sell it. Also, fast brutal and violent always beats fancy and complicated.

Nick
 
Several ways you can do it artfully and safely and not at all cheesy.

- A stunt coordinator (if you can swing for it) will help sell the physical action of the talent and keep real teeth from being broken. In the past and in a pinch, I've used boxers or a boxing trainer in lieu of a pro stunt man. In liue of all that...use the camera to your advantage, not against you.

As far as how- that's really up to you. Personally, I would try to dissuade you you from trying to pull off the hits via speed ramps. I feel it's been overused. I'm usually most impressed by fights that employ a combination of narrowing scope of the shot and quick dynamics movements. Maybe combine the above by shooting at 4k, (with 2k final presentation) and creatively re-size the image along with the cut to heighten the effect.

Think of a real fist fight...in reality you never see whats going on outside of a three foot box. Maybe keep it in that space.

Good luck with the shoot.
 
if no vodka; then high shutter speed and cover lots of takes from different angles; then it's all in editors hands.
good sound design helps a lot too.
 
I feel the ideal fight scene would be - A real fight captured using multiple cameras and edited with minimum required cuts.

Since that is unrealistic, I think the safe option is to just shoot handheld at ~20 fps and cut fast.

That said - you have to decide whether you want to a) "Show" the fight or b) Get the viewer to "feel" the fight.

If you are "showing" try to keep the camera stable, and yes, slow-motion can be a useful tool.

Above all, make sure you have talented stuntpersons on set.
 
The last shoot I was on, Bill Boggs was our stunt coordinator and Douglas Bailey was the fight coordinator, all our "hits" were over a foot away from contact and they look AMAZING. The stunt coordinator pays off.

-Josh
 
I feel the ideal fight scene would be - A real fight captured using multiple cameras and edited with minimum required cuts.
Click to expand...
Really? If you go along with this way of thinking, the ideal car crash would never involve explosions (because cars hardly ever explode when crashed)
And real fights are only terrifying because they're real, they look like shit. Check out youtube for some examples and you'll notice that realy fights are boring to look at.
Choreography is your friend.
 
Sander de Regt said:
Really? If you go along with this way of thinking, the ideal car crash would never involve explosions (because cars hardly ever explode when crashed)
And real fights are only terrifying because they're real, they look like shit. Check out youtube for some examples and you'll notice that realy fights are boring to look at.
Choreography is your friend.
Click to expand...

I see your point. The OP was looking for a "realistic fist fight" though, rather than one that is cool to look at. Sure, if we are looking at blockbuster action films - the spectacle is the main objective. But there are several films that don't need to have cars exploding at every sign of contact. Say, the end of No Country for Old Men, for example. Or even "realistic action films" such as Le Samourai.
 
Editing is the best way to achieve impact. Jump cuts make the movements faster without the weirdness of shooting off-speed. Cutting on impact and seeing it twice from different angles can help, especially if your scene doesn't seem all that fast or dramatic in rehearsal. Other than that, testing, getting a fight choreographer, and having actors that are athletic or stunt guys, is your best bet. How you shoot it should work with how you shoot the rest of the movie.
 
For on a little budget i would get some real trained fighters..
For example if you want to do kungfu go to the local training school. In kungfu all fights are show fights because some moves can be dangerous (or deadly). They time every movement, but it doesn't stop them to really hit each other. (and they are trained in impacting hits). Same for boxers, kickboxers or K1 fighters. I would do some research in fighting technics and search for the trained people with it.

Let them give you a demonstration, and plan your camera moves and angles as a base.
 
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