Adjusting the zombie’s hand to get the right shot!
This blog will explain how we learned to make a fight look real on camera with no experience while at the same time producing Hollywood results (or so I hope!)
The technique described in this write up was used in our newly released short horror flick starring Lee Lawson and Greg Willmot – be sure to catch them in action in our pilot Forgotten Corpses. Also check out our Facebook page and our brand new website!
The entire film took 2 months to put together from having the initial idea all the way to completion just in time for Halloween which was released on Youtube. Challenges arouse when trying to make the fight look as realistic as possible as we had no prior martial arts experience. We’ve casted our actors based on talent, so the movements performed needed to be simple and needed to make sense for the characters. This is how we did it:
#1 ZOMBIE SCHOOL – The first item on the list was to meet the two zombies at Bamboo Kung Fu School’s gym. A shout out to Kin Sze for letting us use his space. We wanted to get a visual sense of how the zombies moved and a feel for each one’s personality. From there, it allowed us to form a unique zombie character based on each person.
On the day of the practice, Rachel de Leon from wardrobe first measured the actors, which was followed by a quick warm up to get our heart rates going. We were able to try several reaction shots, for example: a baseball bat swinging across the face, and punching reaction shots. In order get the look right, it essentially came down to a lot of practice and repetition for the rest of the hour.
For the zombies, the main technique that needed to look good on camera was to react and respond well to the fake impacts that were delivered to the body and head. The placement of the camera was what made an impact hit produce the illusion of being connected to the body. Check out the video below, you wouldn’t believe what we had to do!
#2 FIGHT REHEARSAL – The next item on the list was to meet our actress Lee prior to filming day. This rehearsal was not just to rough in the fight sequence, but also to practice the acting portion of the script as well. Lucas Cheong, a Ryerson film graduate was co-directing the pilot, he spoke to the actors about their characters in more depth. With this information, we crafted the choreography based on these characters.
Also one of the main focus was to meet with the rest of the actors. We practiced the fight scene many times extremely slowly and worked on challenging parts. Creating a safe environment coupled with slow practice will ensure that on filming day the chances of injury are reduced. I found that in working on these choreography scenes, the entire group gets a feel for each other and start to build trust. This enabled us to connect each hit closer.
When I’m working on a fight choreography with my brother Jan Ian Chow, we can go as close as an inch without physically making contact. The closer we get, the more realistic it looks, and the cameras won’t have to “cheat” as much (hide the gap). Check out this choreography we’ve done from The Last Breath starring Lindsay Ogus. Sometimes, we do have to physically connect, and after a several takes, your body starts to take a tole, but temporary pain is well worth it because film lasts longer!
#3 WATCH + PRACTICE + REPEAT – Our main actress had no prior experience in stage fighting, she worked really hard to get this looking right. After the rehearsal, I created a demo clip for her to practice so that she will be ready for principal photography. She practiced for many hours and sent over clips of her progress to me. This is what she had to practice on:
#4 READY SET… ACTION! – On filming day, once the fight scene started to get smoother and dialed in, the entire group will began to flow as one unit like a dance. Despite all the rehearsals, there were still areas where we needed work, however, with the tight shooting schedule we needed to roll camera.
By way we place, the camera had a large impact on how the fight will look. When you place the camera, it’s essential that you hide the gap between the punch and the body. In our short, we had the camera shaking as it was part of the style, this creates a feeling of intense action. I also had a shot where zombies crossed in front of the camera to make it seem more busy in the frame. Check out our behind the scenes video to see how we made the film.
#5 HOW TO MAKE IT LOOK PRO – Once all the filming is completed, the shots will not work if the editing is not done well. Film editing is a topic that is beyond the scope of this blog. It takes many years of experimenting and experience to become good at it. Fig. 1 shows the many layers of clips that are compiled to create a 10 minute short film.
In our horror flick, our timeline consisted of many tracks of video and audio similar to Fig 1. In the footage, we took shots from different, takes and assembled them into a seamless shot.
For sound, about 95% of the audio were sound effects. Sounds from breathing, to grabbing the backpack and all the way to cloths rubbing against the skin when the actors were moving. Basically with each movement made by the characters, or a visual effect and the environment were all replaced.
So that’s it! With all the above items combined and used properly, a fight scene will have a Hollywood cut. Please feel free to read my other blog on film editing to get a bit more information. Also if you search our blog on “video editing” these are the must reads that come up. If you want to learn more, be sure to check out the video on how I edit action film trailers below.
If you have any questions about our projects, please feel free to contact us. And like always, happy editing!