Any tips on action film shots
- Thread starter MitchellB
- Start date
Here is an article I wrote in VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE on shooting action...
http://www.videomaker.com/article/13484/
Complete with stills.
http://www.videomaker.com/article/13484/
Complete with stills.
Two rules to remember for the two most common sinereos.
Do you have martial artists or very experienced stunt people? If the answer is yes and you have a stunt coordinator, "shoot it wide." Action fans want to see the action. Also, the more angles for coverage shots you have, the better. You cover up stunt players not actually hitting each other by changing the angle right before there is impact like with a reverse shot, as an example, and put in a sound effects.
If you don't have experienced stunt people and just untrained actors doing their own stunts, shoot it "TV style" using all close-ups, or the new way with blury close-ups like the last Jason Bourne moviie, Salt, or The Expendables. This second way turns off die hard action fans. TV uses all close-ups so you don't see much like the rapid fire blury close-ups to cover up the actors are under rehearsed. TV shooting schedules are VERY time budgeted as compared to a feature movie for the big screen.
In big budget movies, actors train with martial artists and stunt coordinators for months before any shooting begins. Finding stunt people who just specialize in stunts is becoming harder and harder. Chances are you may end up using method two. An experienced stunt coordinator will refuse to work with untrained actors. I couldn't get my high school friend to work with cast members for me that are not stunt people because, she told me, she doesn't have time to babysit newbies. I do have another more patient person coming in as a stunt coordinator who will stunt double for cast members strugggling too much learning stunts. It's good to have people in uniforms in these productions, so a stunt double can be plugged in where needed without a lot of changes of clothing.
Do you have martial artists or very experienced stunt people? If the answer is yes and you have a stunt coordinator, "shoot it wide." Action fans want to see the action. Also, the more angles for coverage shots you have, the better. You cover up stunt players not actually hitting each other by changing the angle right before there is impact like with a reverse shot, as an example, and put in a sound effects.
If you don't have experienced stunt people and just untrained actors doing their own stunts, shoot it "TV style" using all close-ups, or the new way with blury close-ups like the last Jason Bourne moviie, Salt, or The Expendables. This second way turns off die hard action fans. TV uses all close-ups so you don't see much like the rapid fire blury close-ups to cover up the actors are under rehearsed. TV shooting schedules are VERY time budgeted as compared to a feature movie for the big screen.
In big budget movies, actors train with martial artists and stunt coordinators for months before any shooting begins. Finding stunt people who just specialize in stunts is becoming harder and harder. Chances are you may end up using method two. An experienced stunt coordinator will refuse to work with untrained actors. I couldn't get my high school friend to work with cast members for me that are not stunt people because, she told me, she doesn't have time to babysit newbies. I do have another more patient person coming in as a stunt coordinator who will stunt double for cast members strugggling too much learning stunts. It's good to have people in uniforms in these productions, so a stunt double can be plugged in where needed without a lot of changes of clothing.
"sinereos"
Scenarios?
Anyway, I think more than punching, kicking and shooting (the banal staple of most low-rent "action" films) it's far more important to do several things, related to the story:
1) Make your action sequence in some way unique. This is probably the hardest thing to do, especially with no money. Upside is that it only takes an encyclopedic knowledge of what's been done before, and then do something else.
2) Make your action intimately related to your character and story. Bill Martell has several articles on this. The actions taken should reveal character and theme, not just be lots of violence for no other purpose.
3) Learn how to incorporate special effects such as green screen background replacement into your situations. Once you can manipulate the environment competently, you can more easily get to the #1 and 2 above.
Safety first. Don't hurt anyone or allow them to be hurt because of your decisions. That would be immoral.
Scenarios?
Anyway, I think more than punching, kicking and shooting (the banal staple of most low-rent "action" films) it's far more important to do several things, related to the story:
1) Make your action sequence in some way unique. This is probably the hardest thing to do, especially with no money. Upside is that it only takes an encyclopedic knowledge of what's been done before, and then do something else.
2) Make your action intimately related to your character and story. Bill Martell has several articles on this. The actions taken should reveal character and theme, not just be lots of violence for no other purpose.
3) Learn how to incorporate special effects such as green screen background replacement into your situations. Once you can manipulate the environment competently, you can more easily get to the #1 and 2 above.
Safety first. Don't hurt anyone or allow them to be hurt because of your decisions. That would be immoral.
Hi i'm looking for tips and advice for shooting an action film, what shot types etc would you recommend any tips and advice would greatful
Rehearsal, and coverage. Lots of both. And it's really important that your talent have some experience.
It really depends on what's going on in the scene.
Melee - there are different techniques that can be used with the camera to fool the audience into thinking that someone got punched or kicked. For example, when we need to punch somebody in our films, we punch past the person. Like you want to punch the air on the side of their face (and follow through with it a little bit) and the other actor must turn their head in that direction. It looks very real. This goes for crosses, hooks, uppercuts, and other punches. Hit the air around the face and get the right camera angle and it'll all go well but it takes a little practice.
Guns - very broad use of different angles. Close ups, trucking shots, wide shots, anything. The audience needs to know what's going on. Unless you want the audience to feel what the character is feeling, like confusion, which would get the audience confused to but that's a double edged sword. Usually, when we film action scenes, we make the camera move a little bit. I can't think of the term right now, but it's pretty much just holding the camera in your hands and moving it a bit around on the shot to give it a bit of a frantic look. Multiple shots, remember that.
This is just what I've learned from experience.
Melee - there are different techniques that can be used with the camera to fool the audience into thinking that someone got punched or kicked. For example, when we need to punch somebody in our films, we punch past the person. Like you want to punch the air on the side of their face (and follow through with it a little bit) and the other actor must turn their head in that direction. It looks very real. This goes for crosses, hooks, uppercuts, and other punches. Hit the air around the face and get the right camera angle and it'll all go well but it takes a little practice.
Guns - very broad use of different angles. Close ups, trucking shots, wide shots, anything. The audience needs to know what's going on. Unless you want the audience to feel what the character is feeling, like confusion, which would get the audience confused to but that's a double edged sword. Usually, when we film action scenes, we make the camera move a little bit. I can't think of the term right now, but it's pretty much just holding the camera in your hands and moving it a bit around on the shot to give it a bit of a frantic look. Multiple shots, remember that.
This is just what I've learned from experience.
Shooting our feature years ago, we blocked the action, then ran segments of it over and over while moving the cameras to different positions along the path of the action... worked pretty well.
http://yafiunderground.com/Video/7.b.sm.mov
http://yafiunderground.com/Video/7.b.sm.mov
I agree with what you're saying, however, I would add that in addition to that, you also need to keep in mind the 180-rule. Not saying this to be a dick, but some of those cuts are a tad confusing, orientation-wise.
I actually think the basics of shooting an action scene are the exact same as with shooting any scene. If you can shoot a scene in which a pair of guys walk off the street, then around the aisles of a market, before purchasing some milk, then you can shoot a scene in which one dude chases another dude off the streets into a market, where they have a gunfight in the aisles, until they run out of bullets and have a fist-fight in the milk aisle. From the camera's perspective, the basic rules and guidelines are the same.
What's different is in the talent department, and perhaps SFX. Are your actors capable of pulling this off? Is your coordinator/choreographer up to par? Can you convincingly pull off the gunshots? What makes an action scene successful doesn't really pertain to your camerawork (no more than any other scene, anyway).
Yeah, we "knew" about the 180 and the line at that point, but that didn't matter when I was overwhelmed on set (this was my first major production with crew and everything)... I did realize when we got into the edit that I had screwed up...
To prevent this, draw an overhead diagram of your scene, draw a line where your actors will be running, then keep the cameras on one side of that line. I screwed up in one other scene as well with a 3 shot and OTS shots... can't flip them due to the fact that there's 3 people in the scene
To prevent this, draw an overhead diagram of your scene, draw a line where your actors will be running, then keep the cameras on one side of that line. I screwed up in one other scene as well with a 3 shot and OTS shots... can't flip them due to the fact that there's 3 people in the scene
The other consideration for making an action movie, from the producer's side or the business side is what will the action sceens do to your insurance cost? The more daring the stunts, the higher your insurance will go. When you are starting out, remember actor and stunt player safety is a big issue too.
In action stuff I shot in a wooded park, the insurance company wanted to charge me double of what my whole budget was for the shoot. I got lucky and got an insurance waiver from the city because of the insurance quote vs. my budget and we had police supervision for our stunts because the city took responsibility..
Consider safe over original and something that looks cool. You don't want to take chances with people new to stunts. Professional stunt teams cost big money for small productions.
Avoid car stunts, sworrd fights, pyrotechs, and wild leaping kicks unless you have trained professionals who are licensed to do those things.
In action stuff I shot in a wooded park, the insurance company wanted to charge me double of what my whole budget was for the shoot. I got lucky and got an insurance waiver from the city because of the insurance quote vs. my budget and we had police supervision for our stunts because the city took responsibility..
Consider safe over original and something that looks cool. You don't want to take chances with people new to stunts. Professional stunt teams cost big money for small productions.
Avoid car stunts, sworrd fights, pyrotechs, and wild leaping kicks unless you have trained professionals who are licensed to do those things.
This is a fantastic tip, but if you're going to do that make sure your actors are actually well trained in martial arts. It takes a lot more precision & skill to not hit someone than it takes to merely hit them.
Depends on what's the hit. If it's just a hook punch, then it'll be pretty damn easy. If it's a slap well you can actually slap the guy, if he's cool with it, it's no big deal.
Well I suppose like someone said above me, I'm in highschool so it doesn't matter to me making 0dollar films.
The main thing about current action is to shoot a lot more coverage of the action so that editorially, you can get into the details and cut from shot to shot faster. Faster edit pacing affects the viewer in that it amps up their adrenaline and they accept that more is happening in less time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPK65xG3jFA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPK65xG3jFA