wanting to do a fight scene on a subway train - how?

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NatalieOshea

I'm planning on having a scene in my film that takes place on board the Broad Street subway train (I'm in Philadelphia). What i wanna do is turn an actual train station and its subway cars into the movie sets, maybe using real commuters as extras.

To describe the scene, there is a chase scene where the chasee runs down into the train station, the chaser follows after him and the person he is pursuing runs into the train right before the doors slam shut, leaving the thug behind, but as the train takes off, the bad guy jumps onto the railing on the last car, opens the door (at the end of the car) and gets inside.

The bad guy reunites worth the person he's been chasing and a fight ensues. A gun is drawn and shots are fired but nobody is hit. The good guy is eventually able to literally kick his enemy off the train out the back door, so he is rolling down the tracks.

I would love to have a subway scene like that in my film. But aren't they difficult to do? The DP has but only so much room to move around, then there is the shotgun mic person, and let's not forget the director.

BUT

There is always green screen technology! From what i heard, even a big-budget Hollywood film like Safe used a real Philly subway train and green screen to shoot a scene like the one i want to do.

Have any of you on here ever done a fight scene on a subway train?
 
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NatalieOshea said:
I'm planning on having a scene in my film that takes place on board the Broad Street subway train (I'm in Philadelphia). What i wanna do is turn an actual train station and its subway cars into the movie sets, maybe using real commuters as extras.

To describe the scene, there is a chase scene where the chasee runs down into the train station fine..., the chaser follows after him fine... and the person he is pursuing runs into the train right before the doors slam shut could be fine... , leaving the thug behind fine..., but as the train takes off, the bad guy jumps onto the railing on the last car ho-lee sh!t! You're gonna get someone killed! , opens the door (at the end of the car) and gets inside Yeah, only in HWood fantasy land.

The bad guy reunites worth the person he's been chasing and a fight ensues All this on a real Philly subway train . A gun is drawn ho-lee effin molee and shots are fired sweet Jesus! but nobody is hit LOL! . The good guy is eventually able to literally kick his enemy bad, bad, bad... off the train fuuuuck meeeee out the back door, so he is rolling down the tracks OMFG! This is a disaster cookbook.

I would love to have a subway scene like that in my film then learn animation. But aren't they difficult to do? YES! They ARE! And are done on multi-million dollar, insured, studio films! The DP has but only so much room to move around LOL! The least of anyone's concern , then there is the shotgun mic person, and let's not forget the director Oh, no! Can't forget about the director - WHEN ACTORS ARE AT RISK OF DYING AND FAKE GUNS ARE BEING SHOT.

BUT

There is always green screen technology! From what i heard, even a big-budget Hollywood film like Safe used a real Philly subway train and green screen to shoot a scene like the one i want to do.

Have any of you on here ever done a fight scene on a subway train?
Click to expand...
Shelve it.

Write something that isn't going to get a bunch of people killed.
 
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Going guerilla entails serious safety and legal risks. Doing it legitimately is probably way beyond your budget.

Go ahead and write it, but don't plan on shooting it. If the current script is for something that you do want to shoot you'll have to find a safe and legal way to accomplish it within your budget, or write a different chase/confrontation scenario.
 
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I tell you what...

Write out this entire sequence pretty much just like you've outlined it here - then replace the entire subway thing with a regular residential house.

  1. Abe the Antag chases Paul the Protag down the sidewalk.
  2. Paul darts up a driveway, and into the house's backyard, Abe lags behind.
  3. Just as Abe rounds the house's corner Paul leaps over a fence into another yard.
  4. Paul breaks into the backdoor of the house, frantically searches for a weapon.
  5. Abe hears the break-in, pursues Paul into the house.
  6. Abe fires shots inside the house at Paul.
  7. Fight, fight, fight using improvised weapons, etc.
  8. Paul kicks Abe's ass out the front door of the house.

Look about right?
Something you'd plausibly see in a Bourne flik?

Fine.

Go shoot it. :yes:
 
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OP, no offence but you do read some of the threads here right?

You do understand that permits would be required, a gun handler, stunt crew, police, transit police and you would have to pay big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to use a train and a station - and a crew of dozens to admin and execute it all. And forget the jumping onto a train stuff - holy smokes, you would need a track closed down for that!

...yet you're posting on an Indie movie forum - see the disconnect? Your scene = Hollywood picture budget (>10+ million) Vs indie budget (micro?). Big disconnect.

If you guerilla it, you could get someone seriously injured or even killed (fall under a train anyone?). Do you fancy being sued and being bankrupt for the rest of your life?

And gun play in public places ... you have read the articles (and multiple posts here) on the cops being called, indie crews nearly shot by mistake by police etc - right?

Do your research. The threads here on IT would have taught you all of the above (and much more).
 
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Sounds like craziness to me. You CANNOT shoot this Guerrilla, and if you shoot it legally, taking the proper safety precautions, then you're going to be spending tens of thousands. You also can't whip out a green screen and CG the whole thing. It's not gonna happen. Unless you have AMAZING connections and A LOT of money, either shelve the script or write the scene differently. Ray's idea wasn't too bad.

Here's a thread you should take a look at. It's not specifically a subway train fight scene, but it's dealing with the same levels of ambition and action:

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=52830
 
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Fake gun on a crowded subway train using real commuters as extras...

That's a plan for disaster; I agree with these guys. Shelve it..

Now, you do mention that you realize you may need to shoot this using a green screen or the like. Yes, that's possible, but there's some things you have to keep in mind -

When a real film is shooting a scene like this with a greenscreen, they still have a real subway car people are hopping on and off of - professionally trained stunt doubles with safety equipment at that. Where the real movie magic comes is within their surroundings, they use the green screen to implement the environment moving.
So... I highly doubt this will be within your budget or ability.

Oh, and one last thing worth mentioning - Never assume that real commuters, or any real people in real situations will want to be shot in a film or be used as extras. Unless you're a big budget movie where they get to stand behind Bill Murray for an hour (My brother and sister were extras in Groundhog Day in the city square scenes!) they probably won't want anything to do with your project. You'd be surprised how many people are easily discomforted by a camera being around, or even the notion of them appearing on it. Chances are you'll either discomfort or upset people if you impose a filming on where they are in public. That, or they'll mess with you and do stupid stuff in the background or something. (Woohoo for teenagers.)
 
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Here's your change to be an award winning filmmaker!
darwin-awards-header.jpg
 
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You know what? How about I keep it simple and keep the chase from when the character runs into the train and end the action right there. How about that. Then we wouldn't have to risk people getting hurt or god forbid killed.
 
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That works a lot better in terms of safety. But I imagine it would be quite difficult to get permission to shoot that from the train station. And whats the law where you are on shooting in public places? You may need some form of permit to shoot random civilians (I don't really know how these things work in the US, New Zealand is a lot more relaxed on filming permits and so on). And how are you going to do this without disrupting or frightening the public (especially if any of the characters have guns/other weapons)?
 
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NatalieOshea said:
You know what? How about I keep it simple and keep the chase from when the character runs into the train and end the action right there. How about that. Then we wouldn't have to risk people getting hurt or god forbid killed.
Click to expand...

Better.. but in this wonderful hyper-sensitive fear driven post 9/11 world, you're still going to run into issues if anyone is brandishing a firearm -- even a fake one, even a bright neon colored water pistol.
 
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There won't be guns in the scene at all. I'll save all that and all the action stuff for when i have those... mega million dollar budgets and when I'm with Hollywood. After all Safe (the film that i got the idea from) was made on a $30 million budget.
 
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