Every Thursday from now on, you can drop by Academie Duello and get an hour (or more) stage combat on Thursdays at 5pm.
We’ll cover a different topic each week, and I’ll give instructions for all different levels of experience. We’ll cover a few fundamentals, then we’ll put together some choreography to show off.
No, it’s not for kids, I just found this photo and thought it was great: two children finger-fencing (that’s my interpretation). And the one in black looks so serious and angry while the blonde is looking at the audience. It’s a great visual for an intro to stage combat.
For members of Academie Duello, it’s free. For non-members, it’s only $10.
I’ve just started a group on MeetUp.com, so if you’re thinking of joining us once in a while, please sign up there. It’s a great way to stay in touch, and to get news about our next meeting. And meetup has tons of other local groups where you can connect with your other hobbies. Our group is Vancouver Stage Combat Drop In
Update: Due to scheduling conflicts, the first day of class is July 13. The course will be 3 weeks, 2 hours per day: 5pm to 7pm. Since the time is reduced, the price is reduced to $250.
Are Your Stage Combat Skills Rusty?
How long has it been since you took a stage combat class? Have you ever? Most theatre schools in Vancouver don’t even teach stage fighting. However, it is a fundamental skill for the performer.
Get a Refresher For Your Physical Performance
Stage combat is a shortcut to mastering your instrument by incorporating:
moving around the stage with purpose
interacting with another character in a life-or-death situation
playing fear, anger, injury, effort while still concentrating on the choreography
staying aware of your environment
breathing, yelling, speaking your lines while exerting yourself
Don’t Accept Less Than FDC
Learn the foundations of Fight Directors Canada:
Unarmed combat
Quarterstaff
Sword
It’s not just weapons, FDC emphasizes:
Safety: You need to move with high speed and intensity, without risking any kind of injury.
Storytelling: It’s not a game, it’s part of the play/movie… learn to incorporate combat into a scene.
Style: Techniques change based on history and geography. Learn a versatile system.
Fun and Intensive
This is a jump-start program:
3 weeks
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
3:30-6:30 5pm-7pm
Starts July 6 July 13
Convenient
Any actor can do this:
Afternoons: So you can get to other jobs in the evening, or auditions during the day
Short duration: You don’t have to plan for 4 months of classes
Affordable
Downtown: Getting to Richards and Hastings is so easy
Get in gear, get an advantage over the other actors, get real safety and FDC standards (internationally recognized quality), get to Academie Duello.
Only $499 $250
Register Now – Call 604.568.9907
Drop by Academie Duello 422 Richards St. (upstairs)
The first class is July 13!
ps: Are you auditioning for Bard on the Beach in August? With this workshop on your resume, they’ll know you can handle a sword.
My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the Stratford Festival. He is also the associate fight director for Macbeth.
The Stratford Festival website recently ran an article about Daniel and his work. It’s a brief look at the ideas that a fight master can bring to a show, and a little about the process of building a fight for a specific production. Here’s a little excerpt from that article:
At its most basic level, the job is to choreograph fight scenes. But to do this effectively you need more than an arsenal of combat skills. You need an actor’s understanding of character, a director’s eye for story and a dancer’s feel for movement.
Go read the whole interview, because Daniel is articulate yet brief in his comments. In every interview I’ve read with him, he has so clearly captured the importance of stage combat and its effective use on stage. There is also great footage of a fight rehearsal embedded on the site. Stratford.ca: “Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?”
I’ve always admired Daniel for his pragmatic approach to every problem and his attention to what really matters. As you read in the interview, and saw in the video, he does not go on at length, but chooses his words well. He also doesn’t cloud the issue, but is always clear yet friendly and very funny.
He’s everything I aspire to be in a teacher and fight director.
Daniel’s website is RapierWit.com, which details the goings-on at his studio, Rapier Wit, located near the corner of Bathurst and Wellington in Toronto.
“You must practice until the sword becomes an extension of your body.”
A study published recently in the journal Current Biology shows that when you use a tool, your brain incorporates it into your body-plan. The idea of tools being part of your body (especially an expert) is not a new idea. It just never had any evidence from scientific research – until now.
After using a mechanical grabber that extended their reach, people behaved as though their arm really was longer, they found. What’s more, study participants perceived touches delivered on the elbow and middle fingertip of their arm as if they were farther apart after their use of the grabbing tool.
That second finding means that the grabber tricked their brain into thinking their arm was longer than it really was.
“We believe this ability of our body representation to functionally adapt to incorporate tools is the fundamental basis of skillful tool use,” Cardinali said. “Once the tool is incorporated in the body schema, it can be maneuvered and controlled as if it were a body part itself.” Brain represents tools as temporary body parts, study confirms
If a student is performing a cut inefficiently, using too much muscle to force the weapon around, I’ll often tell them to “put your mind in the tip”… meaning that they should not think that they are so far from the action. I’m glad that there’s a solid foundation for that kind of advice, instead of hocus pokus.
I’m going to kick off a new feature of PlayFighting with a series of fights that everybody loves. If you haven’t seen the Chicken fights from Family Guy, you’re in for a treat.
embedded by Embedded Video
Introducing the Fight Movies category. I will be showing fights from film and TV, and pointing out the best and the worst of fight direction.
Animation Provides Ultimate Choice
It really struck home for me when I watched Bolt. There is an action/chase sequence near the start of the film that shows off the awesomeness of the superhero dog. I’ll follow up this post with a full analysis of that scene. When I saw that sequence, my first reaction was: why aren’t all action scenes that good? The answer: animators can do anything they choose.
They have the ability to:
place the camera where they want,
get the perfect timing on every move,
exactly pace the camera moves, even very fast pans,
and their performers are perfect.
So, I think a good measuring stick for any fight scene is to compare it to the great animated fights, and I’ll start with some of my favourites: Family Guy.
Chicken Fight 1
In the episode entitled “Da Boom” about the end of the world and the Y2K bug, Peter and the man-sized chicken fight for the first time. Why? Because the chicken gave him a coupon as a promotion, but it had expired.
Fight Summary
Peter and the chicken fight for almost 2 minutes. From the street, they fight onto an overpass, then continue on a passing truck. When the truck falls from the lip of a raised bridge, they grab hold of a passing helicopter, which sends them through the window of a skyscraper. Peter thinks he has won when he crushes the chicken’s head in a photocopier, but it concludes with the the pair falling out of the window. The chicken cushions Peter’s fall, and he is left for dead.
Chicken Fight 2
In the episode “Blind Ambition” (season 4), the chicken tackles Peter out of nowhere, and their fight tops the first one in every way, including length and pointlessness.
Fight Summary
At almost 3 minutes, this fight is 50% longer than the first one. As they fight on the street, cars, trucks and a schoolbus swerve to avoid hitting them, each vehicle crashing and exploding. The combatants are hit by a car, and they continue to pommel each other with their heads through the windshield. The car is hit by a train, and the conflict continues on the roof of the cars. Next, they fall off onto a hand-car (or pump-car), which dumps them over a cliff, and they fight until they crash through the ceiling of a ballroom of a cruise ship. They end up in the engine room, and accidentally set the throttle to full. The boat crashes through town, ending up at the airport. It ends with an homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the chicken hit by the blades of the WWII plane.
Chicken Fight 3
In “No Chris Left Behind” in season 5, we have the third installment of the chicken fights. Once again, the fight starts with the chicken attacking Peter by surprise. We assume he has come for revenge from the previous beating.
Fight Summary
This fight is over 5 minutes long, however, there is an interlude in the middle when they have dinner. Both have forgotten why they were fighting, and put aside their differences. At dinner, we find out that the chicken’s name is Ernie, and his wife is Nicole. The peace is short-lived, and violence erupts again over who will pay the cheque.
According to Wikipedia, this is the longest non-plot-developing scene in the entire series.
I have wanted to film the chicken fights using live actors, but Chicken Fight 3 took that dream away. There is no way to cause that much destruction in the name of a gimmick. Again, animation is a wonderful tool.
Details: Why This Fight Rocks
I’ll take all three fights as instances of one big conflict, since they share a lot in common. The style of filming is consistent between all three, and the fighting techniques do not vary.
Moves
First of all, notice the variety of moves: there isn’t that much. This is actually a good thing. Too many movie fights try to incorporate every cool move the choreographer knows, and put in “filler moves” just to get to the next spectacular thing. That sort of fighting is exemplified by professional wrestling, and doesn’t belong in good film or TV.
Punch after punch. This is how people fight, especially if it’s working. Notice that a lot of the blows land. If a character punches and that punch connects and does damage, the person will keep punching… it works. A fighter changes tactics when things don’t work. The same goes for head slams, stomping, and beak-pecking.
Speaking of beak-pecking: notice that the anthropomorphic chicken uses his natural weapon to his advantage, but only when it’s practical. He isn’t limited to only pecking, but when the opportunity is there (Peter’s face is at close range), he uses it.
Environment
Here’s where the fight really stands out: locations and props. I hate to admit it, but most fights that people think are great are mostly due to using a bunch of different weapons in a bunch of different places.
In Chicken Fight 2, they fight in virtually every mode of transportation except bicycle. And almost every place they fight is destroyed in a fiery explosion. Chicken Fight 1 ends with them falling from a high window. And in every scene, they use their environment for weaponry. They slam each other into hard surfaces, grab objects to smash against the opponent, and take every advantage that position or environment can afford.
Shots
Now the technical stuff. Take a look at the “camera moves” and the cuts. This is taken directly from action movies, but also points out the best of their use. Remember that animators could do anything. If they wanted to, it could be one long shot, because their “actors” don’t need to rest, they don’t need to set up special effects, and they don’t need safety devices. So, one choice would be not to have cuts at all.
But they do use cuts. Why? To mimic what we’re used to in live action? Partly. But more importantly, cuts give a sense of pace, and shifts of emphasis. If a blow is particularly hard, we have a separate shot showing the impact. If a sequence has a lot of ineffective light hits, then they’re shown together with no cuts. For pacing, you’ll notice that one shot is not sustained for more than 5-8 moves, or about 2 seconds.
Story: Also Rocks
The mechanics discussed above are the little details to consider when designing the fight. However, a great fight is more than a series of moves that is well filmed. A great fight involves story.
Character Motivation
Well, the only thing I can state is the obvious: this conflict is way too epic for the inciting incident. Of course, that is the humour of the scene.
In Chicken Fight 3, we stop in the middle to address character motivation, which recaps the initial joke. “Something about a coupon?”
Of course, in a dramatic fight, the question “Why fight?” should be the starting point that a choreographer uses to decide how long a fight should be and where it should go.
Level of Realism
I really like these fights because lines are nicely blurred. It is totally unrealistic that these two fighters would have the stamina to last that long in continuous combat, besides falling from enormous heights and being crushed by tons of rubble.
On the other hand, their tactics are not those of superheroes. When the chicken pecks, it really hurts. Being hit with wooden props is more effective than punches. There is a mild amount of blood and bruising showing that they are both taking damaging blows. In short, on the level of the individual fight move there is a high level of realism.
In short, a comical cartoon fight can play with reality, while staying consistent.
Internal Logic and Storytelling
There are some fun moments in the fights that you may or may not like. In Chicken Fight 1, the chicken falls onto the roof of the truck, and thinks he has escaped. Peter jumps from the next overpass… how did he get there? It doesn’t matter, what is important is the moment of discovery. I personally think that’s a weak part of the scene, and doesn’t fit with the rest of the logic of the fights.
In Chicken Fight 3, the fight restarts over who will pay the bill at the restaurant. They start to fight, and when Peter has a free moment, he throws money onto the table… a great touch that shows character goals and keeps the sequence’s internal logic.
YouTube link: David Carradine 2007
The sad news is that David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room yesterday. There is an ongoing investigation and there will be an autopsy, but there is already wild speculation around the web.
Here is a good article that both details his life and the circumstances of his death:
If it’s true that he didn’t commit suicide and he wasn’t murdered, then what, an accident? That seems a bit difficult to understand. I mean, how does a curtain cord accidently get taken down and wrapped around the throat of a nude person; unless it is something called the ”choking game”.
In short, he was found in a closet, naked, with a curtain rope tied around his neck. He was in a sitting posture. There were no signs of a break-in or any struggle. There are conflicting reports of whether his hands were tied behind his back or not. There is also no word if there was a suicide note or not.
Those close to him say that although the past couple of years have been hard, and he has been in debt, that he was not suicidal. He had been addicted to alcohol, but was happily drink free for a while. He also had a career slowdown, but he was in Bangkok to shoot a new movie, so being out of work is no argument.
Some have speculated about murder, but absent signs of struggle, it is hard to see how. Remember that there’s always a “why”, the difficult (and more relevant) question in any murder investigation is “how”. Why? Some have mentioned his debts. But that’s irrelevant compared to: How? How do you gain access to a man’s room, subdue him without causing any signs of struggle, then choke him to death and leave without a trace? Consider that compared to the “easier” means of dispatching an enemy.
The article I cited above hits what may be the best hypothesis: erotic asphyxiation. There may or may not have been a partner.
However, let us remember that anything we theorize at this point is pure speculation. We only have brief descriptions of the scene plus his personal history to go on. And any information about his personal life is suspect because he tried to stay out of the tabloids, and anything you read in the media may be sensationalized. So, please wait for the police report and further information before drawing your conclusions.
And let us remember the enigmatic David Carradine for his work and his qualities as a fine human being.
Last Friday, I had the honour of meeting sword master F. Braun McAsh. His claim to fame is the Highlander TV series. And that is how he is introduced by everyone.
Highlander TV SwordMaster
His pledge to the producers was that he would provide an original move or way of using a weapon in every episode. “Original” meaning that the technique would not have been previously seen in film or television. He was also given the artistic freedom to decide on the weapons used in each fight.
He talks about that time, when they filmed an episode every five days, as a fight director’s dream. Always learning and implementing new weapons and styles.
Intimidating By Reputation Only
McAsh is a tremendously nice guy with a strong hand-shake. He smiles a lot and has an avuncular manner that is easy to like. Barrel chested and deep-voiced, it is odd to hear him talking about the book he is writing or the hours he spends in the library doing research. You expect him to be brawling with ruffians. Even to hear him talk about the history of swords is a little unnerving.
He has a deep knowledge of swords, military history, and the use of weapons through time. To understand a particular sword shape and its proper use is intimately tied to the armour used, and both exist in a context. To truly master any individual weapon, Braun recommends researching every aspect of its circumstances. And he exemplifies that advice, a veritable encyclopedia of arms and armour.
Head of the McAsh Clan
Yes, he has a castle or two. We talked about our Scottish ancestry and the fact that he is the eldest of his clan.
Stage Combat and Stunts
We talked for a while about the sad state of stage combat in Vancouver. (More on that in another rant – I mean article). Suffice to say that he echoes a sentiment I’ve heard before: that Vancouver is dominated by stunt coordinators who can get away with injuries and breaking weapons, leaving no room for the safe fight choreographer. He is careful not to cast stones and never mentions names, but can barely contain his contempt for movies that have 300 accident reports.
Sword Research Yields Practical Hilt
At the end of the evening, he showed me his custom hilt with a thumb ring. The image to the right is a thumb-ring on a different sword, just for illustration purposes. The thumb-ring on his side-sword was not a closed loop, but a U-shaped side ring on the thumb side of the hilt. He said that all kinds of cuts are improved by taking advantage of this shape.
I did a couple of moulinets to see what he was talking about. To be able to suspend the sword on the thumb at the bottom of a vertical circle gives a lot of mechanical power to bring it back around the rest of the circle. I was sold.
He theorizes that it developed from the scimitar, and other curved swords used by mounted cavalry. It is most often found in German swords. From its usefulness in completing big circles, one can see how horse riders would love it, but also understand why it fell out of use for infantry. It is useless for thrusting.
Keeping Up
As I alluded to, he is in the middle of writing a book, though computer problems have interrupted his process this week. He is still working on films, and spent this week on set. I met him at Academie Duello, where he organizes their Stage Combat Study Group, and drops in for other classes as often as he is able. Come by on Friday evening for free sparring, and you might meet him yourself.
Fat Pig: Highly Recommended
Director Michael Scholar Jr. has done a great job at staging the play in a way that keeps the audience focused and engaged. The set is minimal and shifts direction, both physically and metaphorically, at several points throughout the performance.
Kathryn Kirkpatrick delivers a brave and stellar performance as Helen, the object of Tom’s (Lawrence Haegert) desire and Haegert pulls us in completely with his performance, giving us hope that he’ll come through in the end. Jennifer Mawhinney and Aaron Craven’s characters (Jeannie, Carter) provide the cringe. Their dialogue is rich with all we try to hide in ourselves.
Fat Pig is a play that everyone should see. If you can get past the title, it’s definitely worth the time. Vancouver Observer: Articles
The play is not about obesity itself, but concerns honesty. I found it a fascinating exploration of what it means to be honest with oneself and with others. Is being truthful always good? Is changing your mind a matter of integrity? Is there any truth or lies without a society’s judgment? Each of the characters struggle with these ideas, and that’s what makes this play engaging.
Fat is Phat
Michael Scolar Jr. has created a terrific production in every respect. In addition to drawing lovely performances from his actors, the staging is inventive without being self-conscious, the pacing is spot on, and the comedy and pathos are in perfect balance.
Fat Pig makes my first Top Ten entry of 2009.
The performances are selling out, so call to reserve tickets.
Where: Performance Works, Granville Island
When: May 20 – 30
Tickets: Tues – Thur & Matinees $21.50; Fri – Sat $25.50
Contact: 604 684 2787
Tickets Online: ticketstonight.ca
Website: www.fatpig.ca
Learning from a book is often frustrating precisely because it is limited. You know that you can’t fully learn a skill from a book, especially if it is only described in words. Many classic books on slight of hand have few images, they’re all description. It’s up to the illusionist to interpret the words, and work in front of a mirror to achieve their version of the trick.
Fortunately, producing images in books has come a long way since the first magic manuals. New books have lots of pictures and diagrams. But if you’ve tried to learn a complicated skill from a book, such as a martial art, you know that you still need description, because you can’t get a good sense of movement from still pictures.
Video Training
So, knowing that people are frustrated with books, a huge video market has sprung up. This is not just a “money grab” by marketers… learning by video really is better. They teach all kinds of skills by video, even accounting and psychology. And that works because of the learning pyramid: the combo of hearing and seeing (and reading slides if they use that) means that you remember things better, and for a longer time.
The biggest value comes from learning physical skills from a video because you can see the movement. You don’t have to follow picture 1A, 1B, 2, 3… and read the descriptions of each one to get the flow of a technique. You watch the expert and listen to the voiceover simultaneously. What an excellent way to learn!
But that’s not the best way…
Teaching
It has been said that to truly be a master at anything, you must teach it. That’s because you actually learn by teaching. If you’ve never taught your skill to a student, try it. You’ll find that you have to explain things in more than one way to get them to truly understand it. You may have to invent a metaphor by saying “It’s like painting a fence… up, down.” And by trying different approaches, you solidify your own knowledge.
Just Do It
If you like the shiny books, put them into practice with a training partner. Better yet, take a class. Your instructor will be able to correct your form… the book just sits there. Video instruction is obviously better, given this learning theory. Still, the video can’t correct you. Only an expert instructor with a good eye can tell you if you’re doing it properly.
When you think you’ve got a combat skill down pretty good, try simulating a real fight scenario. It will teach you where your skill might be weak, and solidify the motion into your body even better.
Warning:
Never start learning a skill in a high stress situation or when tired. You’ll learn it wrong and teach your body to do it badly. It will be difficult to correct yourself later. When learning a new skill, warm up (not to exhaustion), then slowly perform the movement. If you have a teacher, get corrected on your form before you try to go faster. If you have a book or video, watch yourself in the mirror and see if you match the image. When you think it’s right, go faster. Then do it with a partner slowly. Then faster and controlled. Only after going through these steps should you try to do it “for real”.
The stunt woman’s name is Bridget Riley. Chad Stahelski was the stunt coordinator.
The Value of a Fight Director
One thing you notice about this clip that is different from demo reels of most stunt teams is this: editing. A martial artist wants to show off the height of their kicks, their flexibility, their accuracy with a partner, and they set up a camera to best show off their assets for a series of moves. A fight director knows how to use the camera to tell the story as well as capture the correct angles for the strikes. Most martial artists and fencers have no idea how to frame a shot, what camera moves accomplish, or why film is different from a live performance.
Filming Rehearsal
You’ll also note that this is a recording of rehearsals. From the cuts, you know that this wasn’t one long take, but the camera was repositioned for each sequence. In this way, the stunt coordinator can show the director what angles would be best, and how he would direct the scene. The director may disagree, make suggestions or cuts, but at least he can decide before the day of the shoot where the camera should be angled, and where it should move.
Recording your rehearsals the way they will be filmed (in shorter sequences, with the camera moving in an appropriate way) will allow the performers to see where they need to change their particular moves. Shooting on digital and playing back on a large monitor immediately allows the rehearsal to continue with little interruption. Does that kick need to be higher to sell? Does that punch need to be extended? Seeing the recording immediately tells the performer how to improve in a much better way than verbal notes.
Be A Director
Plan your shots. Plan the fight in general shape, then start deciding on moments that you want to show, and decide how to show them. Shooting a “master” with a still camera at a long distance will help you remember the shape of the fight, but should NEVER be used for actual footage.
Once you know each shot, drill them one at a time. You think the Serenity team ever performed that fight from top to bottom? I wasn’t there, but I can pretty much guarantee they didn’t. First of all, look at all the wire work. If they didn’t have people flying the way they did, the fight would be entirely different. Take the cuts as a blessing. A cut allows you to optimize a sequence of one to ten moves in isolation. So isolate them.
Changes
Deal with feedback from the director or the DP before the shoot days. I’ve seen too many arguments on the set. If you film the rehearsal with the angles you think are best, you don’t have to let the director imagine what it will be like.
And if the DP has a way that he thinks will improve it, you can try it in rehearsal rather than having a fight with all your performers waiting around in costume.
A Note to Producers
If your production has a fight scene, it will suck unless you do the following steps:
Hire a fight choreographer or a stunt coordinator who has fight experience. Do not hire a martial artist or fencing master to design the fight. They can perform it, but they don’t know angles or storytelling.
Allow time and rehearsal space for the fight to be designed and rehearsed before filming.
Contact
Subscribe
Jul 2, 2009 
Every Thursday from now on, you can drop by Academie Duello and get an hour (or more) stage combat on Thursdays at 5pm.
No Comments 
My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ab22c03c-87c6-4a94-b6c9-350d5a2ca834)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=42c8e04a-01cf-4701-a41a-6df2eec267bc)
Last Friday, I had the honour of meeting sword master F. Braun McAsh. His claim to fame is the Highlander TV series. And that is how he is introduced by everyone.
At the end of the evening, he showed me his custom hilt with a thumb ring. The image to the right is a thumb-ring on a different sword, just for illustration purposes. The thumb-ring on his side-sword was not a closed loop, but a U-shaped side ring on the thumb side of the hilt. He said that all kinds of cuts are improved by taking advantage of this shape.
This is your last week to catch Fat Pig, which is getting fantastic reviews, like this one: