HOW TO EDIT A FIGHT SCENE: Editing, VFX & Sound Design!
277My post-production workflow for my fight scene "Optimistic Self Defense" will be broken down in this video showing you my thought process and techniques used during the Editing, Visual Effects, and Sound Design processes.
If you haven't seen "Optimistic Self Defense" yet, watch it here:
https://youtu.be/htMCMqa93qM
The first part of this video will be breaking down the Editing.
How do you edit a fight scene to make it convincing and professional?
In Premiere Pro, you'll notice my timeline has a lot more cuts focused in the action, yet when you watch the final short, you're still able to follow the action just fine- how does this work?
First, let's talk about WHY there were so many cuts:
"The Sneaky Cut" is a technique that removes a single frame before an impact- this makes the impact feel more powerful. I've done this for every strike thrown as well as basically every other action that wasn't "powerful" enough.
Because only a single frame is cut out, it is basically invisible when done well.
Secondly, the edit feels coherent because there is a "flow" of action- your eye does not need to dart around to find the next action and each shot feels connected due to the direction of movement.
Note that I don't use "shakycam". Shakycam is used to cover up actors who aren't as experienced and have the excuse of "being chaotic, like a fight should be". This is not the case for most experienced fighters as keeping a calm and clear mind during an altercation is a priority to winning fights.
Every cut also happens on the action so each new shot doesn't feel disjointed. Every shot we chose also shows something important to the viewer; for instance, the first closeup of the gun shows it in operation, and the last closeup juxtaposes that.
For a gunshot to look good in VFX, there must be 4 elements present:
1. A muzzle flash
2. Gun mechanisms working (Slide blowing back on a pistol)
3. Environmental lighting from the muzzle flash
4. Bullet shell ejection
The muzzle flash, bullet shell, and blood elements I used were all from the Action Essentials 2 pack found here:
https://www.videocopilot.net/products/action2/
These elements are easily composited in and work in conjunction with each other to create a believable gunshot.
Something nobody noticed is the fact that we switched our guns out in between shots. In the medium action shots, we were using a cheap, plastic Glock 18C that's broken and doesn't shoot. During the closeups, we switched to a HK USP45 that actually does shoot.
Not only does the USP look better in closeup as it's made of metal, it can also dry fire- meaning nothing comes out but the slide blows back anyway.
Please note that WE WERE NOT USING REAL GUNS. All guns used are AIRSOFT REPLICAS that fire PLASTIC BB'S.
Finally, sound design is a big aspect of selling a fight as it can easily turn a weak touch into a powerful punch.
I break down the way we layered our gun shot sound effect by using a gunshot sound asset, combined with metal sounds, and the sound of the slide sliding back.
The fight itself is composed of grunts, punch sounds, "wooshes" that build up into the punches, "grab" sounds, clothes sounds, as well as footsteps.
We didn't have good audio recording on the day so virtually all audio heard in the final short was done in post.
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