How To: Stage a Fight Scene – Punches and Kicks | Full Sail University
227It’s no secret that a believable fight sequence can make or break a film. Professional stunt teams are brought onto film sets to train actors on the best practices for staging a fight scene to continue the audiences’ suspension of belief.
In this how to video, our host Katelyn takes you behind the scenes of the sci-fi short film ‘New Human’ where she had an opportunity to meet with stunt coordinator Robert Herrick. He discusses blocking a fight scene while taking the character’s elements into consideration. Does the character have super-human strength? This means the punches and hits need to be even bigger. Is the character a cyborg robot? This means the actor’s punches might look more mechanical and the actor needs to maintain a face devoid of human emotion.
Robert also stresses the importance of creating space between your stunt performers by positioning your camera properly. The angle and set up of the camera directly effects what types of punches and hits the stunt performers need to use to make the scene believable. He also discusses safety, and suggests putting pads on to allow for actual impacts which sell the action of punches and kicks. And of course, don’t forget about large padded mats on the floor for falls!
Follow along as we give you more tips on how to stage a fight scene for film.
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