Fight Club Clip

I am choosing the fight scene between Achilles and Hector in Troy.


Actors: Eric Bana- Hector
Brad Pitt- Achilles
Orlando Bloom- Paris

Stuntman- They preformed their own stunts

Scenario- Hector must fight Achilles Because his brother Paris Refused to fight Menelaus.

Style: First part of the fight is with shield and spear but later they use swords.

Genre: Realistic and Dramatic.

I think the fight is realistic because the moves they use are not over the top or unrealistic. They look like what you would see in an actual fight doing the period of time its in. They also show signs of fatigue, as you would see in a actual fight. I choose Dramatic because of what is at stake in the fight.

Objective: Hectors Objective is to protect his city and people. And to protect his wife and new born son. Should he lose not only would troy lose their best General but also their best warrior.
Achilles Is fighting not to protect anyone but because Hector killed his cousin thinking it was Achilles.

Tactics: Hector uses a more defensive fighting stance blocking and countering until he uses his sword then you goes on the offence. He uses his shield as weapon bashing and striking his opponent.
Achilles uses his superior agility and strength to take the offence in the beginning of the fight but must take a bit of a defensive stance toward the middle of the fight but due to his better endurance and the fact he is literally invincible unless someone can cut his heel. He overpowers Hector and kills him.

Obstacles- Hectors has many obstacles. The fate of troy rests on his shoulders. His people are counting on him to lead the army of troy to victory and protect them. His brother needs him to win so he can keep his love toy. And of course Achilles who is the greeks secret weapon nearly immortal in battle and a instrument to increase greek moral by being on the battle field.
Achilles only real obstacle his to protect his heel...

Why I choose this fight?
I choose this fight because I love historical films whether they be base on myth or reality. I also enjoy epic realistic fights. But mainly because the cinematography in the fight was masterfully done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf4IoxEUmHM

Articles

I really enjoyed reading about the additional precautions to have while practicing handling swords and practice in general.

The things that stood out to me was that part when holding on to your sword, holding it as if you were holding a bird. You can't be too rigid in your movement and your technique. Just that right amount of flexibility and strength for supreme handling and overall dexterity.

I know I am a culprit of making swords go, "clang clang" when it should go more "ching ching" in a softer sense. What I'm ultimately saying is that I will have more control of my sword to not allow it to hit harder than it should.

Thanks for posting these articles! :D
and have a lovely Thoreal day! :)

-Gina Bauza

Fight Clip Club; Swordfights!

For my Fight Clip Club, I ended up choosing a ridiculous fight from a movie from the early 80's: The Pirate Movie.  I don't know why I thought of it, but I did, and really wanted to use this fight if only for how funny I think it is.

The fight begins around 50:40, and continues to about 56:00.  It is long, but I couldn't find a simple clip, so this is the best I can do.

Movie: The Pirate Movie (1982)

Actors: Christopher Atkins, Ted Hamilton, Maggie Kirkpatrick

Style/Genre: Expressionistic, Comedic/Swashbuckling

Objective: The Pirate King has initiated the fight because Frederic ran away from the pirates and chose to fight against them rather than with them, sinking their ship the previous night.  The Pirate King intends to defeat Frederic and either kill him, or bring him back to the side of the black flag.  Frederic fights the Pirate King for his freedom, and to avenge his mother and father -- killed by pirates when Frederic was only a babe.

Tactics: Obviously, pirates are good with swords.  Within the sword-fighting, however, each character uses tactics other than the swish-poke.  There are a few clear distractions, such as when the Pirate King warns Frederic to watch himself around the glass, or immediately after has them drink in the middle of their fight.  Frederic also makes fun of the Pirate King moments later, though the embarrassment is not enough to entirely distract the King.  After pushing the King over into the coffin, Frederic quickly closes the lid in an attempt to capture him, subsequently attempting to stab the coffin many times to ensure defeat; unfortunately for Frederic, the Pirate King appears to also be a magician, and flaunts his talents by not only reappearing outside of the coffin, but releasing a dove as well, in attempts to intimidate Frederic.  The Pirate King disarms Frederic, but is in turn distracted as he helps Ruth up, wasting a chance to end the fight.  Frederic later uses the force as his own intimidation tactic, in a way, and disarms the Pirate King.  Ultimately, the fight is ended when Ruth distracts them both with a total change of focus.
( TL;DR -- distraction, embarrassment, taunting, capture, intimidation -- just, a lot...)

Obstacles: Both are skilled swordsmen, so they are obstacles for each other in and of themselves.  The environment also plays a role in obstructing both characters -- they range all over the castle.  When it comes to specifics, Frederic's obstacle is that the Pirate King basically raised him.  Thus, Frederic does care for the Pirate King to an extent, but the Pirate King also "taught him all he knows" (aside from the bit Fred 'saw in a movie once'), which makes it a bit difficult for Frederic to pull out any stops.  For the Pirate King, he cares for Frederic after raising him, and has a soft spot for orphans as it is (despite the fact that he caused Fred to be an orphan), as well as the fact that he ultimately wants to tell Frederic his "secret" and recruit Frederic back into his crew rather than kill him.

When/Why/Etc?  This fight takes place around the middle of the movie, shifting the balance of power within the film, and creating new conflict while springing off of ongoing conflict.  Honestly, they resort to sword-fighting because they are pirates, and why wouldn't they?  It's sort of what they do.  Plus the fact that they each harbor resentment for the other, which may have escalated their emotions and made them wish to resort to such extremes rather than talking it out.  I am not sure that there is a clear winner here.  The Pirate King has his moment, then Frederic has his, and then Ruth distracts them both.  After the secret is revealed, however, it's pretty clear that the Pirate King gets his way in the end.

Stunt Doubles?  There were actually no stunt doubles in this scene!  The actors, Christopher Atkins (Frederic) and Ted Hamilton (Pirate King), rehearsed for months to get this scene right.

Why This Scene?  I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to use this scene -- shots aren't always clear, and it's a little long.  But I just really liked it for its comedic elements, and for nostalgic reasons.  This movie is ridiculous, but hilarious, and worth sharing with the class.  When you get decently clear shots, the actors do a good job of their choreography (they should, after months of rehearsal~), and they deserve some credit!  I just thought it would be a fun scene to bring to the class.

So, there is my Fight Clip Club!  I hope that you all enjoy this scene as much as I do.  :'D

- Chesney O.

Articles

The two articles, we were assigned to read, went over basically what we went over in class with a few exceptions. They went over tips and tricks to handling you sword, how to better grip it and so fourth. One thing that stuck out to me was stopping my blade to not damage the swords or frighten my partner which is something I need to work on.

http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-princess-bride-perfect-movie.html

Fight Clip Club #1 - Pilgrim vs Graves

Movie: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Scene: The final fight between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona's seventh/last evil ex, Gideon Graves.

Actors: Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Ellen Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Stuntmen: Chris Mark, James Mark, Amy WY Wong

Scenario: Scott Pilgrim finally decides to fight Gideon Graves after Ramona leaves him for Gideon. Scott arrives in Gideon's chaos theater with most of his friends already there enjoying the party and his former band playing in the background officially signed under Gideon's record company.

Style: First half is sword fighting and then it becomes an unarmed fight during the final half.

Genre:  Expressionistic and Comedic

       I would say the fight is expressionistic mainly because the moves really are over the top even if the fight wasn't really "drawn out" or too long. Really it just ties in with the whole movie being over top with much of the fight scenes choreographed to resemble a fight straight out of a comic book with most of the characters having some sort of super human ability even if they don't exactly look like the traditional superheroes/super villains. 

       The fight is also comedic mainly because the entire movie as a whole was pretty much comedic, but also because I didn't actually fear for the characters well-being and they didn't really look like they had any real fear of pain/death either, so it couldn't be dramatic. It was hard deciding if this could be swashbuckling or not mainly because I still don't quite understand the difference between swashbuckling and comedic, but I decided it was not swashbuckling because the fight was short, and it didn't look like the fighters were enjoying the fight nor were they "playing" with their opponent.

Three Rules

Objective: Scott Pilgrim is trying to defeat Gideon Graves because he is Ramona's seventh and final evil ex-boyfriend. He must defeat Gideon if he wants to free Ramona from his brain control device.

Tactics: At first Scott Pilgrim tried to fight Gideon Graves by himself out of love for Ramona (thus earning him the Sword of Love) however that was not enough and he was easily defeated by Gideon Graves. Then he learns that he should try fighting for himself, so he comes back and earns the Sword of Self-Respect and fights Gideon a second time, with the help of both Knives Chau and Ramona Flowers, and finally defeats him.

Obstacles: Throughout the movie his obstacles before fighting Gideon Graves and being able to continue to date Ramona Flowers were: defeating the first six evil exes, then it was defeating Gideon's henchmen in the Chaos Theater, then Scott had to learn to fight for himself instead of fighting for Ramona, and lastly he had to fix his broken relationship with Knives Chau and admit that he cheated on both Knives and Ramona. Only after accomplishing all of this was he finally able to defeat Gideon Graves.

Why I Chose It: Scott Pilgrim vs The World is easily my favorite movie of all-time and I've watched it countless times. I just love the acting, the visual effects, the plot, the comics, the video game, everything. Although I do wish the sword fight could have been a bit longer, but then again the movie was much more than just the fights between Scott and the evil exes and I would say that it was more aimed towards being comedic than it was action, so it's understandable why most of the fights were fairly short.

Fight Clip Club...His name is Peter Van Atta...His Name Is Peter Van Atta

The fight clip that I choose was the final fight scene from the Mask of Zorro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcgygxfcywM

Actors:
-Antonio Banderas as Alejandro (Zorro)
-Anthony Hopkins as Don Diego de la Vega (Old Zorro)
-Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena
-Matt Letscher as Captain Harrison Love
-Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael Montero.

Stunts: Alex Green (Hopkins Double), Casey O'Neill (Banderas Double) and forty plus other stunt workers on the film.

Scenario:
The film takes place in the old western times in southern California. The Zorros are fighting the evil Don Rafael Montero and his sidekick Captain Harrison Love. Anthony Hopkins, who plays the original  Zorro in the movie who trains Alejandro (Antonio Banderas) to be the new Zorro, is fighting Don Rafael. Antonio Banderas is fighting Captain Love.  They are fighting because the Zorros have to stop the Don's evil plan to blow up all the evidence of a gold mine, including the workers. As an additional perk, Captain Love killed Alejandro's brother and he gets his revenge. Finally, Catherine Zeta-Jones is only in the clip for a brief, clip but she is rushing to save the workers before the dynamite goes off that will kill them all.

Genre: Realistic
Im going with realistic all across the board. The whole fight is totally plausible, the director did not add any extra fancy moves and all partys are fully engaged and focused as you would see in a real fight. Also the you can see the fatigue in all the actors who desperately are fighting for their lives the desert heat.

Objective:
The Zorros must survive long enough to kill their enemies in order to see justice done, Elena must save the prisoners so they dont die in a massive explosion. The villains need to kill the Zorros and later Elena so that they can first live, and second blow up the mine and hide the evidence of their plan.

Tactics:
Elena- Runs off to unlock the cages with the workers locked in them.
The Zorro's use their skill as swordsmen, improvisors and just general fighters to defeat their foes.
In the fight between Alejandro and Captain Love they both, on multiple occasions attempt to knock the other one off the the plattform to their deaths. Both the villains manage to disarm the Zorro's, but both end up being beaten out in the end, Love by his own blade and, Montero by foot tangled in cart full of gold move.

Obstacles:
The primary obstacle for all partys in this scene is the opponents sword. You have to get around the sword in order to not die. Additionally as I mentioned earlier, they are fighting high up in the air so keeping balance and spacial awareness is key. Last but not least the harness from the horses that run off, if stepped in wrong could lead to the brake on the cart being disabled and one being dragged off a cliff.

I choose this scene mainly because the reading we did mentioned Zorro and I was like "I havent seen that movie in a while, maybe I should watch that movie again". Then I watched it and decided i wanted to use the final fight as my clip. Also, Antonio Banderas is awesome, Catherine Zeta-Jones is hot and Anthony Hopkins is a hardcore OG of acting.

Peter Van Atta

The Articles

The two articles that we read this week were both informative and interesting. The first that I read was "Getting the Feel for Steel". This article went into more depth about sword handling, and safety. Most of the information that was there was covered in class already but it included a few handy tips and exercises that were new and it was still informative. I thought the part that went into specifics about handling and control was most helpful. I liked the advice,to hold the grip like a small bird, tight enough so it wont fly away but not tight enough to crush it. Cradling the grip as opposed to the "Conan Grip" is definitely some solid advice that i figured out the hard way on day one.

The second article was called "Crossing Swords" and it went over the safety aspects involved with actually practicing with a partner. It reviewed things like safe distance, footwork, blades meeting edge to edge, and eye contact. A cool thing that was included at the end was a list of twenty rules essential for safe blade handling. Seeing as we have been working with the steel for a few days now there weren't any surprises in the list but that was a good thing that meant Jenn has been keeping us safe and doing her job, yay! One thing that the article did mention that I realized I need to work on is stopping my blade more on my attacks as to not damage the blades, and making it less terrifying for my opponent.

Peter Van Atta

Your Arranged Marriages

Here are your sword-fight partners:

Peter & Clara

Bruce & Maggie

Habel & Tatum

Chesney & Sam

Gina & Micayla

Fred & Gordon

Brittany & Eli

Mike & Anthony

Your minimum requirements are: the drill, an alternative move, taihenjutsu, and unarmed.

More Sword Fighting!

So these two articles not found in our wonderful class text were a great way to get some more insight on sword wielding etiquette!

Get the Feel for Steel went more in depth about holding and handling the sword. It provided various safety tips for sword wielding that may seem obvious, but it doesn't hurt to know more about this and to stress the importance of it too! This article also talked about different kinds of sword movement and drills such as "the four leaf clovers" and "drawing diamonds." All in all, this was a resourceful article to read because it provided more to our knowledge of sword fighting stage combat from a different perspective.

Crossing Swords was more about the actual fighting and safety. The chapter talked about finding the proper space between duelists and the difference between this space and real fencing space. I also liked how this chapter talked about complimentary foot steps. In order to keep safe distance, it is important to react to any steps towards or away from you in the scene. The chapter gives us an insight on timing and rhythm and reminds us the importance of eye contact and that this is not a contest.

I liked reading both of these chapters because the only enhanced what were taught in our class and text, so now we are even more well-rounded with this outside knowledge.

And picture for the post:

The squirrels have the safe space!

I hope I have enlightened you today!

-Tatum R.

Chapter 6 and Fight Clip Club piece

The exercises in chapter 6 that can be used to strengthen your wrist and help you limber up before fighting seem extremely useful. Chapter 6 also made me want to learn to use a plethora of other types of swords. I know the Rapier is the staple in most combat scenarios, but I would love to learn a two handed sword (Katana or Claymore) or to use two swords at once.

Fight Clip Club Scene:

The scene is from "Shanghai Knights" (2003)

Actors: Jackie Chan and Aiden Gillen. Owen Wilson (Just Kidding)

Stunts: Jackie Chan, Bradley James Allan, Han Guan Hua, Miroslav Lhotka

Scenario: Takes place in London, England in 1887. Lord Rathbone tries to assassinate members of the royal family so that he can assume the throne (He is 10th in line to the throne), and then blame the murders on Chon's (Jackie Chan) sister. Chon was an elite soldier of the Forbidden City in China before the events of Shanghai Noon (First movie, Shanghai Knights is the sequel). Lord Rathbone is a privileged royal heir with years of special and military training. Chon and his friend Roy (Owen Wilson) are able to foil Rathbone's plan, but have to then give chase so that he doesn't escape.

Genre: Expressionistic + Realistic

Realistic: The choreography is very fast and deadly, Chon quickly realizes he is out matched.

Expressionistic: The fight carries on for a long time, most swordsmen would not have the endurance to go on like that, Rathbone also has multiple chances to kill Chon, but lets his ego get to him and keeps toying with him instead of finishing it and escaping.

Objective: Chon wants to protect his sister and keep Rathbone from framing her. He needs to prove his sister is innocent. Rathbone is furious that his plan failed and is an ego maniac, he wants to humiliate Chon before killing him.

Tactics: 1. Rathbone intimidates Chon with his battle prowess, and by quickly taking the upper hand. 2. After Chon realizes he cannot win by conventional means, he delays his death untill he can figure out a way to at least take Rathbone with him.

Obstacle: Rathbone: Chon is a skilled martial artist with little to lose. Chon: Rathbone is perhaps the most skilled swordsman he has ever faced, Chons hand to hand skills will only get him stabbed.

I chose this scene because Jackie Chan is amazing to watch and its cool to see him meet an opponent he can't actually defeat by normal means. I also really like the idea of wielding two swords at once, so I think the moves that Aiden Gillen (Rathbone) use are amazing, I hope that one day I will be able to do a scene like this.

This is my Fight Scene.

Fight Clip Club + Chapter 6 goodness!

Here is my entry for our Fight Clip Club assignment. (Shh, keep it in the club!) 

I chose a scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In case you get a bit too impatient here is a link to the video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFH6lXJ6c4k 

However, If you are patient enough you will catch the embedded video towards the end. (Yay!) 

Scene: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Actors: Michelle Yeoh vs. Zhang Ziyi

Stuntmen: Tiger Chen, Fong-Tei Chen, Hu Chen, Xian Gao, Zheng Jin, Zhan-wen Keu, Chi Tai Lam, Feng-mei Le, Hong-Lin Liu, Jun Ning, Wai-Fai Wong. 

Scenario: This scene takes place in China during the Qing dynasty, approximately the year 1779. It is a wuxia film, being that it concerns a hero bound by a particular chivalry code. Many of these warriors are in the lower class of society and live a well traveled life. This scene involves Yu Shu Lien and Jen Yu. Yu Shu Lien fits into the wuxia hero theme being a well seasoned warrior. She is asked by Li Mui Bai, a Wudang swordsman, to transport his sword known as the, "Green Destiny". During this effort Jen Yu, the aristocratic daughter of the governor disguises herself and steals this epic sword. In wielding this sword, she feels a power unlike anything else and refuses to give it up. 

In this scene, Yu Shu Lien is bound by her ethical code to return the sword where it belongs. This includes losing her friendship with Jen Yu over it. Yet, Jen Yu struggles to figure out which crossroad to take. To stay in the manners she was born into, or to seek out new adventures of her own. 

 Genre: After reviewing this scene several times I deem it Realistic, Expressionistic, with a hint of comedic elements onto it.

 Realistic: We can see the awareness involved from both parties in the movement of their attacks and defenses. It is fast, it is fluid, and quite powerful. By the way, check out that bind with that epic metal staff and the sword. Looks familiar, eh? :D 

 Expressionistic: During those moment where they have this sudden lift or graceful end to a strong attack. I find that it may be more of a director choice, in expressing the legend and mysteries during the Qing dynasty. 

 Comedic: A great place you see this in when Yu Shu Lien struggles to hold up that ridiculously heavy weapon, looks over at Jen Yu and runs toward a new weapon.

 In an effort to survive, its best to work with agreeable weapons...

I will now discuss the objective, tactics, and obstacles from the perspective of Yu Shu Lien.

Objective: The first main objective is to survive. The second is to maintain her ethical code by obtaining the legendary sword and returning it as requested. In this case, getting it back from Jen Yu.

Tactics: Utilizing focus and awareness from her years of warrior skills, especially when Jen Yu approaches her in attack. In utilizing her environment as well, in this case whatever weaponry that will assist her in obtaining her objective. 

Obstacle: Jen Yu and her newfound power in having the green destiny and the even more difficulty of persuading her to return to her aristocratic ways.

I chose this scene because it is powerful, graceful, and beautiful all together. You see the seasoned, well experienced warrior, focused and aware side by side with the young, selfish aristocrat who is skilled as well, but not held to the same ethical code as Yu Shu Lien. 

Chapter 6 Goodness Time! (Yay! :D) 

I enjoyed reading about the additional facts to improve our drill work. For example, taking the time to really strengthen the wrists and hands prior to actual drill work. Reading the particulars required for parries and attacks gives me a new focus to what we have applied in class already. I'm a little terrified of the "Groin Strike" and  enjoy the bind very very much. What a fun way to escape! 

After reading Chapter 6, I am very interested in what is called the "Fancy Schmancy". 

...and maybe.. just maybe the additional techniques needed with other European swords. (Claymore anyone? D:) 

Any who... Hope this was fascinating and intriguing! Now I leave you with the embedded video of wuxia joy. Enjoy!

 

Cheers! 

-Gina Bauza

Fight Clip Club

Our official order. But the first rule is, you don't talk about it. Unless it's your turn to present. Um. Yeah.

Finally, swords!

My father was a fencer in his younger years, and every once in a while, he'd lend me his gear, and he'd teach me the basics of sword fighting.  You can then see my absolute excitement to be at the hilt of a sword again, and despite no formal training in terms of classes and tournaments, it's hard for me to go from learned-fencing to stage-combat, let's not hurt the other person.

There are more terms associated with a sword than I had originally thought, but I shouldn't really be surprised.  There are just so many!

Another was the common-sense, yet totally forgotten concept of working out the arms in order to hold and maintain control of a pointed object at the end of our arms.  One thing I noticed while running through the stage-combat moves was that I'd managed to lose that precision and control, as I don't really work out my arms as I should.  I tried playing with my foil when I got home, and was incredibly disappointed to see I'd pretty much lost anything, and I should start doing push-ups again.

I'm sort of terrified about stabbing people with the wimpy-arm syndrome I seem to have at the moment, but hopefully this will all cease to be such a huge concern once practise starts coming into play.

                                                       What we're not doing!

Shindig

Series: Firefly

Episode: Shindig

Scene: Captain Mal Reynolds vs Atherton Wing.  

Actors: Nathan Fillion, Edward Atterton (funny how he plays Atherton), Morena Baccarin (despite being there really only for talking purposes)

Stuntmen:  I don't believe there are any stuntmen in this scene.

Scenario: Captain Mal thinks he's standing up for Inara's honour by punching Atherton in the face when he calls her a whore, but instead finds himself faced with high-society rules. A punch to the face is a challenge to a duel. This duel is to be fought with swords, and is a fight to the death, as one who is beaten is a coward without honour, and death is a more noble fate than facing defeat.

Style: Sword fight - Fencing

Genre:  Realistic and Dramatic

       This fight is between Captain Mal Reynolds and local aristocrat Atherton Wing.  Atherton is a skilled swordsman of high society, and Mal definitely isn't.  Atherton has the advantage, and has control over the entire fight until he's distracted by Inara.
       There's definite realism in the way Mal conducts himself during the fight, as well as how Atherton plays with him.  Mal fights with wide, open swings, and Atherton takes advantage of it.  We see the fatigue in Mal, and think him to be defeated, or that Inara will be lost. There's deep concern with the vast gap in skill levels between the two gentlemen, giving us the thought there's something incredible to be lost.  We wince when Mal's wounded, and Mr. Fillion acts through all of it.  The lightheartedness returns at the end of the fight with the somewhat swashbuckly finish, and Mal's acerbic wit. 

Three Rules

Objective: Mal's goal is to protect Inara's honour, and to not die. 

Tactics: Mal uses his one night of training with Inara (as a companion to high society members, one must apparently be well versed in everything awesome ever), his persistence, and his fists. 

Obstacles: Atherton is an incredibly skilled swordsman, and Mal has never used a sword.  Mal's temper also clouds his judgement, and Atherton uses Mal's hot-headedness and overcompensation to easily wound him. 

 

Background Info: Mal works as a smuggler in a tumultuous time.  He's a skilled gunman, and overall incredibly cunning, but his lack of knowledge of the sword and higher society lands him in trouble. Mal looks out for "me and mine," and will go to any and all extremes to protect those he loves.  We don't know much about Atherton Wing, other than he's arrogant and rather douchey, has contracted with Inara before, and he wants her as his personal companion.

Why I Chose It: It was between Shindig and the sword fight between Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones, but I sort of love Firefly, and this scene from Firefly has rapiers, as opposed to the broadswords in Game of Thrones.

Link! Start at minute 6.  http://www.scifixtreme.com/media_center/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/621/firefly/firefly-14-shindig-33.html

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 was basically a recap of what we went over in class with some exceptions. Such as the workouts to strengthen out wrists and forearms, so we can have more endurance when practicing. I found several of the other techniques not discussed in class very interesting and something I would want to try. But I found how you do the stabs must interesting and something I hope we get to do in class.

One of my favorite movies and with many fantastic rapier fight scenes

http://cinemagogue.com/2012/02/16/as-you-wish-the-princess-bride/

Fight Clip 2

http://youtu.be/xfBmKZVPPHc

 Here is my post:

Scene: Courtyard fight scene between Hirayama and Ogura against Lord Naritsugu's bodyguards in the movie 13 Assassins.

Actors: Tsuyoshi Ihara (Kujuro Hirayama),  Masataka Kubota  (Ogura Shoujiro).

Stuntmen:  Both actors performed their own stunts.

Scenario: Hirayama and Ogura end up running into Lord Naritsugu's bodyguards and an all out brawl of sword fighting begins.

Style: Classic sword fight.

Genre: 1 Realistic, 2 Comedic.

       This fight is realistic because it portrays old time actual sword fights in Asia. This fight is comedic because Hirayama and Ogura defeat many bodyguards.

Three Rules: Hirayama is defended by Ogura.

Objective: Ogura always has Hirayama's back in fights.

Tactics: Ogura uses his training from Hirayama to assist defeating the bodyguards.

Obstacles: Ogura and Hirayama were outnumbered greatly.

Other Info: None.

Why I Chose It: I chose this because it is an excellent display of old time Asian Sword fighting. 

Sword Fight Scene!!!!!

So as I will be presenting this on Friday. That's right I'm going first!!!!
Here is my post.

Scene: Flynn Carsen (The Librarian) vs. Mason in The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice.

Actors: Flynn Carsen: Noah Wyle, Mason: Joe Knezevich

Stuntmen:  No stuntmen were used for this scene (as far as I can tell). Instead both Noah and Joe did the sword fight themselves . As Joe Knezevich is trained in both fencing and stage combat., He was also hired to fill the role of sword master on set.

Scenario: Flynn Carsen as “The Librarian” is tasked with collecting and protecting the great mythical treasures of the world. In this case he fights with Mason over the philsopher’s stone.

Style: Fencing sword fight.

Genre: 1 Realistic, 1 Comedic.

        --This fight is between two well educated men, Both in the film and in real life. Their fighting styles are real, and there is no added advantage to either side, other than their own knowledge. Where as the fight is realistic, they make the entire fight comedic by their dialogue and actions throughout.

Three Rules: Since Flynn Carsen is the protagonist I will be focusing on his character.

Objective: Flynn’s goal, in this fight, is to protect the philosophers stone from Mason.

Tactics: Flynn uses his extensive knowledge in history and sword fighting to defeat Mason. Most notably by using the Renaissance sword style of Hutton.

Obstacles: Mason, himself is a well trained swordsmen, utilizing the German sword technique of Johannes Liechtenauer. Which is defeated by Hutton’s style rather easily.

Other Info: Flynn Carsen is a man who has spent the first 33 years of his life learning. He holds 22 academic degrees. This along with the fact that he has spent two years as the Librarian. An ancient guardian, who is tasked with locating and protecting objects in the world. That have great power and in the wrong hands do do unspeakable damage. Makes him well suited to fight evil in all forms.

Why I Chose It: I chose this piece simply because The Librarian series is awesome. The third installment being no exception to this. This series has always been among my favorite movies and I was more than happy to use it for this assignment. 
Here is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIdJV1xjUE&list=WLgwTGNs_SyL55syzhSxTNFgpobLP-F4kg
And here is the Video, Finally figured it out, Take that blogger

Oh and sword fight actually begins at about 5:00 if you want to skip.

Gordon Moon
(Zeeo88)

Unarmed Highlights

Oh hey, I forgot to post this here:

Fight Club Clip #1

I know this is so early, but I wanted to post it in advance so I'm not worrying about it the night before I present ;D

For my fight club clip, I have chosen the three way sword fight from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 Dead man's Chest.

1. Style/Genre: Expressionistic and swashbuckling. Expressionistic because it is comedic yet has a serious tone to it, and has some fancy moves added in here and there for fun. Swashbuckling because well, you can't get any close to swashbuckling than 3 pirates sword fighting.

2. Three Rules for Actors:

Objective: Obviously they all desire Davy Jones's heart. Will Turner wants to fulfill the promise he made to his dad and set him free. Captain Jack Sparrow wants the chest to save his soul, and James Norrington wants the chest to regain his honor as commodore.

Tactics: Clearly their tactics are to resort straight to violence as opposed to talking things through.

Obstacles: The obstacles are each other, and some of the architecture they encounter that makes the fight a little more difficult to carry out.

3. In the plot, just before the fight, Will had escaped Davy Jones' crew with the key to his chest that has his heart in it. Jack had mentioned that if Lord Beckett were to have the chest, he would rule the seas, little did he know that Norrington was eavesdropping and already plotting to steal the key for himself to hand deliver to Beckett. Meanwhile, they all arrive on an Island where they plan to figure out what to do with the chest. The fight breaks out then while they are trying to decide what to do, everyone wants Davy Jones' chest for their own reason which is why the fight broke out. It is hard to say if this fight was evenly matched because at any given moment (depending on who had the key) it could be a 2 v 1 even though they weren't really teamed up.

Directly after the fight, it is safe to say the Captain Jack Sparrow wins because he gets the key to open the chest and put Davy Jones' heart in a jar of dirt. However, Norrington put two and two together and noticed how the sand where Jack had put the heart in the jar. Norrington steals the heart and chest and brings it back to Beckett. So in reality, Norrington wins the fight.

4. Stunt Doubles: 
Norrington: Thomas DuPont
Turner: Mark Aaron Wagner
 Sparrow: Tony Angelotti

 5. I chose this fight scene because it is one of my favorite fight scenes, and I was a huge pirates of the caribbean fan back in the day. This scene is highly humorous at points, and is entertaining to watch, I think I died the first time I saw it in theatres, and it still proves its humor today!

I hope I have enlightened you today!

-Tatum R.

Anatomy of the Rapier

I've gotten these two lovely images from this website. Make sure, when you're studying for your quiz, you look at the rapier, not the other kinds of swords. Also know that the "langets" and "point of percussion" are not a part of your terminology, but the "pas d'ane" or the "no-donkey," is. Can you see where it is in these diagrams?

Fight Clip Club Offcially Begins

Hi folks,

So this coming week, the first of four Fight Clip Club presentations will ensue. This assignment is a 7-10 minute presentation on a sword fight of your choice, analyzing it using the FIGHT CLIP CLUB #0 rain-day assignment we already did. The difference between the two assignments is thus:

• You will show the fight scene in class, and present your analysis live to the class, instigating discussion, along with your blog post.
• You are doing this Fight Clip Club on a sword fight, preferably as close to a rapier fight as you can find. Ask me if you have a deep desire to do something different.
• Don't forget the two-column genre labels as part of your analysis!

Your Fight Clip Club analysis post will be due up on this blog on the day your presentation is due (see below for dates and names). Please do you best to embed your fight scene in your post.

10/11: Gordon, Micayla, Anthony, Maggie
10/18: Tatum, Gina, Sam
10/25: Habel, Peter, Chesney
11/1: Brittany, Michael, Bruce

I challenge you to a Duel!!!

Back in the day if someone got out of line you were allowed to challenge them to a duel, in which the winner would ultimately win the argument and the looser would, well, die. Naturally these moments were quite dramatic so, as actors we can only hope we get the opportunity to act out these moments of extreme conflict on stage! But in modern life we have no reason to carry swords around (well there are plenty of reasons to carry a sword around, its just not practical) so how will we be prepared to tackle these scenes when they come our way? Stage combat class yay!! In case you cant tell Ive been waiting for this part of class literally the whole semester.
So reading the chapter, was pretty much a recap of what we learned in class accept some good information on exercises to help with arm strength and it also helped me understand much more why we stand the way we do. For some reason it was just escaping me why we stand almost straight forward, in a somewhat unstable position when sword fighting. Its fake!! We need to make sure that our partner can see where there swinging at all times so that all the moves connect at the right places. No idea why that eluded me for so long, but I get it now.
Something else that I was noticing in the chapter that I am eager to see demonstrated was the stabs.  It talked about placing the flat of the blade on your partners side and the waiting for them to put their hand on it so you can bend the blade to make the stab look real. I can kind of see what you were talking about from the pictures in the book but I definitely look forward to seeing how that illusion comes together because I am not sure I understand it. But im not doubting you Jenn, you haven't let me down yet!

Side note: If the duel thing was still around I think it just might make the world a better place. People might think before they speak more. But its not... so we have the Jersey shore and Rush Limbaugh.

 Yours truely,
                      PVA

Sword Fighting yay!

After unarmed fights, it was only obvious that armed fights would be next, specifically sword/rapier fighting! Oh it's always been a dream of mine to be a fencer (that's a hidden skill I am going to work on), but in addition to that, stage combat sword fighting is something fun as well, not quite the same techniques as fencing, but on stage it all looks cool!

So for the reading, European Swords, of course it was about European swords. Specifically the rapier. I liked learning the rapier drill in class, and then going back and reading about it in the book to make a connection between the physical and written directions.

Something I loved that the chapter mentioned, was conditioning. What a concept! I have not weight lifted consistently in a long time (as I noticed very well yesterday while practicing with the steel swords). There were several hand exercises listed to help with that grip strength in the hand while holding the sword. I knew when I walked in 15 minutes late to class that I would not be able to get to use the steel swords if they were brought out today, but it was a pleasant surprise when Jenn let us all experience the use of the rapiers! I quickly began to regret not sticking with my upper arm weight lifting routine because my arms got tired fast!

All in all, the techniques presented in this chapter are very particular towards stage sword play, not actual sword fighting! So I highly recommend sword fighters to take a look at the differences of sword fighting and stage sword fighting :)

Annnnnd picture for the post today...this is how I would like to think I am when I sword fight, a mere swashbuckling pirate, alas no.

Yes, James Norrington, Will Turner, and Jack Sparrow fighting over the key to Davey Jones's chest with his heat in it.

I hope I have enlightened you today!

-Tatum R.

To fight like Mamet Writes and Unarmed Fights! :D

Hello all!

After reading the article assigned to us I took a bit a time to allow it to absorb in my thoughts. Sure, maybe a little too long considering I am posting my blog right now for the good part I can at least convey what I found the most interesting aspect of the article is. 

Simply put I found the rule, "Every action has a reaction," to play well with the article. When the dialogue is natural it bring an invisible feel of truth to the situation, ending up that the audience gets a good read from what is being performed. There is no waiting, you must move. In real life if something is coming at you, oh lets say a car, you move! That is a true realism we all associate and perhaps many animals in the wild associate themselves with for the survival of our most of the time, not so soft and fluffy world we exist in. Likewise in the reactions we are striving to attain as performers. 

That includes the revelation that yes, scary fighting people can make mistakes too! 
"Oh I thought it was YOU that stole my candy bar... but it was really your friend?!" 

Dialogue should enhance your reaction and lead into other motives of your character.
...and when you have to move... MOVE! :D

Now, onto the Unarmed fights! *ding ding!* 

Peter and Fred:  I enjoyed the rhythm of this fight. The initiation and motive behind the movements, oh, and who can forget the random, "I'm done... time for a smoke!" action. 

Great work guys!

Gordon and Mike: This. was. hilarious! That unforgettable roll out of the stomp of doom was delightful. The choice of running away at the end was great too. Overall great character portrayals of revenge and escape! Punches and rolls were executed very well! 

Bruce and Maggie: The beginning, I admit was a bit confusing. Maggie did well on her falls. It felt a bit hesitant and as an observer I was hoping for just a bit more energy and determination for each execution. Over all though it was executed and certain parts, in particular the vocalizations and falls, really shined.  

Clara and Habel: Some parts during this fight I felt were very strong, during the transitions however, it appeared a little hesitant. Lots of motives and determinations. Falls and knaps worked well! Careful on what angle you are giving the audience as some of the secret of real punches were a little revealed. Over all, I loved the energy given and the varied thought process of each character portrayed. :)

Sam and Anthony:  Ahh! This ending was just awesome! I wish it was held out a little but longer just so we may believe the actual choking situation (Meh, I still believed it.. but a little longer would have been great! XD) Loved the energy both of you put in just to put both of yourself out of commission. Great work! 

Mikayla and Brittany:  Awesome Superman punch! The concept of the paper, rock, scissors was unique and really read well. A great mix of sweet and salty. Great work!

Chesney, Tatum, and Me: Overall I enjoyed the simplicity of what we created. The choke to groin kick was my favorite. :) Also the Tatum-Chesney slappy happy move. Lots of fun! :D Great work gals!

Marmet and UAF

I've been rather barfy, so that's why I'm not in class.  Sorry, but not really, as that would be incredibly gross to try and work with/around.

Fred and Peter: The knaps were excellent! The fight was long, but engaging, and I was intrigued to see what would happen next.  The energy between you two was fabulous, and it really showed in how both of you engaged in the fight.

Gordon and Mike: The "help up, punch down" was my favourite bit. Gordon's facial expressions were superb, and because of that, I felt much more drawn into the fight.  Wonderful comedic timing.

Clara and Habel:  It seemed a touch hesitant, but Clara had quite the intensity in her face.  Wonderful hair-acting on Habel's part.

Sam and Anthony: Some unclear moves, and it would have been awesome to have more time on the double choke-out

Tatum, Chesney, and Gina: The exasperation in Chesney's face was fantastic.  Really good knaps! I liked the timing.

I loved reading about Marmet.  The post is excellent, and seems to just be common sense, but in reviewing fight scenes from movies, it is really dodgy, fabricated, stiff fighting with unrealistic responses from other characters.  In a fight scene with several people, there is an invisible queue to try and beat up a person, and it's true in the unrealistic fashion of it all.  Like, if a fight breaks out, everyone in the vicinity gets involved in one way or another, whether it's shouting or jumping in to join or break up the fight, but there isn't that, "Oh, Bill's going at Joe, so I gotta wait here quietly until Joe takes out Bill, then I can have a go at him," that seems to plague a vast majority of films and media.  It's pointed out that the attacker makes the defense, the speaker sets up the response from the other person, and it all seems so logical but it's not exercised quite like Marmet.  The staggered responses, the overlapping action, it all makes so much sense, yet surprisingly isn't "common sense."

Unarmed Reflection and Mamet Fights

I really found the reading this week to be very interesting.  The idea to "Fight like Mamet writes" makes a lot of sense, especially when trying to be as realistic as possible.  I imagine that it could be very hard to choreograph such, or at least a bit more challenging to learn maybe?  I'm not sure why, it just seems in my mind like the overlap of moves has the potential to become messy, which would require precision, and thus a lot of practice.  But for a spot-on realistic fight, this is the perfect way to think about things.  Fighting in real life is messy -- you act on instinct and try as hard as you can to beat someone down before they can get their own hits in -- so if the goal of acting is to (at least in some was) portray 'life on stage', it only makes sense to, as they say, "fight like Mamet writes."

Now, looking back onto the unarmed fights in our class, I think we all did pretty well!  I very much enjoyed watching everyone's performances, and it was great to see how everyone approached the fights in different ways.  Unfortunately, I didn't take notes while watching, but I'll do my best to comment on each fight from memory!

Peter and Fred:  This was a fun fight.  I liked the comedic flair they threw in from time to time -- the cigarette, the pedal feet to keep an attack at bay, etc.  The little pauses that they included definitely helped the audience follow the action, especially when there were a few times that the guys were practically jumping at each other.  ;P  Beyond just small punctuation, it was nice to have those 'breather' moments, like when Peter took out the cigarette and started to walk away.

Gordon and Mike:  I also liked the comedy thrown into this fight!  There was a nice flow of movement in this fight, and some nice moments when they seemed to size each other up.  I did personally feel that it could have easily ended sooner, and I loved when Gordon offered a helping hand only to punch Mike down again, but it all worked well.

Bruce and Maggie:  Short and sweet!  I had a little trouble catching on to the issue that started the fight, but I like that there wasn't too much flair, and everything flowed pretty well.  A few knaps were late, but it was clear that they were having fun.  :']

Clara and Habel: This fight was pretty cool.  There were great vocalizations, and good knaps.  I like that everything had a really clear through-line -- it flowed nicely, and there was always a reason behind each move.  Really fun to see a more serious fight for this assignment.

Sam and Anthony:  Another fun and interesting fight!  You could tell that they had fun with their choreography, which is always nice.  I seem to remember a fall that worried me a bit, but all in all it was nicely done.  Loved the ending!

Mikayla and Brittany:  This was pretty great.  There were a lot of very good vocalizations for these girls, and some creative moves.  You could definitely tell they were having fun, but they also stayed intense in their fight while performing.  The Superman punch was pretty great -- and so intense, punching her like that while she was on the floor!  Definitely a fun fight.

Gina, Tatum, and me:  I really enjoyed this project, and I think we did a pretty good job of collaborating!  We had a lot of fun, and I was glad that we kept it simple so that we could get a decent amount of practice in before having to present.  I had a lot of fun with both Gina and Tatum, and really enjoyed working through choreographing and getting through some kinks as we ran into them.  In the end, I felt good about our performance!  :'D

Unarmed fights are certainly a lot of fun, and I'm very glad to have more practice with them.  I enjoyed all of these presentations, and had so much fun learning with everyone in our class along the way.  I'm excited to move onto more exploration!

Below is an adorable gif that maybe doesn't fit the intensity of Mamet, or what a full-speed fight should look like, but that represents sort of how I felt about this process -- stage combat should be intense, but safe, and done with trust.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend!

- Chesney O

[Source: my 'GIF' bookmark saves, honestly -- Tumblr (www.tumblr.com) is where the photo originates, though I do not know from which post...]

Fighting Like Mamet and Unarmed Fight Scenes

Fighting like Mamet was and interesting read and gave me many things to think about. It really does captures how to make something seem real rather then forced and fake.

Peter and Fred- I greatly enjoyed your fast paced fight good vocals and naps. A fantastic performance all the way till the end great job guys.

Bruce and Maggie- very amusing tho you might want to work on your guys naps a bit.

Clara and Habel- Liked the slow start to a fast ending. Try to improve on some of your punches they we a little to far away from the other person. Great vocals from Clara.

Sam and Anthony- Good fight with a nice ending. Might want to work on the upper cuts tho.

Gina, Tatum, and Cheseny- Great fight and lovely vocals and naps.

Micayla and Brittany- Superb fight amazing vocals and naps. A fantastic performance from both of you.

Believe that's everyone overall everyone did a good job. Some improvement to be made in all the fights including my own but a great job from everyone.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://wallpapersus.com/wallpapers/2012/09/Bruce-Lee-Quotes-2048x2048.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wallpapersus.com/bruce-lee-quotes/&h=2048&w=2048&sz=265&tbnid=TQtUjEpfbxY9zM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=90&zoom=1&usg=__ARUGDuCPs3cN4Uo2yjcKSxyD-nA=&docid=gSDCNVXd-6zsZM&sa=X&ei=D1ZOUraIGMiaqQHSvYHgAQ&ved=0CD4Q9QEwAg

Fighting like Mamet showed me what actors can accomplish with fight scenes, it was interesting to see the possibilities, however, it is painfully obvious that real fights do not go that way. Real fights happen very quickly and there is very real damage that occurs throughout. I feel like even with a legitimate fight between martial artists, there isn't a lot of choreography, just a lot of quick techniques trying to disable your oppent.

I really did not know what to expect with the unarmed fights, but they ended up being a lot more fun that I thought they would be. Even throwing the fake blows and moves it felt awesome to see your acting partner sway and move to your moves as if it had really happened. It also was cool to play with acting out how I would react to getting hit (it has never happened, in my memory). It was fun to figure out how I would move if I got hit in a certain way, how my head would rock, or how my body would shift. It was also fun to try and "Do some damage" to somebody without ever really hitting them. Peter was a great partner to have, he added a lightheartedness to the scene that made it unique and more approachable.

Gordon and Mike had a lot of cool choreography that made it very entertaining, the "Help up, face punch" and the "back flip, walk away" parts were so fun to watch.

Bruce and Maggie had a more serious tone, they seemed to add the actual "Acting" part more efficiently than other groups.

Honestly, I feel like Micayla and Britney had the most realistic performance of all, the sounds they made and the efficiency of the moves they used really showed a hatred for each other, it also escalated at a realistic pace.

Everyone did really well with this, sometimes it is hard to portray violence, especially if you aren't a violent person in nature. Everyone really made their moves seem real and will do well if they ever need to use these skills in a performance!