Kamikaze Fight Rehearsals

KAMIKAZE FIGHT REHEARSALS

CRAZYKAMIKAZE.COM (written 1999: Jeff Centauri)

If you truly want your fight scenes to "KICK ASS", then you have to rehearse your fight scenes. The most ridiculous and stupidest thing when shooting a fight scene is to have the actors or stunt players to "JUST FIGHT for a minute or two"...or the

"whatever, do a fight scene right now...okay ACTION!" This situation is a common problem, especially in the independent movies realm. HEY! I know it's low budget, but get your head off your ass and plan your fight before someone gets hurt. Plus it looks like CRAP to have a fight scene without anyone knowing what to do.

PLAN

before rolling the camera. Even if you don't have much time to rehearse. Plan it on the set. Working with people you've never worked with before makes it even more difficult to choreograph a fight scene because each person has a different rhythm and style--- and level of expertise.

Before planning the actual choreography, you have to decide at what pace you and the others will be moving at. You also have to decide if you are doing the straightforward fights or a more complex (Jackie Chan) fights. Once you've decided, you can finally do a quick breakdown.

THE BREAKDOWN

of the fight scene will determine the beginning and end point of the scene. Ex: Beginning point-- Joe is walking in a dark alley alone. Then, a group of thugs , 4 of them, surround him and want to beat him up and take his money. Joe reacts and beats the first guy, then the other two attacks. Joe beats them both. The last one attacks and defeats Joe for a moment. Joe finds a steel bar in the corner of the trash and attack the last thug with it and defeats him---end point.

SPACING

is now the next step. You must look around the fight area for any obstacles or any debris that may be a safety hazard. the last thing you want to do is to trip and fall on a foreign object such as glass fragments or other hazardous stuff.

Look around to see how much of a space you need to move about when you fight. Are you taking a concentrated area of the alley or do you plan to have some chase scene down the alley---fight here---run some more--- fight there.

Once you've got your spacing down, it's now time to break down the fight.

Henry & Tre rehearse their STICK FIGHT sequence in ICON.

CHOREOGRAPHY

is now your next step for the fight scene. First, see what each of the player are capable of. Are they better at punching or kicking? Are they acrobatic, flexible, willing to fall on the ground or jump from a high place? Make sure to find out what each of the players are willing and not willing to do. Doing this will maximize your options in the choreography process.

When choreographing, do it in slowmotion first. Do not do fast punches and kicks in the first stage. Every player must know the steps. They should know when their cue is up. Doing it slowly at first will help everyone memorize the sequence. Repeat it a few times. When everyone is comfortable with the steps, rehearse it a little faster. I call it MEDIUM SPEED. Once everyone is comfortable with that, do it in FULL SPEED. Take precaution on your distance when executing your punches and kicks. You want to come close as possible, but ALWAYS be AWARE where you are striking.

TO BE CONTINUED