Them's Fightin' Words

Rest in Peace, Bob.

fightdesigner — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:24:24 +0000

One of the chief elders of our tribe has passed.

Bob Anderson, who touched with so many legends himself (Errol Flynn and Paddy Crean, Darth Vader, Zorro, Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, Highlander, Pirates of the Carribean), has apparently passed away. I’m just getting this through the grapevine as yet, but his age would make this not surprising.

There was a time when I joked that working with Bob would make me a master; for several DVD interviews in a row, he would say that [name of current star] was one of the best swordsmen he’d ever worked with, picked it up like a natural, etc…

May he rest well in Vallhalla amongst Paddy and the rest.

Year-end Wrap Up

fightdesigner — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:26:52 +0000

It’s been a heck of a year, which at least partly explains the dearth of updates this last Fall.

Here’s a bit of a link-tastic 2011 wrap up in reverse:

I just met with outgoing Artistic Director of Richmond Shakespeare Grant Mudge about doing fights for their upcoming production of Macbeth. Should be a great cast to work with, and I’m looking forward to it.

I had the pleasure of doing five or six day’s work on Lincoln, the Stephen Spielberg feature shooting around here this last Fall. I was hired as a Special Skills extra, primarily as Union Cavalry- I had a day as “ND Rider” (Non-descript) but didn’t end up even getting in front of the camera in that costume. At least half the days were like that- show up, get geared up, and then stand around all day without getting called up. Riding was great though, especially one day of getting to ride in formation (a new skill for me) with the core group of cavalry, mostly re-enactors who have been doing this kind of thing for a long time and have their own horses & gear. Once they opened up (which took a couple days, and showing them I wasn’t going to hold them back), they had all sorts of pointers in how to wear the gear, how to dress ranks on horseback, etc. – plus I got to ride past Daniel Day Lewis, who made a damn convincing Lincoln. As much as the guys there like to bitch about the carbines and wearing a sword, it all came pretty naturally to me given my background, and it feels pretty badass having the crossed baldrics, with a sword on your hip and a Sharps Carbine slung over the other shoulder, great-cape flapping in the wind and a strong horse at the end the reigns.

That was my first SAG hire, having earned my SAG card doing stunt work on To Have & To Hold earlier in the Fall. That was also only about six day’s work, but as stunt players they’re much less likely to leave you sitting around- the pay was up to 10x what I got as background extra, when you add in a stunt bump and overtime, and a muuuch better base rate. The work was challenging and informative, as the world of professional stunts is filled with cliques of stunt crews that bring in local hires (like us) when necessary, but bring their own set of default expectations, language, etc. that took time to adjust to- time that we didn’t always have on set. I speak for myself and a couple others here, folks with similar training (stage combat, USA stunt school, etc). Definitely something I wouldn’t mind learning and doing more of, if I can.

This year also held a number of teaching engagements (several high schools, the VCU summer discovery series, an Advanced Movement for Actors class at VCU, an Intro to Drama section at VCU, some workshops, etc), interning at the VA Beach Bash and Summer Sling (SAFD stage combat workshops), my first SETC conference, half of my graduate school, fight direction for The Bluest Eye, Shakespeare’s R&J, and Legacy of Light as well as the VCU short film The First Stone, directing The Clink at SALT, an acting job for a Resiliency Training Video for the Kansas National Guard, SAFD renewals in several categories (Recommended pass in Knife, Sword & Shield, Quarterstaff, pass in Smallsword)… 2011 opened up with the Paddy Crean workshop in Banff, and will close with me about to head to Chicago for the Advanced Combat Intensive. I began the year with long hair and short beard, shaved it completely for the National Guard spot, grew everything shaggy for Lincoln, and have then buzzed it again for a small part in Lord of the Flies (and so I can stop eating my mustache). My two year old boys now regularly sword-fight with their foam swords, and my seven year old daughter is studying ving chun and going to take horseback riding lessons (hey, I’ve now shown that it’s a marketable skill!). The props inventory has expanded only slightly, but with some great items (most notably more front venting blank guns and a big batch of aluminum broadswords). We’re now on Facebook, where updates are much more frequent than on the blog.

So how do you top that?

Hopefully I’ll find out in 2012, as I have my final semester of grad school (including thesis, more teaching, and a graduate seminar in fight direction), get my MFA in Theatre Pedagogy, present a couple workshops at SETC, do more fight direction and acting, hopefully get Teacher’s Certification with the Society of American Fight Directors, and hopefully a job!

Wishing you all the best possible in 2012.

Stay safe, have fun, and look good doing it!

Camera Changes

fightdesigner — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:42:49 +0000

Some day one of my kids might do something in the movies, and add to their list of ‘ways to make their old man feel older’ “Gee dad, you were on FILM sets?”

Film cameras are no longer being made.

It’s been a good run, but it’s just not going to be practical to continue.

In tangentially related news, Canon has announced its new EOS flagship camera, (The 1D-X) with advances which I hope will trickle down to more affordable Video-capable DSLRs by the time I have money and free time to be able to start playing with one.

…even the ubiquitous cellphone camera is advancing rapidly, and my next phone camera in a few years may well surpass my digital camcorder (an old one, to be fair- Canon HV20). Witness the iPhone 4S video.

The times, they are a’changin! I’ve been on at least three features shot on film (including the current one), and worked on a couple shorts as well- heck VCU has a program that still works almost exclusively with it. Can’t see that keeping up too much longer though, at this rate.

Edited to add: 4D (sorta- not sure that title is justified) is now hitting the consumer market too!

LYTRO – wacky little camera, big potential impact on how photography is done.

In the Thick of it

fightdesigner — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:59:02 +0000

As mentioned in a previous post, there’s been a sudden influx of film gigs for me this Fall. I’ve had my first three days on set doing stunt work for To Have and To Hold now. Thom’s been great to work for, and Christopher Judge, who got to kill me repeatedly, was great as well- wonderful attitude, and very grounded and considerate. I spent the time thus far as a Spanish musketeer, as a part of a pike and musket (and a few horses) unit practicing along the lines of de Gheyn (which I’ve had a copy of for years). This was my first time playing with matchlocks or with mass pike formations- or on a full SAG set for that matter, with multiple 35mm cameras running on each shot, hundreds of people in costume, full trailers for everything from Craft Services to the stunt guys, etc. There were a number of reenactors participating as well, part of a volunteer militia that makes appearances at Jamestown and Henricus. I’ll admit to having some costume and prop envy- the armorers had their own semi that had been driven from California, and while much of their stuff isn’t any better than mine (hanwei swords, rubber dummies, etc) and the nicer stuff mostly was personal kit from the reenactors (some very nice muskets!), I still envy the setup- even if I’m not sure I’d ever personally want to be involved in props rentals or wrangling on that scale, as it becomes more about logistics than the deliverables. I could see myself doing the job of the guy who was teaching drills though, and showing people how to handle the muskets- someone who was obviously interested in that kind of thing but had tracked down a copy of de Gheyn and spent a week (paid, I’m sure) training with the guys at Henricus.

I’ll be back on set tomorrow (as a river pirate this time), having had to turn down a paid rehearsal for the Lincoln project as a mounted general as when they called I had just told Thom I’d be there for this other scene… hopefully that won’t cost me the Lincoln gig, but I have another possible in with them in that it turns out the guy coordinating their battles is someone I’ve known for years online, and just bought a prop off of last week (a blank firing Luger- hard to find in this country).

Work is just beginning in earnest on The Clink, we begin our swordplay unit in Movement next week, several big projects are coming up in classes, and my film schedule is still completely unknown past tomorrows 8am call (which was told about around 6pm tonight)… but really, with this many good things going on, who can complain? Why look a gift horse in the mouth when you could pretend to ride it in to battle in front of hundreds of extras and several high-end cameras, perhaps with Steven Spielberg watching the monitor?

Wish me luck!

We’re just finishing up the period movement unit in the Movement class I’m co-teaching, so that was a nice immediate example for me to be able to bring in.

Directing Project share

fightdesigner — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:57:47 +0000

Another video share for this week: This was a devised short for the Freshman Discovery Project at VCU. There were 11 scenes, all directed by graduate students in a graduate directing class, and with all Freshman in the theatre program required to perform in one of these before they can do other projects on or off campus.
The assigned theme for all of us was Twisted Fairy Tales. The vast majority riffed on the ludicrous nature of “Happily Ever After” in comedic ways, but I wanted to do something a little different:

Battle Cry

fightdesigner — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:08:02 +0000

Things progress! Shakespeare’s R&J has been well received, my scene for the Freshman Discovery Project has as well (one night down, one to go), and I had fittings this last week for four different stunt characters for To Have and To Hold (English soldier, Spanish musket man, English settler, and River Pirate). It was my first time on a full-budget period film, walking in to a whole floor of the building dedicated to costumes and makeup and hair, racks and racks of gorgeous wardrobe everywhere. Bumped in to a couple other stunt guys I know who will be involved, and recognized at least one of the principles getting suited up (Christopher Judge- damn that guy has arm muscles! It’s like he strapped hams to his biceps!)

Sadly no photos were allowed, so there isn’t much more I can share of that just yet.

In lieu of pretty pictures, have some sounds: I threw this video together as a part of a presentation on the battle cry for Vocal Extremes class. There’s more in text, and I’ll probably try to turn some of this in to an article later aimed at those of us in voice or stage combat who might be asked to design/coach/lead battle chants, war cries, etc. for entertainment venues.

Exciting times!

fightdesigner — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:07:48 +0000

Definitely keeping busy!
The auditions mentioned previously went well, as did a follow-up with second unit director Thom Williams, and I was given verbal agreement for three week’s work. A call today with dates shows they’re just doing one week at least for now, in mid-October. Lines up with Reading Days at VCU, so I miss less class, which is great. Lines up with my wedding anniversary, which is less so, but perhaps a rain check will suffice, and with it being just an hour away I’ll be home at nights.

I also have a tryout this weekend for the horse wrangler for a certain high profile move shooting around here later (possibly December, but no dates yet). This one is the reason I’m all shaggy-looking these days, as I auditioned for day player or extra with them and was advised that they wanted bushy beards and shaggier hair.

Either of these should be able to get me SAG membership as well, which, while not as necessary around here (VA being a right-to-work state), still would improve my CV and thus my chances at the faculty jobs I’ve been applying to.

Got my first job rejection for faculty work, surely a graduate school coming-of-age landmark. Carleton College- it would have been a great fit culturally and department-wise I think, but it’s going to be hard for me as a “yes, by Fall 2012 I’ll be qualified, even though I’m not now...” to compete with MFAs, PhDs, and more nationally recognized professionals. One more already submitted, and several more slated to turn in this Fall. Wish me luck.

Shakespeare’s R&J opens this weekend (I did fights for the male cast, but VCU is fielding two casts at the same time, one all male one all female), and my scene for the Freshman Discovery Project at VCU opens next Wednesday night. Auditions for my December show The Clink happen this coming Sunday and Monday at VCU as well. Busy, busy times!

The next challenge

fightdesigner — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:08:00 +0000

I expect you’ll be hearing little from me this Fall, as you have over the last month or so; Fall Semester is overbooked for me, as I take four classes, audit another, teach another, direct a show, choreograph fights, get things in order for the SAFD teacher cert workshop application, and hopefully do some acting.

I just came back from an audition in Williamsburg for a full budget SAG feature, which will include several friends and acquaintances of mine- Former SAFD instructor David “Pops” Doersch will have a role I think he’s perfect for, and local stuntman Kid Richmond is doing some burns I think. For the benefit of the Paddy Creanians in my audience (AWHOO! AWHOO! AWHOO!), Michelle Ladd’s husband is 2nd unit director (and they just had another baby, so he wasn’t there). Upon showing up for this morning’s stunt audition I was pleasantly surprised to see Richard Ryan teaching the demo fight (and even more pleased that he recognized me post-haircut), and right after I got there we were joined by Mike Yahn (SAFD instructor I recently met at the Summer Sling in NYC) and Corey Pierno, who I did a knife SPT with at the Sling (and who owed me $10, so that worked great!). So nice to feel like a part of the community, even when the community unexpectedly drives down from NYC. Another Sling intern has just been accepted to the Movement track of the MFA Theatre Pedagogy MFA at VCU, so we’ll be well represented now; Dan Granke joined us this Fall, and was head intern at the Sling.

Speaking of which, some pictures from the Summer Sling can now be previewed at Craig Lawrence’s site.

Assisting Lewis Shaw with Wallerstein

It occurs to me I never posted about the Sling experience… maybe later, as I have to ship out some props and then run to Mask class, but for now suffice to say it was a blast.

On today’s audition: I’m a bit worried I didn’t push myself enough. I’ve noticed that I’ve become in some ways too comfortable with swordplay… such that it’s routine and habit and I don’t stop and think often enough about exactly what I’m doing, or about how to make it best for the situation I’m in at the time. Can’t let myself become a creature of habit- I need to keep pushing myself to be a better actor and performer and teacher, and that means getting beyond the plateau I may be on at the moment. When next I cross swords with any of you, do me a favor and remind me to be a bit less comfortable!

New markets

fightdesigner — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:41:03 +0000

In art as in agriculture, often the new developments come from cross-breeding types… those of us in stunts and stage combat are increasingly aware of video games both as an influence on our field (and audiences) as well as a potential new market for our skills. The First Person Shooter (FPS) genre camera angle has begun working its way in to more and more film and video work, as it is assumed to be an accepted view for audience members. The most mainstream example I can think of is the new Spider Man Teaser Trailer, the last two thirds of which are pure FPS:

http://d.yimg.com/nl/movies/site/player.html#vid=25992349

This has of course been cropping up in things like video game fanfilms and video trailers for a while.

On the other hand, we’re also getting live-action short-movie style trailers and intros to video games, even FPS games that have non-FPS trailers:

Granted, these probably don’t tell you as much about the actual game as purely CG cinematic trailers, like for the new Assassin’s Creed, or Batman

…or the Star Wars cinematics, which, while perhaps lacking in originality, still show improvement over the Prequels in some ways.

Gone are the days when a fighting video game involves the same four moves over and over again. Fight Choreography now has a very solid place in game design.

Some of these used motion-capture of actors and stuntmen, of course, a growing market not just for movies and video games but also for things like animatics (now a standard part of movie planning and proposals), commercials, and other applications that have opened up as the price and availability of the needed technology drops. Even when not taking it to that extent, animators will still often shoot reference footage for inspiration (something I got to do for a game studio while I lived in Seattle) or bring in instructors to teach workshops to animators on proper weapons use (something else I did while there).

Of course, the effects of games and game culture can effect our audiences, expectations, and own performances in other ways as well, as witnessed by a few videos here- viewer discretion advised due to language (in the first) and sexuality (in the second).

Immersion: Distractions:

Immersion: Clothes

It’s come full circle; games no longer have to try to hard to look like movies. Now movies are trying just as hard to match the games, and both are on a more even footing in the entertainment industry.

Congratulations are also in order for fellow VCU Theatre Pedagogy student Aaron Willoughby, whose thesis was on “video game theatre”, and who has just been hired as tenure-track faculty. Good luck on the move!

Game on…

iSLR

fightdesigner — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:44:58 +0000

Another drive-by post I’m afraid, as I’m now in class 9:30am-noon and 1-3pm and teaching 3:20-5:15 every weekday for a while, with 100+ pages of homework to read this first night… plus a weekend intensive this weekend which they overbooked despite explicit request (in answer to a question on their proposal form, even!) but I wanted to share this while the news was fresh.

You can now get DoF adapters for your iPhone:

Click for the link

Honestly, it’s not much different than something I got a few years ago, the no-longer-being-made JAG35Pro vibrating Depth of Field adapter. It lets me use 35mm SLR camera lenses on my old Canon HV20 camcorder, for selective depth of field and more optics choices. Granted, it required a number of workarounds; it flips the image upside down, so ease of use meant adding an external monitor, it means only manual focus, etc. This resulted in a very home-made slapped together rig which was three times the size of the original camcorder, but mounted camera, adapter, lens, monitor, home-made follow-focus, XLR adapter, microphones, etc:

You lose a couple stops of light going through the extra glass and tubes, but given enough light and ability to focus, it got decent results.

For a nice with/without comparison, check out this video for Antioch University Seattle (my former employer) that I assisted with. I shot about half the footage with my HV20 and adapter. Another person shot the other half with a bare HV30 (basically the same camera). You can certainly tell which is which.

Really, it’s nothing that you can’t already do better with a Cannon 7D (which I still lust after but don’t feel like I can afford), but it was a cheaper answer for me at the time, and remains an interesting option now for your cellphone video/still camera.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=canon+7d&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Now I’m wondering if I can use my JAG35 with my iPhone- which I probably already can, given a small adapter and my OWLE BUBO…