Rig It, Test It, Burn It, and Crash It w/ Stunt Coordinator - Roy Farfel!

This Wednesday night 9pm E.S.T. on the next action-packed episode of The Double Down Film Show we’ll explore the world of high action and falls and punches with veteran Stunt Coordinator/Driver/Performer, Roy Farfel.

Over the past 25 years Roy has helped craft and execute the action for such films as Goodfellas, Transformers, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Jack Ass 3-D and many more major films and tv shows.

• At what point should you BRING ON a stunt coordinator?
• How do you BECOME a stuntman?
• What exactly does a stunt coordinator DO?
• How do the director and stunt coordinator WORK TOGETHER?
• How do camera angles, audio and editing help “SELL” a stunt?

We’ll extract the answer to all these questions and more as we “rig it, test it, burn it, and crash it” with Roy Farfel on the next cliff-hanging episode of Double Down Film Show.

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Tarantino On A Budget: Fight Sequences

As a new contributor to the Down and Dirty DV blog, I'd like to offer some insight into a chieving high production value without breaking the bank. My first topic: Fight Sequences.

What do El Mariachi , Laws of Gravity, and Bloodsport all have in common? They're low-budget action films that don't suck. With very little money and a lot of ingenuity, these directors created interesting and unique fight sequences that people still marvel at today. Just because you have a budget smaller than your tab at 7 Eleven doesn't mean you can't make a believable action flick.

Most fight sequences today require a lot of money, people, and expertise. But if you follow my advice, you won't need any of those things.

Most importantly, you must pay attention to choreography. If you and your actors haven't rehearsed interesting choreography (over and over again), no amount of editing or tricky camera angels will make up for it. This is the one part of any low-budget film that CANNOT be improvised.

And remember, always rehearse slowly at first and then build up to a normal pace. if you can't think of cool moves and don't have the money for a moderately-trained professional, just rent a few films with hand-to-hand combat and watch them in slow motion.

For those of you who don't know how to properly film a fight sequence, here are some tips on shooting action scenes:

1) Movement- The most obvious. Incorporate movement into your choreography (i.e. Person A drags Person B across room, Person B ducks and pushes Person A a few feet and onto a table, etc) and follow the movenment of one character with the camera without changing height or distance. This creates a really smooth, organic flow of movement. As the characters stop at one point, you can change the height, distance, or who you follow and then continue on.

2) Long Lens- Shoot close contact shtos with a long lens. The long lens compresses the distance between objects so a punch that actually misses the face by a couple inches will look like a person has actually hit their target on film.

3) Two Takes, Two Lenses- Do two takes for each setup, but for the second take, change the lens size and the camera speed. You double your types of shots without changing your setup!

4) Sound Is Your Savior- A fight sequence really comes together in post production. Aside from careful and quick editing, sound will be your best friend. Punch watermelons to simulate face blows. Break celery for neck breaks. Don't forget minor impact sounds such as clothes rubbing or someone being pushed up against a wall.

Lindsay Curren has written a great article with even more tips on how to make your scene even more dynamic.

As you can see, by following a few simple rules, you can make something as easy as two dudes fighting in an empty room look exhilarating.

Good luck and happy filmmaking!

Until next time...

Cool Tools - Helmet Cam

I've been meaning to write about a couple of new digital tools that have caught my eye out there over the last few weeks. Here's the first of several I will mention...

As someone who shot his first video projects on a 50 lb. 3/4" video tape decks (the camera was separate and only weighed 25lbs!)- I am constantly amazed and amused at the rate that new affordable and revolutionary media tools are being rolled out. So I thought I'd write about some recent tools (and toys- let's be honest) that digital guerrillas may find useful or at least cool and amusing. First up...

VholdR Wearable Cam (MicroSD card)
The VholdR (vee-holder) is a little standard def solid state wearable camera best suited for the sports and stunt video hobbyist. With this little baby you can shoot any number of creative POV sports and chase sequences or get other experimental POV shots. Just think of a place to stick it and let your imagination fly.

One of the big challenges of shooting documentary and reality stories in particular is finding a way to show your audience the story as opposed to just telling them with words. And one of the most powerful ways of showing an audience is the POV shot. According to manufacturer Twenty20:

"VholdR mounts to nearly anything, from helmets to handlebars, roll cages to bull horns. It captures TV quality audio and video to a MicroSD card, and it's abuse proof. No tapes, no cables, no kidding."

I wouldn't risk a DVX-100 on the handle bars of my buddie's bike, but that's exactly this little $350.00 video tool was meant to do- be a poor man's stunt cam. Here's some dirtbike footage shot with the VholdR.



Manufacturer's Specs:

• Video size pixels (lines):640x480 (480 lines)
• Frame rate: 30fps
• File Type: mpeg4
• Video rate: 50min/GB
• Avg. battery life: 2 hours