Combat Mime Video 4 — Faking a Punch from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

This is probably going to be the last video in this series, but stay tuned for more videos on other subjects coming soon.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

Combat Mime Video 3 – Shove from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

We’ll be posting more videos soon, so stick around to learn more fight techniques.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

“Sure, a sea-faring adventure movie is great, but if all you have is two plastic ships and a bathtub, you might want to reconsider.”

“Crashing through a window? Nice touch for an action sequence, but if it’s done wrong it looks really cheesy.” (iSundae anybody?)

“Spaceships whooshing past the camera would look cool, but not if the animation is poorly done, or the blue screen gets fuzzy.”

Does he sound familiar? The Voice that warns us when we’re getting in over our heads. Why is it so easy to block him out? We stuff him in a can and stick it in a dark corner somewhere and rush on ahead. How come we don’t listen? Well, I can’t answer for every person, but for me, I get stuck thinking, “Just enough hot-glue, cardboard, and effort will fix it.” Yeah right. Our imaginations can come up with way more than we can do well. Let me give you an example.

For iSundae we wanted a long, dramatic cave sequence. The original script called for some enormous interior cave shots, an arrow trap, an avalanche trap, a lava lake, a chasm spanned by a narrow board, a wall with swords and inscription, a monster fight, a collapsing tunnel, a giant rolling boulder, and the cave exploding. Pictured in our minds, it was the coolest sequence ever.

When it came down to the nitty gritty details like HOW we were going to film this in three weeks and WHERE we were going to get a cave, we ignored the Voice. “Sure we don’t have a cave,” we told ourselves, “but we’ll use someone’s garage and lots of props. It’ll look great!” Ha. Ha. (Keep in mind, we were going for high-quality, realistic sets.) As you can tell from the movie we had to cut several sections and change the existing ones just to get it filmed, let alone filmed well. What got done looks anything but believable. The cave is a really dark garage, the monster is a giant puppet, the green screen is fuzzy. Are we proud of it? Not really. Granted, it was our first attempt, and it didn’t turn out all that bad, but we still look at it and wonder, “Why didn’t we think that out ahead of time?”

Now. Lesson learned. When we set out to make a movie, we need to decide if what we have created on paper is do-able. This involves keeping in mind how much time you have to spend on filming and effects, what effects you can do well, and what materials you have to work with. Maybe you have a really great scene in your script that calls for a duel on a collapsing bridge. Cool! The Voice speaks: “You don’t have a bridge.” Okay, you can either find a bridge or move the scene to another location. Found a bridge? Great! Hark! I hear the Voice again: “It’s a public bridge. You can’t have it collapse.” Alrighty, recalculating.

You could change the scene so the bridge doesn’t collapse, use a different situation to create tension (like having one character nearly push the other off the bridge) or just cut the duel entirely. What I wouldn’t recommend is trying to use camera angles, movement, and spare bridge parts to make it look like it’s falling unless you have tested it and are happy with the result. Sure, you can film the duel and tweak and edit it to your heart’s content, but the chances of your making something you’ll be happy with are rather slim. Consider carefully, especially if you’re a beginner. One well-done, believable scene is better than an hour and a half of bad special effects. Listen for the Voice!

“The script calls for this character to have a dramatic scene, but Jack does comedy better than drama. . . maybe we should re-write or re-cast.”

“That window is going to be in the way. Should we cover it or change locations?”

“The storyboards show a giant hall, but we only have an average size one. How should we re-work that?”

“If you build it, they will come.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

 
Combat Mime Video 2 – Elbow Jab from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

We’ll be posting more videos soon, so stick around to learn more fight techniques.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

We’ll be posting more videos soon, so stick around to learn more fight techniques.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

The Two Big Ones

Let’s start out with the two best transitions you could ever use. The cross dissolve and the fade in/out dissolve. Both of these transitions have certain meanings to movie-goers:

A cross dissolve tells the audience that the scene has changed.

A fade in/out dissolve means that time has passed. It can also be used to show a scene change, but generally a cross dissolve is used for that.

In the early days of film, the goal was to make the movie look as much like a play as possible. So when the scene was over, the film editors would use cross dissolves to replace the curtain. Watch an old movie from the 1930s or early ’40s, and you’ll see what I mean.

What use do these two have today? Considerably less than they did back then. Nowadays, our goal is not to create the feel of a play, but to draw the viewer into the story. Watch a recent movie and notice the difference. Try counting and comparing the number of transitions between a movie made in the 1930s, and a movie made in the 21st century.

Putting these to use is pretty easy. Not! Fight the urge to use them every chance you get. Do hard cuts first, then use a short cross dissolve to soften the cuts that are too hard. Most of the time, you won’t need a transition at all. Part of this is good scripting and shooting. 

The Cheesy Ones

Take a look at the list of available transitions for your editing software. I see things like wipe, stretch, slide, and 3D simulation. Here’s a short video of a few of them:

Cheesy Transitions from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

Pretty awful, aren’t they? “No,” you say, “I think they look cool!” At what price? Your job as a filmmaker is to draw the audience in, not snap them out of their enjoyment to think about that cool transition. Save “cool” for the special effects that drive the story. 

Plain and simple, don’t use those very often, if at all. “But I’ll never get to use them then!” you complain. Hold on, stay with me. They have their place.

Put the Cheesy Ones to Good Use

While cheesy transitions don’t work well in movies, TV shows use them all the time to spice up some of the more boring content. You guessed it, I have an example.

Watch a few episodes of Good Eats on Food Network. Don’t worry, it’s a great show. Notice their fancy use of fun (and cool) transitions, such as the radial effect to show the passing of time. Also, watch for the unseen transitions. I know, that sounds crazy. How can you see something unseen? I’m talking about the transitions that happen when Alton Brown’s frying pan fills the screen, only to be set down again in a different setting. They do all sorts of variations on this one, so keep your eyes open.

I’ll leave you with a repeat of something I said earlier in this post. Make all your cuts hard cuts, and then watch the whole movie. Don’t add any transitions until you’ve seen a cut without one first. Then think about it carefully before you try a transition. Remember, a little goes a long way.

There are two basic types, though you may find variations.

Soft Plastic

We had three of these for iSundae II, and we discovered a couple facts about them:

They flop when hit too hard. These swords just don’t like to be used. Good for show, but if you’re doing a fight scene, get something a little bit stronger.

Painting them is a bad idea. Rebekah decided to paint all three of our swords with some metallic spray paint, and we discovered very quickly that the paint just flakes off when you fight with the swords. We have several takes of fights with these swords that are ruined by flying paint chips.

So the conclusion on soft plastic swords: Costume prop only, don’t paint them, and definitely don’t fight with them.

Hard Plastic

We were not sure how these would hold up at first, so we bought extras of two swords. Well, the extras are intact, and have survived two movies with fight scenes. Things we discovered about them:

They are almost impossible to bend or flop. However, they tend to break when dropped onto hardwood floors. This is easy to fix, though, because they go back together with hot glue pretty well.

These hurt if somebody gets hit with one. Not as bad as getting sliced by a real sword, but you can be left with a stinging hand if your partner forgets their moves.

Some are better than others. We had two different brands of swords. One brand chipped easily along the edges, while the other brand was a little harder to damage.

Conclusion: Hard plastic swords are good for what you need them for.

Where to Buy Them

Unfortunately, the hard plastic swords are difficult to find in stores. Recently, I’ve only seen soft plastic swords around in places like Wal-Mart and Target. You might think that it gets easier around Halloween, but, alas, no good swords were to be found in my local stores for the last two or three years. (Halloween is a good time for battle axes, and the plastic black ones hold up pretty well in fight scenes.)

We bought our best swords online, I think from Amazon. Check around, they have a pretty good selection.

Sound Effects

Obviously, if you use plastic swords, they won’t sound right at all. It’s a little tedious to add a metal sword sound for every little clash in the movie, but in my opinion, dubbing sword sounds is a lot better than getting sliced by real ones.