Filming a Gladiator style ambush
 

Hello,

for a fantasy project of mine I want to film an ambush in the style of the intro battle in the Gladiator movie (when the Romans battle the Germans).
Do I need to do that in 25f (live in PAL land) so that the motion is not so smooth when I move the camera quickly around?
The goal of that shot is actually to show an ambush without the viewer being able to see who the enemy is, I want to create the illusion that the viewer looks through the eyes of one of the ambushed people.
Also what should the shutter speed be: 1/50 or 1/25?

Generally when shooting 25f you want to have at least 1/50 for smooth motion. If you experiment and turn it down to lower numbers you should get effect you're looking for. Best bit about that sequence for me was the interpolation of those jumpy shots with really high shutter speed shots to create a real sense of chaos and energy.

plenty of light and a very high shutter speed...like 1/1000+
you can start testing speeds now by filming things like running water, rain, etc. when you can get the individual drops crisply defined, that's roughly the speeds you are looking for.

Yeah, the Gladiator style effect comes from a very high shutter speed. So, open your iris all the way and crank the shutter to 1/1000 or higher.

There are two effects in Gladiator which you could be referring to.

The shutter at the end of the beginning battle is something very slow, like 1/15 or 1/8. That's an artsy effect and they used it because they ran out of sunlight.

In the battles afterwards the shutter is a lot higher. Probably something like 1/100-1/500

I mainly mean the battle in the beginning. Where Maximus is still general and charges his cavalry into the German horde.

That's a battle where the camera is continually moving quickly. Yesterday I tried quickly outdoors in 25F with a fast shutter (1/500 and more), but the image became much to dark and the image stayed to clear (i.e. you could clearly see what I was filming). In the first battle in Gladiator you don't really have a clear image on who's fighting who when the camera moves quickly.
My goal is to have the camere move quickly so that the viewer never gets a clear picture of who is actually ambushing the other people. That way there is still a mystery as to whome did the ambush.

If you're looking for a strobing effect, a slower shutter speed will do that, and will also blur some, depending on how slow you go. Or you can shoot it normal and strobe the shot when you edit.

For that, go handheld with a slow shutter speed. If it's too bright add the ND filters.

In Gladiator they also filmed at either 12 or 10 frames per second which can be achieved somewhat in post but helps if you have something like an HVX or Varicam which has more variable frame rates.... The high shutter speed and 24p will give a reasonably good strobe effect... You can push it in post though...