Chinatown action sequences with the DVX100 at DVinfo.net

Young-H. Lee · November 17th, 2004, 05:04 PM

Recently got the DVX100a and have been out shooting my first feature. HEre are some clips from an action scene, it starts with some dialogue and then moves into a chase and then a fight...i know sound effects need lots of work - but its just there temporarily. appreciate comments regarding how I can improve these rough cuts. Thanks guys

1 minute dialogue
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE..._dialogue1.mov

Chase scene in Chinatown
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE...own_chase1.mov

Alley Fight clip
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE...ght3_small.mov

enjoy!

Gints Klimanis · November 17th, 2004, 07:07 PM

Cool. I'm not much of a cinematographer, but I liked the dialog and the fight scenes. From the dialog, I can pick up some great Chinese profane phrases to use at work. Thanks !

I liked the sequence of finishing blows. The sound effects were the usual heavy hits. More heavy breathing would also add some realism. I always thought it would be interesting to put a microphone on the head of the receiver and give him real punches. This would yield a lot of airy gasps that, Any fighting-type martial artist has had the wind knocked out of him, so hopefully, someone in your crew would be willing to volunteer the suffering for your cause. I'm not a cinematographer, but I video
martial arts sparring twice a month. The most chilling bouts are
those without music, where I can get the mike close to the action.
(Often, I AM the action and someone is videotaping me). In real
fights, there are lots of grunts, heavy breaths and foot shuffling.

I think the dynamic, percussive music in the fight scene is confusing. The drums are similar in nature to human contact sounds. The orchestral hits are almost too fun. If you feel the need for music, an eary, synthetic drone, either of the usual thick "analog" synth
string sound or a sustained vocal vowel transposed down 1-2 octaves, would work well. Such music seems to work well along with my fighting footage, so I suspect it would also work well
with choreographed fight scenes. Ok. That's me fantasizing about doing my own fight scenes in a movie.

Gints Klimanis · November 17th, 2004, 09:09 PM

Hey, I played these clips to my girlfriend. She laughed at the
Dialogue clip and commented that they were mixing Mandarin and Cantonese. Was that your script, or did you happen to have a mix actors from different linguistic backgrounds ?

Cody Dulock · November 17th, 2004, 11:15 PM

the audio did seem a little low in the dialogue clip one the "bad guys" start to talk... other than that every thing looked fun to me.

Dylan Couper · November 17th, 2004, 11:54 PM

The punch impact sound effects were way too loud and obviously faked. Tone them way down!

Decent choreography and camerawork though.

Young-H. Lee · November 19th, 2004, 10:06 AM

hehe thanks guys,

Gints - yea, those gangster boys were my friends and I thought they would fit the role pretty well. The mix of canto and mandarin was deliberate - the leader was talking in my own language because he knew I couldnt understand canto.

yea - just gotta go and make my own SFX

Jeff Patnaude · November 19th, 2004, 11:47 AM

I agree with Dylon- I just watched the fight clip and the punch fx were way too high. Try using different sounds and vary them some as well. Almost cliche'.
Keep going though, I dont mean to sound negative, only offer positive feedback.

Jeff P.

Christian Hede Madsen · November 20th, 2004, 02:36 AM

Except form the sound effects, I really liked it.
I know it is out of context, but what kind of martial art the "bad guy" with the many kicks train. I am a martial artist my self and would like to know just for fun. Looks a bit like Tae-kwon-do or just normal kickboxing(muy thai).

Good luck with the project

Young-H. Lee · November 20th, 2004, 08:59 AM

hi christian

yea the kicking dude has a background in kick boxing and taekwon do - for choreagraphy I just taught him a few basic moves and we filmed it from like 5 different angles heh.

thanks

Peter John Ross · November 25th, 2004, 08:54 AM

I get a "you are not authorized to view this" when I click on the link....

November 17th, 2004, 05:04 PM	#1
Young-H. Lee Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 44	Chinatown action sequences with the DVX100 Recently got the DVX100a and have been out shooting my first feature. HEre are some clips from an action scene, it starts with some dialogue and then moves into a chase and then a fight...i know sound effects need lots of work - but its just there temporarily. appreciate comments regarding how I can improve these rough cuts. Thanks guys 1 minute dialogue http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE..._dialogue1.mov Chase scene in Chinatown http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE...own_chase1.mov Alley Fight clip http://www.glue.umd.edu/~younglee/AE...ght3_small.mov enjoy! __________________ It's the perfect time to be a filmmaker.

November 17th, 2004, 11:54 PM	#5
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	The punch impact sound effects were way too loud and obviously faked. Tone them way down! Decent choreography and camerawork though. __________________ Need to rent camera gear in Vancouver BC? Check me out at camerarentalsvancouver.com

November 19th, 2004, 10:06 AM	#6
Young-H. Lee Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 44	hehe thanks guys, Gints - yea, those gangster boys were my friends and I thought they would fit the role pretty well. The mix of canto and mandarin was deliberate - the leader was talking in my own language because he knew I couldnt understand canto. yea - just gotta go and make my own SFX __________________ It's the perfect time to be a filmmaker.

November 20th, 2004, 08:59 AM	#9
Young-H. Lee Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 44	hi christian yea the kicking dude has a background in kick boxing and taekwon do - for choreagraphy I just taught him a few basic moves and we filmed it from like 5 different angles heh. thanks __________________ It's the perfect time to be a filmmaker.

November 17th, 2004, 07:07 PM	#2
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	Cool. I'm not much of a cinematographer, but I liked the dialog and the fight scenes. From the dialog, I can pick up some great Chinese profane phrases to use at work. Thanks ! I liked the sequence of finishing blows. The sound effects were the usual heavy hits. More heavy breathing would also add some realism. I always thought it would be interesting to put a microphone on the head of the receiver and give him real punches. This would yield a lot of airy gasps that, Any fighting-type martial artist has had the wind knocked out of him, so hopefully, someone in your crew would be willing to volunteer the suffering for your cause. I'm not a cinematographer, but I video martial arts sparring twice a month. The most chilling bouts are those without music, where I can get the mike close to the action. (Often, I AM the action and someone is videotaping me). In real fights, there are lots of grunts, heavy breaths and foot shuffling. I think the dynamic, percussive music in the fight scene is confusing. The drums are similar in nature to human contact sounds. The orchestral hits are almost too fun. If you feel the need for music, an eary, synthetic drone, either of the usual thick "analog" synth string sound or a sustained vocal vowel transposed down 1-2 octaves, would work well. Such music seems to work well along with my fighting footage, so I suspect it would also work well with choreographed fight scenes. Ok. That's me fantasizing about doing my own fight scenes in a movie.

November 17th, 2004, 09:09 PM	#3
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	Hey, I played these clips to my girlfriend. She laughed at the Dialogue clip and commented that they were mixing Mandarin and Cantonese. Was that your script, or did you happen to have a mix actors from different linguistic backgrounds ?

November 17th, 2004, 11:15 PM	#4
Cody Dulock Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: arlington, texas Posts: 420	the audio did seem a little low in the dialogue clip one the "bad guys" start to talk... other than that every thing looked fun to me.

November 19th, 2004, 11:47 AM	#7
Jeff Patnaude Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Duluth, Georgia Posts: 248	I agree with Dylon- I just watched the fight clip and the punch fx were way too high. Try using different sounds and vary them some as well. Almost cliche'. Keep going though, I dont mean to sound negative, only offer positive feedback. Jeff P.

November 20th, 2004, 02:36 AM	#8
Christian Hede Madsen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gudhjem Denmark Posts: 93	Except form the sound effects, I really liked it. I know it is out of context, but what kind of martial art the "bad guy" with the many kicks train. I am a martial artist my self and would like to know just for fun. Looks a bit like Tae-kwon-do or just normal kickboxing(muy thai). Good luck with the project

November 25th, 2004, 08:54 AM	#10
Peter John Ross Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Hollywood, OHIO Posts: 149	I get a "you are not authorized to view this" when I click on the link....