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Review: Fightscenes for Motion Pictures by the Kerby Brothers
Welcome to the DOJO!
I wanted to follow-up my earlier post on DVD courses for learning filmmaking with something a little different. About a year ago I was working on a low budget indie action film of my own — I’d worked on tons of them in the past as a storyboard artist and have put together an insane number of action sequences as a comic book artist, but this was the first time I was going to be directing an action flick of my own. Since I was on an incredibly low budget (anemic budget would be more accurate), I knew we weren’t going to have a big stunt team or have weeks of training for our actors. To try and avoid the crappy looking action bits that plague low budget indie and guerilla films, I wanted to do as much pre-work as I could for the fight sequences we’d be filming.
Sure, I am a rabid fan of martial arts and action movies and have hundreds (if not more) in my collection. And, sure, I’d storyboarded 30 or more action flicks over the course of my career. But, the truth is, I had no practical knowledge on putting together a fight scene on set. What was worse was, I had absolutely no idea where to start.
Luckily for me a quick Google search resulted in one of the best low buget indie filmmaking finds I’ve ever had the pleasure to discover. What I’m talking about is a down-and-dirty instructional DVD called “Fightscenes for Motion Pictures” by the Kerby Brothers (www.kbproducts.com). I’ve stolen some of the images from their website — here’s hoping they don’t get upset and come to kick my ass!
From what I can tell, the Kerby Brothers are a couple of stunt guys from the Las Vegas area who have quite a bit of stunt/fight experience under their belts. What they’ve done is take all of the essential, must know elements of putting together a fight sequence — falling, selling a punch, the impact line, time and more — and put them together in an approximately 30-45 minute video. They go over all of the necessary steps from planning to performance to editing and sound work, and they do so in a very precise, very clear manner which is easy to understand and use on set in a practical manner. They aren’t showing you techniques beyond the budget of an indie filmmaker, they are showing you what it takes to shoot and edit a convincing and powerful fight or action scene that works on any budget.
The guys do an excellent job and this DVD is must-see for directors, fight coordinators, actors and editors alike. If you’re looking to punch up the fights for your next indie or guerilla action flick, then “Fightscenes for Motion Pictures” from the Kerby Brothers is the place you need to start. The DVD is only available on their website and can be picked up for $19.95 plus shipping. I for one am hoping they expand upon the information with future volumes. Great stuff!
Check it out at: http://www.KBProducts.com
Until next time, keep shooting!
- Mat Nastos, Film Sensei
http://www.FilmSensei.com
Great work! I also have my own blog I just find it hard to write quality content like this.
I guess I really don’t have the time.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:11 am