How do you guys think this scene was filmed?

[Jon Palmer]

I wasn't sure which forum to put this in - Mods feel free to move it.

How does everything think this (in my opinion) fantastic scene was filmed? It's the final fight scene from Goldeneye (the Bond film).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsyac...eature=related

Hand held/shoulder mounted?

Steadicam? (Though I doubt it).

Very clever tilts, pans, dolly's and editing?

If you haven't guessed I'm trying to emulate this frenetic look in the project I'm filming now, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it.

This really is a great scene.....Martin Cambell rescued the Bond series with this film, and it's easy to see why. The self-control demonstrated when he uses this frenetic look is perfectly done (cough, Bourne films I'm looking at you....).

[Ben Winter]

Looks very shoulder-mounted.

[Matt Mullins]

like Ben says pretty much all shoulder mount. This is more a product of choreography and choppy editing than ostentatious shooting.

[Jon Palmer]

Originally Posted by Matt Mullins

This is more a product of choreography and choppy editing than ostentatious shooting.

That's kind of what I thought - lots of cutting and as long as there's movement in all the shots, it's going to have that frenetic feel.

[Daniel Alexander]

Also maybe it was shot at a higher shuter speed which is common when trying to emulate dramatic fast action (i.e fight scenes)

[Jon Palmer]

That's something I hadn't actually thought of. I know it's common to pull frames from certain bits of fight scenes to add velocity to strikes....I guess in principle it's kinda the same thing.

Man I wish there was a place where directors/D.O.P's could sit in a hot seat and we could fire questions at them :P

I might play around with shutter speeds in the next week or so. I'll let you know how it turns out :)

[Daniel Alexander]

haha i know what you mean, but sometimes it's good to try and simulate it yourself without knowing everything, that way you REALLy retain what you've learned and you usually find other useful techniques during the trial and error journey.

Regarding what your trying to achieve, if it were me i'd bump my shtter up to say 1/250 shutter (in PAL land), that will give it a high shutter look, but will require more light into the camera to compensate. This mixed with hand held videography and fast cuts and good sound (you'd be suprised how good sound can rescue you from otherwise ok-ish footage) i think you'l be on to a winner.

[Jon Palmer]

Thanks for the tips Daniel.

I hear what you're saying....I feel the same way about low budgets (well, most of the time). When you can't afford all the bells and whistles it can force you to get more creative about how you get your shots, which in the end is a lot more fun.

1/250 is a pretty high shutter speed! I'll have to fire up the camera and try it out tomorrow. I'm using the XL2 with the redrock m2 adaptor, so under normal circumstances I doubt I'd have enough light (I don't have ultra fast lens' either...lowest F stop is F2 on my 50mm). The scene in question however is a fist fight that takes place at the beach in the afternoon, so there'll be no shortage of light on the day.

I'm aiming to keep most of the film at 1/48 (though in reality its 1/50 in the PAL system) to retain the filmic look - am I right in thinking that will emulate the shutter speed of a projected film?

[Daniel Alexander]

When filming (except for deliberate instances and as far as im aware) you should make sure your shutter is double your frame rate i.e. 1/48 if your shooting 24fps or 1/50 if your shooting at 25fps. Many Pal films are shot in 25p instead of 24p as it means you can avoid certain head aches in post like having to slow doen your audio by 4% etc and you will achieve the same 'look' in the end anyway. That's why in my camera (sony ex1) in the pal setting i dont get a choice for 24p, only if i select a ntsc setting.

[Jon Palmer]

Thanks Daniel that's really helpful. AS you can tell I've never been quite able to get my head around shutter speeds and what their signifigance's are :P

I think I have it....thinking of a camera as an eye, and frames as 'moments'...a hugh shutter speed doesn't capture 100% of the light of any given moment (frame), which is why some of the movement appears to be missing, giving it that blistering fast look. A slow shutter speed exposes the moment longer than the moment itself (ie it's capturing about 150% of the light) which is why it appears slow and blurry in the camera.

Is that about right? Either way I understand how the shutter speed should relate to the framerate so thanks :)

I've decided to use something like 1/100 for the scene.....1/250 was so fast it had to much of an 'urgent' or 'out of control' look, like you'd see in a war scene. The scene we're filming is at the end of my film, where two friends have an argument that just gets out of hand....so 1/100 suits the pace a little better. It's easier on my light - guzzling 35mm adaptor too :P

Thanks again for your help

[Daniel Alexander]

Hi Jon, The main impact of a high shutter speed is that the individual frames appear more crisp/sharp, due to the minimisation of motion blur which occurs when the subject moves within the frame while the shutter is open (slower shutter = more blur). The less time the shutter is open (ie. the faster the shutter speed), the less movement will take place giving you that jerky feel that fits certain high paced shooting styles. It sounds like you already know most of this anyway but it's always good to get it confirmed :)

I'd love to see what you come up with in the end, keep me posted if you can.

[Jon Palmer]

Thanks Daniel, really informative. Makes total sense now :)

I'll let you know how the scene turns out....although schedule wise it looks like it'll be the last one filmed - mainly because I have to teach the other actor the choreography (He's never had any martial arts experience) and also so the actors have something to 'hold on to' and really make it feel like the climax of the film.

Maybe I'll test shoot it with a Ju Jutsu buddy and see how the choreography looks. I'll keep you posted :)

Thanks again for your help