Choreograph a Fencing Scene

Video Transcript

"That might have looked like fencing, but it wasn't. As you can see, we weren't wearing any of the protective gear I was just talking about, because what we just did was choreographed. So, there's a big difference between choreographed fencing and regular fencing, mostly because both people know exactly what's going to happen next. Also, you have certain safeties in place, so that if someone forgets what's going to happen next, as we almost did, no one's going to get hurt. Also, you can use a lot of different types of forms. We're not just talking about foils and sabers anymore. You can bring a cutlass or a broad sword or a katana into the mix, and change up the type of choreography you're doing. The most important part--or most important difference between choreographed, staged, or film combat fighting is that the target areas are different. It's really counterintuitive for a lot of fencers to start fighting doing stage combat or film combat, because as a fencer you're trained to hit these target areas we were talking about earlier, but as a stage combatant I'm actually aiming for just outside my opponent's body. So, if I were working with Ken, instead of keeping my target just inside his torso so I could score a point, I'm actually coming around his body so that my target areas are just outside his biceps, just outside his hips, and just over his head. So that even if Ken were to forget to parry, I stop right here. It doesn't matter how fast my fight is moving, it doesn't matter how hard I'm coming in, I'm stopping short just a few inches outside of the major target areas. If you have that in mind as you're fighting, it becomes really intuitive, and that's how stunt people are able to work up fights really quickly and make them look really convincing. That's another reason that the target areas work. You see some fights, maybe with a light saber, and you have a lot of clanging, someone's aiming for someone's sword. You can tell when you're aiming for someone's sword. You have a sword fight that looks something like this. And no matter how fast it moves, you're still always aiming for someone's sword. By coming in and aiming for actual target areas, you gain a little bit of verisimilitude, so that it looks like I'm actually defending my body, and I'm actually aiming for his, without ever actually being in danger of hitting him in the head or the torso."