Why do directors insist on shooting fight scenes so close up?
A watched a couple of action films this afternoon and there were some pretty great fight scenes. There were some beautifully choreographed martial arts fights (Jet Li!) as well as some fist fights and sword fighting. I get so frustrated watching them though because greater than 75% of the action is filmed in such close up that it is impossible to appreciate the moves. I am wondering, is there a legitimate reason for directors shooting these scenes so close up?
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11 Answers
To make you feel like you are actually there in the middle of it.
Yeah, it’s the shock factor.
If you want to see a gorgeous martial arts movie that doesn’t beat you over the head with camera angles, watch the Chinese film “Ip Man”. I still can’t get over how awesome that movie is.
For the same they give us closeups of all other forms of violence and sex. For dramatic effect… to hold our attention.
It’s the “shot du jour.” Hopefully someone will decide to stop doing it to be different. And use a steadycam for a change.
@Seek_Kolinahr Ip Man was ‘beast’ lol.
I also feel it is to make you feel like you’re there, but in the second Jason Bourne movie, there was a fight scene in a house, the one where he strangled the guy with a telephone cord. That fight scene was so blurry and close you couldn’t see half of the fight, I was very disappointed.
Its fuckin annoying as hell isnt it? Like there is this bad ass action going on… you know its going on but your looking at a fuckin elbow and a kneee cause the camera is so fucking zoomed in. Part of me feels like they do this on purpose to be able to half ass the fight scene and not make it as intricate. I mean if your zoomed in that much you cant really tell whats going on, it just gives the illusion of an awesome fight but for all you know, when zoomed out it could be rubbish.
Best fight scene in a movie ever – the mob scene in the alley in “Oldboy”. One take, one angle. One dude takes down a whole gang with a hammer.
Here it is
oldboy was fuckin awesome
@uberbatman that is so true. What good is an ass kicking fight scene if you can’t even see the action? There were some great throws and kicks and some what I think was some beautiful sword play but I couldn’t see any of it. The thing is, I would much rather watch some good, well choreographed fight scenes where I can see the kicks, punches and throws than have to endure some director’s lame attempt at making me feel like I’m “part of the action.”
Maybe it’s so that the fight scene looks more real – filming from further away may make it easier to see all the fake moves and punches etc. And they probably take only the best fight pieces and join them all together to make one scene – they can’t do this if filming from a distance because it would be more obvious.
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