The Screen Combat Handbook

A Practical Guide for Filmmakers

Kevin Inouye

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781351027403
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

The Screen Combat Handbook is an essential guide to navigating the unique challenges of putting combat on screen. Explore the process from the early stages of preproduction planning all the way through to editing and sound design, and everything in-between.

This book uses practical instruction, examples, interviews, and illustrations to show how to plan, shoot, and assemble safe and effective fight sequences. It includes sections on thoughtful and practical design choices in set, wardrobe, props, and effects, preproduction planning, on-set protocol, fight choreography and coordination, shot planning and technical tricks, acting choices, effective cinematography, and impactful editing and sound design.

It provides an invaluable resource for all those involved including directors, fight coordinators, actors and stunt players, and any filmmaker attempting to shoot an exciting action scene safely. Whether working on a no-budget indie production or on a professional set, this is your ultimate guide to screen combat and fight choreography.

CHAPTER 1

Working on set

PROTOCOL AND ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS

Maybe you like action because you think it’s cool, or fun. It is! But everyone on set who’s doing this to pay bills is part of the gig economy. This means they’ve come together as specialists and professionals to get a job done. They’re constantly auditioning for the next job by building portfolios, forming good working relationships with other professionals who might hire or refer them, or otherwise bettering and proving themselves.

At least that’s what they should be doing, but often there’s someone on set who’s busy burning bridges and shooting themselves in the foot, and they don’t even know it. It’s okay to be ignorant—we all start there. Just acknowledge how much you don’t know, listen to those around you, and try to learn quickly. Even if this is just a passion project, someone invested money and time in bringing this idea to life, and for them this job is both professional and personal. Problems you create become both professional and personal problems. That’s the price we pay for getting to work in a field where people care about what they do. Hopefully some of the following will help you avoid the first round of stupid mistakes. Experience is a great teacher, but it can be cruel, so let’s see if this helps you come across a bit better on that first gig.

For those trying to segue into screen work from backgrounds in theatrical stage combat/ performance/directing, you’ll quickly find differences. Some elements of professionalism carry over, of course:

• Early is on time, on time is late, late is fired.
• Don’t touch other people’s stuff. Especially electronics or prop weapons.
• Don’t be defensive about feedback. Shut up and take the note.
• Don’t bring politics to work unless invited to do so, or if it’s relevant to the project. Be aware that political norms are often different on action movie sets than they are in theatre.
• Don’t be smarmy, don’t be a jerk, and don’t lie. Be honest about your resumé and skills.
• Keep your ego in check. If you’re a filmmaker, know that your first half-dozen projects (at least) will suck. That’s okay. Learn from them. Don’t insist you’re God’s gift to the industry. If you’re a performer, know you’re replaceable. If you’re coordinating, that doesn’t make you the coolest person on set. Even if you’re a star DP, performer, or coordinator, humility’s still a virtue. Know your worth, but don’t lord that over others.

Yet some things are not the same as theatre, and the overall experience can be very different. If shooting on-location and not soundstages, you aren’t in controlled environments. You may be on uneven or treacherous footing, the weather might be miserable or not at all match the weather your character’s dressed for, and you might be finding obscure, middle-of-nowhere and not-on-your-GPS locations every week. You may shoot at 5am, or at night; performers and crew shooting the battle of Westeros for Game of Thrones had eleven weeks of cold night shooting. You may not get call time or sides until the evening before you shoot. You won’t have the predictable, consistent schedule you’re accustomed to in theatre.

If you’re new to screen performance of any type, there are a few rules you need to know up-front, that aren’t specific to fight scenes but still apply. This quick lesson has a combat bias in mind, but there are plenty of good books out there on acting, directing, or cinematography, most of which have a thorough breakdown of the on-set roles, titles, calls, and etiquette as well.

First, some generalizations:

CERTIFICATIONS? NOBODY CARES

If you’re coming from academic theatre, technical trades, or stage combat, you may expect there to be certifications people flash to show they’re qualified. The world of movies/television doesn’t necessarily work like that.

Stunts aren’t all fights, but all fights should be stunts. Professional unions and best practices require someone qualified in charge of stunts, but it’s largely up to productions to determine whether someone’s qualified. SAG-AFTRA has proposed a registry of stunt coordinators they’ll endorse, based solely on having clocked a minimum 500 days on union stunt contracts. They’ll also have mentor and apprentice categories at lower day counts. It’s debatable whether this metric adequately measures what’s important in coordinators, but even this is still just a roster, and it’s not clear what the consequences will be (if any) should off-list coordinators be used for union productions.

If you have a black belt in taekwondo, I don’t know if that means you just went to some strip-mall franchise and paid your money for five years to get automatically bumped up every test, or if you’re a legit competitive or defensive martial artist. I also don’t know whether you can translate those skills to screen fighting or not. I had one guy on set who made the same darn iai! sound for everything. Punch someone: “iai!” Get punched: “iai!” Fall down: “iai!” It was like badly dubbed movies with only one sound effect button. The set is not a dojo. Black belts don’t hurt, but they may not help.

Camera operators and editors can earn certificates saying they trained on cameras or software packages, but nobody really cares. People want to see what you’ve done, and can do, not what a piece of paper says.

Point being, if you went to film school, stunt school, or earned stage combat certificates, don’t go waving that around and expect anyone to care. You need other ways to show you’re legitimate cinematographers, stunt performers, or choreographers. Much of that will be through experience and portfolio, so demo reels and references are vital. Some of it will be connections or networking/hustling ability. And a lot of it boils down to how you act when you show up.

It’s worth acknowledging that some markets outside the US do have official, legit stunt registers. They’re generally not school/training-based, but peer-reviewed committee-run systems based on experience. In other words, not even performers with The British Stunt Register got special letters delivered by owl inviting them to magical stunt schools, where they just have to get good enough grades to succeed. The person next to you on set still has to vouch for you.

There are related areas that require important certifications, especially effects work. Licensed pyrotechnicians are often needed on action sets, and in the US licensing can be Federal, State, or both, and can be required for purchasing, transporting, or using squibs, flame effects, or sometimes even blanks. States vary greatly—some require pyrotechnics licenses of anyone loading blank firearm props, some for firing them in front of audiences. Closed sets aren’t performances so that gets us out of some requirements that might be placed on live actors, whose shows are categorized with municipal fireworks displays (under somewhat over-simplistic logic: it goes bang and it’s public). Some locations, whether through municipal requirements or property/insurance mandates, require fire marshals present for anything with sparks or open flame. In California you can’t even light candles on set without a 3-Card (assistant-level state pyro license). Some places don’t care, but obviously if you have full-on fire stunts, spark-hit effects near dry vegetation, or other risk factors, having fire crews on hand is the right thing to do. Firearms have their own potential permits like FFLs (Federal Firearms License, allowing you to ship or receive firearms like gun stores, which can be useful if renting modified firearms); concealed carry, concealed weapon, or concealed handgun permits (specifics vary from state to state); and item-specific things like tax stamps for NFA items (suppressors, short-barreled rifles, etc.). State and local jurisdictions have all sorts of varying restrictions or licenses around ownership, concealed or open carry, magazine capacity, and more. Usually restrictions only apply to real guns but some places like New Jersey or NYC also restrict replicas. Entertainment-specific firearms licenses are mostly just required in California, but other countries have their own systems. Canada and the UK have much stricter regulations on both replicas and actual firearms.

YOU’RE A SMALL COG IN A BIG MACHINE

Okay, maybe not for backyard indies, but on full features, chances are good there are lots of people involved who you’ll never even meet. I’ve had times I didn’t realize until I saw the movie that bits in the trailer were scenes I was in, because I never saw the reversals. In live theatre you’re an ensemble, a team, and once it goes into production you’re all there, start to finish each night. Screen work, not so much. Come in, do your part, go home. That also means you have very little understanding (let alone control) of other elements that go into production. That’s okay. Know your place. You don’t need to be everyone’s friend, or to know what they’re doing or how it will all fit together. Just make sure your part’s solid—with the caveat that some jobs require awareness of others, or something from others.

TIME IS PRECIOUS

This is true in live theatre as well, but different; rehearsal time’s limited in theatre, but it rarely feels like a crisis until the week before opening. You might need to shave down performance time to keep the show under two hours, but it’s not like if you’re running a bit behind they just cut whole sections of your fight or cut scenes. On film and television sets that happens regularly.

Time may or may not be money, depending on what sort of set you’re on, but even if this is a passion project for you and your buddies, time’s always a limited resource. Maybe it’s time on location, because you can only shoot there one weekend while the business is closed. Maybe you’re shooting outside and losing light or good weather. Maybe you’re doing night shoots and half the cast/crew have work or school in the mornings, or your lead starts another movie next week. Maybe lights or camera run on batteries, and there’s no on-set power. Point is, even if you aren’t running into union overtime rates for everyone on set and making producers cranky, there’s almost always a sense of rush. Don’t let that push you into compromising safety, but know that efficiency is prized, and the less time you waste, the better your chances of redoing mediocre takes.

One of the first features I did fights for was comedic fantasy, so witty dialogue and shtick were prioritized over action. Often fights were shot last, with only a half hour of light or location time left. I always had at least one gag or phrase prepared that we had to skip, and the number of takes was always limited.

Time being precious also means you start as soon as possible. If you’re given a call time, that’s not when you should be pulling up, that’s when you should be signed in, warmed up, ready to go. Often call’s early—another thing that will be foreign to those coming from theatre. If you need daylight, you may have a 5am call, which means you ought to be getting there around 4:30am. When I worked on Lincoln (just special skills background/cavalry) my first day I was there fifteen minutes early, got through wardrobe and makeup, got to the stables … and waited all day. They forgot we were there: we almost even missed lunch. Never got on set. Next day I was there almost an hour early, and sure enough, right about when my call time would have been an AD came by and asked if any cavalry were suited up and ready to go—and it was just me. That was the first day I got to ride on set, which lead to being picked other days as well.

Of course, there are always days when you’re ready for your shoot and then it rains, so they cancel last-minute. Movies are less constrained by time than plays are in that sense. Low-budget projects often get pushed back due to casting issues, fundraising, rewrites, or other problems. I was gone a lot after my first child was born, working on a feature that was supposed to shoot the year before, but had gotten pushed back.

REHEARSAL’S A LUXURY, CHANGE IS A GIVEN

Unlike in live theatre, there’s no guarantee you’ll get time with the cast and directors to learn lines or choreography in advance. For important fight scenes we certainly hope choreography has been approved by the director, and leads (and stunt doubles, if applicable) have learned it, but on episodic TV or web series that may not happen. If it’s comedy or drama, production teams may decide to spend all their time working on dialogue, with fights being an afterthought. Sometimes you can work things with the stunt team for a while in advance, planning moves and shots, but you don’t get advance time with leads, and they or the director or DP decide to change things when you get to show them. Or you suddenly find the set is changed, and you have to adjust last-minute. The good news is that your fight coordinator will be there on set to help make it work (as opposed to live theatre, where if something goes wrong during the run, actors are on their own). Neither moves nor lines are sacred—contracts and ideas about intellectual property are very different in video production than they are in plays, and rewrites are common. Even with the best planning and intentions, sometimes we end up having to make stuff up five minutes before shooting. That’s an accepted norm you need to learn to live with.

This also means you practice whenever you can. Rather than telling stories over at craft services, use that extra half hour to run the sequence. Don’t stand around bored while they adjust lights yet again, see if you can do a half-speed run-through for you and camera. Remember that camera movement’s part of this dance; if they don’t catch it right, you all look bad, so it helps if DPs know the choreo too.

What this does not mean is to improvise or ad-lib fights. It’s not uncommon to improvise bits of dialogue, especially with comic actors, letting them riff on jokes to keep laughs fresh and genuine. Some great moments have come from off-the-cuff lines, but for fight scenes, that’s not a safe option. If you want to change something, take time to talk it over with scene partners and the coordinator first. It might be quick alterations you only walk through once or twice, but at least everyone knows what’s coming.

It can be hard to get time ahead of shooting. Actors may have back-to-back projects and limited availability, and producers may not want to pay for training time—but rehearsal time’s cheaper than production time, so it’s worth it. Get as much quality training and rehearsal in while you don’t have a bunch of other crewmembers standing around on the clock, and daylight or on-location time running out.

SELF-CARE

Never turn down a chance to pee, because you never know when you’ll have another.

Don’t overload at Craft Services, especially before fighting.

Don’t count on production to have sunscreen, bug repellent, pads, etc.

SHARING

What you’re allowed to share from your time on set can vary greatly. Crowdfunding and social media are central to production paradigms of many indies. It’s like community theatre, where they want you to get all your friends and family interested. If that’s the case, you can Instagram, Tweet, or whatever to your heart’s content. They’ll even give you hashtags to use. There may be photographers or videographers shooting behind-the-scenes candid content.

On the other hand, most professional productions and some smaller indies make you sign NDAs before you do or see anything. They make you leave cellphones in trailers (a good idea for several reasons; cameras, distractions, electrical interference, and ringtones can all be problems on set). Anyone leaking selfies or other images is in trouble. This includes rehearsals and previz. The threat of spoilers on franchise movies like Avengers: Endgame has led to ridiculous security, where even stars don’t get to see anyone else’s lines, or know who they’ll be talking to or fighting once the scene is composited from its various elements.

When in doubt, ask before you take pictures or share anything. Legal or contract issues aside, it’s part of how you come across as professional.

FOLLOW-UP

Once you’re done on set, now what? If the project was a low-budget indie and you’re not involved in post-production, you may never hear from them again. Or you may get constant invites to screenings, or to “like” fan pages. I wouldn’t count on deferred pay ever happening unless it’s union. Be patient. If you want instant gratification, do 48hr film fests. Otherwise expect to wait a while before projects are released. If they’re looking for distrib...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Working on set
• Chapter 2: Designing for action
• Chapter 3: Unarmed combat skills
• Chapter 4: Weapons
• Chapter 5: Acting
• Chapter 6: Coordinating fights
• Chapter 7: Cinematography
• Chapter 8: Editing
• Chapter 9: Closing thoughts
• Glossary of terms and abbreviations
• Index