Martial Arts From the Varicam POV

DP Tim Gordon gave Panasonic''s AJ-HDC27F 720p Varicam system a hefty workout during taping of a unique documentary called Fight Science, which is slated to air on the National Geographic channel early next year. The show documents the science of martial arts—painstakingly illustrating and measuring the force of blows and analyzing movement of fighters in a variety of situations. The scientists featured on the program use motion capture technology and ultra high-speed scientific cameras to conduct their analysis, but the workhorse for the entire show was the Varicam.

On other projects in the past, Gordon had always shot martial arts fights on film in order to alter frame rates to emphasize certain movements. But Gordon says his work on Fight Science has convinced him that the Varicam can be used in a very specialized way to highlight the movements of martial artists engaged in choreographed combat.

“I have shot choreographed fights in the past with John Brenkus (creator/co-producer/director of the show for BASE Productions, Washington D.C.), and he really prefers stylized fighting,” Gordon explains. “We shot some of that stuff 35mm in the past, but this show needed more flexibility than a 35mm shoot could provide since the schedule was very compact, and also because we were doing a variety of other things besides the fights—weapons demos, the documentary portions, the science stuff, and so forth—all on the same set and packed into the same schedule.

“The good thing about the Varicam was that the adjustable frame rate covered all our fighting needs and gave us all kinds of shuttered angles for the choreographed portions. Then, for the rest of the show, our operators could use the same system handheld to cover the other segments. Plus, we had to cover all the mo-cap sessions (which are featured as scientific content in the program, in addition to being used to animate digital versions of the fighters) under extreme low-light conditions. In other word,: we were serving a lot of masters and had limited ability to change our approach for each one. This format was the best one for that purpose.”

Gordon says the choreographed fights particularly benefited from his ability to alter frame rates, because it allowed him to capture specific moments in time.

“For each beat of a fight sequence there were certain punches, kicks, etc., that were points of emphasis, either to relate to the mo-cap animation or to illustrate the science,” says Gordon. “In order to capture these specific moments in time between two or more martial artists, overcranking was a must to clearly see these moments. To see a spinning kick at 60fps goes a long way in illustrating the complexity and level of difficulty, whereas at 24fps, the moment is so fast that you can''t understand the athletic ability, timing, and speed these athletes need to perform at this level. Sometimes we shot 6fps or 12fps just because we liked the motion, and it added a little flair to fight sequences.

“As for shutter angles, this system was valuable for understanding the weapons themselves, and how they are used either in attacking or defending. Using different shutter angles allows the eye to understand the path the weapon takes, and why that path makes it an effective weapon. It also gives the fight a hyper-real aspect which, in the end, creates a fight with more impact than shooting a standard frame rate and shutter speed. If you watch how fast these guys use nunchakus, for instance, and you shoot different shutter angles, you can actually see the pattern left by the chuk, like a tracer in the air. That gave us an excellent way to illustrate the movement.”

For a detailed look at all aspects of producing the Fight Science documentary, see the upcoming November issue of Millimeter.