Introduction
Zenith means the highest point/peak or most powerful/successful. Freestyle called this project the Zenith project because it was a collection of all-out skills that we learned in each class to be put into one final project. As a film student, we learned a lot about narrative storytelling and developing a story. Talking to our film teacher, Mr. Taylor, he wanted us to challenge ourselves and explore the different parts of movie-making. My partner and I came up with an idea to do an action scene. Neither my partner Ben nor I have ever done something like this, but the experience of doing something new without hesitation was very rewarding and a moment to value.
Action scenes are highly intense and brings an emotion that other scenes can’t. Watching two characters fight for something and expressing their raw emotions through martial arts is a beauty.
My job in this project was to choreograph the fight and Ben’s job was to film and find good lighting to fully capture the experience in 2 minutes. With little to no experience of choreographing a fight but an immense fascination with martial arts, I was very nervous but also very excited.
Process Section
The first step to making a video was creating the story. Although we were shooting an action scene, we had to think about the character and their core values and morals. Eventually, we came up with a simple scenario of someone trying to escape and someone trying to catch the escapist.
We then created a small storyboard showing how the short film would play out. Found actors that would like to participate and found the perfect location. Everything was set and ready to be filmed.
Unfortunately, the filmmaking lords always like to make the process of filmmaking EXTREMELY difficult. A series of unfortunate events occurred, starting with actors leaving, difficulty scheduling shoot days because of conflicting schedules, and even outside personal issues affecting shoots. Eventually, Ben and I were able to pull some strings and were able to shoot and start editing.
As students who were only used to shooting slower narrative scenes, fast pace action was very new. I sat at the computer thinking it would have been easy, but I was wrong. Each little frame and second counts, one extra frame can kill the intensity of the scene and one less frame could make the scene look super jumpy and awkward.
Overall, this experience was a big emotional roller coaster. Very stressful. Sometimes uncomfortable, but in a way, super exciting and had a different type of thrill that no other project could create. With a hard deadline, Ben and I had to adapt and think quickly about how to solve each obstacle. To be honest, this was one of the worst experiences, but an experience that is valuable and builds character.
Completed Project Section
My first influence is an Indonesian action film called, The Raid starring Iko Uwais. This movie is packed with intense tension and anticipation that enhances the storyline making the audience want more action. Alongside the incredible choreography, the director uses hyperkinetic cinematography to capture the fierce combat. The camera constantly moves and jolts with each punch, making the action seem more explosive and powerful. Multiple cuts are made between the slow dolly shots in the beginning and the handheld tight shots to catch and make the audience feel the progressive aggression of each character.
My other influence is a 2002 Chinese action/drama, Ying Xiong (hero), starring Jet Li. Particularly in this movie, I was intrigued by their use of music and visual appearance. The particular fight scene between Jet Li and Donnie Yen had a dark background that highlighted the character. The scene switched to black and white with minimal sound as the fight progressed. I was confused at first because there was no color and only music with very little wild noise, but the more I watched, the more I became interested. The black and white made the scene feel like a memory or a dream, and the limited sounds really focused on the art of the fight. I was focused on the motion of each movement, and it was something unique that I wanted to try.
I have two different versions of my film. The top one has music and extra wild noise, and the bottom one has only music.