The more I watch this guy, the more I am convinced that he's an actual time-displaced knight who, after getting over the initial shock (perhaps with copious amounts of alcohol), quietly settled into modern life and decided to make a living the only way he knows how to.
As someone who works in armoury for stage and screen, it’s really nice to not be slagged off. But instead acknowledged that we’re trying to tell a interesting story and not a documentary. Keep up the great work.
i get what you mean, and i don't want to slagg you or your line of work off, but i never really enjoyed sword fights in movies, not because it's not well-made or well-executed, but because the story it tries to tell me doesn't really sell. I understand the way this job works, i understand that you can't take the risk to harm your sword fighters, but in the same time the story the film is trying to sell is globaly "they're fighting to the death", and not "they're sword dancing together". It's kinda like trying to convince me that wwf wrestling is real fighting. I know that it's highly physical, that's it require high lvl of skill, and still can be dangerous, but while i can appreciate the performance, the all "it's real we hate each other and there's a backstory to confirm it" just kills it all for me. Cause it's obviously not the case. In both case i have a lot of respect for the guys that execute the dance, its an entire line of job that require impressive amount of skill, but the problem remain. Dancing is not fighting. What would you do if you went to a dancing show and they start planting carots on stage? You'd try to appreciate the carot planting, the way they do it properly and with skills, and that later on you could eat some delicious carots, but you'd still be a bit disapointed. After all you came to see dancing. None the less, a very interesting vid, and it's very nice to get the inner sight of this line of job.
From years of doing both re-enactment and more HEMA styled groups, I completely understand that movie and tv fights have to be quite far removed from what would really occur. When you see two well trained practitioners square off the fights are often over very quickly or seem to be a huge blur and then you realise someone is ‘dead’. One of the most realistic fight scenes I have ever seen is actually in Army of Darkness (with Bruce Campbell) where the leading knight takes arrows to his armour and doesn’t flinch as he knows his armour will do its job so just keeps his stance. Cracking video again btw sir!
@@puloguffeltefush7745you could say that about all movies and books. I didnt enjoy 1984 by Geoege Orwell, knowing its not true kills it for me. I didnt ejoy the old or new testament, too make beleive and made up.
It's not just a Hollywood movie thing. In kung fu movies, the hero often finds himself surrounded by a circle of bad guys -- each of whom politely waits for his turn to go one-on-one with the hero.
Funny you mention that. I was just commenting about how Jackie Chan shoots scenes... and generally there isn't a lot of waiting around, they all try to kill him: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
I don't know if any commentators here have actually been in a real fight situation when they stand alone against multiple opponents. I think from the comments they are lucky not to have experienced that. Unfortunately, I have. More times in my childhood and teens than I care to recall and three times as an adult. Often gang members do hold back when attacking an individual. Firstly because they are not all equally aggressive and they have a pecking order, secondly because a wise person (if they cannot run away) takes out the nearest opponent that poses the greatest threat. With street gangs and bullies the closest person to the victim is usually the most aggressive gang member and often the one the others are most scared of. You hurt that person and it does have a psychological impact on the rest. The most timid will hold back, even back off. Thirdly they don't come at you at the same pace or even coordinate such attacks well. At least not in my experience. Although admittedly adrenaline kicks in and people seem slower. Anyway they tend to get in each others way and some fear this will happen. Some know their fellows may just as easily end up hurting them. So yes several do come at you at once but if you are quick you can actually use that against them tripping, or pushing one into another or dodging quickly so one careers into another. Jackie Chan gets it right. His fights follow this kind of scenario. And no I'm not a criminal. I was raised in a very rough neighborhood and attended a school with an equally bad reputation.
How do you know they performed this type of stage fighting on stage during Shakespeare's time? Who's to say they'd didn't do it realistically, but with fake/blunted swords.
@@ernavill3261 Maybe all the flourishing and stuff didn't happen. BUT, presumably, even back in the day they wanted to avoid hurting eachother... and a blunted weapon still hurts like a mother. So, probably, the whole "duet"/dance thing was still happening. Most strikes during a stage fight are either heavily telegraphed or intended to miss by a large margin (but must be made to look as though they would hit).
@@Halo_Legend to the contrary. movies definitely have a stage. they are called a SET sometimes. you didn't know this? when someone talks about a movie set. they are talking about a film stage. what's called staging in a play, is called set dressing in a movie. but in actuality a set is a stage. movies are the evolution of theatre. the profession of actor has been around since ancient greece. when movie cameras were invented they didn't invent a new profession of film actor, they just used the same ACTORS as thousands of years ago. stage actors.
When the audience carries swords and knows how to use them you can get away with only so much. One story I've heard is that on one occassion the authorties needed men for the militia at very short notice, the quickest way they had to fo so was to go to the Globe and press men in the audience into service.
To all those who question that stylized "stage fighting" happened a very long time ago, it actually goes back much further than Shakespearean times. In the (very detailed) histories of the Roman empire there are multiple accounts of gladiators participating in exhibition battles with stylized fighting that drew laughter from those with experience in battle in the crowds. In the same books there are also accounts of older gladiators only participating in exhibition matches - I can only assume they mean such stylized fights instead of ones where their lives are in danger. It's pretty clear that over-acted parodies of serious sword fighting from people who knew better and in front of people who knew better has been a thing for thousands of years. I think as long as someone isn't pretending that it's not an overacted parody live and let live - just laugh at it like those Roman soldiers apparently did.
@Garret Phegley “In like Flynn” actually referred to Flynn’s talent as a seducer of women. To be “in like Flynn” initially meant to successfully seduce a woman, but over time it came to mean “to succeed with ease and style” more generally.
It is Nice to have a video on this topic which isn't a HEMA person bashing movie fighting because it doesn't fit what they think should be in a movie. It shows the perspective of the choreographer. He knows it is bullshit fighting, but it doesn't need to be realistic, it needs to Tell the story. I love this video.
ruclips.net/video/Cn36Pb8z3yI/видео.html Watch this and tell me realistic fights can't tell a story as well or even better than the hollywood crap we just saw
@@sheogorath979 Firstly, don't be a douche. Nobody was claiming that real fights can't be entertaining. Secondly. Great Freaking Video. I loved it. If they added Audio It would have been perfect. Like, a dialogue while the fight was happening or something.
Yeah lots of armchair swordmasters on RUclips scoff at movie fights but choreography is an art in and of itself and anyone that has ever done it realizes how much skill and creativity it takes to sell the fight
@@crustman5982 Besides, there's that point about Russell keeping his actors SAFE. It's rare that someone gets seriously injured on set these days, but with large productions it would be extremely expensive to have the big shining hero or his black-hearted nemesis unavailable even for a week. Not to mention it would suck - and maybe hurt your acting career - if you were disfigured! It's a very important thing to keep all those actors safe when most of them have probably never practiced anything like swordfighting. There's a lot going into that single purpose, more than Russell could tell us in such a short time. Someone doing this will have to consider the abilities and skills of the actors and whether they will help or hinder, then see what can be used. And ofc if you film in a real historical location you don't want The Mountain to smash 300-year old furniture, or his opponent knocking down some priceless vase when trying to dodge...
What a delightful video! It's a complete inversion of what I've come to expect of this wonderful channel, yet is very educational in its own right. I just love the enthusiasm of Jason and Russell as they talk about the scene we see at the beginning of the video. It reminded me of the kind of enthusiasm between friends after seeing an action extravaganza in a movie theater; mimicking the scenes and just gushing at the coolness of it. The only difference is that Russell actually choreographed it and Jason (along with the stuntman, James), actually performed it. Great stuff!
Thanks so much for your reply! Yes, I could see how tired you were simpy from your conversation with Russell, haha. It's no wonder in Hollywood we see actors in such phenomenal shape in this day and age. Anyways, I'm really enjoying your channel, just started watching recently and have been going through your older content and looking forward to getting up to date. Cheers!
Well he is an official "Officer of the British Empire" (OBE) and has a officially recognized coat of arms... Not quite a knight, but really really close. And even tho I'm german, that guy is my goddamn hero lol. Making millions as a CEO of an Game Developer and using his money to live and share medieval history! Just Badass.
That is my pet hate. I been involved in combat sports all my days and one of the precepts of hand fighting is never turn your back. So I can imagine fighting with a sword this rule would be times 10
Honestly the best and most authentic feeling fight between knights I've ever seen was Game of Thrones, The Hound VS Brienne of Tarth. It starts out like you would expect of Hollywood; Sword on sword, a couple of flourishes, dramatic framing and stances... then it gets very real, very fast. All elegance goes out the window. It just turns into a brutal and absolutely bloody bout of two very large humans trying to brutally beat each other to death.
The Hound was my favourite GOT character. Maybe the fictional relation between him and the Stark girl was inspired by the real historical relation between La Hire (you know who he was) and Joan of Arc.
As someone who studied a little bit of stage combat in my theatre days, it has more in common with sports like gymnastics or dance than it does actual swordfighting, but it's a *hell* of a lot of fun (and similarly difficult as an art form). This is such a great video!
I echo the others who say a more realistic approach would work too. Audiences have not seen historically based fights, and would immediately ‘get’ them. Nice to have the stage fighting analysed though.
I disagree. A real swordfight would probably be sudden and difficult to follow, or it would turn into a tired and ugly brawl. While I think some people would be interested in this, I don't think it has mass appeal. There's a reason casual fans of boxing often lament the era of Floyd Mayweather and his "running," and yet call the Ward vs Gatti fights some of the greatest of all time. Nuance is lost on most people.
@@heyiquit Pretty much mate, people seem to think that a medieval battle or one on one was chivalrous. I am fairly certain that limbs were hacked off, eyes gouged out and at the end more blood was outside a body than inside. Kill or be killed
@@gergelyguruz8843 A duel to the death might not always have resulted in death, but it was unlikely that someone would surrender before he was physically incapable of continuing to fight (losing his sword hand, for example), as that would make him an honourless man.
You can't blame stunt coordinators for giving Directors what they want, it's their job after all. They probably wouldn't get hired if they didn't provide the expected style. Personally for me though, that "Hollywood style" sucks all the dramatic tension out of the fight and breaks suspension of disbelief. It's clear the weapons aren't dangerous (because the protagonists don't act as if they are). And it just shouts at the audience that the characters are protected by "plot armour" (real armour is usually inconsequential) until the designated allotment of fight time is over. That's fine if you're adapting a children' fairy story, but that style wouldn't serve the story of something like Ridley Scott's The Duellists. It's a bit like any other story telling in movies. Do you need to stick to every trope and cliche? Tropes can be useful in storytelling, but their overuse leads to a boring and predictable journey unless you occasionally subvert expectations.
To contrast that, look at how Jackie Chan shoots his fights: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ And his are meant to be comedies, of all things! They look far better.
The fight arranger for The Duellists, William Hobbes, was one of the greats. His book, Fight Arranging ( IIRC), deals with making a fight a dramatic scene that reveals character and forwards the plot via a combat rather than, say, dialog. He also deals a lot in all the changes you have to make from real combat so actors don't kill each other, like keeping sword fights out of actual range. He was about the first to move to historical fencing, in The Three Musketeers, rather than having Robin Hood and the Sheriff do 19th c fencing. Lester gave him period rapiers, which Hobbes called "crowbars." (And Hobbes played the assassin who fights dual rapiers, because who else could have?)
@@ExUSSailor How are screenwriters to blame? They often just indicate general actions in a scene such as "Character A fights character B, it is a long fight". The actual fight and choreography is down to the director's taste and vision, rarely the screenwriters.
I agree mate, but keep in mind movies have to have audiences entertained. They are made to make money and most people would throw up watching a realistically made one. When men want men dead then there are no rules, no chivalry.
That level of silliness in the opening scene was something I never would have expected from this channel. Perhaps Skallagrim or Shadiversity, maybe even Scholagladiatoria if Matt were feeling a bit jocular that day. I approve of this silliness.
My Great Grandfather was a retired military officer and accomplished swordsman. In Naples, 1924, age 86 three of Mussolini's henchmen tried to arrest him for carrying a sword cane. He dispatched two before the third got him. He went out "with his boots on". He also fathered his last child at age 62 !
I am happy to see a fighting expert show appreciation for the storytelling aspects of cinema and TV. Real fights sometimes just are not able to tell a story.
"because he had a helmet on it wasn't a fatal blow" well having foam swords probably also helped. Cause we all know in movies they cut through armour like its butter :P
I honestly didn't even notice that the three blows in the third "act" weren't supposed to be fatal because he had grabbed the wrong end of the blade and was bashing him with the pommel. I just assumed movie logic. But I guess the fault lies with the cinematography for that one.
Getting clubbed with a sword on your helmet will still be a bitch to deal with. it will ring like a bell and your already reduced vision would probably be reduced even further because the helmet would go askew with the blow. Sure, it won't be fatal (not like if you were to be hit by a military pick or a halberd) but it would not be a pleasant thing to experience. There is a funny story about William Marshall (a 13th century knight) who got clubbed hard on his helmet and had to finish the tournament barely able to see. He needed to go to a blacksmith and have him cut the helmet open to free his head. His friends found that funny.
Great video, respectful of fight choreography. My only criticism , you should have done a second "real life" style version of the same scene. It would only take a few extra seconds. ;)
I was in full plate harness, and frankly it was tiring. In a tournament I’d normally fight for two minutes at a time, with helmet and usually pollaxe. This sequence took well over an hour to arrange and film. The other guy also had no real tourney combat experience with weapons. We did have fun though.
@@ModernKnight I doubt that think that people can fight for more then a few minutes at a time in a real pace, boxers and MMA fighters all have rounds and simple after a minute or so of exchanging blows the both of you would be to tired to keep fighting at that level, an at real risk from a fresh man.
@@SuperFunkmachine Some people atribute the early military sucess of the romans to their "3 line formation" (on the first the hastatii, principes on the second and triarii on the third) in which the first line organizedly retreated and gave way to the second after (we don't know for sure) 10 - 15 minutes of fighting. For their enemies, it was the equivalent of fighting a different and completely fresh (usually more experienced) oponent after 2 rounds of fighting. It was so effective that there are records of insubordination from the triarii, who were usually land owner veterans, at late stages of campaings that broke rank to charge the enemy and get into some action, all because they were in so many battles but never fought anyone because the enemies were defeated by the principes.
I would love to see you, Lindybeige, Matt Easton, Todd, Metatron, Knight Errant and Skall all club together to make a proper medieval war film. Using HEMA practitioners as extras. Breaking every awful Hollywood convention…
They are not awful conventions they do what they do for a reason. It is not just out of disrespect, their job is to entertain and to entertain alone (well money but that is how they get their money). Expecting them to be reflective of the historical and pragmatic reality isn't a fair expectation to come from an art-form.
@@AverageAlien Not to everyone or even most people. A more accurate statement is history CAN be entertaining. Movies and games would be pretty boring for a lot of people if realism was higher on the list of priorities.
"To entertain and tell a story in a fight...." - that sentence sums up gladiatorial fights where the objective was not just to kill the opponent but to make the fight itself look good in order to please and entertain the spectators.
The little piece in your opening sequence explains a lot with the fight scene. I was wondering when I'd stumble into this one episode. This is cool. I was rooting for you when you were wearing the light colored armor
Love the videos, mate. Deffo help with writing containing these elements. So many times though when watching movies and the character spins around to strike, or does any of those flourishes, I keep thinking that their opponent can kill or massively wound them if he wasn't busy watching the show. And I love that you mentioned the crossed swords bit, how you step aside and are done. Or about the "neither of them or trying to do anything with their legs". I understand why movies do this, the drama, the action. But I would like to see them put more realism in the fighting rather than any realism in the gore. (They can take all gore out as far as I'm concerned, because nobody needs to see that!) Anyway, thanks for the videos. They really make you think.
I have been studying the use of Chinese swords in my Kung Fu class. It is really interesting to see the practical use of cutting and the large, coup de grace style attacks we see in Hollywood films. I certainly understand why Directors do it but when you actually get some training in the proper use of a sword, you start to look at the practical use of weapons like swords more critically. Well done!
It tells a story, as this is a choreographed movie fight. One can appreciate the strength of a "realistic " choreographed fight scene but a great fight scene tells a story. It sells it much as the actors need to sell it.
A lot of work I see of actors of both genders to allow the fight sequences to seem so real. I feel this aspect of movies and series has been an amazing improvement in recent years.
The movie swordfight tropes which bother me are; sheilds are usually steel, and when mass ranks collide the immediately break out into one-on-one fights with completely indispersed ranks- why even bother with formations in the first place? Oh, and flame arrows- never forget sodding flame arrows!
I can't imagine anyone who has a "battle ready" sword grabbing the blade unless you have on heavy duty gloves. My sword is so sharp that any improper handling leads to some serious cuts without good protection. I once saw someone practicing with their sword and in the process of their follow though, seriously lacerated their thigh and ended up in the hospital fighting for their life from blood loss.
That's actually not a totally wrong perspective to have, but half swording and the murder stroke in particular, you are grabbing the blade in a specific way that prevents you from getting cut as easily, but they still had specific gauntlets constructed with maille in the palm and fingers to protect from cuts The murder stroke is when you are holding the blade of the sword and using the hilt like a bludgeon, it's a neat historical technique for using a sword to try and counter armor
If I had the budget I would love to produce a film realistic to the medieval period. (Combat, outfits etc). A film surrounding the whole persecution of the Catholic Church in the 16th century involving the jesuits and Margaret Clitherow. An interesting time that has a lot of inherent drama about it, imo good for a film.
I have to disagree. I think audiences do appreciate more realistic fighting, and there are films that have shown it is possible to choreograph and film this. I really hate constant jump cuts with extreme closeups, where you cannot tell what is happening in a fight. If you look at the master of fight choreography, Jackie Chan, that's still silly... but all the stunts are real, and you can see what is happening very clearly. It tells a great story. This episode of Every Frame a Painting is focusing on the comedy, but it covers how his scenes are filmed: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
i agree as i enjoyed such fighting scenes as a kid, but once i actually did some medieval fencing, i couldn't but shout "no fucking way!" in such scenes. "why the hell should he open to the enemy blows?!" "no way he could cut through that fullplate with only 10cm way of speeding his weapon" :D
Jackie Chan has also been practicing martial arts for most of his life and started his serious film career first as a stunt man. It's possible for him to do it because he knows how to do it realistically while still being quite safe. Most actors are not proficient in HEMA.
Jackie Chan's fight choreography is very far from realistic. He's prodigious and does the moves for real, but his opponents don't behave anything like real people. His style maybe the epitome of choreographed fighting, but it's the opposite of realistic.
For a little RUclips thing that beginning fight was extremely well done! Obviously you've got a cool choreographer but it was shot and edited well too!
I thought I saw a well-made cinematic sword fight - in the finale of the 1st episode of the "Chronicles of Brother Cadfael" series. And then I watched this video. Well.. Indeed - I thought :)
The reverse grip never hindered Zatoichi, check it out yourselves some of the greatest swordfights ever put on film and TV. Shintaro Katsu was a great actor, and he also had a great singing voice.
As a practitioner of various martial arts over the past 35 years, most of which have been full contact, I've found that people get most commonly and most seriously injured when doing light or zero contact sparring. This extends to staged and choreographed combat where people are not expecting to get hit... It also has an echo of George Silver's criticism of the Italian styles of fencing, in that the system comprises long sequences of complicated movements, and if a man misses but a single step he is in great danger of death. So while stage combat may not be much good for real-world fighting, it's still just as complex and dangerous an art, requiring great skill and techniques to keep you safe and deal with your opponent!
This is Thrand, great video and I had the same feelings doing a review of the sword experience with Adrian Paul . I was also his sword partner teaching the choreography.
Personally i have use reverse grip quite a lot but it is only for very specific situatuon and depending on the weapon. Reverse grip is better for shorter weapong like a dagger or a short sword that is about the same length as your arm max. It is also better for closer combat that is within arms reach. It could also be use for multiple opponent that after fighting off an opponent in front and you want to suprise the person behind you by hiding the blade and stab backwards.
I can appreciate that movies cannot be entirely realistic otherwise the entertainment value would be lost. Still I would have been greatly entertained by more realistic looking sword fights. For me it is hard to enjoy watching a fight that looks utterly unrealistic. I roll my eyes every time I see people in full plate armor getting cut down by the hero as if the amor was made of butter. I think realistic longsword fighting looks really cool. I don't entirely buy that Hollywood style longsword fights look the way they do for entertainment purpose. I think they also look that way in large part because they evolved from earlier Hollywood depictions of sword fights which was based on highly inaccurate and flawed understanding of historical martial arts. E.g. the Katana and the long sword are similar in handling and weight. Yet a long sword is always presented as something really heavy. Like they are hitting each other with heavy clubs or something. And that is obviously based on earlier wrong ideas of the weight and balance of a medieval long sword.
The more I watch this guy, the more I am convinced that he's an actual time-displaced knight who, after getting over the initial shock (perhaps with copious amounts of alcohol), quietly settled into modern life and decided to make a living the only way he knows how to.
THIS
Hahahaha Im not alone in this
And the rest of the crew are his CIA caretakers (or w/e english equivalent)
@@Emperor_Atlantis MI6.
He has a OBE and a co-founder of video game company rebellion
As someone who works in armoury for stage and screen, it’s really nice to not be slagged off. But instead acknowledged that we’re trying to tell a interesting story and not a documentary. Keep up the great work.
the guys seemed impressed that i managed to do the fight with real steel harness on. i liked the way they broke it down into stages.
i get what you mean, and i don't want to slagg you or your line of work off, but i never really enjoyed sword fights in movies, not because it's not well-made or well-executed, but because the story it tries to tell me doesn't really sell. I understand the way this job works, i understand that you can't take the risk to harm your sword fighters, but in the same time the story the film is trying to sell is globaly "they're fighting to the death", and not "they're sword dancing together".
It's kinda like trying to convince me that wwf wrestling is real fighting. I know that it's highly physical, that's it require high lvl of skill, and still can be dangerous, but while i can appreciate the performance, the all "it's real we hate each other and there's a backstory to confirm it" just kills it all for me. Cause it's obviously not the case.
In both case i have a lot of respect for the guys that execute the dance, its an entire line of job that require impressive amount of skill, but the problem remain. Dancing is not fighting.
What would you do if you went to a dancing show and they start planting carots on stage? You'd try to appreciate the carot planting, the way they do it properly and with skills, and that later on you could eat some delicious carots, but you'd still be a bit disapointed. After all you came to see dancing.
None the less, a very interesting vid, and it's very nice to get the inner sight of this line of job.
From years of doing both re-enactment and more HEMA styled groups, I completely understand that movie and tv fights have to be quite far removed from what would really occur. When you see two well trained practitioners square off the fights are often over very quickly or seem to be a huge blur and then you realise someone is ‘dead’. One of the most realistic fight scenes I have ever seen is actually in Army of Darkness (with Bruce Campbell) where the leading knight takes arrows to his armour and doesn’t flinch as he knows his armour will do its job so just keeps his stance. Cracking video again btw sir!
@@puloguffeltefush7745you could say that about all movies and books.
I didnt enjoy 1984 by Geoege Orwell, knowing its not true kills it for me.
I didnt ejoy the old or new testament, too make beleive and made up.
It's not just a Hollywood movie thing. In kung fu movies, the hero often finds himself surrounded by a circle of bad guys -- each of whom politely waits for his turn to go one-on-one with the hero.
Amir Khalid It’s hilarious to watch though. One attacks while the other 5 stand in the back and strike poses.
Funny you mention that. I was just commenting about how Jackie Chan shoots scenes... and generally there isn't a lot of waiting around, they all try to kill him: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
I noticed this in Batman vs Superman, during Batman's fight scenes. They're all so polite to wait their turn, and no one tries to shoot him either.
The same thing happens in games...until Dark Souls.
I don't know if any commentators here have actually been in a real fight situation when they stand alone against multiple opponents. I think from the comments they are lucky not to have experienced that. Unfortunately, I have. More times in my childhood and teens than I care to recall and three times as an adult. Often gang members do hold back when attacking an individual. Firstly because they are not all equally aggressive and they have a pecking order, secondly because a wise person (if they cannot run away) takes out the nearest opponent that poses the greatest threat. With street gangs and bullies the closest person to the victim is usually the most aggressive gang member and often the one the others are most scared of. You hurt that person and it does have a psychological impact on the rest. The most timid will hold back, even back off. Thirdly they don't come at you at the same pace or even coordinate such attacks well. At least not in my experience. Although admittedly adrenaline kicks in and people seem slower. Anyway they tend to get in each others way and some fear this will happen. Some know their fellows may just as easily end up hurting them. So yes several do come at you at once but if you are quick you can actually use that against them tripping, or pushing one into another or dodging quickly so one careers into another. Jackie Chan gets it right. His fights follow this kind of scenario. And no I'm not a criminal. I was raised in a very rough neighborhood and attended a school with an equally bad reputation.
I like that they acknowledge that it's stage fighting. They were doing it in shakespere's day, when audience members had swords.
How do you know they performed this type of stage fighting on stage during Shakespeare's time? Who's to say they'd didn't do it realistically, but with fake/blunted swords.
@@ernavill3261 Maybe all the flourishing and stuff didn't happen. BUT, presumably, even back in the day they wanted to avoid hurting eachother... and a blunted weapon still hurts like a mother. So, probably, the whole "duet"/dance thing was still happening. Most strikes during a stage fight are either heavily telegraphed or intended to miss by a large margin (but must be made to look as though they would hit).
@@Halo_Legend to the contrary. movies definitely have a stage. they are called a SET sometimes. you didn't know this?
when someone talks about a movie set. they are talking about a film stage.
what's called staging in a play, is called set dressing in a movie. but in actuality a set is a stage.
movies are the evolution of theatre. the profession of actor has been around since ancient greece.
when movie cameras were invented they didn't invent a new profession of film actor, they just used the same ACTORS as
thousands of years ago. stage actors.
When the audience carries swords and knows how to use them you can get away with only so much. One story I've heard is that on one occassion the authorties needed men for the militia at very short notice, the quickest way they had to fo so was to go to the Globe and press men in the audience into service.
To all those who question that stylized "stage fighting" happened a very long time ago, it actually goes back much further than Shakespearean times. In the (very detailed) histories of the Roman empire there are multiple accounts of gladiators participating in exhibition battles with stylized fighting that drew laughter from those with experience in battle in the crowds. In the same books there are also accounts of older gladiators only participating in exhibition matches - I can only assume they mean such stylized fights instead of ones where their lives are in danger.
It's pretty clear that over-acted parodies of serious sword fighting from people who knew better and in front of people who knew better has been a thing for thousands of years. I think as long as someone isn't pretending that it's not an overacted parody live and let live - just laugh at it like those Roman soldiers apparently did.
That ear to ear grin during the coreographed fight is just hilarious. Jason obvious enjoyed making that scene.
My favourite story telling in a sword fight is probably:
"I'm not left handed"
"I'm not left handed either"
Anybody want a peanut?
the dread pirate
I can fence with both, and tried that a few times in bouts.
PolyWannaKraken a masterpiece of a movie
You are using Venneti’s against me hu ?
I thought it fitting considering the rocky terrain
Errol Flynn once remarked that he didn't know how to actually fight with a sword but he knew how to make it look good.
@schizoidboy tvtropes.com actually coined the word "flynning" for that kind of swordfight that's basically 2 guys banging their swords together.
What could look better than the real thing?
"I'M NOT AN ACTOR, I'M A MOVIE STAR!!!", Peter O'Toole as the Erroll Flynn like character, Alan Swan in _My Favorite Year_
@Garret Phegley “In like Flynn” actually referred to Flynn’s talent as a seducer of women. To be “in like Flynn” initially meant to successfully seduce a woman, but over time it came to mean “to succeed with ease and style” more generally.
As opposed to his good friend Basil Rathbone, who really did.
It is Nice to have a video on this topic which isn't a HEMA person bashing movie fighting because it doesn't fit what they think should be in a movie. It shows the perspective of the choreographer. He knows it is bullshit fighting, but it doesn't need to be realistic, it needs to Tell the story. I love this video.
ruclips.net/video/Cn36Pb8z3yI/видео.html
Watch this and tell me realistic fights can't tell a story as well or even better than the hollywood crap we just saw
@@sheogorath979 Firstly, don't be a douche. Nobody was claiming that real fights can't be entertaining.
Secondly. Great Freaking Video. I loved it. If they added Audio It would have been perfect. Like, a dialogue while the fight was happening or something.
Yeah lots of armchair swordmasters on RUclips scoff at movie fights but choreography is an art in and of itself and anyone that has ever done it realizes how much skill and creativity it takes to sell the fight
@@crustman5982 Besides, there's that point about Russell keeping his actors SAFE. It's rare that someone gets seriously injured on set these days, but with large productions it would be extremely expensive to have the big shining hero or his black-hearted nemesis unavailable even for a week. Not to mention it would suck - and maybe hurt your acting career - if you were disfigured! It's a very important thing to keep all those actors safe when most of them have probably never practiced anything like swordfighting. There's a lot going into that single purpose, more than Russell could tell us in such a short time. Someone doing this will have to consider the abilities and skills of the actors and whether they will help or hinder, then see what can be used.
And ofc if you film in a real historical location you don't want The Mountain to smash 300-year old furniture, or his opponent knocking down some priceless vase when trying to dodge...
Spetulhu right people just want to feel like experts because they can point out fiction is in fact fiction
You remind me of that history teacher everyone loves
What a delightful video! It's a complete inversion of what I've come to expect of this wonderful channel, yet is very educational in its own right. I just love the enthusiasm of Jason and Russell as they talk about the scene we see at the beginning of the video. It reminded me of the kind of enthusiasm between friends after seeing an action extravaganza in a movie theater; mimicking the scenes and just gushing at the coolness of it. The only difference is that Russell actually choreographed it and Jason (along with the stuntman, James), actually performed it. Great stuff!
thanks fo your feedback. It was surprisingly tiring to do and redo the scenes with different camer a angles.
Thanks so much for your reply! Yes, I could see how tired you were simpy from your conversation with Russell, haha. It's no wonder in Hollywood we see actors in such phenomenal shape in this day and age. Anyways, I'm really enjoying your channel, just started watching recently and have been going through your older content and looking forward to getting up to date.
Cheers!
This mans is a actually knight. Can’t convince me otherwise
Well he is an official "Officer of the British Empire" (OBE) and has a officially recognized coat of arms...
Not quite a knight, but really really close.
And even tho I'm german, that guy is my goddamn hero lol.
Making millions as a CEO of an Game Developer and using his money to live and share medieval history!
Just Badass.
As an OBE he would be recognized as such in other Euro countries
I love it when a fellow spins around in a movie sword fight. Show me your back in a fight, I’m hitting you there.
That is my pet hate. I been involved in combat sports all my days and one of the precepts of hand fighting is never turn your back. So I can imagine fighting with a sword this rule would be times 10
@@wanna-be-cowboy Well it works in MMA sometimes and those guys are fighting for real. I think it has some merit as an unexpected move.
I really don’t think your grin could get much wider 😁 Nice to see honest enjoyment.
Your enthusiasm is what makes it so entertaining, you always put a huge grin on my face!
thanks for watching!
Honestly the best and most authentic feeling fight between knights I've ever seen was Game of Thrones, The Hound VS Brienne of Tarth.
It starts out like you would expect of Hollywood; Sword on sword, a couple of flourishes, dramatic framing and stances... then it gets very real, very fast. All elegance goes out the window. It just turns into a brutal and absolutely bloody bout of two very large humans trying to brutally beat each other to death.
The Hound was my favourite GOT character.
Maybe the fictional relation between him and the Stark girl was inspired by the real historical relation between La Hire (you know who he was) and Joan of Arc.
No. Almost every fight in GOT was horrible.
I love the slow motion of the fight scene. You can really see the Sable Knight using his force powers to pummel Sir Jason.
As someone who studied a little bit of stage combat in my theatre days, it has more in common with sports like gymnastics or dance than it does actual swordfighting, but it's a *hell* of a lot of fun (and similarly difficult as an art form). This is such a great video!
I echo the others who say a more realistic approach would work too. Audiences have not seen historically based fights, and would immediately ‘get’ them. Nice to have the stage fighting analysed though.
I disagree. A real swordfight would probably be sudden and difficult to follow, or it would turn into a tired and ugly brawl. While I think some people would be interested in this, I don't think it has mass appeal. There's a reason casual fans of boxing often lament the era of Floyd Mayweather and his "running," and yet call the Ward vs Gatti fights some of the greatest of all time. Nuance is lost on most people.
@@heyiquit Pretty much mate, people seem to think that a medieval battle or one on one was chivalrous. I am fairly certain that limbs were hacked off, eyes gouged out and at the end more blood was outside a body than inside. Kill or be killed
@@gergelyguruz8843
A duel to the death might not always have resulted in death, but it was unlikely that someone would surrender before he was physically incapable of continuing to fight (losing his sword hand, for example), as that would make him an honourless man.
@@ragnkja a man with true honor has two sword hands
You can't blame stunt coordinators for giving Directors what they want, it's their job after all. They probably wouldn't get hired if they didn't provide the expected style.
Personally for me though, that "Hollywood style" sucks all the dramatic tension out of the fight and breaks suspension of disbelief. It's clear the weapons aren't dangerous (because the protagonists don't act as if they are). And it just shouts at the audience that the characters are protected by "plot armour" (real armour is usually inconsequential) until the designated allotment of fight time is over. That's fine if you're adapting a children' fairy story, but that style wouldn't serve the story of something like Ridley Scott's The Duellists.
It's a bit like any other story telling in movies. Do you need to stick to every trope and cliche? Tropes can be useful in storytelling, but their overuse leads to a boring and predictable journey unless you occasionally subvert expectations.
To contrast that, look at how Jackie Chan shoots his fights: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
And his are meant to be comedies, of all things! They look far better.
I don't think anyone blames the stuntmen, and, stunt coordinators. It's the screenwriters, and, directors who deserve the blame for inaccuracy.
The fight arranger for The Duellists, William Hobbes, was one of the greats. His book, Fight Arranging ( IIRC), deals with making a fight a dramatic scene that reveals character and forwards the plot via a combat rather than, say, dialog. He also deals a lot in all the changes you have to make from real combat so actors don't kill each other, like keeping sword fights out of actual range. He was about the first to move to historical fencing, in The Three Musketeers, rather than having Robin Hood and the Sheriff do 19th c fencing. Lester gave him period rapiers, which Hobbes called "crowbars." (And Hobbes played the assassin who fights dual rapiers, because who else could have?)
@@ExUSSailor How are screenwriters to blame? They often just indicate general actions in a scene such as "Character A fights character B, it is a long fight". The actual fight and choreography is down to the director's taste and vision, rarely the screenwriters.
I agree mate, but keep in mind movies have to have audiences entertained. They are made to make money and most people would throw up watching a realistically made one. When men want men dead then there are no rules, no chivalry.
That level of silliness in the opening scene was something I never would have expected from this channel. Perhaps Skallagrim or Shadiversity, maybe even Scholagladiatoria if Matt were feeling a bit jocular that day. I approve of this silliness.
My Great Grandfather was a retired military officer and accomplished swordsman. In Naples, 1924, age 86 three of Mussolini's henchmen tried to arrest him for carrying a sword cane. He dispatched two before the third got him. He went out "with his boots on". He also fathered his last child at age 62 !
Badass
At 62?!?! Nevermind the swordsmanship! The man was eternally 24!
So he killed 2 Policemen ?, when they want to arresting him, carrying an in Italien, illegal weapon ?
Looks like a real villain not a hero.
I am happy to see a fighting expert show appreciation for the storytelling aspects of cinema and TV. Real fights sometimes just are not able to tell a story.
I really enjoyed them talking out the actions while doing them. Gives a whole new perspective
"because he had a helmet on it wasn't a fatal blow" well having foam swords probably also helped. Cause we all know in movies they cut through armour like its butter :P
I honestly didn't even notice that the three blows in the third "act" weren't supposed to be fatal because he had grabbed the wrong end of the blade and was bashing him with the pommel. I just assumed movie logic. But I guess the fault lies with the cinematography for that one.
'Tis but a scratch
Getting clubbed with a sword on your helmet will still be a bitch to deal with. it will ring like a bell and your already reduced vision would probably be reduced even further because the helmet would go askew with the blow. Sure, it won't be fatal (not like if you were to be hit by a military pick or a halberd) but it would not be a pleasant thing to experience. There is a funny story about William Marshall (a 13th century knight) who got clubbed hard on his helmet and had to finish the tournament barely able to see. He needed to go to a blacksmith and have him cut the helmet open to free his head. His friends found that funny.
He also stabbed the bad guy straight through his armour like it wasn't there at the end :)
if it was a real movie the barn would start catching on fire as the fight begins
I can't get enough of these. They're interesting, charming and informative.
Thanks
Great video, respectful of fight choreography. My only criticism , you should have done a second "real life" style version of the same scene. It would only take a few extra seconds. ;)
I was in full plate harness, and frankly it was tiring. In a tournament I’d normally fight for two minutes at a time, with helmet and usually pollaxe. This sequence took well over an hour to arrange and film. The other guy also had no real tourney combat experience with weapons. We did have fun though.
@@ModernKnight I doubt that think that people can fight for more then a few minutes at a time in a real pace, boxers and MMA fighters all have rounds and simple after a minute or so of exchanging blows the both of you would be to tired to keep fighting at that level, an at real risk from a fresh man.
@@SuperFunkmachine Some people atribute the early military sucess of the romans to their "3 line formation" (on the first the hastatii, principes on the second and triarii on the third) in which the first line organizedly retreated and gave way to the second after (we don't know for sure) 10 - 15 minutes of fighting. For their enemies, it was the equivalent of fighting a different and completely fresh (usually more experienced) oponent after 2 rounds of fighting. It was so effective that there are records of insubordination from the triarii, who were usually land owner veterans, at late stages of campaings that broke rank to charge the enemy and get into some action, all because they were in so many battles but never fought anyone because the enemies were defeated by the principes.
@@ModernKnight Are there any videos of you fighting in a tournament? Would love to see them.
@@Philipp54461 Yes!
I would love to see you, Lindybeige, Matt Easton, Todd, Metatron, Knight Errant and Skall all club together to make a proper medieval war film. Using HEMA practitioners as extras. Breaking every awful Hollywood convention…
Make it an invasion of Shad and his squires.
You forgot Tod Cutler 😊
They are not awful conventions they do what they do for a reason. It is not just out of disrespect, their job is to entertain and to entertain alone (well money but that is how they get their money). Expecting them to be reflective of the historical and pragmatic reality isn't a fair expectation to come from an art-form.
@@SirNarax history is entertaining
@@AverageAlien Not to everyone or even most people. A more accurate statement is history CAN be entertaining. Movies and games would be pretty boring for a lot of people if realism was higher on the list of priorities.
I’m so happy I found this channel. Thank you Jason for sharing your adventures, and passion with us!
our pleasure, thanks for watching
I now have a new appreciation for fight choreography that I didn't have before. I think I'm going to be watching a lot more of this series now.
"To entertain and tell a story in a fight...." - that sentence sums up gladiatorial fights where the objective was not just to kill the opponent but to make the fight itself look good in order to please and entertain the spectators.
The little piece in your opening sequence explains a lot with the fight scene. I was wondering when I'd stumble into this one episode. This is cool. I was rooting for you when you were wearing the light colored armor
Just wanted to say that you really make some top notch content and i hope your channel grows multi-fold.
Man I just found this channel and I love it
That was some good choreography. A bit cheesy 😂 but very entertaining
His enjoyment of all this is infectious.
The fighting scene at the beginning is extremly well done! Does not stand back behind Hollywood choreography.
Jason looks like he's having so much fun! I absolutely love this
Have a thumbs up just for that opening scene. Well done
My favourite video from the entire series
When i first saw the intro without seeing this i got realy scared but now that i have seen this im just happy you didn’t sell this as reality
Love the videos, mate. Deffo help with writing containing these elements.
So many times though when watching movies and the character spins around to strike, or does any of those flourishes, I keep thinking that their opponent can kill or massively wound them if he wasn't busy watching the show. And I love that you mentioned the crossed swords bit, how you step aside and are done. Or about the "neither of them or trying to do anything with their legs".
I understand why movies do this, the drama, the action. But I would like to see them put more realism in the fighting rather than any realism in the gore. (They can take all gore out as far as I'm concerned, because nobody needs to see that!)
Anyway, thanks for the videos. They really make you think.
This looked like terrific fun.
It was, and hard work doing all the moves again and again.
Fantastic series that made history come to life.
I'm so glad that the spinning blow from the opening turned out to be from this episode.
The hero fought so dirty, not once did the bad guy take advantage of an opening! Yet the hero totally did! How rude!
I have been studying the use of Chinese swords in my Kung Fu class. It is really interesting to see the practical use of cutting and the large, coup de grace style attacks we see in Hollywood films. I certainly understand why Directors do it but when you actually get some training in the proper use of a sword, you start to look at the practical use of weapons like swords more critically. Well done!
OH MY GOD.... Sir James ... Lol. That was Amazing looking
Thank you kindly
6:01 "Use the pommel to end him rightly!"
*Pommel.
@@Riceball01 You're right ofcourse, fixed it!
Jan Ruud Schutrups I wonder if Skall watches this
@Mo Makes Art hahaha
Stem fvd
Best fight I’ve ever seen on film! Great Job Sir Jason!
Wow that actually looked better then most movie swordfights :D
Where did you get those foam swords? They’re the best I’ve ever seen and I’d like to get a couple for myself.
It tells a story, as this is a choreographed movie fight. One can appreciate the strength of a "realistic " choreographed fight scene but a great fight scene tells a story. It sells it much as the actors need to sell it.
A lot of work I see of actors of both genders to allow the fight sequences to seem so real. I feel this aspect of movies and series has been an amazing improvement in recent years.
Your videos are simply a delight to watch, Ser!
That opening fight was awesome!
The movie swordfight tropes which bother me are; sheilds are usually steel, and when mass ranks collide the immediately break out into one-on-one fights with completely indispersed ranks- why even bother with formations in the first place? Oh, and flame arrows- never forget sodding flame arrows!
The fight he's talking about sounds like when Ned and Howland confronted Sir Arthur Dayne in Game of Thrones.
I can't imagine anyone who has a "battle ready" sword grabbing the blade unless you have on heavy duty gloves. My sword is so sharp that any improper handling leads to some serious cuts without good protection. I once saw someone practicing with their sword and in the process of their follow though, seriously lacerated their thigh and ended up in the hospital fighting for their life from blood loss.
That's actually not a totally wrong perspective to have, but half swording and the murder stroke in particular, you are grabbing the blade in a specific way that prevents you from getting cut as easily, but they still had specific gauntlets constructed with maille in the palm and fingers to protect from cuts
The murder stroke is when you are holding the blade of the sword and using the hilt like a bludgeon, it's a neat historical technique for using a sword to try and counter armor
If I had the budget I would love to produce a film realistic to the medieval period. (Combat, outfits etc). A film surrounding the whole persecution of the Catholic Church in the 16th century involving the jesuits and Margaret Clitherow. An interesting time that has a lot of inherent drama about it, imo good for a film.
You can tell how much fun everybody is having 😄, great video!
I have to disagree. I think audiences do appreciate more realistic fighting, and there are films that have shown it is possible to choreograph and film this. I really hate constant jump cuts with extreme closeups, where you cannot tell what is happening in a fight. If you look at the master of fight choreography, Jackie Chan, that's still silly... but all the stunts are real, and you can see what is happening very clearly. It tells a great story.
This episode of Every Frame a Painting is focusing on the comedy, but it covers how his scenes are filmed: /watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
i agree as i enjoyed such fighting scenes as a kid, but once i actually did some medieval fencing, i couldn't but shout "no fucking way!" in such scenes. "why the hell should he open to the enemy blows?!" "no way he could cut through that fullplate with only 10cm way of speeding his weapon" :D
btw if you want some "more realistic" medieval choreographs check out this channel /watch?v=Cn36Pb8z3yI
Jackie Chan has also been practicing martial arts for most of his life and started his serious film career first as a stunt man. It's possible for him to do it because he knows how to do it realistically while still being quite safe. Most actors are not proficient in HEMA.
@@papajohnsdimsum1564 And to add to this, Jackie still broke a lot of bones over his career.
Jackie Chan's fight choreography is very far from realistic. He's prodigious and does the moves for real, but his opponents don't behave anything like real people. His style maybe the epitome of choreographed fighting, but it's the opposite of realistic.
I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you Sir Jason. 💖🐎🐎🐎🐎
I cannot stress out how much I enjoy this type of content. I'm watching everything you post :)
Dude needs to make a movie. It would be amazing.
For a little RUclips thing that beginning fight was extremely well done! Obviously you've got a cool choreographer but it was shot and edited well too!
that opening sword fight was amazing
As a HEMA practitioner myself I would be interested in seeing your tournament footage! Would be fun to fence you as well!
The choreographed fight was actually pretty cool. I'd love to see that in a movie.
BRO!! Why did i never see this video??? its the best one!!
I thought I saw a well-made cinematic sword fight - in the finale of the 1st episode of the "Chronicles of Brother Cadfael" series. And then I watched this video. Well.. Indeed - I thought :)
3:31 "is spectacular".
You're a true gentleman.
Lol! Love the 'Segal' reverse sword stage fighting, Jason!
Sir Jason, a most noble warrior.
That brief second when your name is also James and they acknowledge you off screen at the end of the video and you're like: "Woah, what??".
The reverse grip never hindered Zatoichi, check it out yourselves some of the greatest swordfights ever put on film and TV. Shintaro Katsu was a great actor, and he also had a great singing voice.
Look at the face of Russell McLeod at 3.26, he really likes the moves of Jason!
I would have enjoyed it if you had shown the whole scene again after analysing it so that we could see it with different eyes. But amazing video!
As a practitioner of various martial arts over the past 35 years, most of which have been full contact, I've found that people get most commonly and most seriously injured when doing light or zero contact sparring. This extends to staged and choreographed combat where people are not expecting to get hit... It also has an echo of George Silver's criticism of the Italian styles of fencing, in that the system comprises long sequences of complicated movements, and if a man misses but a single step he is in great danger of death.
So while stage combat may not be much good for real-world fighting, it's still just as complex and dangerous an art, requiring great skill and techniques to keep you safe and deal with your opponent!
Another great and interesting video. Especially LOL to the very last bit - I have liked and subscribed.
"Shall I arrive as a friend or an enemy" - Modern History guy - "Neither!"
This is so flipping FUN! I would love to see a real tournament and how you fight in real life.
That was awesome... It made you look like a Righteous knight... Of how we view fighting in the Cinematic world...
Good for you Good Sir
Very well choreographed. Bravo!
That intro was better than many movies
What a great start to a vid. ! Love the show thanks Cheers
I love how Jason is having the time of his life
This is Thrand, great video and I had the same feelings doing a review of the sword experience with Adrian Paul . I was also his sword partner teaching the choreography.
Hey Thrand, nice to see you.
Anyone else subscribe purely for the use of the word 'nefarious'? What A marvellous channel.
Okay, how come I spent my whole life without knowing this channel existed?
That intro was amazing!
That intro is absolutely fantastic 😂
Personally i have use reverse grip quite a lot but it is only for very specific situatuon and depending on the weapon. Reverse grip is better for shorter weapong like a dagger or a short sword that is about the same length as your arm max. It is also better for closer combat that is within arms reach. It could also be use for multiple opponent that after fighting off an opponent in front and you want to suprise the person behind you by hiding the blade and stab backwards.
Always love that opening scene!
Joking Aside,that is great professional stage fighting and I would love to do a course with view to starting a career.
That was brilliant. Great video.
Thank you very much!
Funny how many times we have seen that exchange in movies and such.
Essentially: Hollywood fights build tension, real fights release tension.
I was hoping from the title to see a comparison between the movie fighting and realistic fighting.
I can appreciate that movies cannot be entirely realistic otherwise the entertainment value would be lost. Still I would have been greatly entertained by more realistic looking sword fights. For me it is hard to enjoy watching a fight that looks utterly unrealistic. I roll my eyes every time I see people in full plate armor getting cut down by the hero as if the amor was made of butter.
I think realistic longsword fighting looks really cool. I don't entirely buy that Hollywood style longsword fights look the way they do for entertainment purpose. I think they also look that way in large part because they evolved from earlier Hollywood depictions of sword fights which was based on highly inaccurate and flawed understanding of historical martial arts.
E.g. the Katana and the long sword are similar in handling and weight. Yet a long sword is always presented as something really heavy. Like they are hitting each other with heavy clubs or something. And that is obviously based on earlier wrong ideas of the weight and balance of a medieval long sword.