Friday, April 12, 2013

The Cost of Success Part 2: Brende Vs Hutch and "Low Budget Man" Episode 9


Now that I’ve shown you what big money can buy, let’s look at some low budget fight scenes.

Here is a brief fight that is performed by James Hutchison III and Solomom Brende. Both of these performers are incredibly well trained and skilled, as evident by their work. Take a look at something they put together and shared on YouTube:



Monday, April 8, 2013

The Cost of Success Part 1: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl


A "hot topic" in the stage combat industry is whether or not big budgets means better fight scenes. The answer to this is not as straight forward as it may initially appear. When it comes to creating a professional film project, the more experienced Stunt Coordinators/Fight Directors will likely charge more for their time than an amateur. Something to consider, however, is the fact that these incredibly knowledgable Stunt Coordinators/ Fight Directors also bring years of training and experience to the table.  If a film has a higher budget, the producers can afford to hire the best of the best and therefore have better results, right? Not always! There is nothing stopping a group of excellent stage combatants from coming together to create some epic battles to film for fun and for free. While the overall quality of the footage may not be nearly as good as that of a feature film, would the impact of the fight itself suffer? Well, let's see.