14 thoughts on “Cool fan vid”

  1. Videosift

    Have you found Videosift? You’re finding all of these videos about the same time that I am. I’m totally obsessed with that site.

    And yes, this is one of the best fan vids I’ve ever seen.

    — Ben

    1. Never heard of it…

      I never heard of it until now. The web site I rely on is, uhh, “network of friends”. I know enough geeky people with enough common interests that they tend to forward me the good stuff 🙂

      —
      Matthew P. Barnson

        1. Another fun thing…

          Another fun thing to do is just check out Google’s most popular picks for videos…

          Man, where would we be without the Internet, anyway? Back in boring-land…

          —
          Matthew P. Barnson

    2. I Can’t Stop

      Ben, I hate you for introducing me to Videosift. I can’t stop watching!!!

  2. Holy God. Speaking as a

    Holy God. Speaking as a fight choreographer, that is singularly the best fan light-saber fight I’ve ever seen. The flow of the fight itself made me horrifically jealous. It wasn’t just pretty flashing lights. You could tell exactly what each character was trying to accomplish with every move.

    A couple interesting tidbits: I will bet a hundred dollars that Dorkman is a fencer. Most likely a sabre fencer. His stance (with his hand behind his back) indicates it; he stands with his side to his opponent, with the lightsaber held one-handed out in front of him, which is unusual because the lightsaber is traditionally gripped with two hands, as Dorkman’s opponent demonstrates.

    One particular highlight is when Dorkman punched his opponent in the leg where he had his previous wound. That’s the kind of attention to detail that really makes a good fight. Very few choreographed fights actually remember that after someone gets cut in one place, that person has to deal with said wound for the rest of the fight.

    Justin, I know you’ve done lightsaber effects before. How long does it usually take, per second of fight?

    1. Absolutely

      Speaking as an almost-fight-choreographer (I was a few hours shy of certification), it’s one of the most flawless pieces of stage fighting I’ve ever seen. The sword moves are fluid and interesting to watch, and the gimmicky things (like flipping the lightsaber around and wielding it like a dagger) only add to the suspense. It wasn’t just a bunch of fight moves – there was a real story, and a dramatic arc to the fight. That’s difficult for any choreographer to achieve, especially over a 5-minute fight.

      Additionally, I think the film editing is spectacular. Adds to the whole thing.

      — Ben

        1. Combat

          I trained with Lewis Shaw at UMBC. He’s an excellent fight choreographer and teacher, and a really talented sword-maker. At the end of the school year, he offered to make me a custom Florentine rapier with a Schlager blade for $250, and I just couldn’t afford it at the time. I really regret not taking him up on that.

          Anyway, I was going to continue studying and get my certification, but Lewis ended up leaving his position and moving away somewhere, and I just never got around to studying with anyone else.

          You?

          — Ben

          1. Dude, I just talked with

            Dude, I just talked with Lewis last night . 🙂 No kidding.

            I’m in a rape/murder scene for the Baltimore Opera Company’s production of Dead Man Walking, and he’s the Fight Choreographer.

            Wow. Small world. 🙂

            And wow, you had a chance to get a Shaw blade for 250$? Shame. Those sell for like 500 at least now. His work’s amazing.

            My first trainer was a guy named David “Pops” Doersch down at William and Mary. Since then I’ve trained with Michael Johnson, a new guy named Robb Hunter, and I went to the SAFD 3-week training event in Vegas a few years ago.

            Where are you living right now? If you ever get the urge to train again, I could probably find out who the Certified Teachers in the area are.

          2. no WAY!!!!

            That is completely awesome. Please tell him I said hi — I was in his stage combat class at UMBC in, oh, 1993 I think.

            Yeah, I’m really bummed that I didn’t take him up on the sword offer. At the time, $250 seemed like a LOT of money.

            And I was also in the Baltimore Opera Chorus in 97 and 98 – I’m sure a lot of them are still in it. Enjoy!

            — Ben

    2. If you just rotoscope…

      rotoscoping frame by frame with a photoshop type program as an attachment to an editing suite takes about 20 mins per second, per sword.. and then there’s the sound, and the flash effects..

      so, yeah..

      Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com

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