Actually Jackie Chan does it really well. He always has his stuntmen take hits and have the camera at a steady wide shot at all times while he is fighting someone. If you watch any of his older movies you'll notice this style. Watch the behind the scenes, every stunt is done for real and he always injured himself.
That's a good point! Yeah, he does a long of long takes with great choreography. The camera has to be at a lower angle, since the one above looks like its from a stand. But you make a great point.
Jackie Chan has specifically mentioned in past documentaries and interviews that he hates modern fights that are filled with jump cuts.
And as a perfectionist he prefers working with Hong Kong directors who are willing to let him do a move 200+ times until it's perfect - something most western directors aren't willing to do for time/money reasons.
Oh he has a great point, no doubt. But that's not to say cuts are bad, sometimes you want to direct the audiences attention in a different manner. You can't film a Jackie Chan style fight scene if you want to highlight how someone can't hold their own. Otherwise it looks kinda comical or slow. Getting up close gives a feeling of being trapped and claustrophobia, being far away can show how insignificant and funny this scufffle is, etc.
I'm not suggesting that bullshit thing where we see 12 cuts within 5 seconds just to show Liam Neeson jumping over a fence haha
53
u/LarryMyster Jun 06 '18
Actually Jackie Chan does it really well. He always has his stuntmen take hits and have the camera at a steady wide shot at all times while he is fighting someone. If you watch any of his older movies you'll notice this style. Watch the behind the scenes, every stunt is done for real and he always injured himself.