Jedi Sword-play

[Larry_OHF]

After reading this, I had to post it...you know!

Edit...by the way...Jedi sword-fighting technique is based on Epee, Kendo, and Rapier, throwing in a little influence from tennis and tree chopping for good measure.

Jedi Swordplay May 21, 1998 "I hate stunts that look like stunts," says Episode I Stunt Coordinator Nick Gillard. Gillard strives for a no-nonsense, realistic look to the work he supervises, and Episode I will feature Gillard's elaborate Jedi swordplay choreography. The real-life Jedi Master has drawn upon his extensive knowledge of martial arts to create the moves of the Jedi, and has created fights which are more than just exciting to watch. "Every parry is deliberate," Gillard says. "There is no pure cinema stuff, no meaningless flourishes. There are no moves that would actually leave the fighter open. In some cases the fights are going so fast that you can hardly see all this, but if you slow it down, you can see that every move is for real. Both Ewan and Liam got into this so deeply that they became literally as fast as our stunt guys. They were incredible." Gillard was very concerned to avoid what he sees as common pitfalls in cinema swordplay. "In films the fighters always know where the next blow is coming from, and they often end up giving that away, anticipating the moves of their opponent," he says. Gillard worked intensely at avoiding any trace of telegraphing in his Jedi fights. "Every strike is at a target. And we all took a few knocks working it all out. There are no punches pulled in these fights." Presumably, this explains the stunt team's tendency to wreck a large number of lightsaber props during the course of filming. For all the work that has gone into making these fights as complex as a chess game between masters, Gillard is most pleased about the way in which the lightsaber battles support the story. "It's all subtle, and I suppose no one will ever notice this sort of thing, but every fight has a story structure in it. Each confrontation is about the warriors learning what they are up against, learning about their opponents. And the moves of each character grow specifically from that character's nature, their position in relation to the light and dark sides of the force." Battling against telegraphing anything, Gillard wrote the fights as real confrontations of near-equals. "This was meant to be like matching Porsche Turbos against each other," he says with a grin. "And no fight was written with an inevitable conclusion," he notes. "This makes an outcome all the more unexpected when it happens. Even for us watching the action on the stage." "In this situation, it would be so easy to go overboard," Gillard reflects. "But this work shouts to be controlled, subtle. The Jedi are doing the moves they have to in order to survive. The realism in the fights tones the fighters down to a human level. Their moves are limited; they have Jedi powers but they are not super heroes with magic abilities. They are more like you. They could lose. And that makes you feel more for them, I hope."

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3rd Member of the Ancient OHF
Diamond Ranger of the ALSB (secretarial position & Ambassador)
Father of the wicked but cute child known as MaryBeth

Padre de una niña bien traviosa pero guapa
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Aisukuríimu ga tabetái desu.

[This message has been edited by Larry_OHF (edited 10-24-2001).]

[MILAMBER]

RESPECT!!!

I know that episode 1 has taken a lot of $hit, but I liked it and I thought the fight sequences were outstanding.

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George Patton (1885-1945)

Member of CLAN HADB

[Lifetime]

Wow! Im gonna watch Episode 1 again!

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No-Name Face

[skywalker]

Excellent post! I should know!


Mark

[Larry_OHF]

There was more that I did not take time to post.
It was an interview with Obi-Won.
He was talking about learning how to fight and mostly how to pretend a laser blast was coming at you(at the beginning of the movie), and put up your defense. He said that it was hard because he had first just got out there, and waved his little sword around, thinking that ws deflection. ..but the teachers told him that he could not deflect something he did not see coming first. He then had to learn to make his eyes focus on a pretend object coming at him, then move his sword in the proper place afterward. He got so good at it, that in the movie, you almost don't even see him doing that, because that scene goes by too quick.
Good Stuff!!!!!!!!

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3rd Member of the Ancient OHF
Diamond Ranger of the ALSB (secretarial position & Ambassador)
Father of the wicked but cute child known as MaryBeth

Padre de una niña bien traviosa pero guapa
---------------------
Aisukuríimu ga tabetái desu.

[Prime2U]

Episode 1 took great advantage on new technologies to be visually stunning and have the best effects ever, and yes the lightsaber battles were great. What was annoying about it was that it catered to children entirely too much, took a lot of the seriousness, gravity and suspense away from it that the first trilogy had. I'm hoping that episode 2 gets much darker, like the Empire Strikes Back did. Yes I bought Epi 1 anyway cause after all it's still starwars, but it was still a little disappointing in respect to storyline.

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"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." - Lennon

[Nachtrafe]

Little bit of trivia for you. In the fight secnes they used plexiglass rods for the saber blades. And the things had a tendency to break cuz they were hitting them so hard. By the end of training and shooting, they had filled 4(!!!!!) dumpsters with broken saber blades.

And if anyone is interested in seeing some more amazing saber play, you should check out some of the Star Wars fan films. Try http://www.theforce.net/theater/ or http://www.jitterbug.com/starwars/index.html

There is some truly amazing stuff out there. My personal favorite is one called Duality. It will blow you away. Fair warning, if you dont have broadband, get a download manager as most of these films run 10+ Megs. I have some on my HD that are over 100.

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"In Memorium of those who are gone, and all those that bought our freedom with their hearts blood!"

"May the Colors of Liberty never run"

[skywalker]

Speaking of Star Wars type fan films, anyone here ever see a parody called Hardware Wars.

It is hilarious and not to be missed!

Mark

[WOLFGIR]

Well, the swordplay in the latest SW movie was almost the only enjoying part as well as Darth Maul, a guy dressed to look so stupid with thoose phoney horns can still manage to look so angry throughout the movie!

And the fight scenes are as above way cooll.. Unfortunately they didn´t demosnstrated the lightsabers effects on Jar jar...

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Howling to the moon, cause this world seems so far away..
Wolfgirs lair
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