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I am looking for a documentary I remember about filmmaking, that I think focused exclusively on stuntwork..
I would I think have seen this on TV, this may just have been a TV documentary.
I remember someone being interviewed, and saying that in "the olden days" it was very hard to film fights. When you had several guys attacking one hero, most of the stunt men ended up just standing around waiting to get punched.
Then one day, somebody (a director?) was working on a film, and the fight scene just didn't work. He got frustrated and walked off the set. And onto the set of a musical, where they were filming a dance number. He was struck by how whenever they had to redo a bit, all of the dancers went back exactly to the same precise spot. He suddenly realized that that was the answer, to "choreograph" a fight like a dance.
The documentary then showed a black and white clip of a fight scene. I think the clip was from the "Spy Smasher" serial.
Okay, so, can anyone help me find this documentary? Failing that, does anybody know the details of the story I wrote above? What was this movie, who was the guy that saw the dancers and suddenly had the idea of "fight choreography"?
I would I think have seen this on TV, this may just have been a TV documentary.
I remember someone being interviewed, and saying that in "the olden days" it was very hard to film fights. When you had several guys attacking one hero, most of the stunt men ended up just standing around waiting to get punched.
Then one day, somebody (a director?) was working on a film, and the fight scene just didn't work. He got frustrated and walked off the set. And onto the set of a musical, where they were filming a dance number. He was struck by how whenever they had to redo a bit, all of the dancers went back exactly to the same precise spot. He suddenly realized that that was the answer, to "choreograph" a fight like a dance.
The documentary then showed a black and white clip of a fight scene. I think the clip was from the "Spy Smasher" serial.
Okay, so, can anyone help me find this documentary? Failing that, does anybody know the details of the story I wrote above? What was this movie, who was the guy that saw the dancers and suddenly had the idea of "fight choreography"?
