Violence Design Lab Podcast

This week, we examine how to customize the way a character fights to match the level of weapon/fight training or martial experience appropriate to their background in the world of the play. That meek biochemist shouldn't fight the same way that Rambo does, and you need to adapt your choreography to remain true to their character story and demonstrate their relative skill to the audience.

Here are some tips for creating untrained fighters, normal or "realistically" trained fighters, and superheroic, legendary, or "super-trained fighters!

 

Contents

2:15  Introduction

4:19  The Problem with Standardized Moves

6:26  Creating Untrained Characters

13:54 Creating Realistically Trained Characters

19:08 Creating "Super-trained" Characters

This week's episode is the first in a series on style: designing fights in particular ways to match a specific genre or to evoke a certain tone. Each iteration in the series will break down the specific elements that define the style and give you concrete, actionable ways to incorporate these elements into your choreography. I will also discuss the reasons that make the style challenging and how using it can affect the logistics of your production process, and finally, I'll wrap up with a discussion of the general "feel" or tone that the style evokes in performance. This week. I'm examining classic Hollywood Swashbuckling: the flashy, dashing swordplay of the likes of Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. What makes swash tick? What are some of the classic tropes? And wait...don't I HATE swash??

Contents

3:24 Define "Swashbuckling"

4:11 The Elements of the Swash Style

15:30 Why Is This Style Challenging?

18:45 What Tone Does This Style Create?

This week, we examine how to customize the way a character fights to match the level of weapon/fight training or martial experience appropriate to their background in the world of the play. That meek biochemist shouldn't fight the same way that Rambo does, and you need to adapt your choreography to remain true to their character story and demonstrate their relative skill to the audience.

Here are some tips for creating untrained fighters, normal or "realistically" trained fighters, and superheroic, legendary, or "super-trained fighters!

 

Contents

2:15  Introduction

4:19  The Problem with Standardized Moves

6:26  Creating Untrained Characters

13:54 Creating Realistically Trained Characters

19:08 Creating "Super-trained" Characters

This episode was inspired by a listener who wrote in about the challenge of choreographing fights alone. It can be difficult to imagine both sides or multiple opponents when you design without the benefit of a fight partner on the other end of the sword. How do you keep everything straight? And because your fight isn't "tested" with a partner, how do you know it will work when you give it to the actors in rehearsal?

This episode was inspired by a listener who wrote in about the challenge of choreographing fights alone. It can be difficult to imagine both sides or multiple opponents when you design without the benefit of a fight partner on the other end of the sword. How do you keep everything straight? And because your fight isn't "tested" with a partner, how do you know it will work when you give it to the actors in rehearsal?

Unlike other theatrical design specialties such as lighting, sets, or costumes, violence design suffers from a lack of formal instruction and training available to those who would pursue a career in fight choreography. The potential designer often has little recourse other than to take the "sink or swim" approach in trying to transition from a performer who knows stage combat to a designer responsible for conceiving, teaching, and staging the violence for an entire show.

Internships are a great way to bridge the gap. This week, I have a panel of people with personal experiences with apprenticeship: Victor Bayona, who began as an apprentice for R&D Choreography in Chicago (and went on to become a partner in the company), Chloe Baldwin, an intern who trained under Victor and is now working as a designer on her own, and Almanya Narula and Nicolas Cabrera, who are currently interning with R&D.

It was a great interview, with lots of information for both potential apprentices and for experienced designers considering become mentors to train the next generation.

We are used to training our bodies to do physical tasks like stage combat or sports, but have you ever considered how much your brain is working when you fight? This week's episode examines how our brain's processing capacity can be overwhelmed by all the information bombarding it during each moment of a fight, and how you can "automate" some tasks to lessen the load.

Plus, what to do with the cognitive dissonance of learning when new theories or techniques challenge what you've always thought or done in the past; when is it acceptable to question your teachers or the conventional wisdom of your craft?

The first of a series about training actors to do stage combat. The first questions we need to address: SHOULD all actors train to perform violence? The answer is not as cut-and-dried as you might think, especially coming from a violence designer.

In the episode, I discuss reasons FOR and AGAINST actors training in stage combat. Knowing these arguments will help you better understand your potential students, what they need, and who to target for your classes.

The first of a series about training actors to do stage combat. The first questions we need to address: SHOULD all actors train to perform violence? The answer is not as cut-and-dried as you might think, especially coming from a violence designer.

In the episode, I discuss reasons FOR and AGAINST actors training in stage combat. Knowing these arguments will help you better understand your potential students, what they need, and who to target for your classes.

Many of us find ourselves designing theatrical violence for high school or middle school productions or teaching stage combat classes to theatre programs that focus on younger performers. Or perhaps the play you're designing has a child involved in the violence. We quickly discover that working with younger fighters can be a very different experience than designing with adults.

In this episode, I discuss 4 of the major challenges dealing with this age group, give you six teaching strategies for working with them more effectively, and five tips to help you design violence that best showcases the younger performer.