[Weekly Updates] June 28th, 2020

Can't believe this year is half done already. I'm already looking forward to 2021... For obvious reasons.

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

• As always, hope you all enjoyed our video on writing fight scenes. This was a bit of a return to form for our channel. It's nice to go back to what this channel was originally intended to do.
• The video is super fun but also stressful to make. I get to rewatch so many kung fu classics. I have forgotten how good Fearless is. Rewatching the climax gives me chill. It was also a surprisingly big project. A lot of fight scenes didn't make the cut into the video. At the end I only used mainstream popular movies, just so I don't have to explain the plot too much.
• Ended up with a bit too much Ip Man for my liking. Say what you will about the films, their fights are masterful.
• We have 4 more videos planned: Godzilla, John Woo, Zhang Yimou's Shadow, and a surprise project that I want to keep secret because I don't know if it'll work. Do note that the videos are not listed in release order. It comes down to which one gets finish first, as well as potential sponsorship schedules.

ABOUT MEDIA

• On the topic of fight scenes, what are some of your favourite Hollywood fight scenes? The Matrix doesn't count, that was directed by Yuen Woo-ping.
• One of the memorable one for me is the sword fight between Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner. It isn't exceptionally well paced, and it is pretty badly edited. But what saves it is the personality it shows. It's really a fight between two contrasting personality. But putting their words on the tip of their blade and let the clash, is a great way of doing show don't tell.
• Another one is The Duellists, with its realistic depiction of fencing. It' rather remarkable how much suspense a long take with no music can create. The film didn't really explain all the intricacies of fencing, yet it makes the viewers feel like they know what they are looking at. That's remarkable.
• Of course, there is the John Wick films, which are all pretty good so far. We've come a long way since Equilibrium, with its Gun-Kata. Looking back, it's kinda embarrassing. Gun fight in close quarter is something that very few films manage to do well. There is something just magical about John Wick's rhythm that simply works. One of these days, I need to do a deep dive to analyze exactly what makes it work.
• Overall, Hollywood with scenes have been on the rise lately. I first noticed a major style shift when Captain America: Winter Soldier came out. The fights are so different from the first film. From what I understand, a new wave of stunt performers in West Coast USA are making their way into the industry. These are performers who grew up with Jackie Chan films from the 90s, and are changing the landscape of how fight scenes are done in Hollywood.
• One such performer is Liang Ying, most famously for his fight against Tom Cruise and Henry "Reloading Biceps" Cavill in the bathroom fight scene in Mission Impossible Fallout. He's style of Wushu is still relatively fresh for Hollywood audience.
• Martial Art films are on the decline in China, and that includes Hong Kong. It's a shame, but it's cool to realize that its legacy still lives on.

Anyway, hope you all have a good week! I posted an AMA on /r/AccentedCinema. If you are a reddit user, feel free to drop by!