The first person that came to mind when I thought of researching ways to jump, climb, over walls, through windows, into houses, or any stunt a skillful burglar might have to perform, was Jackie Chan. I tried my best to quickly re-watch in my head the Jackie Chan movies I could recall, but could only think of a handful of the almost 100 films he’s made in his 40+ years as a martial artist, stunt performer, stunt director, choreographer, actor and director. Luckily, someone on YouTube has been kind enough to compile Jackie Chan’s Freerunning/parkour feats.
Just to be clear, this isn’t research to see what stunts are possible, but to see how to perform the stunts beautifully. Jackie Chan is a master at this.
Being a master at this, he shoots all his stunts on a wide shot, and keeping the camera movement to a minimum when possible, allowing the audience a perspective from which to be able to fully appreciate the artistry and authenticity of his stunts.
One example of what I dislike to see when it comes to capturing physical action and stunts. This example includes a lot of freerunning/parkour.
A bit past half way through the video are where most of the parkour stunts are. They are shot with very long lenses with very tight framing, only showing a small portion of the action or a small part of the body, for example a tight shot of only his foot kicking off the wall, or his hands as he climbs over the fence. These tight shots fail to show us the actual danger or size of risk of the stunts by never capturing the full extent of, for example, the full extent of a fall. Each one stunt is shot with many separate cuts that each lasts for split seconds ; one shot of him jumping from point A, another of going traveling between point A and B, and another shot of him landing at B. Almost always shot with a deliberate camera shake. Besides being slightly dizzying, I do think that it works to convey the intensity of the chase, but it isn’t anywhere close to being something that will stick in my memory, or something that I would like to re-watch, unlike the wonderfully daring and rhythmic performances of Jackie Chan, creating some of the most unforgettable moments in cinema history.
zenkhyeooi 