Star Wars Uncut FTW

Well I now have a renewed appreciation for film editors. Sheesh! I counted approximately 13 edits for our 15 second scene.

Oh, wait, let me explain:

Star Wars Uncut is a project you can see here--basically, what these insane geniuses did was divide Star Wars: A New Hope into 15-second increments. Web crawlers then could claim a scene, re-film it themselves, and upload it. What will result is a giant Internet-produced quilt version of the film.

Since I was teaching a lightsaber class this summer--well, perfect project for class members, eh? Little did we know how many freaking moves there can be in a 15 second space!

Here's our entry: (sound isn't perfect but surprisingly close!) ~Jenn

Preview

This is the video that I call the Making Of Our Star Wars Uncut scene. Now, we'll be uploading our scene to the site soon, but there are 13 edits within the 15 second scene, so for now enjoy this peek into our process, lovely lurkers. And take a moment to remember the lightsaber class. ~Jenn

Here's the scene we're trying to recreate:

Are we close? :)

Lightsaber class

Here, lovely lurkers, is the culmination of the 8-week summer Stage Combat class in lightsaber technique. This is the conclusion of our summer efforts. We had a great time! ~Jenn

Lightsaber finale

Boaz and I had the opportunity to perform our lightsaber fight for the Boulder Quest Center testing community and their fan clubs last night. It was fantastic to be able to do it with Duel of the Fates playing and a live audience that wasn't fellow students who've seen it a million times before. We had adrenaline and joy. Here's a still photo thanks to Marcus and family. Video to follow. ~Jenn

Thursday and Friday's Exciting Events

Thursday the 30th is the last day of the summer lightsaber class (sob). We'll be filming all our fights, though, so stay tuned and you can see the results of our 8-week session up here soon afterwards.

Friday the 31st is Test Night at the Boulder Quest Center. Highlights will include Jenn and Boaz's lightsaber fight, Kim & Jenn showing the groud flow, and of course much fun belt testing as usual. This will be the last test for Kim & Jenn before their Black Belt. Spiffy!

INFO:

7/30: lightsaber class finale; 12"30-2pm; PE 103 on Auraria Campus

7/31: BQC Test Night; adults & youth testing + demos begin at 6pm

Images are Jenn and Kim in April's BQC test, and Jenn and Boaz creating their lightsaber fight, in class in June.

National Cowboy Day

Sunday was National Cowboy Day--a day to celebrate the Western American icon we know and love so well here in Colorado. Of course, when we at Bonzuko think of cowboys, we think of staged bar brawls, whip work, and other skills "walk-around actors" still use in various live gigs. Ever been to the Silverton-Durango train trip? There are cowboys and wenches at each stop staging skits and fights. Last year's Denver stage combat seminar fest, the Rumble in the Rockies, was cowboy-themed.

One of Bonzuko's inspirations in the stage combat field is Dale Girard. He is one of a very few that the SAFD calls "Fight Master," and was Jenn's teacher's teacher, and still is a brilliant stage combat artist. One of the things he did back in the day (which was the inspiration for many of the stunt shows we did almost ten years later at the Colorado Renaissance Festival and elsewhere) is a Western-themed live stunt show, with his company On Edge Productions. Jenn actually still has a couple of the Western scripts from these shows, and it makes us wish we could have seen these!! Acrobatics, gunslinging, whip work, cowboy punches and bad jokes all abounded. It nearly makes Jenn want to round up the MSCD Stage Combat Club dogies and do it again! Anyone game?

Enjoy these images from On Edge Productions Western stunt shows from back in the mid-'80s. Pictured are Dale himself, along with his company performing the show "The Swell, the Not-So-Swell, and the None-Too-Cute" (had to correct the original spelling--sorry). Thanks to Dale Girard for permission to show off and celebrate these images documenting a great talent and inspiration for us still. Yee-haw!

Movie Review

TV review, actually. It's been a long time since we've done a review, and there has been much watching of media since the last one. There have been a few Bonzuko favorites in there, but one that has especially good stunt work is showing its first season over again this summer. It's called Legend of the Seeker.

Based on some Fantasy novels by Terry Goodkind, Legend of the Seeker plays on TV like a delightful combination of Ren Faire and a good D&D game. Our triumvirate (Richard the young Seeker, Kahlan the Confessor and old Zeddicus the Wiz) move from one unrealistically clean and diverse medieval village to the next on their way to stop the melodramatically evil Darken Rahl, saving the day each time as they go on. Now this may sound like not a high-quality show as I describe it here, lovely lurkers, but actually this formulaic, archetypical structure is quite pleasing. The script moves from predictable to cheesy to melodramatic, but in a good way, and the acting is actually decent, not only by our main three, but all the extras we encounter each episode. And it's sexy, but in a family-friendly way.

Of course, the main reason why we at Bonzuko like to watch Legend of the Seeker is its fight scenes. The Seeker is known for wielding the Sword of Truth (which really looks like it was made by Starfire. Anyone know if this is true?), so there are many swordfights each episode. They are all very well choreographed, filmed in a stop-and-slow-motion style that actually (when the channel itself is running smoothly) makes the action easier to watch than if it were in real time. All the actors that fight look like they do a generous portion of their own stunts, and look too like they have worked hard to look awesome as they do so.

The other thing that makes Legend of the Seeker stand out as far as its stunt fighting is the inclusion of female warriors, not as bystanders that may or may not have a vase handy when the bad guy's head gets close enough to her hiding place, but actually fighting right alongside their male counterparts. Kahlan wields not a sword, but a pair of daggers (often reverse-grip. Yeah!) as well as her magic power. But even female secondary characters that get caught up in the Seeker's quarrels are not bystanders but hold their own. I'm reminded specifically of a recently-shown episode wherein the Seeker is handcuffed to a young woman and has to fight several guards to escape. They both use their manacles and unarmed prowess to save themselves. Again, some creative choreography (mainly by Steve McQuillan).

Here's the Season 1 recap from Hulu. Minor spoilers, but you'd be able to predict these "twists" anyway, right? http://www.hulu.com/watch/74157/legend-of-the-seeker-season-1-recap

Anyone who enjoys light, enjoyable fantasy fare and/or good stage combat should catch Legend of the Seeker whenever they can.
Bottom line: **** out of *****
Thanks to this site for the image.

Class Time Change

Anyone coming to the Boulder International Fringe Festival Stage Combat class, taught by Bonzuko's own Jenn, the time has changed. It's still August 15th, but now the class part will be 12-3pm, and a showing of our work at 4pm. It's ridiculously cheap--spread the word, and show up yourselves!

Conan Does it Again

With help. Here he is again with stuntman Steven Ho. Tell me he doesn't steal the bit me and Parente did on Channel 2. http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/stuntman-steven-ho-071709/1136546/

Image from this site.

Fight Clip Club

A rehearsal day from the lightsaber class: this is the 3-person fight: Scott J., Paul, and Nick. Mind, this is still rehearsal mode, lovely lurkers. ~Jenn

Random Picture

A posed piece for MSCD Stage Combat Club Nick's BFA portfolio. Club meeting. Good times.

Bonzuko in the News

Any lovely lurkers who are in Colorado, tune in to Channel 2 News ("the Deuce") at 7pm tomorrow. You'll see the one and only Chris Parente doing a live story on the lightsaber class! Don't miss it! In fact, record it for Jenn!

Fringe Festival Workshop

Bonzuko's own Jenn will be teaching a three-hour workshop at the Boulder International Fringe Festival this summer. Stage Combat Basics is the the theme of the day. Check the link for all the information, and spread the word--we want this class to be huge!

http://boulderfringe.com/2009festival/program-details.aspx?id=56

What: Stage Combat Basics Workshop

Where: Boulder International Fringe Festival (Naropa campus)

When: 1-4pm (4:30 showing) Saturday, August 15th, 2009

How much: $35 (whatta steal!)

Visit the page and rate the class, if you've had class with Jenn before. Spread the word!

Today's Lightsaber Fun

I'll put more up soon, but here's one clip from today's lightsaber class. Don't you wish you were there? Image is the three-person fight, video is me and Boaz starting to get a bit better. Everything is still in rough draft mode, but we are so close to being ready for public consumption. Oh, wait, the Internet is the public, isn't it... ~Jenn

Fight Clip Club

Conan O'Brien learns some stage combat ropes from Steven Ho, stunt coordinator. Hilariousness ensues. Thanks to Hulu for the clip and the image. Thanks to Scott M. for sending it along.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/77082/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-steven-ho---stunt-coordinator

More Lightsabers

Here's a partial rough draft lightsaber fight from class today. A sneak peek, if you will. Please to enjoy. ~Jenn

Fight Clip Club

More from the Advanced Stage Combat Class: Lightsabers. Look what a good video Jenn's phone takes! Video is Nate and Scott M. beginning choreography outside on the quad.

Lightsaber class

Well we've been having lightsaber class now for a few Thursdays--the Advanced Stage Combat students have learned quite a few moves, and now today they were ready to start putting the movement "words" they've been practicing together into "sentences." The choreography has begun! Here's a sample: Boaz and Nick doing the drill with circular footwork.





Still image is Scott M. and Nate blurry with Jedi motion, from 6/18/09. Vid clip is Nick and Boaz doing the drill. So sorry you were mis-named at first publishing, fellas. Jenn's bad.

Fight Clip Club

A compilation I found on Vimeo, of Errol Flynn swordfights. Please to enjoy. ~Jenn



Thanks to Russ McClay on Vimeo.

Exit the Dragon ... or Han solo

"Man, you come right out of a comic book." - Williams, Enter the Dragon, referring to Shih Kien's character Han.

image courtesy: us.geocities.com/.../052Overview1Hist02E.htm

Han was the coolest movie villain. Who gave Bruce Lee those wicked claw scars across his ripped chest featured in so many posters and stills? Han did. In fact, you might even say that Han shot first, metaphorically.

image courtesy: www.dvdtown.com/.../4528
That island and his minions were better than those operated by any James Bond baddie. His man Bolo was downright scary. Han's freaky ole hand switchouts with blades, bearpaw, and whatnot ... someone really ought to make Enter the Dragon into a modern videogame.

Today we morn the passing of 96 year-old Shih Kien, who played Han in Bruce Lee's most widely recognized movie. Rest in peace.

Check the above link to Comcast where you can read more about his passing.

And wierd trivia: Kien's voice in Enter the Dragon was dubbed by Keye Luke ... many many film credits including Master Po from the tv show Kung Fu...
~Jason