For the first 25 years of video game history, it was pretty much impossible to create fight
scenes that even resembled the cinematic ideal. But, the technology and the ambitions of people
who make games has grown, and we're finally starting to see games catch up with the cinematography, choreography,
and impact of some of my favorite action films.
But that’s just what I think. I wonder what a real action star would think. Someone with
20 years of on-the-job-experience. Somebody knowledgeable… handsome...
(magical chime sound) - My name is Scott Adkins, and I make a lot of action films, so supposedly I know
what I’m talking about when it comes to action!
Scott is being a little bit humble here. He’s one of the best action stars in the game. He came
up through the Hong Kong scene, working with greats like Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen. He’s
been the leading man in his own string of kick-oriented masterpieces, and recently he’s
been doing deep dive interviews with the legends from the action world to try to figure out what makes
good fights so good.
Scott’s schedule doesn’t leave a lot of time for playing video games, so I got him
on Zoom, and caught him up on what he’s been missing. We started with a cutscene from
Mortal Kombat 11’s story mode, and we talked about the importance of shooting in profile.
Right, let me have a look. Here we go.
(muffled fight noises)
(intrigued ohhhhhh)
I love that bit where she kicks him in the leg.
(gruesome noise)
So she's kicked him just straight through the chest.
That's cool, because it's almost like she gets a foot stuck in him a little bit.
(pleased chuckle)
Bang! Whoah!
Ooh.. took one —
OH!!!! Shot him through the chest!
Oh, but why she did not — not using that any sooner? (laughter)
Good bit of judo there. Took him down.
I mean it's great, isn't it?
Most of it is on a profile. So you're seeing the guy — the girl — fighting and the zombie
here. And that's — whenever you can make it work as a profile, it's always best. Because you're —
that means you're filling the frame. Normally, when you go over someone's shoulder,
it's easier to make a punch work, because you know, the head'ss here and the fist goes
through. But if your profile like that, it's much harder to make the hits work.
You watch a lot of Yuen Woo-Ping stuff. This is
the guy that did The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... he will shoot a lot of
stuff at a profile, but it's always a lot more difficult to make it work.
And yet, profile's always going to be the best.
Because you're going to fill the frame with action, you're going to see all the techniques
landing especially for... you know, kicking, shooting through somebody's body.
Like there.
You know, you want to see that from the side, see the flash, and then the blood coming out
the front and the back. Yeah! I mean, that's what you want to see, isn't it? If you can see
it from the front and the back! Well then, you know, the best of both worlds, isn't it?
(COMBAT YELLING)
Next, I showed him some Heat Actions from the incredibly over-the-top Yakuza Kiwami 2
and we talked about the highs and lows of Camera Shake.
(jazzy game music playing in background)
Granny's hot pot!
(breath of laughter)
(wet splattering sound)
(yelling)
Oh, he's gonna —
Steam bunned him.
Nice camera shake to add to the violence.
Crash!
And slow-mo. Yeah.
You want them to feel something by what you do with the camera. And so that shake
they got there is just adding to the violence of the impact.
(making crashing sound)
Which I'm absolutely fine with.
Because I know what's going on. It's made me feel something. It's when it's when they're
just shaking the camera to cover up the badness of the performing, you know what I mean?
When they're shaking the camera, like in a Jason Bourne film, just to give you the feeling of chaos,
But actually you're not getting the enjoyment of seeing a good fight sequence. That's what really
does my head in.
We stayed in the Yakuza Zone for a little bit longer, to talk about the value of comedy
in action.
Oh, the plunger. All right, now I'm excited.
It's got some slime coming off it already.
(laughing)
(LAUGHING INTENSIFIES)
(clapping) YEAH!
Brilliant!! Banging his head into the concrete!
His glasses are still on though. I'm surprised about that.
(low game music)
(laughing aloud)
Straight for the backside! Doesn't mess about.
Ohhh, hang on a minute.
Did she just stamp on his nuts?
(repeated nut stamping)
That's brilliant, man. Listen, I love a good joke.
Above all, it should be entertaining, shouldn't it?
Also just to have funny moments like that, made me laugh out loud.
Enjoying the action and a comedic moment... I mean, it's uh...
They're linked, aren't they? The excitement of watching
an action sequence and then it easily goes into having a laugh at something funny.
(agonized noises)
After we had a bit of a laugh, we shifted gears to watch something a bit more melodramatic,
and Scott told me about the dangers of crossing the line.
(softly) Oh yeah.
Very Kung Fu.
Took him down, no messing.
(impact noises)
Fighting like a kung fu style, these guys.
(continued sounds of blows landing)
Lots of throws.
They cross the line quite a bit. And so when you do that in a fight sequence...
Once you jump the line, it takes a little bit to adjust to — "Oh right, that guy. I thought it was gonna
be this side. But actually now he's this side." It's that sort of thing.
He's cheating! He’s done a universal soldier trick.
Shirts off. He’s not messing now.
(blows continue)
Now it's fine, and it's okay with this to be honest, because they're wearing like –
he's got his shirt off. And he's got this, you know, his costume is darker.
So it's — you can easily tell who's who. But if they were dressed the same, especially — they've both got gray hair.
Then it would get confusing if they're both wearing the same clothes. You'd be like “Who’s who?”
(sound of a body crashing into metal)
(sound of a body crashing into a body)
There’s a lot of wrestling moves in this one.
WWE stuff.
(extended punching noises)
Hammerfist!
(just so much punching)
Violence! (SUDDENLY LAUGHS)
Y'see, I'm laughing at the violence! I'm a sick man.
The mistake they make in a lot of action films is, they're jumping the line all the time.
Like, if I jump the line, I like to stay there for a bit because you've readjusted...
now let's stay on that side of the line for a little bit.
And then if you're gonna jump the line again, just do it a little bit later. But stay there.
When they're going back and forth, and back and forth. That's when it can become a bit confusing.
We had time for one more, so I threw on the last fight scene from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy,
and Scott talked about the value of keeping choreography kind of dirty.
Hmm...
Bang!
They're very coordinated.
Like, what I would say about this is being picky.
It's very choreographed.
Like... try to mess it up a little bit more.
(sounds of heavy breathing, blows)
(chuckles) He's getting a real pasting.
(pasting continues)
Hmm, right good beating.
(pleasantly surprised laugh)
I like that — see, that was better at the end because...
She hits him, and then she hits him. Whereas before they both hit at the same time
which I didn't buy. But that was messier. Messy enough to me to buy it, that that last bit there.
The one... two... BA-BAM!
Yeah, cool.
(ba-bam)
If a game wants to emulate what makes cinematic action so good, Scott has five pieces of advice:
Shoot on a profile.
Be smart about shaking the camera.
Keep it funny.
Mind the line.
And don’t be afraid to get a little bit sloppy.
And if you work for Netherrealms...
maybe give him a call!
That first one was the best, wasn't it? That one with the zombies like first of all Shaolin
zombies. That's great. That's awesome. I need to be making that movie.
I liked it and yeah, whenever you're putting your foot through somebody's chest, or uh, you
got shotguns for fists, well, that's a thumbs up from me.