Violence Design Lab Podcast

Episodes

1. 40

   #40 Helping Directors Think About Violence

   + a Special Announcement about the Podcast

   Jan 18, 2018
2. 39

   #39 Seeing With the Audience's Eye

   Sometimes as violence designers we think the fights we've designed are fantastic, but they seem much less amazing in performance. Why does that happen? In this week's episode we talk about watching fights from the audience's perspective, why it can be artistically dangerous to see your fights…

   more
   Dec 6, 2017
3. 38

   #38 Comedy vs Drama in Stage Combat

   While we all agree that comedy should be funny and dramatic scenes should be serious, how does the tone of the scene change your design? Does your stage combat technique change for a comic scene? Should it? And why do more actors hurt themselves in comic violence than the serious stuff? All this...

   Nov 30, 2017
4. 37

   #37 Designing to Music

   In Episode #37 of the Violence Design Lab podcast, we're talking about designing fights that coordinate with musical underscoring. Whether you are literally choreographing beat by beat to the score or you need to fill a musical interlude with a fight of a specific duration, we'll discuss some...

   Nov 9, 2017
5. 36

   #36 Working With Blood

   As Halloween approaches, stage blood makes its brief annual appearance into the general public consciousness. On Episode #36 of the Violence Design Lab podcast, we'll go beyond zombie wounds and vampire fangs and talk about the right ways to work with stage blood to place you a cut above the...

   Oct 26, 2017
6. 35

   #35 How to Write a Fight Scene

   Episode #35 of the Violence Design Lab podcast is aimed squarely at playwrights and screenwriters. How do you write a good fight scene? How do you make sure that your vision of the fight is the one that gets put on stage? Who controls the choreography? Do you want to win that fight? Stay tuned!...

   Oct 19, 2017
7. 34

   #34 Designing for Non-Proscenium Spaces

   On Episode #34 of the Violence Design Lab podcast, we're talking about working on stages that aren't a traditional proscenium. What happens when the audience is on two sides of the stage? Or three? Or they have you surrounded? Let's talk about which stage combat illusions work, which ones don't,...

   Oct 8, 2017

   26m
8. 33

   #33 Portraying Honorable vs. Dishonorable Characters

   Today I examine "noble heroes" and "dastardly villains," or honorable and dishonorable characters. What defines them? What are the rules that society uses to decide if a fight is "fair" or "honorable" and how can you use that in your design? Listen in to find out... 3:27 What is Honor? 8:35 The...

   Sep 21, 2017

   32m
9. 32

   #32 Style Seminar: Historical Drama

   Historical Drama: doesn't every Shakespeare play with fights fall into that category? Or everything set before 1980? What about Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings? Aren't they in that style too? Let's talk about this common--and commonly mischoreographed--style, and figure out what to include,...

   Sep 14, 2017

   30m
10. 31

    #31 Portraying Trained vs. Untrained Characters

    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…

    more
    Sep 9, 2017

    24m
11. 30

    #30 Style Seminar: Hollywood Swashbuckling

    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...

    Sep 8, 2017
12. 29

    #29 Choreographing Fights Alone

    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...

    Aug 24, 2017

    23m
13. 28

    #28 Training to Design

    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…

    more
    Aug 17, 2017

    27m
14. 27

    #27 Training Your Brain to Fight

    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...

    Aug 10, 2017

    30m
15. 26

    #26 Should All Actors Train in Stage Combat?

    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...

    Aug 3, 2017
16. 25

    #25 Working With Young Fighters

    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...

    Jul 27, 2017

    25m
17. 24

    #24 How to Nail (or Run) a Fight Callback

    You've done your audition and gotten a callback! But the director tells you that not only will you be reading from the script to see how you work with specific characters, but that there will be a fight callback to assess your stage combat skills as well! What's that going to be like? This week's...

    Jul 19, 2017

    37m
18. 23

    #23 Three Ways to Make Your Fights Work

    Today, let's discuss the dramatic work that your fights should be doing. Fights do more than simply move the plot along. Fights should also: 1) reinforce the setting and underscore the tone, 2) reveal character 3) cast the future of the play into doubt. I also cover how to use your fights to...

    Jul 10, 2017

    0m
19. 22

    #22 Book Review: Meditations on Violence

    Today on episode #22 of the Violence Design Lab podcast, I'm discussing a book I think every violence designer and fight choreographer needs on their bookshelf: Meditations on Violence by Sergeant Rory Miller. I consider it a foundational work for those on our field, so I want to make sure you're...

    Jul 3, 2017

    0m
20. 21

    #21 Working With Older Fighters

    Today I want to talk about something I never learned in a stage combat workshop or a college theatre class. In fact, it took over twenty years for me to really understand it. What is this mystery topic? Working with fighters who are middle-aged or older. Now that I'm a few months shy of 50, I…

    more
    Jun 26, 2017

    20m
21. 20

    #20 Managing a Weapon Inventory

    Start designing fights for productions, and the need for weapons quickly arises. Where do those come from? The theatre? A rental house? From you? Today I talk with R&D Choreography founder Richard Gilbert about the ways a weapon inventory can benefit the working violence designer. We discuss some...

    Jun 20, 2017

    34m
22. 19

    #19 Incorporating Story into Choreography

    The topic for episode #19 of the Violence Design Lab podcast comes to us from a listener in the U.K. who wanted to know my approach to incorporating the story elements of a script into the fight choreography that I eventually give to the actors. It's a great question, and it's nice to focus in on…

    more
    Jun 12, 2017

    21m
23. 18

    #18 An Approach to Historical Stage Combat Training

    This week I had the honor and privilege of chatting with Todd Campbell, Fight Master with Fight Directors Canada. He and I dove into some strategies on training actors to fight--not only in traditional stage combat but also in historical styles. He explains the tiered training system of the FDC,...

    Jun 6, 2017
24. 17

    #17 Designing Melees, Part 2, Alarums and Excursions

    In this episode, we're covering the second half of our discussion on melees! Today we get down to brass tacks: what format are you using to tell this story, what are the two major styles of melees, what are feature fights and chaos moments, and how Twyla Tharp taught me to choreography battle...

    May 30, 2017
25. 16

    #16 Designing Melees, Part 1: The 3 Throughlines

    Today on the Violence Design Lab podcast, we're talkin' melees! That's right: Group fights! Rumbles! Battles! How to define them, how to negotiate them with directors, and most of all, how the heck to design them! This is Part One of a two-part series.

    May 23, 2017

    22m
26. 15

    #15 Fight the True Fight (Not the Drill!)

    They say in theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there always is. In a competitive environment, you probably won't see that obvious, single-intention attack like the treatise seems to show and you drilled so often. But if you're paying attention to what the...

    May 16, 2017
27. 14

    #14 Fight Inertia or Why Don't We See Double Hits on Stage?

    Today on the show, I'm starting a series breaking down my preferred design aesthetic to give you a better sense of where I'm coming from artistically. Specifically, I'll be talking about my distaste for perceived cooperation between fighters, and how Sir Isaac Newton helped me learn to break out…

    more
    May 9, 2017

    23m
28. 13

    #13 Hold the Beer: Allen Johnson

    Today on the show, we're talking about things that theatre people wish HEMA practitioners knew about stage combat and things HEMA folks wish stage combatants understood about historical fighting. Notice I say "we" are talking about this, because I'm joined today by Allen Johnson, HEMA-ist…

    more
    May 2, 2017

    25m
29. 12

    #12 Historical Realism vs. Drama

    "Stage combat is bollocks! It doesn't look like real sword fighting at all!" "Theatre doesn't have to show reality! We're telling stories!" These two perspectives often clash when fencers or students of Historical European Martial Arts talk about theatrical fighting with stage combat people. But...

    Apr 25, 2017

    22m
30. 11

    #11 Learn by Telling Fight Stories

    It's no secret that my career focus has always been designing fights for theatre rather than teaching any kind of competitive sword play. But the act of telling fight stories isn't just for theatre artists: it has a broader application for martial artists as well. In this episode, I call…

    more
    Apr 18, 2017

    27m
31. 10

    #10 Can't Fight This Fühlen

    Fühlen (or sentiment de fer) is the ability to sense an opponent's intention using the various pressures transmitted through the weapons during blade contact. It's the feeling when the swords cross and you can tell if your opponent is hard or soft in the bind, which helps determine your response...

    Apr 11, 2017

    15m
32. 9

    #9 Crafting a Compelling Fight, Part 3 of 3

    This is the final installment in a three-part series called Crafting a Compelling Fight. In this episode, I go in-depth about stage directions. Those little italicized instructions in a script are vital to the violence designer, but you have to understand where they come from, what information…

    more
    Apr 4, 2017

    22m
33. 8

    #8 Crafting a Compelling Fight, Part 2 of 3

    There have been times when I'm starting to plan the choreography for a fight that I draw a blank. Either no choreography is flowing or what I'm coming up with is boring and lifeless. Maybe you've had the same experience. Sometimes, this is a perspective problem: if you only see the characters as...

    Mar 28, 2017

    14m
34. 7

    #7 Crafting a Compelling Fight, Part 1 of 3

    Kicking off a three-part series on Creating the Compelling Fight. In this first installment, I interview Stuart (StuMac) Macdonald and Marcus Byron of the Glen Lachlann Estate College of Arms in Melbourne, Australia. These guys were amazing, and the design philosophy they've developed is so…

    more
    Mar 21, 2017

    23m
35. 6

    #6 Fight With Sharp Swords

    I always think it looks better when characters fight with sharp swords on stage, and I work with the actors to sharpen them beforehand. I hate it when they wave around hunks of blunt steel that they know aren't dangerous. The audience can tell. Now before I continue, my lawyers are telling me…

    more
    Mar 15, 2017

    17m
36. 5

    #5 5 Tips for Working with Actors

    America has a weird relationship with actors. We judge them on their looks, then call them vain. We say actors in Hollywood get paid way too much, then we tell struggling actors to "get a real job." We say, "Anyone can act," but then we get sweaty palms at the idea of speaking in front of crowd…

    more
    Mar 8, 2017

    23m
37. 4

    #4 Fix Drama with HEMA

    If the theatre community doesn't want to change from within, let's change it from the outside. I'm calling on HEMA scholars to stop grumbling in their masks about unrealistic sword work on stage and film and start doing something to change it. Because you, ladies and gentlemen, have skills that…

    more
    Feb 27, 2017

    14m
38. 3

    #3 Rock Your Fight Tonight

    If you are in a show right now where you perform any kind of stage combat, I want you to stop what you're doing and go print out the Instinctive Fight Acting reminder card that is this week's bonus content. Seriously. Print it out, take it to the theatre with you and tape it on your makeup…

    more
    Feb 14, 2017

    18m
39. 2

    #2 When to Hire a Violence Designer

    If you direct enough plays, you'll eventually choose one that includes violence. It comes up more often than you might think, because people in my line of work use the term to include not only times when one character is actively trying to harm another, but any moment of physical business that…

    more
    Feb 14, 2017

    22m
40. 1

    #1 When to Transition From Fighter to Violence Designer

    Since this is the first episode of the podcast, my first topic relates to beginning your career in fight choreography. Specifically: When Can I Transition From a Fighter to a Violence Designer? It can be a really awkward time on your artistic journey, because often there's not a clear jumping off...

    Feb 14, 2017

    24m