I agree with this so much (Gaming)

by Kahzgul, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, 18:46 (2947 days ago) @ Korny

This is exactly what I'm talking about. You can tell that they're doing great action, but the camera is too close more than half the time. There are kicks happening below the frame so you see blade lift his knees but don't actually see the kick he's dodging. The cuts are on the motion quite often as well, making it difficult to track. He's jumping the line left and right (and up and down) so it takes just as long to figure out what you're even looking at as it takes to realize they're doing something. Was this a highly choreographed fight that used real pro martial artists? Absolutely. Was it shot to emphasize the action and amaze the audience? No. It was cut up, probably to hide how slow it was or moments where one actor or another made a mistake. It was zoomed in so we couldn't see how far away from one another they were. It's overly busy and full of distraction. The scene makes you feel like you're watching an epic fight but it doesn't actually let you see the fighting.

Blade blocks a sword swing and then we get an ECU of the sword on sword... you have no idea why they're both just standing there for two seconds. Then we're back but it's over blade's shoulder as there's more sword action... Now you can't see what' blade is doing because his body is in the way. Now it's a wide where you feel like you could actually see the action, except the kicks are below the frame. Back in super tight on.. a sword being rotated or something? Too close to tell what's really going on. Out wide for a high kick. Cut to reaction of onlooker. Back in tight on blade's face as swords flash in front of it...

The only visible action from that whole sequence was a single high kick, and all of the action was delivered at the same breakneck pace from start to finish.

Compare to Hero:

First, they build tension. Mad tension. Even the fight is just building more tension because it's not *real* in terms of the story, but in their minds. The shots begin long, showing every motion, every detail. When they cut to over a shoulder, it's a replay of what you just saw in the wide shot so it's taking the context and applying the reaction of the actor to it. Then, as the tension builds, the cuts become more frequent. Any new action is shown wide, moves you've seen already are shown quickly and close up, making them more urgent than before but still familiar enough as not to confuse you. When the final attack comes, you don't even need to see it because, just as the fighters have already envisioned the entire fight, so have you. You know what will happen, and so do the characters. This fight furthers the plot, shows you the action, builds the tension, and is done so in an artistic and beautiful way. In blade 2, they don't learn anything until the fight is over. It's an interlude in the story that is shiny to look at but lacks substance.