Date: Sunday 21st March 2010.
Time: 10am-1pm – 2-5pm
Venue: The Shaw Theatre, 100-110 Euston Road, London NW1 2AJ
 [MAP HERE]

What makes a great fight and how do you choreograph it? How do you stage it or film it? How do you find a fight director – and how do you work with them? What’s an “acceptable” level of violence – and what isn’t? Where do you hire weapons - or an armourer? What’s the greatest movie fight EVER?

Hosted by fight director and British Academy of Fencing member Andy Wilkinson and Guild Chair Ivor Benjamin, this workshop is a broad introduction for directors at all levels to the challenges of staging violence for film, television and theatre. The day will include: developing action from the script, dramatic and moral challenges, the differences between stage and screen, working with fight directors, organising rehearsals, legal, insurance and health & safety issues and sourcing weapons. We will be showing examples of work, and discussing individual examples.

Places for this workshop are limited and on a “first-come” basis.
This workshop is not appropriate if you are of a nervous disposition or easily offended. Over 18 only, please.

ONE DAY WORKSHOP FEES
      
£40 - current Directors Guild members (2010 subscription required *)
£60 - non-members
£30 - concessions – unwaged/OAP/student
£25 - Guild Student Members

Special prices: Members of the British Academy of Fencing and Women in Film & Television pay current Guild members’ rates for this workshop.

• CHEQUE made payable to The Directors Guild Trust and posted to:
   Guild Workshops, DGGB, 4 Windmill Street, London W1T 2HZ

• CREDIT / DEBIT CARD phone Guild Office on 0207 580 9131

• BACS /  INTERNET TRANSFER payable to: Directors Guild Trust
   Reference:                                                FIGHT1YourSurname
   The Sort Code & Account Number can be found in the downloadable
   PDF file (see the link at the bottom of this page)
 

• PAYPAL - WORKSHOP TICKET OPTIONS

Guild Member £40.00 Non Member £60.00 Unwaged/OAP/Student £30.00 Guild Student Member £25.00

NB - Please notify us of BACS, Internet or Paypal payments by email to directorsguild@dggb.org – thanks. If you have any special access or other requirements please advise the office. If you book for this event and are not a Guild member, we will place you on a mailing list so you can receive information on future events; please let us know if you would rather be removed from this mailing list.

* Guild members please note - workshop places are only available at the discounted rate of £40 if your 2010 subscriptions have been paid. Please let the Guild office know if you still require forms. Subscriptions remain the same at a recommended minimum of £65, though as a charity we are naturally grateful if you can afford more, and if you can Gift Aid your subscription, that also adds to the Trust’s income.

If you are not a member and would like to join, please contact us for an application form or download HERE.

WORKSHOP DETAILS

•    Script to staging
•    Empathy for your characters
•    What you want from the action sequence
•    Taboos, shock tactics & morals
•    The difference between swordplay and fencing
•    The difference between staged and real violence
•    The differences between stage and screen
•    Why you need, and how to work with a Fight Director
•    Use of stunt doubles
•    Fight rehearsals & Fight Captains
•    Notation and fight vocabulary
•    Legal requirements – film & stage
•    Health & Safety and risk assessments
•    Armourers, guns and weapons, equipment hire
•    Q & A

Andy Wilkinson is a UK-based Director/Action Director and Sword Master with 26 years experience; he has either trained, worked for or alongside of the world’s top Fight Directors and stunt coordinators, and has a unique insight to this area of our craft. Andy has trained main cast actors, stunt actors and extras in fencing, sword play, unarmed combat and all period weapon fighting for large scale battle scenes as well as one-on-one fight sequences. He’s been a professional member of the Guild for 10 years, is a three-time honoured member of The British Academy of Fencing – he is the only British Fight Director to win the coveted World Artistic Fencing Championships 2000 – and an active competitive coach and examiner.  Last year at Warwick Castle he directed the largest swordplay spectacular ever staged in the UK, with over 100 swordsmen and fighters.

Ivor Benjamin has been staging fights for over 30 years, and is familiar with a wide range of martial arts and weapons. His  “Stagefight 101” workshops ran at the National Student Drama Festival from 1987-2007.

The next workshop in the Staging Violence series will be a hands-on, skills-based introduction to simple and safe methods for staging combat, both unarmed and with weapons.