Don’t Cheat on Tina from the Block or Else
The above video was part of a presentation that my friend Kevin and I did for our film symposium class. Our assignment was have 15 minute presentation which taught the class about a certain aspect of the film industry. We chose to teach our peers how to stage the perfect fight scene by reviewing the fundamentals of stage combat. Our presentation was beyond over the top and one of the things that I’m most proud about in my academic career.
Shortly after returning on my cruise from Mexico, I rushed over to Kevin’s dorm where we began brainstorming like crazy what we would do for our presentation. We began on Sunday at night and our presentation was on Tuesday morning. We broke down a bunch of activities that we wanted to do but the concept of actually including a video was something that I immediately dismissed just because we did not have much time. In class on Monday, Kevin expressed extreme interest in doing a video portion to really sell our idea. I was reluctant because of our time constraints but kept a tough exterior. Before I knew it, it was 10 pm Monday night and Chelsey, Sarah, Kevin, Steve and I were in a parking lot filming the most ridiculous fight scene ever made. We filmed for about an hour and a half and just made it up as went along. At 11:20, Chelsey and I busted out of there to meet up with Brittany where we ran to Dave’s house in the valley to surprise him at midnight for his birthday.
I got home at 1 am where I edited like crazy and prepared everything that we would need for the following morning’s presentation. I slept for under 30 minutes. So here’s a mini-breakdown of our presentation.
Intro: Our class is set up like a mini movie theater with a door at the back of each corner. The light were dim. Soon, the Rocky theme began to play in the surround sound speakers….”LADDDDIES AND GENETLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE LAST DAY OF SYMPOSIUM. YOU ARE HERE FOR THE MAAAAAIN EVENT. Coming from the San Francisco Bay, at a height of 6′4 foot, KEVINNN “THE BEAST” CASTRO!!!
Kevin comes running in front the right corner with his boxing attire and his trainer Sean.
“ORIGINATING FROM THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, AT A HEIGHT OF 5′10, NOAAHHHH “THE BEAR JEW” REICH”
Noah comes running in and screaming from the left corner with his trainer Barrack.
We stood at the front of the theater face to face, getting ready to knock each other out. The two ring girls Meredith and Chelsea walked by in their skimpy outfits each holding a sign strutting across from opposite ends of the room. One read THE ART OF THE FIGHT, the other reading PRESENTED BY KEVIN “THE BEAST” CASTRO & NOAH “THE JEW BEAR” REICH.” The crowd did the wave multiple times thanks to Sarah Jo.
The announcer continued, “BILL, ALETHEA, FILM AND TELEVISION CLASS OF 2011, LETS GET READDDDYYYY TO RUMBLE!!!!”
The bell sounded and just as Kevin was about to knock Noah out….”AND CUT!!!!!”
We then introduced our topic with an amazing montage of some of cinema’s greatest fight scenes which we edited and compiled by the amazing Adam Reich. We went step by step into the world of stage combat. Go over the string snap theory which is the idea that when you get hit your head snaps back and forth as if there is a string attached to it. We demonstrated the hot iron theory which is the idea that your body should react to punches the same way you would react to get burned with a hot iron. Thankfully Kevin demonstrated with an ACTUAL hot iron that was on. Not staged and not planned whatsoever. Thanks Kevin haha We then showed our video demonstrated all our theories put together which is what “Don’t Cheat on Tina from the Block or Else” is. Kevin talked a bit too long at the end of the video so I broke 2 x 4 piece of wood over his head. It hurt a lot from what I hear. Payback for the hot iron! 
Thank you to Chelsey, Sarah Jo, Meredith, Chelsea, Barrack, Sean and everyone else who helped us with our presentation!
-N