It is common to slow down shots in Kung Fu movies.

It is common to jump on rooftops and do incredible things in Kong Fu movies that the actors are not capable of.

It is not a contradiction to say that we want to see the mad skills of the actors and we want to believe. While there is a place for unrealistic strength such as picking up heavy objects without shifting your total center of gravity or kicking a guy away from yourself while remaining relatively stationary, often what actors and directors are trying to show is a realistic extension of physical laws. They are not trying to show that the character is a god but that he trains like a demon.

To demonstrate more strength and coordination in the character simply give them less gravity. Played at real or high speed it would show increased force not just in jumping height but in relative distance over perceived time in all directions. Objects would travel farther before falling, thus without changing the laws of momentum or the mass of objects all aspects of the reactions of objects would look like the actor has applied more force.

Objects are commonly made more brittle for show. This aspect of the environment is already in practice with film makers.

All that remains is fluid dynamics of the air. One aspect of air is that resistance goes up a lot with velocity increases. If you want to see the wind ripping at their cloths and hair and their flimsified weapons also being affected by the air you are going to have to modify it. I am not sure exactly if you can make it perfectly proportional but you can approximate to each shot if it really matters all that much. While you don't change the speed of sound in air by changing the pressure this method would work to a certain extent. To fully fill out the approximation might I suggest replacing the N2 in the air with something we at the half bakery all love sulfur hexafluoride. You will also simulate low speed voice play as your voice deepens automatically and you will simulate yet another aspect of wind resistance: wave resistance. This will probably match up fairly well with the .38 gravities of Mercury and Mars. It might not be able to match up with .16 G of the Moon. It might be a realistic voice when sped up with a little bit of coaching.

This is yet another industry that would be improved in space.
-- MercuryNotMars, Feb 24 2007

Room of Sulfur Hexafluoride Room_20of_20Sulfur_20Hexaflouride
Check out the first link video and watch the guy speak [MercuryNotMars, Feb 24 2007]

Weightless Training http://video.google...70785594793955192&q
I suppose this looks like superhuman kung fu, well hmmm, you decide. [quantum_flux, Feb 25 2007]

Mercury 2.0 (the planet) Mercury_202_2e0_20(the_20planet)
Do I think Mercury is too hot? [MercuryNotMars, Feb 28 2007]

[Merc], I am shocked at the bones. How could anyone doubt the superior entertainment value of kungfu filmed on the moon in a room of sulfur hexafluoride? One could film a short subject in the International Space Station, just to whet the appetites of viewers.
-- bungston, Feb 25 2007


I enjoy wire-worked sequences in movies - the bamboo-top scenes in CTHD are awesome - it's only a matter of time before this idea becomes a reality.
-- zen_tom, Feb 25 2007


So all we need is an oxygenated film studio on the moon? Let's get cracking!
-- placid_turmoil, Feb 25 2007


IUHUMMMUMHUHWAH!? See the weightless training vomit commit videos!
-- quantum_flux, Feb 25 2007


Sending movie stars and the studios responsible for creating the crap that floods theaters and television to the moon or beyond has a certain undeniable charm.
-- nuclear hobo, Feb 25 2007


Yeah, I think I might pick up some bones simply because of the personality behind the idea. Not everyone is a Kung Fu fan, so who knows unless they comment.

I wasn't sure if I would get some confusion substituting the word "space" for lower gravity planetoid. I think the only issue is that there would be a slight boyancy in the heavier atmosphere but I think it might match perfectly if you can get the voice to match the porportional speed everything else would match. It all boils down to the fact that you can't change your density and everything else's density without going back to square one. My guess is it is otherwise flawless.

[Quantum]Gravity does give video a dimension of time. There are some aspects of that video that does pertain. The feasability of swimming through the atmosphere and being porportionatly extra concerned about aerodynamic profile being larger forces that you are able to manipulate. What you are looking at is an extended period of weightlessness which basically is so long that it removes all reference to time, but yes the hang time in which you can play will be extended, this does apply.

I don't think that filming in the international space station is appropriate until they start doing their low gravity experiments that they wish to conduct long term experiments at Moon and Mars/Mercury gravity that I think at least was in the works.

I wonder if real techniques were developed precicely for lower gravity environments if we would see much in the way of new forms or strategy. I think if it did transform the form it would reflect a more appropriate form for individuals with superhuman strength, but I am still curious.
-- MercuryNotMars, Feb 26 2007


I suppose those astronauts could have acted more kung-fuish if you ask me. This is a sweet idea! The beauty of the vomit commit is that you can simulate any amount of g's just by changing your acceleration, and it's cheap to film too. [+]
-- quantum_flux, Feb 26 2007


I guess you can simulate small G forces for longer times and this would probably be more reasonable than setting up a space station just for a film crew but... Hmm. Oh well, feel free to run with that idea.

I think I will vote too now [+]
-- MercuryNotMars, Feb 26 2007


[quantum] sp. - "vomit comet", surely? - "vomit commit" sounds like a novel method of asserting a change to a database or file system.
-- hippo, Feb 26 2007


[QF]'s first word, first anno - I think it reads the same upside down.

Oh, and a bun for giving humanity another reason to get back to the Moon.
-- elhigh, Feb 27 2007


No one told me that the Lion's Roar could be done through a loud speaker. I conceed my defeat.
-- MercuryNotMars, Feb 27 2007


[elhigh], what I said was 5 parts confusion and 1 part kung-fu. Don't you think that Mercury is a little too hot, [MercuryNotMars]?
-- quantum_flux, Feb 27 2007


No, I don't, think that Mercury is too hot any more than I think Earth is too hot. There are certain places you can't be on both worlds and there are certain places that it is possible to work with on both worlds.

I would say Venus is too hot and is a lot more work than Mercury. I will post a link to "Mercury 2.0 (the planet)" my posted idea.
-- MercuryNotMars, Feb 28 2007



random, halfbakery