Inside a Cube: Boyd’s Blog #2
If the key words for blog #1 were “fatigue” or “exhaustion” then the best way to sum up the second week would be “bumps and bruises.”
I’m not sure if we are adjusting (ever so slightly) to the intense conditioning workouts that start most classes, or if we are getting a little bit of a break because the classes are starting to focus more on technique and drills. Either way, everyone agrees that they like the changes. And a lot of changes there are. Everyone is struggling with their diet, realizing that we are not eating either enough, or enough of 
the right food for this new lifestyle. A question about diet on Facebook very quickly bloomed into a 150 + comment thread. Everyone was sharing the same concerns and offering advice. It was awesome to see some of the more experienced Titans and even some of the pro fighters chiming in and sharing their thoughts. This has been a real eye opener for some.
One observation that several cubes made was the fact that they were sleeping so much better. Several said that for the first time in many years they are having vivid, detailed dreams. Peter suggested that we are working our bodies so much harder that we NEED the deep sleep in order to heal and recover. By letting ourselves drift into that deep sleep we are also able to go more easily into dream state. Strange. Interesting… but strange. Nobody has been willing to share the content of their dreams thus far. And I think we are all just a little scared to ask.
In week two, we have even gotten a chance to drill some Jiu Jitsu moves, some Mauy Thai kicks and even some takedowns. We are far from putting it all together as mix martial artists. But, we are at least starting to get a sense of what it feels like to get punched, kicked, choked, slammed or submitted. The result? Everyone is a little banged up. I quickly realized that most of us have never trained judo or wrestling, so we don’t know how to fall properly. That’s lead to some bruised ribs, jammed fingers and needlessly hard smashes and crashes into the mat. No serious injuries to report there… although what constitutes an injury is becoming a bit of a relative term I’m learning.
An eye opening drill for me was the “leg conditioning” drill. For those of you who don’t already know, leg conditioning involves standing opposite your partner and kicking him or her alternately in the inner and outer thigh and inner and outer shin / calf. The goal (thankfully) isn’t to break their leg. But, rather to kick just hard enough to cause minor damage. You know, chip the bone a little, kill the nerves near the skin. Fun stuff… if you are a masochist. The only thing I can’t figure out is which hurts more, being the kicker or the kicked. Thankfully (read sarcasms here) Peter also had us kicking a heavy bag or thai pad 300 times with each leg to ‘condition’ our shins. Near the end of the exercise I had to actually close my eyes when I kicked. If I kept my eyes open, my apparently over developed sense of self preservation would cause me to ‘pull my kick’ in an attempt to avoid the certain pain that comes with slapping tender flesh into a Thai pad or 200 pound bag of sand.
The wrestling practice on the other hand was a real treat. Having never wrestled before, it has always looked to me like a couple of guys pawing mindlessly at each other until one guy latched on and crudely muscled his opponent to the floor. Not so fast there Sherlock! Turns out every movement in wrestling, every head movement, every step, every change of level or direction is a calculated step, connected to a complex chain of steps that, if executed properly, will result in your opponent being effortlessly dumped on the mat. A real chess match can quickly develop once you realize that every move has a series of counters that can be used to nullify your opponent or even turn the tables and put you in the superior position. I was not expecting to say this but, “Wrasslin’ is awesome!”
But, I have to say, for a group of folks not really in the condition to have someone your size or larger landing on top of you, the bumps and bruises are adding up. Throw in some rudimentary and crude BJJ and just about all of us are covered with so many bruises we look like leopards… or lepers, I can’t decide. Upon seeing me shirtless the other day, one pro fighter said I reminded him of a rotten banana.
Our final big lesson this week was one that very nearly sent a few of our germ-a-phobes running for the door. After hearing that one of the cubes had some red spots developing on his arms, Peter gave us a graphic and disturbing description of the myriad skin diseases, infections and other various cooties we were likely to encounter. We all, of course, made the horrible mistake of heading straight to the Internet to look up, ring worm, impetigo and staph infections. I have not the words! I won’t get into it here, go look it up yourself if you must. Let’s just say we’ve started combing each other like a bunch of rhesus monkeys, looking for even the slightest blemish.
It’s a little terrifying to think that while you are focused on the 200 pound adversary standing in front of you, there could be a microscopic one burrowing into your skin, readying to knock you out when you least expect it. Ok, enough, I have to go take another shower.
Inside a Cube: Boyd’s Blog – #1
Well, it was a motley crew that showed up at Titans MMA and Boxing last Monday for the start of the Cubicle to the Cage training camp. The group was made up of 25 men and 11 women, all from different backgrounds, but each with the same goal, to take the first tentative steps from the ordinary, to the extraordinary, from the Cubicle to the Cage.
Like just about everyone else in the room, I was a little nervous… ok, who am I kidding…. I was scared out of my wits on opening night. Only a couple of weeks before, while attending a production meeting at the gym, we’d witnessed a pro fighter sustain a potentially career ending injury. One minute he was punching and kicking like some crazed, padded ninja, the next minute he hit the ground, a tangled mess of torn ligaments and busted dreams. As I stood there on opening night, trying to keep my heart from beating out of my chest, I could still hear the guy’s screams echoing around the cavernous, former auto-body shop the Titans call home.
For the briefest of moments, I glanced at the garage doors and wondered if anyone would notice if I just slipped out into the night and retreated to the safety of my cubicle. But before I could formulate a decent escape plan, (“Excuse me, but I think I left the bath running.”) head trainer, Peter Martel, bellowed, “Lets go… RUN! What are you waiting for?! GO! GO! GO!”
For the next hour, my heart was beating out of my chest for a whole other reason. There was no room in my conscious thoughts for fear… every fibre of my being was devoted to keeping me moving.
Let me be perfectly clear here, I am 40 years old, I have 3 small kids and a desk job. I by no means had any illusions that I was an elite athlete. That being said, I go to the gym at lunchtime, I live an active lifestyle, I even ran several half marathons and a full marathon at one point. So, I was under the horribly misguided impression that I was ready for what was to come. But the cardio workout that Peter put us through that night is not something I could ever, ever, EVER have prepared for. It was a series of the most exhausting, energy sapping, sole crushing exercises I have ever experienced. Burpies, knee tucks, pushups, leaping (full body off the ground) pushups, squats, crunches, lunges, etc… etc… Even now, a week later, my legs ache and my lungs burn just thinking about it.
After what seemed like an hour, but what was probably more like 5 or 10 minutes, we were given a minute to ‘recover’ before diving into our first introduction to the techniques we would need to learn if we have any hope of one day calling ourselves mixed martial artists. Peter, and boxing coach, Tyson Cave, had intended to drill us on proper punching techniques. Unfortunately, things very quickly fell apart when they realized that most of us, far from being able to throw a punch, were barely able to stand properly or hold our arms up. I felt embarrassed for myself, sympathy my fellow trainees and a growing fear that Peter and Tyson were going to simply throw up their hands and walk out. But they didn’t. Peter slowed things down, and backed things up, showing us first how to stand, and then how to hold our hands, and then how to move forward and then backward. By the end of class they even had us jabbing (feebly) and parrying. You have to start somewhere I guess.
The brief respite we had while drilling technique was short lived. It seemed like no sooner had we started then Peter was lining us all up for ‘cool down’. Cool down? Cool down? Sounded great to me. It conjured images of cool lakes and lemonade on a summer’s day. I was thinking we’d do some light jogging, a little stretching, some yoga and maybe a quick meditation. I, apparently, don’t know jack shit about training to be a mixed martial artist.
The last 10 minutes of class was an even more intense repeat of the blitzkrieg warm-up I’d barely survived less than an hour before. I’d like to say that it was a tough challenge but I had the mental toughness to push through it and take whatever Peter threw my way. I’d like to say that… but I can’t. I stumbled. I fell. On one occasion I even fell to the floor behind a larger trainee and I hid there until I was afraid Peter would see me. I screamed and I cried. At one point, during a seemingly endless period of lunges, burpies and knee tucks, I found myself saying the names of my children out loud. “Annika, Malcolm, Mariah, Annika, Malcolm, Mariah, Anniaka, Malcolm, Mariah.” I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I heard the words coming out of my mouth. I guess my brain was just not willing to follow my body into the fire, so it retreated to my happy place. And that apparently would be thinking of my children.
Our release ultimately came with the sweetest word I think I have ever heard. When my legs were rubber, my lungs were burning, and my entire body was absolutely screaming in pain, from somewhere in the distance, and over the roaring in my head, I heard Peter shout, “TIME!!!”
I don’t remember the drive home. I don’t remember getting a shower. I don’t even remember going to bed. All I can remember is that I ate what seemed to be the biggest and best meal I have ever had in my life.
The week since that first training session has been a bit of a monotonous, pain and fatigue filled blur. Six classes a week of conditioning, conditioning and more conditioning. Each workout is spiced with basic techniques in boxing, Mauy Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA. And I can see what’s going on here. Peter is ratcheting up the pressure and he is keeping a keen eye to see who is going to crack.
Considering the relatively poor physical condition some of us have come in with, I’m absolutely amazed that nobody has quite yet. But… if things keep going the way they are going, it’s just a matter of time.
I won’t give any spoilers (you’ll have to watch the show on radX network to get the full story) but I will say that after 6 classes we have amassed an impressive injury list: two dislocated thumbs, a pulled groin, a couple of black eyes, a pulled abdominal muscle, a couple of gimpy backs, bruised ribs, and more bruised shins, busted fingers, and sore muscles than I could count.
Well, that’s one week down… and only 41 to go. Bring it on!
~Boyd
Slow motion and Steadicam
Slow motion and Steadicam is a cinematic style that I love and use often. Depending on what story you are trying to tell, emotion you are trying to convey and the context of when it is used, a well executed steadicam shot in slow motion can be a powerful tool!
Depending on the subject, I prefer 60fps slow motion for a few reasons.
1. It is available on many cameras today. Sony EX3, Panasonic HVX, Canon 7D, C300, RED, GoPro, the list goes on…
2. It creates slow motion without being too slow. Its enough to make it much more dramatic and engaging, but yet still moves enough that you can see a lot happen in a shot and yet still have the slow motion.
3. It is a very simple workflow in camera while shooting and in post when cutting.
Now with current cameras and newer ones emerging, slow motion is being used more and more and with higher frame rates and slower final results. RED Epic shooting 300fps which looks amazing, Phantom flex shoots close 2500 fps, which looks even more amazing! (check out Tom Guilmette’s film and blog about it) And of course film cameras from 8mm to 35mm have had variable frame rates available for decades.
But the 60fps is available for almost anyone with a decent camera today, which is exciting to anyone who loves to shoot. Higher frames rates are only going to become easier to obtain in the future. We are currently living in an amazing revolution of film making tools, with camera companies seemingly raising the bar everyday. Great thing about slow motion is you can create similar shots to those with a steadicam, dolly or jib, operating hand held. This technology is at everyone’s fingertips!
Personally, I love using 60fps with the steadicam, because no matter what camera im using, its always seems to be an option. I travel a lot and like to keep a small kit, so being able to throw the camera up on the steadicam and get some shots @60fps also allows for effective travel tracking shots. I like how the mix of the steadicam and the slow mo create a more three dimensional shot. It also allows you to shoot really long and continuous shots that are visually appealing.
I recently started to shooting a new TV series about MMA, called “Cubicle to the Cage“. Below are a few shots using the steadicam at 60fps. These shots were all done using the Sony EX1 and EX3.
The 60fps slow motion world was introduced to me years ago, like many filmmakers out there by Philip Bloom. Props to the Godfather. The steadicam @60fps was also used extensively by Andre Dupuis for the beautifully shot TV series “Departures”. I have been inspired by Andre’s work as Depatures in my opinion is one of the best filmed shows on television.
Fore more on Cubicle to the Cage, visit www.cubicletothecage.com
First Days of Production
Production has recently began for our latest TV series “Cubicle to the Cage”. 30 plus “cubes” with no MMA experience have been selected to join a mixed martial arts training program over the next 10 months in the hopes of fighting a professional fight. Head trainer, Peter Martell believes maybe 4 or 5 will make it to the end. Our job is to document it all!
We have had over 250 people tryout for the training program. We had to interview them all. It is a very hard spot to be in if you are a “cube” (what we call the fighting trainees). They had only a few seconds to convince Peter why they would be a good fighter. Then came the tryouts. They were physically exhausting! People were puking everywhere. I thought some people were going to need an ambulance. Personally, I applaud everyone who had the guts to tryout, but I also don’t quite understand why so many people are in such horrible shape. Some were fantastic, and quite fit, while others have a long way to go. But I guess this is what the training program is about – transformation. They will be training 10-12 hours per week, as long as they can last. You get in fantastic shape in doing so, and surely people’s lives are going to change for the better.
We have the difficult task of capturing all of this. We have so many shooting days that we’re working in small crews, otherwise it would be too expensive to produce. We have to deliver 12, 30minute episodes. That is a lot of shooting, and a tonne of editing! We will be shooting on a variety of cameras. Primarily we’ll be using the Sony EX1/Ex3, but also Canon 5D, RED Epic and lots of GoPros!
The hardest thing will be finding the great stories. This isn’t a reality show where people are eliminated, or set up with big surprise challenges, this is us, documenting their journey. People have to choose to drop out. Because there is no format to who continues to train, the hardest part will be ensuring we have enough for each episode. 12 episodes is a lot of TV. So spacing and parceling out each episode with the story will be our quest. Undoubtedly, some episodes will be better than others, but one thing I don’t want as a director is fake drama. Nothing infuriates me more than over-hyped reality TV drama that makes you think that after the commercial something big is going to happen, and nothing ever does. I want this show to be as real and authentic as possible. The ‘reality’ is that we are making TV, and sometimes you have to swallow your pride and succumb to something you don’t want do. But that is the nature of the beast. I feel quite privileged to be able to create for a living, and hope that we can come up with a great documentary series!
Here is the original, award-winning promo we produced almost 2 years ago!
Cheers,
Andrew MacCormack – Director/Director of Photography
Women only tryouts! January 7th @ 12 noon
New round of tryouts at 12 noon on January 7th at Titans MMA and Boxing…. WOMEN ONLY! Lets see some Halifax Girl Power ladies. Get the word out. If you’ve ever considered doing something like this but were not totally comfortable about being the only girl training with a gym full of guys. Well, here is your chance to form Halifax’s first all girl fight team.
