A Telling Blow: A study of fight choreography in modern Hollywood cinema

This thesis is an examination of fight sequences in modern Hollywood cinema. Fight choreography is an under-discussed aspect of filmmaking from an academic perspective. This thesis examines how fight choreography, or screen combat, serves as a cinematic narrative device (Gates, 2005). In essence, how are narrative and style developed or enriched through a choreographed cinematic fight sequence? Drawing on interviews with professional fight choreographers and focusing on the highest-grossing films across a range of genres, this research will develop a better understanding of fight choreography through a number of theoretical lenses: authorship, narratology, semiotics, and genre.