Jackie Chan - How To Do Action Comedy

From January 17 through January 21, Neon Splatter is celebrating all things Jackie Chan. His movies, his many other projects, and his impact on film as well as film lovers. This is #JackieChanuary.

While celebrating Jackie Chan this week, there will probably be some amount of repetition of points made about the iconic artist. This isn’t due to the limitations of the writers, though, but reflects how Chan maintained fundamental beliefs, themes, and practices in his filmmaking to deliver revolutionary cinema. Few people can use martial arts, without any dialogue, to not only tell a compelling story but completely flesh out a character simply through their fighting styles and the way in which the brawl unfolds.

The (sadly now defunct) YouTube channel Every Frame A Painting looked at how Jackie Chan infuses comedy into action through specific approaches that immediately communicate narrative and personality information through blocking, editing, and understanding how the audience will perceive what they are seeing on screen. It’s a detailed analysis that manages to breakdown these recurring motifs and techniques in Chan’s work without demystifying them or reducing any of their impressive charms.