Digital Sculpture
Target Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1OJfSDthI
I chose to examine the final battle between Rocky Balboa and Drago (the Russian antagonist boxer) in “Rocky IV” (1985). I’ve always enjoyed the constructed boxing matches in the more heroic setting (my father, brother, and I would watch these kinds of movies), and especially the Rocky movies’ tendency to have the boxing protagonist, Rocky, take a tremendous beating (sometimes not even protecting or guarding himself properly as a good fighter would) and then deliver the final knockout blow (or blows) to ultimately win the match. As a Martial Artist myself, I was also drawn to the recreation of a fight scene, and even though this is in the context of the sport of boxing, it made me think of the Randori matches characteristic of the practices I went to (of course, those were never as intense as a Rocky match, and keeping up one’s guard was much more important). The key moments in the clip are when Rocky finally delivers a few good blows to Drago after all seemed lost all too soon (this also shows that Rocky does stand a chance against this mighty opponent and this will prove to be a good fight) and when Rocky delivers the final critical blows to Drago, as triumphant music plays and the key secondary characters and the audience cheer, leading to the mighty Russian warrior’s collapse and the protagonist’s incredible victory. The primary thing that I intend to change about this story is the character species: instead of recreating this final climactic scene where Rocky turns the tide of battle and secures victory wholesale, I shall have the boxers be Praying Mantids (in boxer shorts–4 legged ones) instead of human beings. I feel that Praying Mantids would not only be a unique re-interpretation of this iconic movie scene, but appropriate in the sense that these hunting insects brutally attack their prey with their raptorial legs, which not only rest in a “praying position” (which has given the insect its nickname), but what I feel to be a “put ’em up” boxing style, defensive guard-like position.
