How the hell are we going to pull this off?
One of our first steps in planning for this film was to make an estimate of how much we could spend for the Thai portion of the film. This in turn would and did dictate many of the story concepts and ideas, and the realities of what we could film.
My own philosophy for the action was that martial arts, and strong martial arts choreography would have to be our special effects. Though many action movies for past several years have embraced the Chinese style of fight choreography, relying as much on fantastic wire work and staged acrobatics, not only did I know that we would not have the resources to pull that off, but that though I respected the athleticism, I rarely enjoyed the resulting scenes.
Realism and grit, evidenced in movies such as Reservoir Dogs, Narc, Training Day, Requiem for a Dream, and of course Raging Bull, and even Blair Witch would all color the perceptions of what I thought we could pull off.
I knew (or thought at the time) that guns, explosions, and other mainstays of the Hollywood action movie would not be realistic within our limited resources. Without breaking sets or props, without really interesting camera moves, even interesting fights would be tough to pull off.
What I did know that I could do was make realistic fights, full of pain and hurt, that were composed entirely of legitimate martial art technique, and film them in a way that put the viewer in the action, making the fights interesting to the eye and mind.
The ideas gel...
Rob and Kely, like many millions of people, have watched hundreds of films.
From this most basic of concepts, Kely began writing a complex script dealing with government double dealing and past treacheries, wrapped within the emotional framework of two brothers, Jim and Jack Davis, willing to put everything on the line for each other, and the still unsolved murder of Jack's wife.
Though several ideas were originally written into the script dealing with a secret, covert arm acting under the blanket of the Home Land Security Act, the producers felt that if they could pack in enough action, it would make up for any discrepancies of story and production. Having once worked under Menahem Golan, Kely remembered Menahem's advice of striving for action every six minutes. Determined to outdo these radical numbers, and yet still make a credible film, Kely polished his ideas and then had the task of convincing his friend and partner that the easiest way to make the film was to head overseas.
We're gonna do what? "We have no money. We have no crew. We have no connections. We don't know anybody there." All logical arguments, except that Kely had once spent an extended time in Thailand teaching his own concepts of martial arts, and felt that it was definitely the place to get the most bang for the buck. Sometimes literally - the buck. Having convinced Rob that we could do a huge car chase through the chaos of Bangkok streets for 100 dollars, Rob was in. Now to find a cameraman. More coming soon.... |
Initial Reactions - We screen ten minutes Reaction was pretty much universal from both friends and family, some in the business and some who had just put up with us for many years: You guys are insane. You are nuts to try to make a film, (a very difficult task with everything on your side), but wow, it sounds really cool! Within just a few weeks of being home, with the sad shake of the heads, and the silent "I told you so's" with our explanations of how we did not finish it, nearly 10 minutes were assembled, including one of the big fights, and the kidnapping in the middle on Chinatown streets. More coming soon.... |
Second Screening - 43 minutes - mixed feelings Most of another year had gone by. More filming had been done, rewrites to accommodate the realities of budget, and the seemingly endless editing. Time to let people know this was going somewhere. More coming soon.... |
The joys of desktop post - 2 and 1/2 years and counting The end in sight after 2 and 1/2 years. I had heard from friends over the years and it always seemed their films took about 2 years. I never said anything, but like most people, I couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing to take so long. More coming soon.... |
The American Film Market - We're on to something With 80 minutes of completed film, Kely cut their first trailer. At 3 and 1/2 minutes, seemingly packed with action and no audio other than temp music, the film makers finally had something to show that looked like a movie. Kely made a last trip to Thailand, recording as much ADR and wild sound as possible. A meeting with Thailand's most successful production studio brought looks of genuine amazement. More coming soon.... |
It still comes down to content...
Reading and studying and trying to absorb the massive amount of info available on each and every camera and each and every situation, it's easy to forget about content. After content, it's easy to forget about the basics; that the camera only sees a part of what we point it at. It's value and values are still made up of light and shadow, expressed through composition and angle, rendered with focus or lack of with digitally interpolated color and luminance. More coming soon....
|
