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28 - 10- 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 23)
2009-10-29 7:46PM / 標準BLOG
The end of Thunder Road!
After two days and dust, hurtling metal, automotive breakdown and sunburn, we were all about done with Thunder Road.
Our last day at this location proved the most testing yet. One of the grips fell off the camera car and had to be taken to hospital to check for fractures. (He was okay.) While DP Ross Clarkson was tied to the front of a truck, it hit a pothole and the camera hit him in the nose. Blood poured, but he kept on shooting (and never complained afterwards!)
What a trouper Ross is, we'd really be lost without him...
As the day wore on, our leading lady Phoenix Chou (second named pronounced 'Choo') raised our spirits by posing for our set photograper, Cease Huang, as the world's most attractive hood ornament.
For the ladies (and, I guess, some of the men), Michael and his double, German, compared six packs. Have to admit that Biehn guy is in pretty good shape for a guy who could be German's father! (Though that's kind of unlikely...)
We shot the rest of the exchange of gunfire between Michael (rattling around in the back of his pick-up truck) and our bad guys. MB had to set up each shot with Ken Yip (our coordinator), 1st AD Jack King and with Phoenix. I can report that Phoe did (almost!) all her own driving in the scene, and even insisted on being at the wheel for shots where she wasn't visible.
The end of the sequence sees Michael throw the hub of a tyre from the back of the truck and through the window of the pursuing car, causing it to crash. Having never shot that kind of stunt before, he turned the set over to met, and, having never shot that kind of scene before, I turned to Ken Yip, and together we worked out how to achieve the stunt safely.
We were helped immeasurably by the strength of Michael's throwing arm. With both cars in motion, he nailed the windshield on the first try with our fake hub.
For the next shot, it was down to Ken to drive the pursuit car full speed, as German threw the real one through the window of his car. Ken donned full body armour and face mask for the stunt, looking like a Chinese Mad Max...
Fortunately, we got this, too, with our first take.
All that remained was to crash the car. The first time Ken tried, he almost nailed me, Ross and Cameo, our focus puller, so we moved to the top of a hill to capture the next one.
Just as we were about to shoot the last charge of the chase car, it seemed the engine had finalled died on us. Just ten feet! So near, and yet so far. Finally our on-set mechanics managed to coax it into life, and we got the shot.
At last, sayonara to Thunder Road, and off to fresh adventures tomorrow.
Next : No rumble in the jungle.
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27-10-09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 22)
2009-10-28 7:10PM / 標準BLOG
Thunder Road Continued (plus Emma Pei Meets Kong!)
We were back in the quarry today, continuing our car chase. Phoenix had got dust in her eye the day before, and had to go to hospital to get it rinsed. Fortunately, we had finished most of the shots of her driving, and could shoot around her until our last scheduled car chase day, which is tomorrow.
Apart from that, and the fact that the vehicle being chased kept breaking down, everything went well!
The quarry has a small hill in the middle of it, and this gave us a great vantage point from which to view the automotive action.
Our biggest challenge was breathing in the clouds of brown dust the cars kicked up as they span around the natural 'track' of the quarry.
Michael as as 'hands on' as ever, moving cars, digging track, checking playback...
We soon realised how invaluable Ken Yip and his stunt team were to the scene. Michael and I have both been involved in various chase sequences throughout our careers, but have never put one together until now.
Together, they prepared a stunt for Michael to perform himself, where he climbs out of his speeding pickup truck and into the bed, from which he opens fire at the pursuing rebel soldiers.
We got the shot from various angles, and even managed to leave MB in one piece.
Our intrepid DP Ross Clarkson was game as ever, strapping himself onto a hood to roll with the action.
With cars and their drivers all heading in the right direction, I decided to head back to the studio to check on actors and sets we'd need in the days ahead. (Note to would be producers: Its not what you're doing now that kills you; its what you're going to be doing and have no prepared everything for!)
I'm indebted to my friend and co-producer Seth Scher for taking the con in my absence, and bringing his fresh energy and enthusiasm to the set.
The mighty Kong Sifu arrived to play the role of gunrunner Ding. A veteran of the Shaw Brothers era of kung fu film-making, I first met Kong through my friend Daniel Whyte, and trained under him in his unique Circle Propeller Tai Chi style. Those Kowloon Park sessions were great fun, as much because of Kong's character as the art itself. His jovial demeanour belies his reputation as a tough fighter.
We originally considered him for the role of our religious leader, the Bagwun, but Michael felt he was too 'loud' for that part. Kong stayed in his mind, though, and it was MB who suggested that we cast him as the larger-than-life arms dealer Ding.
Kong arrived in Nanhai with two of his students, both from Germany.
He held court in the canteen here, and soon entered into a lengthy dialogue with our resident Tai Chi master, Ocean Hou, on the intricacies of the art.
When Kong Sifu began practicing his dialogue with 3rd Assistant Director Pete Wong, the whole studio seemed to shake. It must be his chi power.
Emma Pei had spent the day training with the stunt team, so we had her pose for some funny photos with Kong. (I have to say that it came as a happy surprise to find a Vogue model who is such a good sport!)
Next : The end of Thunder Road!
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23 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 18)
2009-10-24 8:31PM / 標準BLOG
Checking in to danger
When Michael Biehn and I were first invited to visit the Ace Studios in Nanhai, we stayed at the magnificent Fontainebleu. Modelled on a French hotel (as the name suggests), its a faux Grecian building set in its own beautiful grounds. The approach to the hotel, with landscaped bushes and fountains, is just incredible.
We asked our host, Henry Luk, if it would be possible to shoot at the hotel, and he said that he would try and ask his local contacts to arrange it. From that moment, MB and I were determined to feature the stunning exterior of the Fontainenbleu in the opening sequence of the Blood Bond. We subsequently gave poor Henry further pressure by demanding permission to shoot inside the hotel as well!
True to form, Henry came through and we scheduled a day to shoot exterior and interior scenes of the spiritual leader the Bagwun (Ye Xiao Keng) and his entourage at the place. The night before, the weather forecast was for clouds and rain.
Once again, the great god of celluloid (or, at least, HD) was with us on this shoot and the day dawned bright and clear. To maximize the impact of the Bagwun's convoy pulling up at the entrance, we had hired a crane that would allow DP Ross Clarkson to sweep up and across the vista of the Fontaine Bleu.
Of course we had to shoot this film during the Canton Trade Fair, meaning that there were several bus loads of multinational attendees coming and going, and thereby blocking our shot. We had also arranged for the hotel's manager and staff to play themselves, which meant they had to juggle their regular duties with running out front to play their roles!
I was surprised and delighted to meet Wing Chun master William Cheung, one of the men who taught Bruce Lee, who was staying at the hotel. He had been visiting nearby Foshan to celebrate his 70th birthday. He showed great interest in the proceedings and asked me to remember him to my step-father Tino Ceberano, an old friend of his.
After we wrapped the main entrance, we moved to a covered stone walkway that connects two of the hotel's buildings. If you've seen one hotel corridor, you've seen them all, so we were lucky to find such a unique passageway in which to film.
After shooting everything we needed at the hotel, we moved back to the studio for the first Blood Bond scenes to be shot on the sound stage. The sequence takes place inside a hotel suite, supposedly located at the Fontainebleu, but these rooms have been constructed at the studio.
The reason for this is that it would be the setting for a fight scene, and therefore not appropriate to shoot at an actual suite at the hotel.
Today, we were just shooting a dialogue scene between the Bagwun and Deva, and also a scene when she wakes during the night and realize that something is amiss. We will shoot the actual fight between Deva and the would be assassin later in the schedule.
I can't say enough about the wonderful actor Ye Xiao Keng. The character of the Bagwun is the one that motivates the entire plot. You needed an actor with real charisma to pull it off and Ye has this in spades. I'll always have a fond memory of Michael watching the monitor very closely and reactig to Keng's performance.
As I was watching the scene, something struck me. I first created the characters of Deva and her master about 20 years ago, just after I first moved to Hong Kong. I remember sitting in my rootftop apartment in San Po Kong, tapping out their original dialogue on my (yes!) typewriter.
And here they were made real, and by the perfect actors for the roles. I joked with Phoenix that the reason it took so long for me to make this film was that I had to wait for her to grow up!
Next : Praying for peace and luck
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20 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond (part 15)
2009-10-21 9:24PM / 標準BLOG
First fight
Today was our second day of filming, and first day with action. The location is an rural bar, supposedly set out in the badlands, but actually set five minutes from Ace Studios. On one side is a busy highway, on the other unspoiled countryside. You have love Nanhai!
MB, the crew and the stunt team gather as dawn breaks, and we take a look at the location, which is supposed to have been set dressed the evening before. The 'walls' of the bar are actually sheets, and these were made suitably dirty the night before. During the night, the dirt somehow washed off again, and they now look too clean! MB does his best Jackson Pollock impersonation throwing black paint onto them. (He subsequently signed them and they'll be for sale on Ebay next week...)
In this scene, our hero, John Tremayne (Michael Biehn) is accosted in his local bar, gets into a brawl and is rescued by our high kicking heroine, Deva (Phoenix Chou).
We originally had another actor scheduled to play the first of the thugs, Abbas. However, when we saw action director Ken Yip play the role in the stunt rehearsals, we all realised that he was our guy!
Poor Ken had to threaten Michael with a knife, get his head slammed into a table and then finally get taken out by a kick to the face from Phoe. And he had to choreograph the action in between takes!
The fake knife we'd prepared didn't fit into the sheath for the proper blade, so MB had Ken stick the real weapon to his throat. (Kids, don't try this at home.)
MB and Ken 'sold' the headslam perfectly. I think we can even use the sound effect of Ken's head hitting the furniture!
Michael impressed us all by getting into the thick of the fray, in terms of doing his own action and also directing the stunt men who were attacking him. I had anticipated that he would focus on the dramatic aspects of the film, but he seems prepared to get stuck into everything.
However, the demands of acting, directing and set design did begin to take its toll on MB as the day wore on.
Though he's an experienced bar fighter, Tremayne meets his match in the form of a hulking rebel soldier, played by Canadian Chinese bodybuilder Will Chan. Will goes to the same gym as me in Hong Kong, and its always good to have friendly faces around.
He did a great job in his brief fight with MB. In a couple of shots, he unleashed his inner Bolo on us!
Deva arrives to save the day, and this leads into the first fight scene to be filmed by Phoenix.
She dumps Will on his back, then unleashes a fast and furious hand combination that knocks him out.
Unfortunately, on the last move, she actually connected with Will's chin with her fist. This in itself would be a problem, but what really hurt was that she broke character after she hit him, meaning we couldn't use the take.
Note to all you would-be wu shu divas out there: no matter how hard you hit someone in a movie fight scene, keep acting until they say 'cut'... or else you'll just have to hit them again in the same (painful) place!
Anyway, after some ice on his jaw, Will manfully carried on, and finished the scene in style. He's a real trouper, and I appreciate him coming to support us on 'Blood Bond'.
Next, poor Ken comes back into the fray, bloodied but still belligerent.
And gets dispatched by another combination that ended with Phoe kicking him in the head.
Given our brilliant planning, we had scheduled a major drama scene right at the end of the day, after our leads had both been fighting furiously. I was worried they might not have had enough gas in the tank to deliver.
This was especially a concern as it was Phoenix's first major dialogue scene in the film (and, in fact, in any film).
We did the first take with an 'over the shoulder' from Michael's side, Phoe's close up. The scene has Deva trying to persuade Tremayne to come with her to the city, where a donation of his special blood is needed to save her master, The Bagwun.
I listened intently in the other back room, and was blown away by what I heard and saw. She's really a wonderful, instinctive actress, and, as far as I could tell, she pretty much nailed the scene in one take.
Michael came and listened to the playback, and felt exactly the same, so we moved on to shoot his side. He has always had a unique intensity on-screen (and sometimes off!), and it feels that there's something in this role that allows him to channel his dark side very easily.
It was a long day, but a very rewarding one, and even Will and Phoe were still friends by wrap time.
Next : Wheels of pain
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17 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 12)
2009-10-19 9:23PM / 標準BLOG
A funny thing happened on the road to Purma...
Making action movies tends to be a serious business. These scenes involve physical action sequences that are intensely demanding and potentially dangerous, and this business should not be taken lightly.
Having said that, I can't remember laughing as often or as hard as I have with Michael Biehn and the rest of our 'Blood Bond' family.
Here are some fun memories from the story so far.
Our associate producer, Oliver Williams, is a trained actor with years of experience to bring to bear on our project. He is working with our 3rd AD, Seventeen Xie. I did ask if he was the 17th of his father's children, but this turned out (disappointingly) not to be the case.
Despite their different upbringings, they both had the same reaction to MB's description of our car chase scene:
Funnily enough, DP Ross Clarkson and action director Ken Yip had opposite reactions to the exact same information:
Since we started pre-production, I've been getting a persistent tight pain in my left trapezius (I think that's what its called). I've instructed Phoenix to attack me without mercy (Kato style) to give me an elbow massage with all her kung fu might.
Around the studio, everyone has a cell phone or two, a walkie-talkie and sometimes even a Blackberry as well. Its got so bad, our director even phoned our action director from two feet away.
For a scene set in a rural area, Michael asked that prop department provide some 'hoes'. Phonetically, this lent itself to some confusion, but our great props master, Li Sifu, was happy to comply.
For all of you who wish to know what a real hoe looks like:
Our overworked costume department constantly delivers fresh and amusing images. Some of our antagonistic rebel soldiers wear black berets, and a specific member of the wardrobe team has become our beret wrangler:
Actresses know who has them in focus (or out) and who has their best side (or not), and that's the Director of Photography. Our lovely leading lady Phoenix teases our gruff Aussie DP Ross Clarkson unmercifully, constantly jumping on his lap. Or risking life and limb by having him sit on hers...
I'll post more fun photos as the film progresses. (Presuming that we'll have any fun after production itself begins!)
