Shooting Red Dawn Rising # 5

The End of the Beginning

We awoke to find that we'd pushed Phoe a kick too far. Her back is so stiff from a week of warriordom, we have to summon the great Kong Sifu from Hong Kong to reallign her. Kong begans his career as a kung fu actor, and plays the comedic role of gunrunner Ding in 'Blood Bond'.

His day job sees him practice his own version of chiropractic: he''s equal parts bonesetter and faith healer. Whatever, it works! Our boundless thanks to Kong Sifu for joining us at such short notice, and for kickstarting Phoe's qi.(Also, he's just a fun guy to have around!).

By the way, how could someone in so much pain look quite so pretty? (Um, I mean, Phoenix, not Kong...)

Back on the dancefloor, Antony and Ken finish  shooting the main sequence, then painstakingly go through the whole fight to make sure they have all the close insert shots they need.

We get Deva reacting to a surprise attack...

...blocking an attack with a short stick...

...chaining up one of her assailants...

With everyone feeling the strain, the shoot goes from day, into the night and almost back to the day again. We take Phoenix to what would be, in Spinal Tap terms, 11. I'm impressed at the sheer stamina and patience of Antony Szeto and Ken Ip, our director and action director respectively. As fatigue sets in, it gets easier to settle for 'good enough', and this they never do.

Fortunately, everyone has a great sense of humour, which is the only way to leaven the long hours.

The real weight lay on Phoe's shoulders, and, when we finished, everyone, and especially me, had a new respect for her talent and fortitude.

When I'm finally preparing to leave to go back to Hong Kong, I grab a last spooky shot of the studio.

With the scene in the can, I''ll be simultaneously shooting 'Beach Spike!' and preparing to shoot the rest of 'Red Dawn Rising'. Never a dull moment...