11 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part six)

Gunning for trouble.

Today, action director Ken Yip and I headed to Guangzhou to find guns for the movie. Guangzhou was probably once a beautiful southern Chinese city. Today, its the Birmingham of the east, a monstrous grety metropolis with an impenetrable ring road and the traffic from hell to fill it.

After an hour of looking at bleak tenement buildings and factories, we arrive at the wonderful film-making community that surrounds Guangzhou Film Studios. I'd anticipated visiting a version of Q's office to look at weapons, with some slick sales guy showing us various models on a computer monitor.

Instead, I was led to what looked like a gunrunner's underground lair, stocked with every kind of (fake) guns and ammunition known to man.

The armourer and pyrotechnician who greeted us were both, frankly, older than I expected. In the case of the latter, I guess its a good sign that he's managed to juggle explosive materials for so many years and lived to tell the tale.

They laid out a selection of AKs, other rifles and various handguns. We needed a special weapon for our bad girl, model Emma Pei, as there's no way this slender waif could tote an AK. They suggested the little number you see below. I guess if a gun could be sexy, this one would be (or, at least, will be when Emma wields it.)

Of course, being industry professionals, Ken and I wouldn't dream of taking a photo while fooling around with the guns.

Next we began scouring the used car lots of Guangzhou for a suitably powerful pick up truck for a chase sequence. Our leading lady, Phoenix Chou, has never driven with gears, so she's been working the stick like crazy to prepare. A suitable vehicle proves hard to find, but finally we find one that might fit the bill.

The salesman asks if I want to take a test drive. I haven't been behind the wheel in at least year, but decide to take it for a spin. Children, small animals and old ladies scatter from my path, but I make it back to the lot in one piece.

It may not be the prettiest vehicle on the road, but it should fit the bill...

After this, Ken and I grab dinner at a great local restaurant. The food at Ace Studios is actually very good, but you need a break once in a while.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Michael is teaching Phoenix the finer points of gun control.

Michael's carried so many guns in so many movies, many people mistakenly believe that he was actually in the armed forces. (He did provide the voice-over for the Navy SEALS recruitment video!) 

Deva has to be almost as deadly at gun fu as she is at gung fu, and Phoenix, as ever, rose to the challenge.