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Big Brawl#1 : Yam VS Biehn
Were it not for some inconsistencies in their DNA, I would suspect that Michael Biehn and Simon Yam were long-lost half-brothers. These two are absolutely cut from the same cloth: both consummate professionals, both with decades of industry experience, both highly energetic and remarkably physical...
I remember when I first worked with both of them on 'Dragon Squad' (AKA ...Read more
Jesse's office and Tremayne's hut
As we move into the final leg of production, the schedule is folding in on itself, and we're shooting and re-shooting various scenes over the course of some very long nights.
Making a film is like pushing a very large boulder up a hill, and the...Read more
Bar brawl concluded and meet Jesse
This morning we were scheduled to shoot the final shots of the market sequence, which I filmed second unit on earlier in the shoot. We woke to torrential rain, and it was evident that we couldn't work outdoors. However, we only had our evil nurse (Lily Xue) and Guang Di (Emma Pei) for one day, so....
In a sudden stroke of genius, I decided to recreate the market stalls in the (waterproofed) hospital set, and shoot there. Michael was still...Read more
Butt kicking babe hits bar
Tonight filmdom saw the arrival of a new female furie as our lethal lead Phoenix Chou showed her style in a fast, fierce barroom brawl.
The sequence concerned has our lead character, Deva (Phoe) enter the bar owned by Jesse (Jennifer Blanc) to deliver a message fro...Read more
Barroom brawl
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the studio... we moved to our second biggest interior set, Jesse's Bar, and, again, it took forever to light. Our gaffer, Eric Boland, absolutely knows what he's doing. The delay seems to be caused by manpower shortages or...Read more
Shooting out the Captain and farewell to Deva...
'Shooting out' an actor isn't as violent as it sounds (though I have occasionally wished that it was...). Basically, it means ensuring that we've shot all the necessary footage of a performer so that they can be released to go a...Read more
Carry on, doctor...
Today we're back in the hospital from hell. It looks cool and brighter on film, but its hotter than all buggery under the lights. Poor (DP) Ross Clarkson and (gaffer) Eric Boland, they look like they're in a sauna.
The pace of filming seems to have slowed to a treaclish trickle. I'm assured we're still 'making our days' (ie we're not behind schedule), but it doesn't feel like it.
This morning, we have to confront our ...Read more
Into the hospital
AKA the hospital from hell... This set, our biggest interior, took forever to prepare, and we only managed to shoot a couple of scenes today.
Note to would-be producers: everything takes longer to light than you think it will.
Second note: when you do finally get enou...Read more
Interlude
Sunday again, and, after the night shoot on the lake, you'd think I wanted a break. However, after three hours sitting around the apartment reading a salacious Hollywood biography ('Brando Unzipped') and downing coffee by the bucket, I'm back at the studio.
Note t...Read more
Night on the water
Tonight we were back at the reservoir, for one of the most entertaining nights of the shoot. Kong Sifu was back with us to shoot a dialogue scene between himself and our leads, and also the sequence where our heroes set sail at night onto a vast river.
I first met Kong Sifu through my good friend, Australian actor Daniel Whyte. (Daniel and I first worked together on the film 'The Twins Effect'). I was really happy that Daniel could be with us o...Read more