REVELATIONS: a sw fan film I created the lightsaber choreography
#1
Posted 25 March 2005 - 10:58 AM
I created the lightsaber choreography and play the "Darth Maul" character in the film. I've got 2 lines and I kill a Jedi at the climax. An interview I gave in the film's newsletter was just opened up to everyone online at Them's Fighting Words
It also includes pictures of the orientation session at my old aikido dojo in Washington, DC for the actors who would be sword fighting. Training pictures This session and readings from my book Shimmering Sword were required of the principal actors.
You can see pictures of me with my pink lightsaber at Lightsaber fight. The director made my saber pink because I joked about it to him that if Mace could get a purple saber, why couldn't I get a pink one because I was gay. I asked if it would remain pink in the final cut of the movie (which will be 40 min long), and he said it was too difficult a color for him to do. I'm thinking, though, that my lightsaber will be pink. We're having a red carpet premiere at the biggest theater in Baltimore April 16, 2005.
Also, I just finished an interview for Cinefantastique which will be part of a SW fan film section in the magazine.
I'd love to hear what you think of it. I don't mind real criticisms either. The fan film "industry" is the butt of many jokes because most films look like home movies but I think this production will blow a lot of people away.
#2
Posted 25 March 2005 - 01:49 PM
This post has been edited by Hannibal: 25 March 2005 - 01:51 PM
~ Voltaire (1694-1778)
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#5
Posted 28 March 2005 - 01:26 PM
I'm really looking forward to the film. The saber scenes and special effects look amazing. Really professional looking stuff.
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#6
Posted 28 March 2005 - 05:51 PM
Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"
All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
#7
Posted 28 March 2005 - 07:58 PM
good stuff...
you've published a book before me, you've done a fight scene in a film before me, god damnit! stop one uping me!!!
seriously though, good work, you're one talented dude!!!
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#8
Posted 28 March 2005 - 09:21 PM
#9
Posted 28 March 2005 - 09:38 PM
it gets your name around and leads to paid work...
every actor i know, has done free work.
many succesful actors still do... it sucks spending time on something without pay, but i have done heaps of unpaid work that has lead to paid work.
so i wouldn't be too quick to refuse... it's just the way the industry works. everybody helps each other out... movies (even short ones) cost alot of money to make...
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#10
Posted 29 March 2005 - 09:03 AM
The problem is that when people get things for free, they also treat those things with less respect. Not that Shane, the director, ever did that.
The sad problem is that working for him cost me a lot of my own money at a financially difficult point in my life. Money IS an issue.
Without any disrespect to him, he can pay me or he can get someone else for free. There would be no love lost between us; that's just the nature of the business. We'll still be friends.
After working on his film, I now know that I can do choreography to rival movies like Gladiator, Pirates of the Carribean , Blade, and, of course, Star Wars. I know how to do large battles and duels, all with authenticity. The only thing I can't do are the Chinese martial art films and their high wire stunts.
Yes, beggars can't be choosy, but I was never in the production to earn money or expect any future gigs out of it. It was for the experience and for fun. If anything develops out of this, that's just extra cream on top of the cake. I don't know how the final movie will be received, but for all the professional hard work that was put into this production, everyone should have been paid.
If you've seen other fan movies, you know they're gawd awful. I was just lucky running across Shane lurking through the fan film threads at tfn.com. He knew instantly what he was getting when he got my resume; he called me a few hours later after he opened his e-mail that day and practically offered me the job.
#11
Posted 29 March 2005 - 09:38 AM
I'm still waiting for my first paycheck.
I don't blame you NJ. Whenever you get involved in a project like this it always ends up costing you money. Sure, it's fun and a great learning experience but there's a piotn where you have to say, "I just can't do this."
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#12
Posted 29 March 2005 - 12:23 PM
The only thing I can't do are the Chinese martial art films and their high wire stunts.
But there's always room to grown, isn't there? Also, that's kind of a novelty thing, isn't it? I mean, I've seen it in a few movies, but it doesn't seem like a standard. It'll eventually be passe like the Matrix "bullet-time" thing.
Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"
All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
#13
Posted 29 March 2005 - 04:22 PM
I will. This is one of the better cyberspace places I like to hang out in.
But there's always room to grown, isn't there? Also, that's kind of a novelty thing, isn't it? I mean, I've seen it in a few movies, but it doesn't seem like a standard. It'll eventually be passe like the Matrix "bullet-time" thing.
Yes, always room for growth, but it's more work than I'm willing to put in at the moment or the forseeable future. Besides, I'm not crazy about Chinese martial arts. I'm very much Japanophile.
I've got a director friend who's ready to bring me in to train his actors once he gets someone to produce it. I expect him to be the Ridley Scott of his generation.
#14
Posted 29 March 2005 - 11:25 PM
it's a lot of fun if it doesn't cost you personally...
so far, i've at least been fed and made drunk free on each shoot... so, so far so good...
hope we see you in more stuff though...
"The sad problem is that working for him cost me a lot of my own money at a financially difficult point in my life. Money IS an issue."
sounds like its time to write the book you knew you would one day have to write...
Shimmering Sword 2: the revenge.
Also: The Chefelf.com Lord of the Rings | RoBUTZ (a primative webcomic) | KOTOR 1 NPC profiles |
Music: HYPOID (industrial rock) | Spectrox Toxemia (Death Metal) | Cannibalingus (80s style thrash metal) | Wasabi Nose Bleed (Exp.Techno) | DeadfeeD (Exp.Ambient) |||(more to come)
#15
Posted 30 March 2005 - 07:37 AM
I had a SW philosophy book in mind (quite different from the new SW and Philosophy book which just came out) but I gave up because I couldn't find anyone to publish it. So many publishers got burned after AOTC, they didn't want to put money into another SW-related book.
I know what my niche is -- sword fighting. Each of my novels has a protagonist who is a swordsman. Of course, what makes me better than all the other fantasy writers is that I'm an actual swordsman, not just simply a martial artist. There's a difference epistemologically. Not to disrespect the pugilism and its effectiveness, but fisticuffs is brutally raw. Sword fighting is a technology associated with highly trained and disciplined elites. One is savage, the other civilized. This understanding is accepted emotionally by the populace, which explains why professional wrestling is on TV and fencing is not. As Han said, "there's nothing like a blaster at your side." This is exactly why sword fighting is so satisfying. It's hard training and one-on-one, and few people can do it.
I'm really burned out with my present job and I really want to write full time. Choreography is a hope, but not my primary goal. It'll certainly make me more money if I get regular gigs. And I love the collaborative nature of movie productions. I'm not a theater person (for which there is more of a market), so movies is it. And I'm not "working" my way up as Gillard did from alleged unwritten member of EP 4's production team to stunt coordinator. I'm a swordsman.
My ex told me about how amazed his colleagues at work were when they saw him give a karate demonstration. He's a 4th degree blackbelt. They asked, "Where did you learn all of that?" We just looked at each other. Because we're both artists (he a painter, I a writer) we know that we do our art in obscurity until the world sees us for the first time. We work hard, train hard, and stretch ourselves. It's not magic. It's a lot of hard work. If and when either of us become famous, everyone will do the song and dance just to be around us. We know that's all bullshit. We accept it as part of the convention, but we'll let them dance and then work hard until the next time we make an appearance.
It's so cool still knowing my ex who lives in Toronto. I know he's going to be one of the best painters of his generations. I'd like the same for myself. At some point there will be this artistic group of us that share this connection. At this point, we do our thing and things will converge at some point later. Chefelf is kind of like this, as well as the other guys here; people who I've never met, but have this affinity for me. There's like this unspoken connection that brings us together. I got an e-mail out of the blue from this guy in Australia one day. We corresponded and made an instant connection. He came for a visit to the US and we be came instant best friends the moment we met.