16 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 11)

Have Stunts, Will Travel

There's one part of our 'Blood Bond' troupe that I can't say enough good things about, and that's our stunt team. As mentioned earlier, our action directors Louis Fan and Ken Yip put an awesome team together, and they have their own kingdom of pain down in the building that houses our sound department.

Every morning, they go through a rigorous 'warm up' work out. They've been augmented for this shoot by Chen Tai Chi master Ocean Hou, who is training our leading lady, Phoenix Chou. Phoe also trains with the team every morning, and more than holds her own.

I have to say that the most physically impressive of the male stuntmen is German. He has a spectacular arsenal of leaps and kicks, and the torso of Bruce Lee (when he was alive, I mean).

He's also, unusually for a Wu Shu player, 6ft tall, and so a perfect double for our leading man, Michael Biehn. This meant that German had to dye and cut his hair to match Michael's, and also wear a (drawn on) beard.

Given that he was someone I introduced to the team, I was concerned that Ocean would be accepted by them. As it turned out, they appreciated his martial arts skills, and he developed a particular rapport with Phoe's double, Mai Ling, who has been learning Tai Chi from him.

The stunt doubles don't just start working when there's a scene with feats too dangerous to risk your lead actor. When Ken and Louis choreograph the fights, they are first acted out by the stunt doubles, and then Michael and Phoenix learn their respective parts of the choreography.

Michael and I are more involved with the process than most director/producer teams. Thankfully, Louis and Ken are very receptive to our input in terms of keeping the martial arts action in line with the nature of the characters and the overall style of the film.

Prior to filming, I had to pay for all the equipment that Louis and Ken would need for the film, and this had to be transported from Hong Kong in three large bags. These were so heavy that only someone the size of Louis or Ken could have carried them on the train! I had to hire a van instead.

Ironically, the equipment included rigging for wire stunts, and, as it turns out, we will have hardly any wirework in the film! Per the combined vision of MB and myself, the action will be stylised but realistic. So far, we have a hanged man on a wire and a tyre flying through the air on one, and that's about it!

Given that they risk so much for so little, I think our stuntmen are the toughest breed in the world, and their contribution to 'Blood Bond' can't be overestimated.

Next: A funny thing happened on the way to Purma...