22- 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 17)

Karmic convoy

The highway giveth, and the highway taketh away... Yesterday's car scenes were a brute; today we shot a convoy of cars crossing the land, and it went like a dream. I guess we'd all figured out how to film automobiles in motion overnight!

Of course, our helmsman, Michael 'Captain Detail' Biehn had to change the numberplates on one vehicle before it set off!

And to spray paint some grafitti needed for a drive-by!

Given that they were on the road, I stayed at the studio for most of the morning, and then came out to the location to help set up a shot where our spiritual leader, The Bagwun, stops his cavalcade of cars to pray at a village shrine.

One thing you learn to do on a modestly budget shoot like this is to think (and move!) fast. We weren't planning to shoot the principals today, but Michael saw the perfect location for the exterior of the rural village that surrounds the shrine. (We had originally scouted somewhere else.)

We had to send out an immediate distress call for our leading lady, Phoenix Chou, to come to the set, and also the Bagwun himself, the truly wonderful Xiao Keng-ye. I first worked with Mr Xiao (or 'Keng', as Michael calls him!) on the TWC release 'Forbidden Kingdom', in which he played the Abbot of the temple. With his gentle demeanour and wonderful speaking voice, he is perfect casting as the saintly Bagwun. (And my thanks to Po-ping Auyeung for making the re-connection!).

'Keng' is also in a wonderful Chinese drama, Tian Zhuang Zhuang's 'Springtime in a Small Town', which you should check out if you love arthouse cinema.

So there we were, in the middle of the Nanhai countryside, shooting in a village where they had definitely never seen a white man who wasn't on TV.

The locals turned out to gape at Michael, and also the blonde and beautiful Jennifer Blanc, who plays Tremayne's old flame, Jesse, in the film.

Jennifer, like Michael, is a veteran of the James Cameron school of film-making, having co-starred in his 'Dark Angel' TV series.

As we waited for the cast, various villagers asked for photos with our players, and someone ever passed Michael their baby to hold!

Having called our Deva in on her day off, we realised that we could now be shooting her 'hero' shot: the first time we see her in the film. Luckily, our Deva is never a diva, and we set up to give her a suitably sensational opening 'look', as she steps out of the Bagwun's car and surveys the area for signs of trouble.

Bagwun isalso accompanied by a number of Durmese soldiers, and I was very impressed at the level of detail that our costume department had brought to their uniforms.

When the scene itself was done, I had Cease, our on set photog, grab some shots of Phoenix. You can never have too many photos of a hot kung fu fighting Eurasian babe...

After we wrapped this location, I headed back to the studio so that Michael could shoot even more driving footage. I was very surprised when he and Phoe staggered in that evening, dirtier than I'd ever seen them. Did their car break down in a plowed field?

No, MB had seen a perfect spot for a scene where, towards the end of the film, Tremayne and Deva stagger out of the badlands towards civilisation. He had the make-up department rough them up, and now we have to match that look when we actually get to the end of the film.

Next : Checking in to danger...