30 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 25)

Death in stone, drama on the highway.

Today we returned to the Stone House, a location we established earlier in the film as the setting for the brutal execution of a Durmese soldier.  Previously we shot a car pulling up outside this ancient dwelling, and two rebels pulling their captive out and leading him to the door.  With its brown sandstone walls and a large cactus in the forecourt, the place looked almost Middle Eastern.

At that time the place had been empty, and so we decided to shoot the interior sequence on location, rather than mocking it up at the studio. 

On our return, we found that the owner had filled the place with junk and wanted us to pay extra to remove it.  Such are the challenges of filming in rural China!

A deal having been struck, we then had to empty the place laboriously before we began to shoot.  Director Michael Biehn, as ever, led the way in terms of the hard labour. 

Vogue model turned actress Emma Pei was on hand to shoot her first scene in the film.  At first glance, it would be hard to imagine this lanky waif as a cold-blooded assassin.  However with the appropriate garb, some daubs of dirt artfully applied and her own innately dark eyes, Emma absolutely looked the part.

The victim in the scene was our poor 2nd AD Fred Lee.  When we first shot the exterior sequence, there had been a wardrobe malfunction, and Fred was wearing tennis shoes.  Naturally, MB insisted that we reshoot even this part of the scene with Fred having the appropriate footwear. 

With this rather chilling scene in the can, we moved to a remote stretch of road.  Our heroes, Deva and Tremayne, must abandon their vehicle after it breaks down. (The car broke down so many times during the chase, we were all glad to see the back of it!)

As originally scripted, there was a tense dialogue exchange between the two characters.  However during the playing of the preceding scenes, a more playful and lively energy had developed, so Michael and I were forced to do an on-site rewrite to match this new tone.  We were aspiring towards the classic "African Queen"...

After they leave the road the odd couple walked through some glorious countryside.  While scouting, we literally stumbled onto a field with a view of a vast rural landscape. 

The farmer very kindly allowed us to shoot there, and even lent us his cow as a prop.  He simply handed the rope by which he led the beast to Michael, and so MB became our bovine wrangler at the beginning of each take, pulling the animal into shot. 

Next : If you go down to the woods tonight...