MEMORIES, DREAMS & REFLECTIONS...

We arrived early in the afternoon at Westside Fencing, gathering to decide how exactly "Perry" would be viciously taunted and beaten, later on that night.

We assembled together on a plateau stage above the main sparring floor, where a group of fencers were clashing. Our fight choreographer, Roberta Brown, and I spoke briefly about the general atmosphere of the fight. I gave her my impressions and ideas, hoping my total lack of experience and understanding wasn't painfully clear. Luckily, two of our four actors were professional combatants -- T.J. Rotola and Brandon Scott, who played "Jonesy" and Buzz", respectively, and things would go smashingly.

David Myers, who plays the main "E"-dealing thug was busy picking up an Irish girl he'd met moments before in the hallway, so the rest of us got to work. T.J. brought plenty of great ideas when I asked about the

"wimpiest kick possible". After demonstrating a few options, I chose the second-to-wimpiest, with the bottom-rung being a bit too silly, even for this. Roberta supervised the three actors as they tossed, mock-smacked and pummeled Andrew Helm (Perry) with maniacal glee. With each run-thru the kinks got smoother, the movements more fluid and the beating nastier.

Derek the D.P. rolled off an hour of footage during this fun, so expect to see a special feature some time or other...

LATER THAT NIGHT

We carefully arranged our extras -- goths and ravers who appeared to be taking a breather in the hallways outside the rave.

Among them was a fellow named Paul, whose dancing skills impressed us all, enough to ask him back for the next night when we actually filmed our rave-room blight, 'cause tonight was Perry taking a fall. (Now, read that over again with a sing-song)

"Perry" gingerly approached the three men, who spanned from 70's to 80's to 90's in look. A humiliating exchange of words, gestures and inappropriate touching ensued before they dragged "Perry" around the corner, with their goth-girl cheerleaders in tow..

After a few mere takes, Andrew (Perry) had clearly had enough. We however, didn't have enough coverage yet... no, no, not nearly... heh heh heh...

Even with trained stage-combatants, under the direction of a professional fight choreographer, the subject of the beating is bound to get a little bruised. As Andrew got tired and sore, the fight appeared that much more messy and brutal. By the end, I swore their kicks were actually connecting, as they stomped him on the ground. Roberta didn't seem to regard this as out of the ordinary, so I didn't call a 'cut'.

The sound of one man striking another is low, dull and meaty. Some of those kicks won't need foley.

Unfortunately, no visual record exists of this, beyond our raw camera footage. I considered drawing stick figures, but I believe my prose will suffice.

THE NEXT NIGHT

We all gathered again, this time Beth Davis (MORGAN) joining us, for our rave scene. Even somewhat short on extras (less than a hundred doesn't make a rave), I think we managed to compose a cool tableau. Present front and center was Paul and his Wolverine-style moves, next to Anita the Spinner. Anita had initially offered to spin fire, but as the building wasn't quite up to code, we weren't eager to risk a Great White-sized blaze. Bethany (MORGAN) dragged Andrew (PERRY) thru the action, bottle of Captain Morgan in hand... somehow, Beth can suddenly and believably "get drunk" on 'action'. Appearing to be honestly drunk is one of the most difficult things for actors, I believe, and being non-union we're free to let the booze flow, but this girl has the goods in that regard. You'll have to see her attitude-heavy stagger for your self...

A mere 24 hours later, but I'm sure Andrew was still hurting.

 

NEXT TIME:

"Covered in Filth"

&

"The Last Laugh"