HOW TO MAKE A KUNG FU MOVIE

2 Posted by - February 28, 2015 - Wisdom

It’s funny how these things happen. About a year ago I decided I wanted to get back to one of my loves, the martial arts.

I’ve been practicing one style or another since I was 9 years old and I’d been out of it after an injury. I guess when you reach my age and you’re involved in your career the way I am, an injury can put you out of the game for a few years.

I’m a filmmaker and I teach the stuff at the New York Film Academy. That just about sums up my other love – movies.

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I knew some day I would combine these two passions of mine. I’m pretty certain that day has come.

I’m about to release what I’m hoping will be my last short film in some time. It was a labor of love and a lot of fun but I do believe it’s time for me to move on to bigger fish. It’s time for a feature.

It’ll be a kung fu movie because why not. It’s time to treat myself. I’m a firm believer in doing what you love and let the rest sort itself out. To some that would constitute a very cavalier attitude, but to me it’s extremely sensible.

Do not deviate from what you love, period. You will not go wrong.

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Anyway, I’m going to be posting on the blog from time to time on the creative process of crafting the movie. From writing to choreography, to everything. I’ve already outlined the script and started writing it. More of that to come on a future post.

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For now I’ve given myself an assignment, which is to watch a bunch of kung fu movies I loved as a kid to see what was it about them that attracted me. It’s a modest endeavor but relevant to the task at hand.

I want my movie to have this flavor of adventure that these other movies had. The best way to understand how that works is to study the evidence.

I would love to hear from people out there what their favorites are and why. Maybe you can help me refine my quest.

Thanks for the suggestions and happy training.