by kmiller
“I can’t think of any more ways to kill people with doors.” Gareth Evans admits at an informal Q and A session. Evans answered several questions, including where he got inspiration for the film. He stated that films like Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York were obvious inspirations, while he also learned about a new Judge Dredd movie (titled Dredd) that closely followed the plot of the Raid.
‘We were in post on The Raid, and I was talking to a friend about it, telling him what the story was, and he goes, “Ah, that’s like the new Judge Dredd movie”, and I said, what. And he sent me this link where I could read the synopsis about it, and just thought, we’ve got to get released very, very soon…’
The session continued as Evans talked about the remake that was announced even before filming was complete.
‘As for the remake, my thoughts are I’m really flattered by it! It’s great publicity for the original too! For me it’s like this: the story is really stripped down in the original, there’s loads that they can do with it, there’s loads they can explore with it, but it needs a fresh pair of eyes to do it. I’ve exhausted my ideas now of stuff contained in one building. I can’t think of any more ways to kill people with doors!
Eastern Kicks talks about Gareth’s enthusiasm about his favorite death in the Raid: (not really spoilers if you’ve seen the trailers.)
‘I think the three gunshots to the face.’ The audience laughs. ‘Not because it’s violent, but because of how we found out needed to do that. Whenever we design the choreography it’s always based on a certain rhythm, like a kind of percussion, whether it’s kicks or blocks or punches, what decides it is the rhythm [he claps five times]. So when we were working out that moment, we tried it with one shot, it wasn’t right, two shots, still not quite right, but when we did three shots, it was like music!’
Gareth also explained how choreographing a fight first and building a set benefited the entire crew:
It’s kind of like a backup. We give that to all our different departments: so our camera and lighting guys know exactly what’s required in every shot; art know where to put padding on walls to stop people getting concussed; continuity know who bleeds when and how much; and all the fighters know exactly how many times they’re going to get kicked and punched in every shot.
‘Then when we’re in production on the film, we have that edited version on the laptop ready for us. As we keep shooting the final version, we’re dropping those shots into Final Cut Pro as it slowly takes shape, slowly becomes the film you want it to be. And if we do that on location, we can see when an edit is jarring and its not coming together right. We can just shoot something there and then to fix it while we’re on location or in the set, and not have the expense of coming back to it later.’
I’ll stop my post here for those that have had their fill from the interview, but there is still plenty on Eastern Kick’s site that I haven’t even touched. However, be aware that there are some spoilers, so read it at your own risk.
As for my two cents, you know I’ve been counting down the days until this hits US shores (though I’m still depressed it won’t be coming anywhere near me.)
Source: Easternkicks.com
