On the eve of the premiere of the Russian historical fantasy action film "Scythian" we interviewed the film's fight director Fedora Starykh, who shared a lot of interesting information from his biography and told us about the film “Skif” and his contribution to it.
- Hello, Fedor! Thank you for the opportunity to interview you ahead of the premiere of the fantasy film “Skif”. First of all, please tell us briefly about yourself so that we can learn more about your experience in the stunt field. What martial arts do you study? Where did you start and where did you end up? Tell us about the most significant film projects in your career.
Hello, friends and brothers in the love of action cinema! The story is long, but to put it simply and briefly, I have been passionate and fascinated by Martial Arts and cinema since childhood. Especially Bruce Lee. I was always a sporty child, and when the opportunity arose, I immediately went to the section to sharpen my skills and master the long-awaited skills seen on the screen in action films of the 80s-90s. At first it was judo, since there were no more places in the coveted karate section. Which, by the way, I am incredibly grateful for. Wrestling is a great skill for a fighter! And it’s simple - this is the very first and basic thing that exists in the nature and culture of almost every people on Earth. Then, at the age of 13-14, I came across a section of real traditional Kung Fu (Wushu) in its original, pre-revolutionary form (before the dispersal and destruction of the masters of China by the “reds”). Then I was pushed to search for Jackie Chan films. I came across two cassettes: "Armor of God 1,2" и "Rumble in the Bronx". In the second part of “Armor” there is an episode when Jackie shows some natives movements with a spear, and one of the film’s heroines proudly tells the other that “this is Chinese Kung Fu!” And I accidentally (or maybe not) found a section in my city and decided that I would go into cinema and act in action films. But first you need to reach a level no less than the Black Belt, like the famous action actors of that time, and only then go to conquer Hollywood. I consider that moment decisive and turning point on my path to cinema. I received a black belt (1st Zhe (Dan). The Kung Fu Federation in which I trained was Kung Fu (FEKAM), headquarters in Italy. At the same time, fortunately, we had Army Hand-to-Hand Combat. The section was combined. And this gave me an understanding of what Kung Fu works in combat, and what is completely fantastic. Later there was a lot of things. I got on the wave of breaking and there I became saturated with interesting skills, did acrobatics and a little parkour. I expanded the combat disciplines as best I could, and the elements I liked absorbed into myself. Fortunately, the sports base was laid well and switching to a new specificity was quite simple. And in general, I realized that I just like to master a variety of complex skills. I recently received a Green Belt in Taekwondo WT based on this philosophy.
How long have you been specifically involved in staging fight scenes, or did your experience in cinema begin with some other activity? How did you get into the film industry in the first place?
If we talk about how I came to choreographing fights, my friends and I were fans in the yard and did action-style productions when we were kids. Then I started performing at festivals when I was practicing Kung Fu. And when I got into cinema in 2004, one day a situation arose that the team did not have a combat specialist and this place went to me. There I began to put my knowledge and skills into practical use for cinema. At first, these were not particularly interesting scenes in ordinary Russian films and TV series. There’s not even much to tell, because then I constantly heard from all sides that all these fights “are of no use to anyone and blah blah blah...”. But as it turned out, all this is necessary and possible. It’s just that those people didn’t know how to do it themselves and therefore didn’t know how to apply it and sell it in cinema. Over time, I met like-minded people with whom we are friends and work now. And we all together constantly tried to bring our knowledge and skills to the screen in the form of spectacular battle scenes. I got into cinema at a time when I needed to confirm my choice of future activities in life. I studied at MSTU. N.E. Bauman, but felt that I could not be an engineer all my life. I searched the Internet for information about stunt teams. Then, thanks to the show “Stunts” on Channel One, I learned about the “Master” team, but the rest of the information was unavailable. But at some point I came across the website of another team and they were just recruiting for the group. I decided to try it. And after several trainings they began to hire me. Well, and then send him to the set to supervise the staging of the fight scenes. And so it started to spin.
- The second question concerns your favorite action films. Are there any paintings that particularly impressed you?
I really love this genre! I know him well and have a wide taste, so it’s hard to choose the best of all. As for fighting games, the films of the golden era of Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s are still very impressive. All films of that time Jackie Chan, Samo Hungga, Yen Woo Ping, movies with Jet Li и Donnie Yen, movies Lau Kar Lenga and many others from that period. Of my especially favorite ones in terms of Martial Arts, I really love two films: "Fist of Legend" Yen Woo Ping starring Jet Li. The fight scenes there are simply brilliant! And it’s at the same level for me "Drunken Master 2" Jackie Chan. Great movie with great fight scenes. Of course, there are a lot of films. It's hard to single out. All are different and it is not for nothing that each of them stands in the rank of masterpieces. I will especially note one more series of films, since this was almost the first impression in my life regarding films with cool battles. This is a movie "Shaolin Temple 3" with the young one Li Liang Jie (Jet Li) and the entire Chinese Wushu team of that period. We showed it in excerpts in the film anthology "Around the world". And it was fantastic! I still watch it with great pleasure.
- Are there any domestically produced films among your favorites? And which of the action movie actors do you like: from the old guard and the new?
There are some unconditionally cool films that I love. This is a series "Elusive Avengers", real cool action! Certainly "Pirates of the 20th Century", an incredible masterpiece. "Don't be afraid, I'm with you!" Yulia Gusmana, where there was a lot of things, but karate was also shown. "In the area of special attention" и "Response Move""about the training of our paratroopers and the adventures that arose during the training. "Invincible" с Andrey Rostotsky, about the founder of Sambo, Anatoly Kharlampiev. His films "St. John's wort" и "Men's Company". Of course, "Fan" с Alexey Serebryakov. Yet "Destroy the Thirtieth", "Called the Beast". And there was another ultra-original film - "The Man in the Green Kimono", which featured a multi-style fighting game in which all the fighters were almost like Mortal Kombat: everyone has their own style, their own costume and everyone fights with each other. In general, there were a lot of worthy films! Among the modern ones I would like to mention the film "Monk", filmed by the Russian Wushu team. This is a very cool job, especially for inexperienced and “non-film” people. Some of the film's team went further into cinema. Alexander Solovyov, for example, is now one of the most outstanding and respected stunt directors in Russia. Of the action movie actors, many are cool and interesting and are real heroes to me. If we return to the conversation about foreign actors again, I’ll start with Bruce Lee - this is not just an actor, but a whole spontaneous phenomenon that forever changed the world of cinema. If it weren’t for him, there’s no telling how long we would have been watching the old fight productions traditional in Hong Kong and Hollywood. The man who changed everything and still influences the world of Martial Arts and action cinema. Of course, you can’t ignore these crazy people from the same school of Peking Opera: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hunga, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wa. These men rushed - they rushed! The gold standard for fighting in the explosive and stunt-acrobatic manner of the Hong Kong style was established by them. For almost 40 years, this style has kept everyone in its charm. Certainly Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Jackie Wu, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar Len, Cynthia Rothrock, Michelle Yeoh and everyone else was a big influence. From the Western ones at one time - JKVD, Steven Seagal, Billy Blanks, Kate Cook, Mark Dacascos, Chuck Norris, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Dolph Lundgren and many others who you don’t want to miss and who influenced the formation of taste in action cinema. Of the modern ones, this is, of course, Tony JAA, but only from movie times "Ong-Bak" и Tom Yum Goong, Jason Statham, Scott Adkins, Iko Uwais. I'll tag the cool guys and our friends from ReelDeal - Can Aydin, Cha Lee Yoon и Von Gian. Cool dudes! And soon everyone will be talking about them. I'm sure.
- What about action scene directors? Are there people you would like to emulate as a specialist in this field?
I really like the craftsmanship and level of imagination Yuen Wu Ping. Incredible man and action artist! I like the style Donnie Yen recent years, although I don’t know for sure whether he choreographs the fights himself or just edits. I really like the fights in the series "Banshee", however, I also couldn’t find out who this handsome guy was who staged such cool scenes. I really like this style. So real and yet spectacular and emotional. Real drama in battle. Lately, few people like it, but there are breakthroughs. Nowadays there are a very large number of passable films with passable and superficial productions, in which there are more stunts and less fighting itself. And when, against the backdrop of all this, I see something like the series "Banshee" - I fall in love immediately!
- Now let’s move on to discussing the main topic of our conversation. The premiere of "Skif" is coming soon. The genre is pseudo-historical action. Over the past few years, this genre has again gained popularity among Russian filmmakers: such high-profile projects as “Viking” and “The Legend of Kolovrat” have been released. We think that we and the readers will be interested in whether “Skif” has any distinctive features from the above-mentioned films? What are they?
I don’t want to compare in this format. All these films, although “historical” and costumed, are different in genre. The only similarity is with "The Legend of Kolovrat" is that both “Skif” and “Kolovrat” are films of the “historical action” genre. This is where all the similarities end. "Skif" in genre and atmosphere is close to classic samurai adventure action films, as they are sometimes called - "Westerns with katanas." That is, this is an adventure story with tough men, strong actions and a radical solution to the conflict: either the enemy kills you, or you kill the enemy. Life or Death is always at stake. The film was shot entirely in live settings, with love for nature and painting. Our operator Dmitry Karnachik, incredible artist. The way he looks at the world is amazing! His work reminds me of Aivazovsky’s paintings. Romance of nature and characters. Film director, Rustam Mosafir, has a very interesting feeling of this material, era, atmosphere. Each of the worlds in which the heroes find themselves during the course of the plot is absolutely original and filled with its own lively atmosphere. It was very interesting to see how everything went from the script to live images, costumes and scenery. Also casting. Rustam’s goal was to find real courageous actors who don’t even need to “play a man.” And he succeeded one hundred percent. Each character in the film fully corresponds to their role and fits into the image as much as possible. I won’t pass by the main female role either - Vasilisa Izmailova radiates real feminine strength and charm from the screen. It was not easy to find such an actress for such an era, an actress with stunning natural beauty. And in the end it’s all much closer to the movies "Conan the Barbarian", "Valhalla: Viking Saga", series "Vikings" for the game "For Honor". A certain universe of its own with its own rules and relationships, people’s behavior and other details that give immersion in the atmosphere of the film. Like that.
- What can Skif offer us? Is this a 100% entertaining movie or does it also want to talk about some important moral and ethical values? Can we say that the film crew, including the stuntmen, invested maximum enthusiasm and creative energy, without treating the process as “ordinary work”?
This is a film, first of all, about the eternal values of man: Honor, Love, Courage, Courage, Power, the thirst for justice, the power of the Spirit. Moreover, each of the characters has their own concepts. All the heroes of the film “Skif” have their own truth. The main creative group was made up of young people striving for quality cinema. This is a new generation that, like all passionate viewers and film geeks, loves quality films and TV series. And he strives to make cinema as good as possible in our conditions. Everyone on this project went beyond their own capabilities. All tasks were solved with such an approach to overcome oneself and take a new level of quality and complexity. It was a wonderful period, full of dedication, coherence and friendly embodiment of all the best that is in us. We love this film very much and hope that our love will be transmitted to the viewer. This is the most important thing for each of us.
- The next question concerns your direct contribution to the action component of the film. When watching a fragment from Comic Con Russia 2017, I was struck by a non-standard approach to filming an action scene, which was filmed in one take without editing. Action directors don’t resort to this technique often, and then mostly in foreign films. In Russian cinema, I remember only one similar scene - from the film “We are from the Future 2”. And suddenly “Skif” pleases us with a similar shooting style. Whose decision was it to film the scene in one take? How did this idea come about? Can we talk about the influence of foreign analogues?
As you already know, we strived for new challenges in everything. The fight scenes were no exception. Single-shot scenes are always a huge creative challenge. Either everything will work out in one single successful take, or wait for failure. There are plenty of examples when it was both cool and so-so. The most outstanding scenes shot in one shot are, of course, the hammer fight scene in "Old Boy", scene in "Tom Yum Gong" с Tony JAA and "Survivor" from Inyarittu с DiCaprio. To do such a scene well requires an incredible amount of rehearsal, plus the work of the cameraman, who becomes a direct participant in the choreography, choreography of movements and camera movements. The idea came to the minds of Rustam and Dima. They told me everything they wanted to try and we started rehearsing in the hall.
- How long did this scene take to prepare?
We filmed this scene three times as a previs. The first time - installation and rigidly. The second time was in one shot, milder in terms of violence, but we had a couple of days to do everything. So she went into the trash can. And then we got to the idea of making it the way you saw at the presentation. Before filming, it was shortened a little and a couple of episodes were removed. But it still turned out unusual. During the filming itself, force majeure occurred. It started raining, the roads to the filming location were washed out and the process stopped for a couple of days. As a result, those guys who rehearsed and rolled out the scene in the hall left due to being busy with other projects. They were urgently replaced by others. And this was a serious risk for the whole scene. It was decided to rehearse a little, and then roll everything out in shooting mode. I don't remember exactly how many takes we did. Everything didn't go well. The replacement stuntmen had too little rehearsal for such a complex scene. Either in one or another place there were errors, or sagging, or the camera did not have time to catch the movement. And so, what you see on the screen is the last take, produced in a state of total tension of nerves and strength under the threat of not being able to make it in daylight... And it turned out great! Finally, all the pieces of the puzzle came together.
Were there any conflicts with other participants in the filming process during the post-production stage regarding how the action scenes should ultimately look? After all, as a rule, more than half of the material filmed by stuntmen does not make it into the film or is mercilessly cut by editing without taking into account the wishes of the directors.
The situation you described is familiar to me. And we constantly suffered from loss of quality between filming and release. In Russia, the infrastructure for action films is very poorly developed. Our film specialists do anything and everything. There is no special specialization. But action cinema is a technically very complex production process that requires being a specialist in this particular field. I have long matured an understanding of the importance of properly preparing the entire group for the most profitable implementation of action scenes in films. And here the most important thing, first of all, is complete mutual understanding with the director, cameraman and editing director. As well as the producer’s understanding of the importance of preparing all scenes and providing all the conditions for this. Then the result will be impressive. And this is still very rare in our cinema. My conditions under which I can guarantee a good final result were: control of shooting, camera angles and movements and editing of scenes. And the best part is that I didn’t have to explain very long to the guys why this was needed. Operator Dima Karnachik I quickly got used to the specifics of shooting and what I mean. Film editor, Andrei Nazarov, turned out to be the first person with whom we spoke the same language regarding editing fights and stunt scenes. We are all wildly lucky that such interesting and skillful people have gathered together. There were no conflicts in principle. It was a common creative flight “through thorns to the stars.”
- The most important question, Fedor. Are you happy with the end result of your own contribution to the action sequences of this film?
Satisfied. Especially considering that this was my first independent film. I had a wild amount of workload hanging on me, not just in terms of creativity, but also in terms of organization, managing a large number of stuntmen with a variable filming schedule, financial matters, etc. and so on. I’m glad that I didn’t get lost in these matters and managed to bring everything planned to fruition. There are always moments when you realize that things could have been better. This is a normal process. But if you look at everything from above, seeing all the events that accompanied the creation of the film, I understand that the best thing that could be done under these conditions came out. The movie turned out the way we wanted to make it. All of us. It will be very interesting to see the viewer's reaction to the film. And the opinion of my foreign friends/colleagues is very interesting.
- Fedor, imagine that you are at a press conference on the occasion of the premiere of the film "Skif", where journalists from all over Russia have gathered. You have the opportunity to interest them as much as possible in the upcoming film. What would you say and what would you like to mention during such a press conference?
I want everyone to see what can happen when creative people come together and want to uncompromisingly bring their ideas to the screen. The new generation, with its own taste, is tired of the stereotypes in their minds that it is impossible to make a good historical film in our country, or even a good film in general. But anything is possible. And you can see the result on cinema screens 18 January. And after watching, I would be happy to hear their opinion - whether we succeeded or not.
- Thank you very much for the interview and special thanks for the long takes without editing!
Guys, thank you so much for these questions! It shows your involvement in the genre. And it was for action movie fans that our team tried to bring bold ideas to life on the screen. "Skif" is not just an action movie. This is a real, full-fledged feature film. I hope you all have something to watch. Somewhere you will be surprised, somewhere you will cry, somewhere you will laugh, and you will leave after watching it with a whole bunch of different emotions.
Especially for fight-films.info
Thank you. Interested.