Interview with Eric Jacobas

28.06.2014EvilDollaR

First, tell us a little about your work last year - the role of Stryker in the second season of Mortal Kombat.

Eric Jacobas: ...After a seven-hour drive from Los Angeles, I arrived home and got a text message from Larnell Stovall asking if I wanted to be Stryker in Mortal Kombat. I called him back and said, “You know... I don’t actually play video games anymore.” And he replied: “Cretin, this is not about the game. About the role in the web series." I guess one of my films got noticed in the stunt crowd and my name came up when the cast was being discussed. I ran out the front door and was in Los Angeles the next morning. I have a background in short films with martial arts, so being invited to such a large project as “Mortal Kombat” is a great success.

I think that the series turned out to be quite interesting, why is there so much negativity on the Internet? Maybe they should have made it violent, with swearing and an R rating?

Eric Jacobas: When you make fan films, you're always going to have these kinds of problems. You either stick to the source material, or you take risks and try something new. Kevin took a risk and created a darker atmosphere, which is why he was given the director's chair. But many fans wanted a guy popping up with the phrase "Toasty", or "babality", elements from the early games in the series. I like this too. I kept asking Kevin to turn me into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and let me bite Liu Kang in half, but then the ending would have been a little weird.

...

Let's move on to a topic that is often underestimated. How do you take care of your beard?

Eric Jacobas: The first thing I do in the morning is look in the mirror and repeat my morning mantra: “I definitely need to shave my beard... tomorrow.” Then I comb my hair so as to cover a small area on my left cheek where the beard does not grow.

...

I use a thin double blade razor if I need to get into hard to reach areas, do you have a favorite razor? Or shaving cream?

Eric Jacobas: I have a funny story about this. In 2001, when I was just starting to make films, we worked on a short film called Road Block. For filming, my friend and I had to shave our beards. He had a Gillette Mach 3 Extreme Shaving razor and he got through his beard in a couple of minutes, and it was quite thick. When I tried this razor, the blade became dull halfway through. I have a thick beard, but the hair itself is also thick, as if it were double or triple thick. In two times I used up all the blades, which works out to about a dollar per shave. For comparison, I can shave for three years with one $25 set of triple-head electric razor foils. So here I have only one choice - electrical appliances. But if I have money, I will shave with regular razors every day. When I earn my first million...

How do you maintain your beard when filming difficult fight scenes?

Eric Jacobas: After a fresh shave, sweat will turn your beard into mush, which is why I never shave before a fight. In addition, after a fresh shave, it is better not to hit your face, otherwise the skin will begin to peel off.

I'll switch the subject again and ask about the things you've been collecting since the 80s. Take laserdiscs, for example. How did collecting begin?

Eric Jacobas: I think I was influenced by growing up in the 80s, but apparently I'm not the only one who likes the 80s. I also love modern things - Netflix, the Internet, plasma panels - but laserdiscs... they are one of those things that will never come back. They take up a lot of space, the covers are designed on a global scale, something that hipsters will love. There are no close-ups or backgrounds, mostly full-length actors and moments from films, lots of bright colors. Now the covers only have blue, green and yellow tints. A few laserdiscs never made it to DVD, such as my copy of the Cantonese anamorphic version of Drunken Master 2 with subtitles. Moreover, you have a large cover and uncompressed sound. Laserdiscs turn watching a movie into a real event, because... A 12-inch drive can hardly be called portable. It's like a gramophone record that needs to be turned over to the other side over time. We're so obsessed with mobility these days that it's really nice to just sit down and focus on one thing at a time.

What other things from the 80s do you collect? I noticed that you have a lot of video games and, of course, films from that time.

Eric Jacobas: I collect boxed editions of PC point-and-click games from the 80s and 90s. At that time, covers for them were drawn by hand. I have a full collection of LucasArts games, most of the quests from Sierra, in general, a lot of junk that makes my wife's eyes pop out of her sockets. But I collect them because no one does this, such things are simply thrown into the trash, they are deprived of love. Everyone is collecting cartridges now, which explains why their prices have risen so much. So I chose what suits me personally.

You were one of those pioneers whose specialty was short films. With the advent of digital cameras and GoPro cameras, everyone who is not too lazy began to do this.

Eric Jacobas: Everyone makes action movies, but few take the time to develop new concepts. It's as if the space on their digital cameras is too precious to waste on plot, so they fill it up with bumps and falls. At first, I also wanted to just film fights, but that was when fight videos from independent directors attracted everyone's attention. Now there is no such thing - they are now a dime a dozen. If you want to stand out from the gray mass, you need to move away from creating demo reels and come up with at least one interesting concept. Even a single kick you perform can mean a lot if the idea behind it is good. And for God's sake, please don't make any more movies about guys in suits fighting over a briefcase.

Tell us about your recent project called "Kicktionary", about the concept, idea, etc.

Eric Jacobas: I made it for the same reason as “First-Person Darth Vader” - no one had ever filmed something like this before. In addition, this required a minimal cast - me! Filming me is such a torment. Now I understand why I infuriated many people back then.

The names of each kick are a gift for the fans. Why is this so?

Eric Jacobas: At first I tried to stick to common names (“roundhouse kick”, “side kick”, etc.), then I moved on to more specific names from taekwondo, karate, capoeira and the rest. There were many terms from tricking. If I couldn't find the name of the move, I wrote in the name of the actor performing it, such as Hwang Chang Lee or Casanova Wong. If the punch wasn't in the movies, I'd use the name of the video game character. I had open access to the project, and my Facebook friends were usually able to find a suitable name. In the future, if the supply of titles runs out, I will simply write “Eric Jacobus Kick 1”, “Eric Jacobus Kick 2”, etc.

If the video is promoted well, similar videos will begin to appear. What do you think about that?

Eric Jacobas: Great, I'll watch them all! This will give me ideas to continue.

What projects do you have in development?

Eric Jacobas: Coming soon "Rope-A-Dope 2" and action movie "Make Peace or Die", the script for which we are now submitting for consideration to future investors, we are trying to bring the project to fruition.

Speaking of films being made by “other people”, what are you working on now, or is it not allowed to be talked about due to a non-disclosure agreement?

Eric Jacobas: I'm most interested in ABC of Death 2. The film will be released later this year and I appear in the first episode.

What else is interesting about you? I see family life is in full swing, congratulations!

Eric Jacobas: She's just something! We just recently purchased a beehive. All that remains is to buy some weapons, build a bomb shelter, and we are ready for the end of the world.

What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers posting videos on Youtube, organizing campaigns on Indigogo, and others?

Eric Jacobas: Don't follow the crowd, learn from other people's mistakes, work hard every day, and don't shave your beard, otherwise one day it may not grow back.

Author: Danny (Templegod) Shamon
Source: dansmoviereport.blogspot.com
Translation: EvilDollaR

Home » Articles » Interview with Eric Jacobas
Tags: Make Peace or Die, Mortal Kombat, Rope-A-Dope, Rope-A-Dope 2, The Stunt People, Eric Jacobas

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