New interview with Isaac Florentine

17.06.2010EvilDollaR

Fans often watch sequels (particularly action movie sequels) without having high expectations for them. Have you ever met anyone who immediately refused to [make] a film simply because it was a sequel?

Isaac Florentine: Almost everyone I've talked to about sequels has rejected them using the standard arguments. Small budget, no big names, trash TV, you can continue the list yourself. Sometimes you have to twist people's arms to get them to look at your projects. As soon as this happens, their surprise knows no bounds, and the first reaction is the question: how come the films did not make it to cinema screens? This makes me laugh all the time... Undisputed 2 was originally made a few years ago to keep the Bulgarian crew busy, bored by unemployment and waiting for an Italian film. At the same time, preparations for the production of “Black Orchid” continued. No one in the corporate office believed in this film except producer Boaz Davidson, who went above and beyond to make sure we delivered a film that could live up to our highest expectations.

Immediately after filming was completed, we conducted a test session, and the results were high - 84%. New Line was very surprised and decided to release it in theaters, but due to internal disagreements and the refusal of the theatrical department, it was vetoed. So when I made Undisputed 3, I was essentially making a sequel to a sequel, and to be honest, I never thought there was anything going for the film. I was given less time to shoot, however, I had full support from the producers and crew. After filming wrapped, Magnolia's Tom Quinn decided to show it at ActionFest. He had never actually seen the film, but based on Undisputed 2, he had high hopes for it. The film was not included in the list of competitors, however, the jury members watched it, did not ignore it, and presented the award for best director (to me) and to Larnell Stovall for best fight choreography.

What I want to say is that no matter the circumstances, I always put my whole heart and soul into any film I make, regarding it as the last film that I will have to make in my life and by which my work will be judged. But to be honest, I never really believed that Undisputed 3 would get any kind of approval. Such a warm welcome and reviews really surprised me this time.

The film evokes memories of the best films of the 80s, with their tough guy themes and shallow genre storytelling. But the combat in it is quite modern. When you decided to make this film, did you realize what a unique mixture you would have to deal with?

Isaac Florentine: Yes and no; I am not particularly fanatical about the films of the 80s, I am crazy about the films of the 60s and 70s, from Italian westerns, Charles Bronson, films by Steven McQueen, Lee Van Cleef, Giuliano Gemma and Jean-Paul Belmondo, films by Lino Ventura, but most of all, from the one and only Bruce Lee. Maybe these characters live in my subconscious when I'm making a film. I like my films to have simple plots, but with more secretive or complex characters. When considering combat, I always put character and story first. Naturally, without thoughtful characters and an emotional component, even the best fights will become irrelevant and even boring. I started experimenting with fighting in the 70s while in high school. Used his father's 8mm camera and a coffee tray on wheels as a cameraman's dolly. Of course, 40 years of dedicated karate training gave me a deep understanding of fighting techniques, but beyond that, I never stopped experimenting and thinking about how to improve fight scenes cinematically. I recently read several reviews of “Undisputed 3”, most of them are very good. Some critics have mentioned the slow-motion effect in action scenes, saying that we borrowed it from Zack Snyder's 300. Well, that's not true, quite the opposite!

We used this effect in Undisputed 2, which was filmed before 300. When we were making the film, JJ Perry, the fight director, and I came up with the concept in Bulgaria. It was later used in 300, but improved upon by shooting with a prism (Crazy horse) to create a digital zoom-in and zoom-out effect.

I invented another, cheaper version of the zoom-in and zoom-out effect (creative approach is the basis of shooting films with a small budget). I couldn't afford such equipment, but I asked workers to make a simple wooden box in which we displayed the cameras. It cost a pretty penny, but as you may have noticed, it worked very well...

Was anyone hurt during production?

Isaac Florentine: Not really. In all my films, I am very conscious of putting safety first. This applies to the stunt coordinators and fight directors I work with. We're just making a movie; We don't cure cancer, and we don't launch rockets to the moon, so no one should get hurt during filming. Speaking of which, I don't consider myself Mother Teresa, I also have my own ulterior motives; let me explain to you. In a fight scene, if you know you're about to get hit, you'll hesitate, react late, and it won't look convincing. If you understand that you are safe, you can relax and your reaction will be timely, quick and explosive. You will never see really dangerous stunts in my films, like car crashes, unless I shoot like in Ninja with Scott Adkins jumping over a moving car (combined shots that are completely safe) . Also, in my films you will not see falls from extreme heights, when the stuntman disappears from the frame, landing on a cushion of air. This is how you lose sight of the person. Instead, I use a fall from a lower height, but the camera follows the falling character. They usually fall onto something like an awning and then bounce back to the ground in one continuous motion. The camera follows this without any cuts, and you will feel their “Pain” (that is, the human component, the drama of the situation). How do I ensure safety? A person has a full set of protective pads under his clothes; the first canopy he falls on softens the fall, and when they land on the ground, there are thin camouflaged mats on it, now part of the scenery. Because you follow the character without cuts and see the blow, you feel the pain and the human drama. However, it is completely safe, unlike falling from a height, when someone may miss the mat and be seriously injured. In such stunts, the maximum injury can be bruises, however, they look more dynamic.

Sometimes, during a fight scene, there are blows, but they are thrown intentionally, the performers and the fight choreographer know that the blow will be real, it is never thrown accidentally. So, sometimes there are bruises? Yes. Broken fingers, sprained ankles or pulled muscles? Sometimes it happens. But there have never been more serious injuries.

Do you think it is possible to make an action hero popular in this day and age? Or are growing fans tired of this type associated with fights and the genre of action films?

Isaac Florentine: As long as you're innovative and have an interesting approach to the characters, fans will care about the theme. Already, many people are asking about “Undisputed 4.” I'm not too sure about the movie "Taken", but I think they're making a sequel to it. I am sure that when a character attracts viewers, sequels should follow.

Ever thought about combining the Undisputed series with some worthwhile sports charity?

Isaac Florentine: As a director, I don't have the authority to make those kinds of decisions, that's up to the producers. The question is, if someone is ready to invest money in cinema, then why not?

Do people make fun of you about how many Power Rangers episodes you directed? Is it possible to combine “Undisputed” and “Power Rangers”? Who's going to tell Scott Adkins it's time for him to put on a suit?

Isaac Florentine: Yes, a lot of people joke about Power Rangers, but many of them haven't seen an episode. In fact, we used to say that “Power Rangers” was the most secretive project on television, because in every episode we had fights, romance, slapstick, special effects, green screen, CGI, etc. and so on. The Power Rangers series was weak, but that was on purpose. Besides, the producers' approach was: we shoot it every day, so why don't you, as a director, try to experiment. If it doesn't work out, we can reshoot it tomorrow. Therefore, I had the opportunity to experiment with standard cinematic tools, such as split screen, artificial perspective, matte lenses, and experiment with on-screen combat in various variations. Despite this, there is one more series that I would like to mention. It's forgotten, but it's more important than Power Rangers in terms of fighting. This is WMAC Masters. “WMAC Masters” was ahead of its time; I think he appeared ten years earlier. If it had been made in the mid-2000s instead of the mid-90s, it would have been a huge hit. That's where I really experimented with moving camera, taking a fresh approach, and shooting non-stop action camera fights without cuts. Many people don’t even realize that sometimes, when I’m filming a movie or a fight, I smile and say to myself, I already did this a few years ago in “WMAC Masters” or in “Power Rangers”. The only exception is that “Power Rangers” was rated PG (parental presence recommended) and “Undisputed” was rated R (there is blood), with the same techniques and similar reactions, but with more cruelty and violence.

Last year, when I did Ninja with Scott Adkins, he wore a suit... The idea behind Ninja was to create the opposite of Batman Begins. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne wants to become a ninja; in Ninja, the ninja becomes an assassin, wearing a suit similar to Batman's high-tech suit. Ninja enters a comic book world, which is why the film feels partly like a video game; regular blood was specially replaced with computer blood, and in some battles wires were used, unlike “Undisputed 3”, where there were no wires at all, and blood was part of the makeup.

Is your main audience US residents or international viewers?

Isaac Florentine: Definitely, foreign viewers. I received a lot of feedback from action fans, mainly from Europe and Asia. In some ways, it reminds me of the B-movies made in Hollywood in the 30s and 40s, when the crews weren't given enough lighting and only lit what was needed in the frame. Hollywood viewed them as “B” films, however, in the 50s, the French, who really liked these films, suddenly made them a separate genre category, called it “Film Noir” and put it on a pedestal . And then Hollywood had to look at them from a new angle. Something similar happened in the 60s and 70s with Italian Westerns; As an Israeli child, I never liked American Westerns. They were too boring, the “good guys” were too “nice”, and there was always a woman who interfered with the plot and “slowed down” what was happening. I liked Italian Westerns, in which the good and the bad were always in the shadows. Many people are used to laughing at them because of bad dubbing, etc., but personally I looked at them differently. I loved the use of wide lenses, sweat, dirt, violence. For example, everyone knows Sergio Leone, and now everyone respects him. However, there were two more Sergios whose influence was clearly pronounced. Segio Corbucci, who created “Django” and made a magnificent film called “The Great Silence”, which no American company would have made in a million years. And Sergio Solima, with his “Surrender and Pay” and “Run, Man, Run,” who created the first “third world” hero of his kind. This subsequently helped geniuses like Bruce Lee become international stars and break out of the Third World.

What I'm saying is that even today, some individual martial arts films sometimes contain more novelty and interest than the mainstream film, and it may be years before Americans realize this.

Can you tell us about your future projects?

Isaac Florentine: As I said before, I don't believe a movie will work until I'm standing on set and hear the sound of a camera shooting next to me. And since I'm very superstitious, I don't want to jinx anything, so I better keep my mouth shut!

Author: Canfield
Source: Twitch
Translation: EvilDollaR

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