As you probably already know, a video has appeared online, divided into five parts and dedicated to the creation of a film adaptation of a video game "Tekken" (Tekken). The filmmakers did their best to excite fans with footage from the set, but, in my opinion, they went a little overboard in revealing elements of the plot in this video and, in particular, the opponent of Jin Kazama, with whom he will have to fight in the finals of the tournament. Realizing that not all readers will be able to understand what the filmmakers are talking about, I decided to simplify this task for them and translate, as far as possible, all parts of this interesting video. The only thing I would like to warn you is that there will be no translation from French in the text because I am “dont sprechen vu français et ol”. :)
Fortunately, there are very few such moments and I hope you will treat this with due understanding and will not kick me with your feet...
Carefully! There are spoilers!
In the Tekken video game, protagonist Jin Kazama must fight his way through the final round of the deadly martial arts competition, the Iron Fist Tournament.
When the first version of the game was released in 1994, the famous stuntman Cyril Raffaelli was no different from other boys living in the small town of Normandy.
15 years later, on the set of the video game-inspired movie Tekken, Cyril is still holding a virtual “game controller” in his hands.
His job as a fight director is to supervise the stuntmen and fighters who bring spectacular virtual fights to life on the big screen.
For actors, acting in action films is often the only way to gain popularity. But this depends on the skills and competence of the stuntmen, whose job is to take the blows. Professional stuntmen usually work in the shadows, but the story you're about to see depicts their real lives. And in this film they are the “stars”.
Shreveport, Louisiana.
Rodeos and basketball games inside the arena have been temporarily postponed. For weeks, unique martial arts events have been taking place in this building, recreated in the futuristic world of the film “Tekken: The Iron Fist Tournament.”
The script with the nine most important fight episodes did not bother the Tekken producers. To create these fights, they definitely had to use one of the best fight choreographers in the world. They needed the phenomenal French stuntman Cyril Raffaelli.
Doug Aarniokoski (second cast director):
We didn't want the usual "punch, punch, block, punch" combos. We needed something bigger, brighter and more distinctive, reminiscent of a game. If you look at Cyril's work, I mean he is the best martial arts expert in the world at the moment. There was no need for another candidate. He was the only one suitable for us. He was the only one on the list.
Today the film crew is preparing for the final episode. Work on the remaining eight major battles has already been completed. Now Cyril and his fighters need to recreate the final fight of the tournament. This is without a doubt one of the most important episodes of the film, in which the main character Jin Kazama must face off against the reigning champion Yoshimitsu.
Scene #361. Jin vs Yoshi. Rehearsal.
Filming such a fight, in which the fighters need to learn and perform about 50 movements, is a long process. There is not a minute to lose, because there are only three days left until the end of production. Much of the choreography Cyril created for Tekken had been rehearsed weeks earlier. But, ironically, in the final stages of production, Cyril finished creating this final fight just yesterday, at the last minute.
Fortunately for the actors, the action is divided into small episodes of five or six movements each. The parts are filmed separately, and not necessarily in chronological order. The pieces of the fight are like a puzzle, the pieces falling into place in the editing room.
Today the team is busy working on the episodes that will make up the beginning of the battle. As filming progresses, Cyril uses every break to double-check his own choreography with his fighters and rehearse future moves between takes.
Lead actor John Foo is a great fighter who occasionally works as a stuntman. And the man in the black suit playing the role of Yoshimitsu is Gary Stearns, an experienced and energetic stuntman who specializes in the handling of Japanese weapons.
One of the main reasons we hired Gary is because he has acted in many Chinese films. He is an incredible fighter, capable of literally learning on the fly. At rehearsals, he tells John: “hit with your hand here, hit with your foot here,” as if directing him. He has experience in everything he's done before, and he's a great fit for the show.
Stunt coordinator Eric Norris certainly knows what he's talking about. The son of actor and stuntman Chuck Norris, he literally grew up in the world of stunts and martial arts. In truth, the guys who hired Cyril Raffaelli are all masters of their craft.
It doesn’t matter who you are: Chinese, American, French, Russian, anyone. We're all here making a movie, we're all trying to be creative and do the best we can. It's a team effort, once Cyril has an idea for something, at the end of the day we're all working hard towards the same goal - making a great film.
- Good job, guys!
After several hours, stunt coordinator Eric Norris was pleased with the execution of the first part of the fight. But this does not mean that work on it is completely finished. In a few hours, stuntman Gary Stearns and actor John Foo will have to repeat these same movements more than once so that cameras can capture them from different angles. But now the choreography for this part is ready, and Cyril can leave the arena and go outside to the second part of the film crew, where work of a different kind awaits him.
See further... Spectacular art, invented in France, has found its application in the world of Tekken.
Cyril Raffaelli can currently be considered the most sought-after fight director in Hollywood. But his stunt experience goes far beyond just martial arts. He recently worked as an actor and stuntman in the action film Die Hard 4 starring Bruce Willis. He also created mind-blowing fights in The Incredible Hulk. And the stunt team, created in Paris, now travels all over the world, performing all kinds of stunts for films and commercials.
On the set of Tekken, in which he mainly choreographs the fight scenes, Cyril was also asked to do a very difficult sequence in terms of stunts, which takes place in a completely different set.
Beyond these walls, the magic of cinema will take us to a city called Anvil. In a Tekken-inspired set, Cyril is tasked with creating a thrilling chase sequence that requires protagonist Jin Kazama to jump up and down rooftops and alleys while escaping a gunman trying to shoot him. Like the fight scene, this sequence needs to be broken down into parts, most of which have already been filmed. But tonight, while the first cast continues to film the final fight inside the arena, right outside the door, the second cast is about to film the last two parts of the chase. Mohammed Elashi is a member of the French stunt team. He is John Foo's stunt double in this film. In fights, John Fu is able to personally perform most of the moves, and only the most difficult moments go to Momo (Mohammed). But when it comes to jumping from balcony to balcony, that's definitely something a stuntman should do.
To be continued ...
Source: Twitch
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Tekken, video from filming, Gary Stearns, John Fu, Cyril Raffaelli
Tags: Tekken, video from filming, Gary Stearns, John Fu, Cyril Raffaelli
I expected more
John Foo has a stunt double. Hmmm. He himself doesn’t seem to be too bad at jumping either.
They have strange confusion.
I personally didn’t really like the filming video, as a Tekken fan.
Yes, even if Yoshimitsu is not Yoshimitsu but some kind of chron, Jin for some reason is swinging a halberd - why the hell is he swinging it at all if it doesn’t correspond to the style of the game.
And again parkour, parkour and parkour - WHY do the French always shove him into all the holes, this is Tekken after all.
All actions take place as if in the dark, there is only one arena, etc. Although I would be happy to be wrong.