Your upcoming film
Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation (previously Terminal Descent:
Curse of the Jiang Shi) - in a few words, what is it about, and what
can you tell us about your character in it?
A few words?
Action, Adventure & Horror!
The film is about 3 failing archeology students accompanied by
their professor’s T.A. and a photographer.
They go on a mandatory exploration in order to not get expelled
from school due to low grade point average.
Ikari (played by Tara Cardinal [Tara
Cardinal interview - click here]) leads the expedition, but later
finds out the building that they are exploring, the Buffalo Central
Terminal, is cursed by Asian monsters ruled by a summoned Jiang Shi (me).
Only one hero can slay these demons with a sword, blessed by a monk
charmed with positive chi, Feng (also played by Tara Cardinal) The Scarlet
Samurai!
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The Jiang Shi is an old mythological Asian
monster that is a combination of a Zombie, Vampire and demon that loves to
consume the life force of all living things and gets stronger and more
intelligent the longer it lives. It
loves to rape its victims and overall is one bad ass cold killer that has
no limits! It is a great
villain that hasn’t been tapped into the film market much so I am glad I
am able to portray it for this movie.
As far as I
know, you're not only acting and doing the stunt coordination on
Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation but are also editing it, doing the visual effects and producing it. Could
you at all talk about your very various contributions to the project, and
how did you first become involved with the project to begin with? I
became involved when Tara was showing me other movie projects she had done
before becoming a superstar that she is today.
Saw the original title Terminal Descent and got the whole
story behind it. Apparently it
was a well shot film but went through post-production hell and never
really got to finish. The
original cut was horrible so I decided to take a go at it since I saw
great potential in it. Turned
in the first rough cut, did two test trailers and boom! Reignited the cast
and crew to support the finalization of this film!
I was surprised by the reaction and from there I became a full time
producer of this film doing whatever it takes to make it one bad ass
movie!
As
far as I know, you do all of your acting/fighting in
Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation fully cloaked and masked - what kind of a
challenge was that for you, especially when doing the stunts and fight scenes?
Very
challenging, I couldn’t see well so I relied on my team and instincts to
prevent any major accidents. There
was a point where I gave up and told Tara to really hit me, which is like
90% of the movie. So now
people can’t complain the fighting hits are fake or staged because I
really did get hit.
From
what I know, you are using a long forgotten Vietnamese style of martial
arts to bring Jiang Shi to life - could you at all elaborate on that? I’ve
studied a bit over 20 different martial arts styles including weaponry
since I was 5 years old. But
none of them had something that related more to the ground than the
Vietnamese Martial Arts that is long forgotten, taught to me by my father,
who is an incredible martial artist.
It is a style that requires a lot of
flexibility to plant all four
limbs on the ground and fight without fully standing up, always crouched
and ready to pounce. Sadly due
to time conflicts I wasn’t able to fully show the art at its best,
hopefully in the sequel or another movie project people will be able to
see the uniqueness and complexity of the Vietnamese style Martial Arts. What
can you tell us about your directors David R. Williams [David
R. Williams interview - click here] and Tara Cardinal [Tara
Cardinal interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
with him like? David Williams is an
amazing man! He started this whole project and got us all the recourses we
needed to make the film as cool as it can be.
Very fun, open minded and nice guy!
Sean Wyn, Tara Cardinal |
Tara is one amazing woman!
She is like the female version of Stan Lee and George Lucas!
Always planning new ideas and working hard to get the vision she
wants and made this movie go beyond its original outcome.
We work together a lot; I am like her Steve Ditko or sidekick,
doing most of the heavy work as she’s doing the paperwork.
It is a great collaboration as we always top each other’s ideas.
I don’t think anyone can be as cool as she is!
Since you seem to be deeply involved with
post-production of the movie: Any idea when
Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation will
be released onto the general public yet? I
can’t comment on that yet until we have a for sure confirmation from our
distributors. With Tara
Cardinal [Tara Cardinal interview -
click here], one of Scarlet Samurai's showrunners (and one
of your martial arts students, if my information is correct), you have
also worked on what's probably her dream project, Legend of the Red Reaper
- so you just have to talk about your involvement with that movie for a
bit?
Legend of the Red Reaper
is another project that went through post-production hell that I
felt shouldn’t have been a problem to finish.
I became involved when the rough cut had some badly cut action
scenes. So I came in and fixed
it along with the ending of the film with Tara sitting beside me guiding
me to ensure it follows her vision. I
was also the Stunt Coordinator for some of the reshoots. How did you at all get into making movies in the
first place? I
loved the process of movie making all my life but never really got to show
it or build upon it until Tara came along and advertised for me.
I’m a really shy guy who rarely shows off, but Tara felt I am a
valuable team member because of how well we work together especially when
I train her in martial arts. From
there I am now getting notice from a lot of filmmakers who want to work
with me on producing some great action scenes, fight scenes to stunts.
Choreography and coordinating has always been my forte. Any other films of yours/future projects
you'd like to talk about? I am
currently finishing Spreading Darkness as stunt coordinator working
along side Eric Roberts, Tara Cardinal, James Duval, John Savage & a
bunch of other top actors. Directed
by Josh Eisenstadt and written by Aaron Pope.
Tara Cardinal, Sean Wyn |
Much more than an actor, stunt
coordinator or whatever, you are of course a martial arts instructor - so
would you like to talk about that aspect of your career for a bit, and
what got you into martial arts to begin with? I
got into Martial Arts when I was 5 years old.
My dad’s side of the family are all professional Martial Artists
that trained in the old school ways. Martial
arts have been a big part of my whole life.
But what really got me into it was: 1) I got bullied a lot in
school, 2) Dad forced me into it. 3)
Jackie Chan, he made me love Martial Arts.
He is an amazing man who is not only funny but really knows how to
make Martial Arts look beyond amazing on screen.
I like his approach more due to the fact that he keeps it grounded
with logic and correct physics most of the time and not acting like a
superhuman. How would
you describe yourself as a stunt coordinator, and what level of experience
do you expect from your stunt(wo)men?
Respect
and trust is the biggest, But I expect everyone I work with to keep it
professional with an open mind and lock away their pride and ego when
working with me.
Any martial
artists, stunt coordinators, fighters, actors, whatever, who inspire you? Jackie
Chan, a man who comes to near death in every movie he makes and always
goes home injured but comes back the next day to continue filming.
He is my inspiration as both a film maker and a Martial Artist. Your
favourite movies? Pretty
much every Jackie Chan movie, you should see my collection! But I am also
a huge comic book fan so you will see my Marvel Heroes collection mixed in
with amazing classics such as Tron,
Indiana Jones, the original Star Wars
and Back to the Future. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? I won’t list it but I do
have a list. Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else?
http://www.facebook.com/ScarletSamuraiIncarnation
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Anything else you are dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?
I have always been a very
resourceful kind of guy, growing up in a broken family and not having
everything. So I kind of
taught myself to never give up on learning new things, so from there I was
able to build my own computers, fix almost any electronics and be able to
master computer software programs and sewing to maintain my wants.
I also grew up left handed, watching great movies and loving to
create art. So from there I
continued to study art and filmmaking on the side.
I just love that feeling of telling a story through a screen to
change your perspective in life. That is why I was able to do a lot for
both Scarlet
Samurai: Incarnation and
Legend of the Red Reaper
and I hope it will show when the films
release.
The overall goal for
Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation that
I am aiming for is to not follow the trend of typical horror or action.
Instead create something new, tap into something different so that
the movie has more of an Indiana Jones feel mixed in with Asian mythology,
horror and martial arts but with a twist.
To be able to feel good after watching the film and be blown away
with an unexpected ending. This is something I wish more films would do,
which is lacking in most movies nowadays sadly. So I hope people will
love the movie once it’s done. Thanks for the interview!
Thank you! It was fun!
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