7.22.2012

MASTER MARTIAL ARTS CHOREOGRAPHER YUEN WO PING ON THE CHANGING FACE OF ACTION CINEMA



(....) If you were programming this festival, which three or four films would you choose to best present your work in Hong Kong cinema?

Drunken Master would be number one, Tiger Cage at number two, Iron Monkey at number three. Tiger Cage is quite unique because it has a contemporary setting, rather than being a costume drama. Another favourite of mine is calledThe Miracle Fighters, but Western audiences might struggle to identify with that because it's a very Chinese story. It uses a lot of Chinese mythology, but if I made it today I would probably use a lot of CGI. But in those days - the early eighties - everything was very primitive compared with today.

In the CGI age it is much easier to make non-fighters appear like they can fight very well and is changing the role of the fight choreographer. How have you incorporated CGI into your work and how is it changing the way films are made?

CGI is definitely a good thing and we should give credit to it, but it shouldn't be used to replace fight choreography. Instead it should work the other way, we should take advantage of it. For example if there is a fight scene that an actor is unable to do, simply because of human limitations, then you can use a little CGI sparingly to polish the sequence and give some extra energy or spectacle.