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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Come Get Your Kicks At The URBAN ACTION SHOWCASE With Actor, Screenfighting Expert, JOHN NGUYEN


This week I met YouTube character, actor, screenfighter and on the internet action cinema tutor John Nguyen. He could be just a handful of years in, but his operate has already gained interest from a lot of people, specifically the organizers of the star-studded Urban Action Showcase subsequent month right here in New York City (only one more event I have to miss because of perform *cries on the inside*).

I've seen a couple of of Nguyen's videos, and I personally  think they're quite informative in creating the best feasible tool for anyone searching to find out how to choreograph, execute and direct a excellent screenfight, helping pave the way for other instructors and aspiring actors and filmmakers. And with Nguyen set to make his appearance in New York quickly, he and I took the time to share a Facebook chat with every other about, amongst a couple of other thingst his own experiences, what drew him as a screenfighting tutor and what fans can count on from his upcoming workshop.

Film Combat Syndicate: Very first off, how did you get into screenfighting?
John Nguyen:
I've lived in LA and the bay area all my life and like a lot of Chinese children I grew up on Jackie Chan. I started off in the mainstream with Hollywood, hustling for the agents and auditions and stuff. Came to understand I'm largely here for the art and not the business so when the digital indie revolution came about (although I was in pharm school), I saw that it is genuinely doable now. Some unforeseen life interrupting events came up and I just left  my job up in SF and moved back home to LA. I'm taking it as a sign and chance to truly invest myself into the passion once again.
FCSyndicate: How lengthy have you been undertaking it now?
JN: My martial arts background is fairly varied and convoluted now, as it is with a lot of guys in this field, I guess. Started off in modern wushu while at college, afterwards I saw that I needed to hold an open thoughts and expand into the other arts like TKD, Karate, the MMA staples, Tai Chi and other individuals. Quickly as I graduated I saw my friends back in LA were beginning to make it in the stunt field. Pure stunt isn't genuinely what I'm after, but it gave a lot of hope that it really is not just some childhood pipe dream. I started off with bit roles in front of the camera and realized no 1 in mainstream filmmaking knows something about very good action so I went behind the camera and picked up all the hats. Guess it's been about ten years now. Too off and on, specifically with pharm college in in between that genuinely took its toll. Just finished that so now I can place power back into this with a strong monetary base.
FCSyndicate: So this is what led you to do online screenfighting tutorials?
JN: Oh, no. That was just to keep moving and not cease and drown. My final purpose is nevertheless ofcourse mainstream distribution kind work. But I decided not to hustle for bit roles that Never expand my skillset (primarily acting). But that is often a slow thing going and especially while I was up in SF in school I wanted to just keep undertaking Some thing and tried out a niche I hadn't seen however on the web. Particularly one thing I personally wanted when I was beginning off and wouldn’t have had to devote so significantly time rediscovering things by myself that had been currently getting utilised on HK sets. Then it just turned out to be type of exciting and a pressure reliever. It also strengthened my friendship with Jeff (Lee) and we've been doing other organization-type projects outside of it now. Not too long ago the tutorial show's been obtaining me some contacts and delivers so it's type of opened up my eyes to great utility of it as a presence creator. Plus, it is just Enjoyable, haha.
FCSyndicate: So how did you get tangled with the urban action showcase? And what can attendees anticipate?
JN: Demetrius (Angelo), the organizer and a actually cool guy, contacted me by means of the channel and we talked it out. It originally began out as a attainable pure choreography workshop but then Jeff Imada confirmed his attendance so they switched me to the filming aspect, which is still cool and sounds enjoyable. I'm learning a lot a lot more about reaching out and trying to spread the word on issues, now, as well, something I by no means truly tried to do, haha. 
As for the workshop, we're pulling in directing, DPing (directing photography), stuntwork, EXECUTION of choreo (one thing I never believe I see emphasized enough), editing and other folks. It is actually going to be geared towards the filmmaker who wants to function with stuntfighters but also for stuntfighters who want to learn the production side on the indie level. I also believe a lot of established directors could find out a lot from it, as well. I'm trying challenging to emphasize the dramatic performance within the fight in a down to earth way, so that could be really helpful for filmmakers who entered the field from the conventional route rather than the grassroots stuntfighter route. I hope to help them commence seeing the fight break down into beats and evolutions and no longer just a blur of violence in front of their eyes.
FCSyndicate: Outstanding! I'm very pleased to see such interest taken into the technical aspects of action. Is there a director you can consider of who you may want to work with one day who you feel might benefit from you views? It can be far more than one.
JN: Proper off the top of my head Christopher Nolan would be one. I Love that he emphasizes practical production over VFX even for giant set pieces that sound impossible. The fact that he sacrifices elaborate cinematography and avoids ADR for the sake of bringing out the ideal natural performances from his actors just tells me that this man knows precisely what his own priorities are. 
So functioning with him on bringing that exact same level of depth to action sequences to blend into the narrative would be exceptionally rewarding.
Watch Nguyen's Urban Action Showcase promo in the YouTube embed under. And for far more info on how to grab your pass for the November 9th occasion with John, and co-hosts Sean Ellis and Alexandre Huynh, CLICK Here.


Come Get Your Kicks At The URBAN ACTION SHOWCASE With Actor, Screenfighting Expert, JOHN NGUYEN
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