BLT - Movie/Media Forum

digital hollywood

Film-making is in the midst of a renaissance. A Digital Renaissance. We are in a time when virtually anyone and everyone can be in the movie business. Just like the renaissance periods of the past, audiences have to filter through tons of dirt, just to find the diamond in the rough. One of those diamonds is a web-based kung-fu serial called The KWOON. This ambitious project is the creation of Todd Roy, an amateur filmmaker and his martial arts friends from Silicon Valley. They have always wanted to make kung fu films. The KWOON (www.theKWOON.com) is a four-part serial that follows the adventures of “the brothers” at a kung fu school called the KWOON. Watch the serials, and you will agree that a great deal of time and effort went into this movie which was made solely for the web.

We got a chance to speak with Onassis Parungao, actor and the fight choreographer of the KWOON; and Todd Roy, the director.

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On his resume, his qualifications now include actor and martial arts choreographer. Onassis Parungao started training in martial arts at the age of eight under his father studying a Filipino technique called Tung Kong Kalan. Its three basic actions are backhand whipping, a heavy-palm slapping and swing kicking. It’s basic philosophy, “ Is to keep moving and distract opponents, hitting to impair as a set up to a finishing move.” Also for the last 15 years, Onassis studied and practiced Hung Gar and Tai Chi for the last four years with Sifu Lam Kwong Wing at the Wing Lam Kung Fu school in Sunnyvale, CA. Onassis is now an instructor there.

Among Onassis’s early martial arts influences were Bruce Lee, his father, Chan Kwoon Tai, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Gordon Liu and the “Deadly Venoms” crew-the contract players in the Shaw Brothers movies. Most of us became familiar with these actors from watching the Saturday matinee on TV.

Camera!!! and...Action!!!

With the help of two experienced martial artists, contracted by the KWOON’s director, Todd Roy, Onassis and the other actors finally learned first-hand, the difference between real and movie martial arts. “But what you do in real Gung Fu is different from movie stuff and vice versa....”, these two martial artists kept insisting.

Onassis understood that in the old movies, the martial arts sequences were all “under-cranked” (sped up) to make the fights look good on film. He was determined to impress the martial arts audiences by not making a Shaw brothers imitation. So he was going to infuse some good kung fu into KWOON without using the typical Hollywood movie choreography.” we mostly shoot our fight scenes from an angle perpendicular to the fight line”. This let’s us see all the hand to hand Hung Gar work as opposed to “Hollywood fights” in which they “ shoot the fights from an angle that is close to being parallel with the fight line.” We see the action from “ just over the guys shoulder and this is done to mask the fact that his opponent actually missed him by 2 feet.”

Onassis became a fast learner. He quickly realized that there was a great deal of preparation involved before shooting the fight scenes. He would read the script, mark in action sequences and then create the choreography. With the assistance of some “brothers”, he sketched out visual storyboards by pre-shooting the fight scenes. Keeping in his mind to include some old school kung fu into them.

You’re in the movies now!

Shooting the KWOON was overcoming obstacles on a daily basis, Onassis confessed. With time constraints in production, Onassis had to carefully limit the length of each fight scene. And what about the acting? He admitted that the serial is rated “ BA-GKF, Bad Acting Good Kung Fu”

Finding high level martial arts talent was another challenge involved in the project. “It is very time-consuming.” Having said all that, Onassis believed that they have honestly enjoyed the Kung Fu and the camaraderie in the making of each serial.

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Quentin Tarantino broke out with Pulp Fiction. Robert Rodriguez, El Mariachi. And Todd Roy, the KWOON?!!!

Todd Roy made his debut as director on the KWOON. He told us that his only “film-school” education came from watching the “behind-the-scene” shorts on TV and DVD’s. “I never went to film school or even been on the set of a movie... but when you have a crew of 20 or so all getting paid, you learn fast.” The importance of planning and preparation in the pre-production stages was the lesson Todd has learned after making episode 4 – Mummy Dearest. “That would’ve saved a lot of money”. He also expressed that a good director must also be good communicator.

So what motivated someone to shoot their own martial arts film? Todd admitted that he “got lucky with a stock” last year and made some money. “So I had a little pile of cash and thought? Do I go buy a Porsche Boxter and a house? or take this money and go make cheesy high quality kung fu movies with my friends?” Mummy Dearest

Though this is his first time at directing, he knew that he needed professional help like getting an acting coach for the cast and recruiting martial arts guest stars, Don Hamby and Cung Le. Todd believes they were better on screen because they had “great abilities to focus and follow direction.”

Overall what he enjoyed most about the project was “doing something creative with friends and the gratification of following through...”

At the end, Todd hopes to get recognition in the industry. He submitted his movie to Sundance Online this year, but was disqualified due to late entry. In the meanwhile he continues to search for parties interested in producing, distributing, and financing his future episodes.

Todd Roy invites everyone to visit The KWOON website – www.thekwoon.com. He hopes that it becomes a resource for other filmmakers interested in making martial arts movies.

***Reported by Philippe Cu Leong

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