Mud, monsters and Mayhem

Well Matt and I have taken the day off to recover and rest our tired bodies. It is actually both of our first days off school this year and it is nice to spend a day at home feeling tired and snuffly but not the "I feel so bad - kill me now" kind of sick where you don't actually enjoy spending the day in bed or wrapped up in warm blankies. I'm glad we grabbed a copy of the movie "Monster Hunters 4: Beyond Repair" because we watched it a couple of times last night and commentary style narration which was cool. I was able to reveal the funny anecdotal stories of the craziness of shooting. Mostly it was the smack talk/banter between Nick and Luke. I also did the actor ego-centric thing of asking "why did you use the take where you can see me ripping out my hair and hitting myself with the headset cord?" He was then able to point out editorial reasonings like "it was the best take for everyone else and the sound etc". It is really the "it's telling us to carry swords" scene and Nick's delivery and expression are so awesome. Such a Nick moment. However, as tradition generally dictates in Monster movies the quirky sidekick's best moment is swiftly followed by being thrown to the ground by a monster. I still can't get over that the movie is 6 minutes and 40 something seconds. It plays so swiftly that it feels like no time. This pretty much means the writers/director/editors and others nailed the story really well, I guess, as there are no dull points or parts where it drags at all. It is a romping action-monster movie. I think the story is told really clearly though and the characters come across well (especially Robin's optimism with lines like "ritualistic deaths are something you'll get used to" and "now that we don't have weapons, I'm positive everything will be fine" - Luke's wide-eyed perky expression is awesome and I love it when he cheerfully pats Frank's corpse hand). It has got me thinking about two different types of monster/action films that I like. There is one where the threat is very real and tense, things keep on getting worse and more people die. It has the audience sitting on the edge of their seats and it is all about the thrills and adrenline of the action. The other is when it is more focussed on character and making the audience really care about the hero and/or monster so that when they die or are in danger, it really worries you. I think our film really nails the second category. As the audience I was quite upset that the monster dies and Nick kind of might be dead too. I personally want a version of the film where after the credits we have a shot of Nick looking around all alone and saying "hello?" (it's on one of the tapes somewhere). Actually, I'd quite like the same shot with the monster as well - although he did break his own neck so it seems less believeable that he still lives. Although that would be good for Monster Hunter 5. I loved the experience of acting in this film. So much fun. I have so much respect for the crew who were standing around in the mud and rain holding flexi boards and other vital but not particularly fun tasks. Some people stayed so lovely and supportive throughout the entire process it really amazed me, and I'm friends with most of them so I already knew they were nice. I'm just blown away at how amazingly nice, cheerful, considerate and fun to be around people can be with very little sleep and physically pretty tough conditions. I would have liked to have been one of the people who kept others' spirits and energy levels up but I guess I wasn't majorally unpleasant or anything. I didn't throw coffee at anyone's head in a fit of "that's not a non-fat latte" actor rage so that's good. The list of individual acts of kindness, talent, memorable moments of awesome, fun and huge amounts of respect I have for team members old and new is too impossibly long to even consider starting to mention, so suffice it to say well done everyone. You all rock! We made a kickass movie AND made it by the deadline! Roll on Wednesday for the big screening of our glorious achievement!