Harry's Set Reports

Since it seems Harry from AICN will be doing a series of set reports from the Bejing set this week, I thought it’d be a good idea to start up a separate topic to discuss it. Today, the first one of the batch was put online. It’s quite long and has a few extremely cool tidbits of info. Most notable:


  • There is a scene with Elle and Pai Mei that’s not in the script. Seems that Elle kind of pushed her luck with the mean old bastard :wink:


  • There is a long steadycam shot of The Bride making her way through the House of Blue Leaves in her tracksuit, jumping over walls whilst slicing and dicing Crazy 88’s (does this mean there will be even more 88’s or will the fight scenes after the Sofie Fatale-disememberment be shorter ? I don’t know, but this shot sounds like it’s going to be simply awesome)


  • The chapter Yuki’s revenge was apparently NOT cut and has in fact already been shot. I’m not too sure whether I’m happy about this. I thought the introduction of Bill was a perfect way to keep things running after the hard act to follow, Chapter 4. Basically, Yuki’s Revenge is just one long shoot-out and I think two long battle scenes after each other won’t do much good. It makes one wonder though, with which Hollywood celebrity Yuki would pose on the photographs in the beginning of the chapter. Do I hear John Travolta ? :wink:


  • When The Bride flies to Japan, she will apparently fly over a Godzilla-like reproduction of the country. This should look kind of cool on screen, I think - another great idea.



    There’s lots of more cool things in the first set report, but I will leave it to the rest of us to discuss those things. Go right ahead ! 8)

As Im writing this Im watching Once Upon a Time in The West.  I just watched the documentary on Sergio Leone (QT was interviewed in it) then I watched Pulp again last night on the new DVD, then I watched Casualties of War (DePalma) so Im really enjoying this whole set report thing even more. Im definitely in the Kill Bill mood! :slight_smile:



I was reading it and just flipping out at all the cool stuff thats been going on.



My predictions were right about The Bride having the steadi cam following her into the HOBL. Coolness! I love those one shot long takes! And that shot sounds so kickass:



"In addition to just following her, there are different types of things going on. At one point she leaps over the wall, which is a paper wall, where she’ll be Shadow Play style slicing and dicing 88’s. Then as she turns a corner, the camera leaps over the wall to follow behind her chopping and what not Then the camera turns to a close up of one of the 5,6,7,8’s in action, and on and on. Personally I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THIS SHOT. Hearing Larry talk about it, he was so excited to have shot it and to have worked out the insane technical aspects of having him in a steadi-cam outfit leap over a wall along with the different fields of focus going from radical close-ups to wide-shots there were two remote control focus pullers A crane team that had to clear part of the set to bring in the crane for his needed lift, and so much more."



How cool is that?



Yukis Revenge isnt cut from the film! As much as I kind of felt it was out of place in the story, While I was reading the report, I said to myself, “Who the hell cares? Its Kill Bill!” I really hope that part kicks my ass so I never have to say it wasnt cool. Im sure it will be.



The whole report sounds like something all of us dream of seeing. I know it was for me. Harry talked to Daryl Hannah, man oh man. Daryl loves her some Streetfighter (Sonny and Daryl sittin in a tree, haha) Uma is gettin her ass kicked walkin up and down those steps! lol  They are like godesses in this movie.



Gordon Liu as Pai Mei: That is totally awesome. I cant wait to see how it looks:



“I got to watch Pai Mei vomit on multiple takes and frankly that ruled”.



I wonder why hes puking? Hmmm.



David Carradine peeling out like he does in Cannonball. How cool is that?! . :slight_smile:



QT sounds like he must be in heaven. He sounds like a kid in a toy store with full credit. Its too bad more directors arent like him when they make movies. The guy whole heartedly loves making films. What a great thing. 8)



"There will be 3 days of shooting in Japan very soon. Then a couple of weeks off, while they prep for shooting in Los Angeles. Then they move to Barstow and El Paso ending shooting in Mexico. "



From reading this review, it sounds like the production is moving right along. I think the HOBL sequence was definitely a tough thing for him to shoot, but now it should go nice and smooth. Thats great to hear. :slight_smile:

Set Report Day 2:



First off I gotta say right off this report was even cooler than the first one.



The rumors about QT and Woo Ping fighting about the choreography being set to music, etc: PURE BULLSHIT. Woo Ping actually loved the music being part of the scenes so he had something to create the fights to. He never said QTs ideas were “ridiculous” either. Fuckin “Ridiculous”, I hate that word.



QTs been adding new scenes to the film, thats great, just more surprises for us that we havent read yet! 8)



Harry met the legend himself : Sonny “Streetfighter” Chiba! Thats so fuckin cool, Im speechless.



He met Zhang Ziyi: What the fuck? Harry has to be the luckiest fat guy ever.



Michael Jai White as Alburt: Sounds like hes leaving that stupid Spawn movie in the toilet with this role. He sounds like a cool dude too. I cant wait to see the scenes with him.



David Carradine : The guy is making it even more clear how goddamn awwesome he will be in this film. What Pulp Fiction did for Travolta, Kill Bills gonna do for David. Too cool.



The shooting sounds like its going great. Robert Richardson and QT are bringing the kickass “Shaw Brothers zooms” to life. Making them better than the original Shaw Bros zooms!



What else can I say? This is just like watching those words in the KB script come to life in front of us. Everything sounds perfect. This is whats its all about baby. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Larry McConkey the steadicam operator on Kill Bills filmography. What a kickass resume!




  1.  Life or Something Like It (2002) (steadicam operator) <br/>
    
  2.  Vanilla Sky (2001) (camera operator: "b" camera, New York) (steadicam operator: New York) <br/>
    
  3.  Shallow Hal (2001) (steadicam operator) <br/>
    
  4.  Mission to Mars (2000) (steadicam operator) <br/>
    

… aka M2M (1999) (USA: promotional abbreviation)

5. Three Kings (1999) (camera operator) (steadicam operator)

6. Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) (steadicam operator)

7. Summer of Sam (1999) (steadicam operator)

8. Snake Eyes (1998) (steadicam operator)

9. Destination Anywhere (1997) (V) (steadicam operator)

10. Fathers’ Day (1997) (steadicam operator)

11. Ransom (1996) (steadicam operator)

12. Sleepers (1996) (steadicam operator)

13. Mission: Impossible (1996) (steadicam operator)

… aka Mission Impossible (1996)

14. Faithful (1996) (camera operator) (steadicam operator)

15. Carlito’s Way (1993) (steadicam operator)

16. Fearless (1993) (steadicam operator)

17. Dangerous Game (1993) (steadicam operator: New York)

18. Good Son, The (1993) (steadicam operator)

19. Age of Innocence, The (1993) (steadicam operator)

20. Ruby Cairo (1993) (steadicam operator)

… aka Deception (1993) (USA: video title) (recut version)

… aka Missing Link: Ruby Cairo, The (1993)

21. Free Willy (1993) (steadicam operator)

22. Sleepless in Seattle (1993) (steadicam operator: Baltimore)

23. Sliver (1993) (steadicam operator)

… aka Sliver - Gier der Augen (1993)

24. Raising Cain (1992) (steadicam operator)

25. By the Sword (1991) (steadicam operator: New York)

26. Company Business (1991) (steadicam operator)

27. Jungle Fever (1991) (steadicam operator)

28. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) (steadicam operator)

29. Bonfire of the Vanities, The (1990) (steadicam operator)

30. Jacob’s Ladder (1990) (steadicam operator: Puerto Rico)

… aka Dante’s Inferno (1990)

31. Miller’s Crossing (1990) (steadicam operator)

32. State of Grace (1990) (steadicam operator)

33. Mo’ Better Blues (1990) (steadicam operator)

34. Shock to the System, A (1990) (steadicam operator)

35. We’re No Angels (1989) (steadicam operator)

36. Cookie (1989) (steadicam operator) (as Larry McKonkey)

37. Ghostbusters II (1989) (steadicam operator: New York)

38. Vibes (1988) (panaglide operator: Ecuador)

39. ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II (1988) (steadicam operator: New York) (as Larry McConky)

40. Rosary Murders, The (1987) (steadicam operator)

41. Angel Heart (1987) (steadicam operator)

42. Mosquito Coast, The (1986) (camera operator: additional camera crew)

43. Streets of Gold (1986) (steadicam operator)

44. Boy Who Could Fly, The (1986) (skycam pilot and operator)

45. After Hours (1985) (steadicam operator)

46. Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985) (still photographer)

47. Birdy (1984) (steadicam operator)

Am I the only one who HATES the dickheads in the AICN talk backs? Like the people who talk down on Harry for how he summs up his days in reviews (IF YOU DONT LIKE IT DON’T READ IT!). Plus there are people who always post there who think they know EVERYTHING about movies, how can they diss QT when they havn’t done SHIT!

[quote]Am I the only one who HATES the dickheads in the AICN talk backs? Like the people who talk down on Harry for how he summs up his days in reviews (IF YOU DONT LIKE IT DON’T READ IT!). Plus there are people who always post there who think they know EVERYTHING about movies, how can they diss QT when they havn’t done SHIT![/quote]

Yeah, I hate talkbackers who diss directors when the talkbackers themselves haven’t done shit. I Totally agree. Btw, from the looks of Steadicam Larry’s filmography, looks like he’s got a Brian De Palma thing going on. How appropriate.

Wait a minute…hold the phone there…he cut out the hotel scene !? What the fuck !? One of the coolest scenes in the entire movie and the perfect follow-up to the House of Blue Leaves stunner, and QT is just throwing this out the window ?? I don’t want to be a partypooper but I can’t say I’m too thrilled about this. First the rather feeble Yuki’s Revenge bit is back in and now this little scene of gold is thrown out ? I’m sorry, but that’s unsettling news. By the way, does this mean LaTanya Richardson is deleted from the cast alltogether ?



On a positive note, David Carradine sounds like a really kick-ass Bill, and I’m relieved the Yuen Woo Ping rumors aren’t true, but still all in all I’m a bit disappointed by the contents of this second set report. The first one was 95 % coolness, while I can only give this one 50 % due to the sad Cherry Pie news.

Yeah I forgot about the Can She Bake a Cherry Pie part. Can She Bake a Cherry Pie was one of the slower parts of the film so maybe QT wants to have Kill Bill be almost non stop action. When Alburt or Do Moe tries to kill Bill, it will be shown in a flashback at the beginning of the last chapter. So I think Cherry Pie will be cut out altogether, that is unless QT shoots that part without Michael Jai White. Its QTs film, if he thinks it will be cooler without it, then so be it. The films gonna rock the house any way you turn it in the end.



Yukis Revenge might end up being one of the most crazy parts of the film. It has a ton of split screen ala DePalma and tons of bullets, maybe QTs gonna go for a Hong Kong Blood Opera in the middle of a small neighborhood. Should be interesting to see Yuki going apeshit with her guns.



Another thing, if Can She Bake a Cherry Pie is taken out, Im guessing La Tanya Richardson will be playing Bonnie the Nurse instead :slight_smile:

Yeah, I think so, because in the first ever announcement of LaTanya Richardson being in the cast, I remember it said she’d be playing “a nurse looking after wounded criminials”. About the Pulp Fiction link, I’ll come off as a total retard if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Bonnie the nurse white in that movie (as far as you could tell) ? That would mean that nurse Owens isn’t the same one as in Pulp Fiction, which makes sense to me because of two reasons: the movie universe and characters rules, and the fact that someone who’s used to dealing with wounded criminals (like nurse Owens) probably wouldn’t be so shocked by a “dead nigger” in her house - at least that’s how I see things.



Can She Bake A Cherry Pie was my favourite chapter :frowning:

Bonnie The Nurse was supposed to be a take on Pam Griers nurse character from Coffy. You can see shes black in the movie. Jimmy and Bonnie were another interracial couple (like Mia and Marsellus).



Can She Bake a Cherry Pie was okay, but theres better chapters in the film.

Okay - now we know that Yuki’s Revenge has definitely been CUT and that the “Can She Bake A Cherry Pie” chapter may not even be in the film. With every set report that Harry Knowles publishes more and more of our perceptions on the script are blown to bits.



Seb’s right - the script we all have is pretty much useless now. I thought of sending in a script review but screw it - I’m gonna look like a chump come October '03.

yeah forget the script we have. i just created a special topic dedicated to the script-changes.

Yeah this film will probably be 50% of what we’ve read, the other 50% being total new additions.



No Yukis Revenge



Massacre at Two Pines : A totally new chapter with The Bride at her wedding.



I really really hope QT keeps the footage of Pai Mei from the Shaw Brothers films in there! Thats one of the coolest things ever.



The way I see it, if QT is changing it, its only because he has way cooler ideas. So its all good.



One thing I picked up from the report is an interesting thing I thought of while reading about The Bride and The Crazy 88s concerning Bruce Lee.



Now we all know that Bruce Lee played Kato on The Green Hornet show in the 60s.



The Crazy 88 are all dressed Kato style in the film (driving hats, masks, suits) they are the bad guys. Their suits represent the fake image of Bruce Lee as a bufoonish hong kong phooey type action guy.



The Bride wears Bruce’s suit from Game Of Death. That suit reprsents Bruce as the true non conformist serious martial artist and visionary. She represents who he really was.



Hence The Bride decimating the Crazy 88. Its the real Bruce vs. the fake Bruce. The Brides putting the cartoony Kato stuff to rest and maintaining the true spirit of Bruce Lee.



Thats my theory anyway. :slight_smile:

Interesting theory there Vic…sounds like you’re on to something.



“Massacre at Two Pines”…I like the idea - it will give us a chance to actually see the DiVAS (well, except for The Bride who’s getting bushwhacked) at work. Where does everybody think this chapter would fit ? I think it’d be great near the end of the movie (it gives us a nice tie-in with the prologue), I’m thinking between “The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei” and “Elle and I”…it’d kind of break the mostly chronological nature of the second half of the script (well, the Pai Mei thing is a flashback of course but I mean the chronological nature of the main revenge story in the second half of the script). Or right before “The Blood-Splattered Bride”, to set things up for what the audience expects to be an ultra-violent finale. Yeah, that’d definitely be cool.

It would be even cooler if QT pulled a Pulp Fiction and put it at the very end of the film. So it ends with The Bride getting killed. That would be so the bomb.



This is my idea:



Prologue

"2"

Comatose Bride

Man From Okinawa

House of Blue Leaves

The Lonely Grave of Paula Schultz

Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei

Elle and I

Blood Splattered Bride

Massacre at Two Pines

I hope QT doesn’t tinker too much with the prologue, despite the new chapter and the Bill introduction scene being cut…I really like the way the first scenes are handled now, they would turn out really classic.

8) All I can say is AWESOME!!! I have read three all Harry’s reports and I am looking forward to reading the next. His vivid descriptions of all that is going on makes me feel like I am there.



I cannot wait to see this film released! It is about time that something was done to make David Carradine shine like the star he is. Not enough has been done to show just how versital and actor he is. David is in his element. I have not seem him work with a sword since Dune Warriors and The Warrior and The Sorceress, and he was fighting left handed in that one.



David you are a MASTER! And I humbly bow to you. (@



Oh by the way Harry. There are kung fu schools that stress more of the Shaolin code. You just have to look a little harder. The school I attend, White Birch School of Traditional Martial Arts is one of them. My Sifu teaches Tien Shan Pai, an unbroken system of kung fu for 65 generations. They are out there. He does not stress speed in learning but allows the student to go at their own pace. He does not run a belt factory, but looks for those students who will pass on what he has learned. They are rare and when he finds one, he helps that student to be the best that they can be.



I will look forward to reading more.



(@



Alisa

Harry isnt on this forum but you can post that info on Martial arts at his site:



www.aintitcool.com



That way he might see it.

Set Report 4



They started shooting The Man From Okinawa and it really sounds like its going to be one great chapter.



The name Yubari is actually a town where QT went to show Reservoir Dogs during a film festival back in 92. Cool.



The shooting of the sushi bar with Uma and Sonny is gonna be great. I bet it will be like the conversation that Mia and Vincent had but with some comedy added.



We’ll see. :slight_smile:

HAHAHHA Vic finaly made an error about something in regards to QT! The Bride never gets killed, just put in coma. Didn’t you read the script? Or anything else about Kill Bill? Geez Vic have you ever heard of this guy named QT? He’s a pretty good director.