Hello and welcome back to the rhetorical roundhouse blog! Last week I asked what your favorite martial arts movies were and got a lot of really interesting responses and recommendations--thank you all for those. I'm always looking for more good movies to check out so please, if you didn't see your favorite on the list, be sure to leave a comment.
This week, I'm proud to announce and share the Rhetorical Roundhouse Valentine's Day short film "Bee Mine." If you haven't seen the trailer, take a look!
And if you're ready for the full film with all the action-packed rom-com dramatic tension you could hope for, look no further!
(Full disclosure: this is the third time I'm writing this post. Why? Because the internet gods don't want me to publish some meaningful reflection about making Bee Mine. For whatever reason, the blog post won't save and I'm running out of patience quickly. So I'm going to give a terse summary of what I wrote the last two times and hope it sticks.)
What I learned from making Bee Mine:
1. Fight choreography is not a solo act
None of this would look any good if it weren't for a talented creative team. You can't do this stuff by yourself. Fighting is like a dance and it takes two to tango. Thank you Mr. Bee for learning so much on set by doing and practicing in the moment.
2. The camera is a character
Static images from a camera on a tripod aren't realistic. I can't thank Molly Michigan enough for showing me just how important dynamic camera work is for capturing the energy and rhythm of fight scenes.
3. Play-fighting is exhausting work
We spent 3-4 hours filming for about a minute of fight footage. It was exhausting on a mental and physical level that I hadn't prepared for. Word to the wise: bring extra water and sunscreen.
4. Spit takes are hard
Even after practicing multiple times, Mr. Bee punched me harder than I ever expected him to for the spit take/hay-maker scene. It was funny and painful all at once.
Apologies for the shoddy writing--if you can't tell I'm quite fed up with technology today and I'm letting my frustration get the better of me. Might be time to get some fresh air and do some Tae Kwon Do. Who knows, maybe I'll dream up the next bit of fight choreography?
Sincerely thank you to everyone who made this film possible--I could not have done it alone and your time means the world to me.
Thanks to all of you reading and watching. Please be sure to like, share, and subscribe on Youtube!
Wow--last week was not a great scene! Sorry again for the technical difficulties and the delay for this blog. The bottom line is I had a great time making the Bee Movie because it allowed me to be creative with my martial arts, it allowed me to collaborate with and learn from my amazing friends, and it showed me that my training is paying off (slowly but surely!)
Before I wrap this week, I wanted to take a minute to recognize a very special event that just took place Friday. My good friend and shrimp for life Josh Rea defended his dissertation and has now been proclaimed a DOCTOR OF RHETORIC! That's right, the shrimp basket is nearly full of PhDs now--just one more to go!
Naturally, Friday was a feel-good party fest. But before things got too blurry, I managed to get a shrimp photo with the newly minted Dr. Rea. Congratulations pal!
