Photography credit: Marti Pascual Salva (All photos used with permission and are for promotional purposes only not monetized)
Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report
and Action-Flix.com readers. Blood Hunters: Rise Of The Hybrids is
premiering at the 2019 Urban Action Showcase, and lead actress Sarah
Chang sits down and chats about her experience on the film. Sarah has
an engaging personality and is driven to work hard and achieve
success in the international acting world. This is our third
interview, please refer to the links below to read our 2017 and 2018
interviews:
2017: Wolf Warriors 2
http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2018/07/actress-sarah-chang-interview-wolf.html
2018: The Trigonal:
http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2018/08/actress-sarah-chang-interview-2018-dans.html
Dan's Movie Report: Chat about the
script and comic book feel of the Blood Hunters.
Sarah
Chang: Blood Hunters is based off a comic book Director Vincent
Soberano drew himself, he based it off of the Filipino folklore he
listened to as a child. The story is set in a world where
Aswang (similar to vampires) run the world, families are torn apart
and people live in fear. While most cower away from the Aswang,
there are groups of mercenaries that hunt the Aswang to collect their
blood for a dubious scientific research firm. A team of
mercenaries band up with and avenging cop and a notorious hybrid (a
human with aswang blood) to take down the Aswang race once and for
all. While the entire story is created in an alternate
universe, the movie flips back and forth between comic book panels
and reality, much like Sin City. I personally love that
extra comic book feel. It really allows you to delve into a
different world.
DMR: Perhaps describe a bit of the
process that went into creating your character Gabriella, were you a
bit nervous to take on the lead role in the film?
SC:
For each role, I start my preparation with Uta Hagen's 9 questions to
understand the character's circumstances. At the time, that was
definitely the only way that I felt comfortable. Based on that,
I delved into a state of anger and pain. As my first lead role
in a feature length film, I was quite nervous to take on such a
significant role. It was even harder with jammed packed days
and so much choreography. As an actress, you always strive for
that lead role, but when actually get that lead role, it's quite
overwhelming and a really big responsibility. Now that I've
done several lead roles, I think I would have prepared in a different
manner.
DMR: Actually this question is for
Vincent but feel free to chime in, Chat about meeting with the
Executive Producers and selling the idea of an expanded feature film?
SC/VS:
Vincent was looking to turn his short film Blood Hunters into a TV
pilot. After his short film won Best Action Film at UASE, he caught a
lot of attention. Monsour Del Rosario, a popular action star in the
Philippines, wanted in as the lead and also invested in the film.
With Monsour signed as the lead, the project attracted funding from
the likes of Hollywood entrepreneur Bob Romer, actor Stacey Michelon,
TV producer Tonino Habana and film producer Oli Laperal. After
Vincent finished shooting what he intended to be a TV series pilot,
he was prodded to release it as an expanded feature film.
DMR: Jeff Centauri is a well known
Fight Coordinator and I have had the pleasure of meeting him in LA in
2004, chat about working with him and crafting the action of your
character. His style is more comic book with quicker fights and your
style seems a bit different, chat about some of the ideas you had
with regards to the action, and some of Jeff's ideas and how things
merged together.
SC:
With regards to the action choreography, we were really blessed to
have a great team of martial artists to fuse together all of the very
traditional Filipino Martial Arts. That was the first time I
had learned Filipino martial arts, so I was really thrust into a very
demanding schedule to learn all the different styles. I learned
illustrisimo with Master Arnold Narzo, Modern Arnis with Master Bax,
Balintawak with Master Patrick Balos, and trained Kali Arnis with
Reviric Jocson, Jim Tulipas, Jim Lim, Angelo Estanol, and of course
Wushu with Temujin Shirzada who played Naga. It was a really
incredible experience. These were the guys that really created the
fight sequences. Jeff was very creative in his camera techniques, he
used some really nice camera angles that complemented the
choreography. He also helped to adjust some movements to make
them more cinematic. Vincent was really hands-on and specific
about the action cinematography and choreography, I think we all made
a great collaborative effort.
DMR: Chat about having an action
sequence with Mayling Ng, how long was she on set and chat about some
of the choreography you worked on?
SC: I
loved working with Mayling, she was so energetic and sweet the moment
she jumped on the set. She was actually a late addition to the cast.
Vincent had to write in her character on our first day of shooting,
and additional funding had to be pulled in to able to hire her.
Unfortunately, we only had a day to work with her because of budget
constraints, so the choreography was quite short and simple. Vincent
was actually making up her scenes on the spot, while we were
shooting!
DMR: Chat about the dialogue in
Blood Hunters, how you prepared for your role with emotions and body
movements.
SC:
There was actually three times more dialogue in the shoot than what
was shown in the final cut because Vincent wanted the movie to go
straight to the action. There was even a love scene, a dialogue with
my screen grandson and some comedic lines. Actually on the set
Naga and I were in a constantly in character, we were basically in
battle the entire movie.
DMR: We spoke about the film being
originally 90 minutes then edited down for a TV show to 70 minutes,
which is what is the end result, maybe you can share with my audience
what are some of the things missing from the original 90 minute film
to the 70 minute film.
SC:
Vincent cut out a lot of scenes with a lot of dialogue. I even played
the role of a grandmother in a flash forward scene. There were
a couple of cute, comedic moments as well. However, a lot of these
sequences tended to drag the story and take away the comic effect
that Vincent wanted. He wanted the audience to have an experience
like reading a comic book, not a novel. Thus, in the end he
compromised and shaved out several scenes to push the action.
DMR: Finally an in general
question, chat about working on film in the Philippines and what are
some of the things you like about it and some of the things that can
be improved.
SC: I
love working in the Philippines. I was catered to the moment I
stepped foot into Manila. Everyone is always so happy and
accommodating. Also it's much easier to communicate in the
Philippines because most people can speak English, albeit with a
"nosebleed" as they call it. It almost feels more like a
really great vacation sometimes. Stay in a hotel, go to great
beach locations, train martial arts, shoot, and repeat. On the
flip-side, not everyday is like that, it can be a grind when
sometimes the set is too lax, and people are not doing their job
quickly and efficiently. There's a saying in the Philippines
that is called "puede na yan" which means "it's good
enough", which really lowers the standards because people just
allow something to be half-assed. I do see that happen on the
set, that could be improved. During Blood Hunters, I thought
the wire rigging could be improved and then Vincent and I started our
own action design and rigging team. I think all countries have
their pro and cons, it's all about how you deal with those problems.
We've just been fortunate to meet like-minded passionate people who
are interested in pushing the action genre in the Philippines.
DMR: Chat if you can about upcoming
projects.
SC:
Next year is definitely going to be a busy year, we've got several of
projects lined up. I'm really excited for an upcoming Chinese
Filipino co-production that I will be starring in with the same
production team behind Wolf Warrior 2. The director Ming Su has
already made several trips to the Manila to start our tactical
training and I can't wait until we start production early next year.
Thanks
Sarah for taking time out of your busy schedule to conduct this
interview. For further information on Sarah Chang, connect with her
on social media and check out her 2019 reel:
