Action Filmmaking Decoded- The Story of Action Films – Details, episodes & analysis

Re-Introducing: Todor “Juji” Lazarov, RRR Action Director!

Todor is known for his stunt work on Hellboy, Game of Thrones, Expendables 2, and most recently RRR as Action Director which won a Golden Globe and Oscar

In this episode, we dive deep into the action of RRR, from flipping a carriage by hand to practical action camera advice to the complex rigging required for the iconic jail break sequence. This episode has been in the AFD vault for too long…

Join us as we chat with Todor “Juji” Lazarov.

-⁠ Get a year of Skillshare at 30% OFF!⁠

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at ⁠Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking⁠.

Subscribe and leave a review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at ⁠actiondecoded.com⁠, on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠TikTok⁠ at @actionfilmmakingpodcast, or on ⁠Twitter⁠ @ActionDecoded

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Introducing: Todor Lazarov also known as Juji. Todor is known for his stunt work on Hellboy, Game of Thrones, Expendables 2, and most recently RRR as Action Director which won a Golden Globe recently and is now nominated for an Oscar

In this episode, we discuss Sambo and Judo, directing an award winning short film, Todor’s interests in Opera shows, and the challenging yet rewarding task of stunt work with children.

We also take a deep dive into RRR, breaking down the filming of animals, the rigs of the prison break fight, kinetic camera work, flipping a horse carriage by hand, and much much more.

Join us as we chat with Todor “Juji” Lazarov.

-
Get a year of Skillshare at 30% OFF!

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com, on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @actionfilmmakingpodcast, or on Twitter @ActionDecoded

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to the final stretch of Shang Chi Week! This week featured Joseph Le and Vi-Dan Tran. Today, we are…

Introducing: Andy Cheng. He is known as fight coordinator for Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is also a veteran of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team working on films such as Who Am I, Mr Nice Guy, Shanghai Noon, and Rush Hour 1 & 2. Other works of his include: Into the Badlands, The Rundown, Scorpion King, and 6 Underground.

In Part II, we’ll be breaking down other Jackie Chan works like Who Am I and Rush Hour 1 & 2, Andy Cheng’s works featuring Dwayne Johnson including The Getaway and Scorpion King, as well as his work on Michael Bay’s 6 Underground. We also cover Andy’s amazing fights on AMC’s Into the Badlands and, of course, dive into Shang Chi.

Join us as we chat with Andy Cheng: Taekwondo Champion, Stunt Golf Champion, Action Filmmaking Champion

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @actionfilmmakingpodcast

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to the final stretch of Shang Chi Week! This week featured Joseph Le and Vi-Dan Tran. Today, we are…

Introducing: Andy Cheng. He is known as fight coordinator for Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is also a veteran of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team working on films such as Who Am I, Mr Nice Guy, Shanghai Noon, and Rush Hour 1 & 2. Other works of his include: Into the Badlands, The Rundown, Scorpion King, and 6 Underground.

In this episode, Andy regails us with his exploits as a Tae Kwon Do athlete and Bronze medalist. He’s been knocked out, knocked out others, and even had to fight his own teammate on TV! He also details his younger years imitating Jackie Chan stunts with his friends, including one near-death experience involving a loose pipe on the top of a building.

We talk about the blending of action movie styles for Shang Chi and break down scenes from the Jackie Chan film Mr. Nice Guy, including the horse carriage scene which resulted in someone “breaking their head.” We look at the construction site scene too, a scene that had the team filming absolutely nothing for two straight days as Jackie sat and thought about the sequence.

Andy also tells us about living with Jackie and throwing a Tomahawk at Jackie’s head!

In Part II, we’ll be breaking down other Jackie Chan works like Who Am I and Rush Hour 1 & 2, Andy Cheng’s works featuring Dwayne Johnson including The Getaway and Scorpion King, as well as his work on Michael Bay’s 6 Underground. We also cover Andy’s amazing fights on AMC’s Into the Badlands and, of course, dive into Shang Chi.

Join us as we chat with Andy Cheng: Taekwondo Champion, Stunt Golf Champion, Action Filmmaking Champion

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @actionfilmmakingpodcast

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to Shang Chi Week! We’ll be releasing Shang Chi action team interviews today, Wednesday, and Friday!

Introducing: Joseph Le & Vi-Dan Tran. Both were action designers on Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Vi-Dan is a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. His works include The Foreigner, Bleeding Steel, and Into the Badlands as well as his original fan films such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phoenix Program and Darth Maul: Apprentice. Joseph Le is also know for fan films such as Mulan: An East Side Story and Afro Samurai Champloo as well as many action comedy videos with Martial Club.

In this episode, we break down the action of Shang Chi. We detail some of the biggest changes that took place in the bus sequence, a process dictated by character and story. Vi-Dan also talks about the crazy measures taken to get the correct camera angles in the confined bus space... PlayStation controllers were used and metal was cut through!

As always, the Five Second Fight Club challenges our guests to predict fight winners. This episode's matchups include Mugen (Samurai Champloo) vs Spike (Cowboy Bebop), Gangster Mulan vs John Wick, and a three-way battle between the live-action Spider-Men!

We also discuss Spider-Man. Vi-Dan loves Spider-Man... a lot. 

Join us as we chat with Joseph Le & Vi-Dan Tran: indie action darlings & MCU action masters.

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram and Facebook at @actionfilmmakingpodcast

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to Shang Chi Week! We’ll be releasing Shang Chi action team interviews today, Wednesday, and Friday!

Introducing: Joseph Le & Vi-Dan Tran. Both were action designers on Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Vi-Dan is a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. His works include The Foreigner, Bleeding Steel, and Into the Badlands as well as his original fan films such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phoenix Program and Darth Maul: Apprentice. Joseph Le is also know for fan films such as Mulan: An East Side Story and Afro Samurai Champloo as well as many action comedy videos with Martial Club.

In this episode, we talk about getting involved with Shang Chi, working with Brad Allan, and putting your emotions aside in order to rapidly iterate.

Then, we take deep dives into some of our guests’ biggest fan films. Mulan: An East Side Story is an action-musical mashup combining Mulan and West Side Story. Joseph tells us about the short’s music and cocaine kicks. Vi-Dan tells us all about his 40+ minute sci fi action fan film Cyberpunk 2077: Phoenix Program. He tells us about the Keanu Reeves inspiration and how he built out a whole world starting from a single video game trailer.

Stay tuned for Part II releasing this Wednesday, in which we break down the action of Shang Chi, discuss Spider-Man a whole bunch, and bring our guests through the Five Second Fight Club!

Join us as we chat with Joseph Le & Vi-Dan Tran: Shang Chi brothers in arms.

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram and Facebook at @actionfilmmakingpodcast

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to AFD News for 9/3/21!

We discuss the newest Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, the recent Matrix 4 Resurrection first look from CinemaCon, and the latest photos released from Netflix's live action Cowboy Bebop.

We also breakdown the bus fight scene from Marvel's latest film Shang Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings. You can see the scene here.

Other news includes the tragic events in Afghanistan and what it means for Afghan women and filmmakers, the passing of Ed Asner and Sonny Chiba. 

Also covered is Cobra Kai's season 5 renewal, Francis Coppola's sci fi epic 'Megalopolis,' 'The Expendables' returns with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Megan Fox, and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Mission Impossible 7 has Tom Cruise doing the "biggest [stunts] in movie history," Netflix announces MANY fall movie releases such as the assassin action film "Kate" and Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" prequel called "Army of Thieves."

-

Edited by Luigi Hernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking.

Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice.

Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram and Facebook at @actionfilmmakingpodcast

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Introducing: CC Ice. CC is a professional stunt woman known for doubling Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is the owner of Space Cat Stunts Inc, Apex Entertainment Studios, and The Chamber Gym. In this episode, we discuss CC’s love for Aliens’ Ripley and T2’s (Terminator 2) Sarah Connor, how being a dancer helps stunt performers work with fight partners to sell a story, married life as a stunt industry couple, the influence of CC’s incredibly daring wing-walker pilot family, and how being a magician’s assistant helped her master movie magic. CC also helps us breakdown the final battle of WandaVision, Infinity War’s fight between Scarlet Witch and Proxima Midnight, and her latest work in the Black Widow solo film. She talks about the difference between making a Marvel series and a Marvel feature film, mastering and evolving the movements of Scarlet Witch, blending magic conjuring with hand-to-hand combat, and playing a dangerous game of memory while running along unstable Budapest roofs. Join us as we chat with CC Ice: from magician’s assistant to movie magic to chaos magic superhero. - Edited by Luigi Hernandez If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking. Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram and Facebook at @actionfilmmakingpodcast Until next time, thanks for listening.

Welcome to AFD News! Today's news includes the unfortunate passing of action film legend Brad Allan, Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network finds a new home, casting announcements for Witcher prequel series, live action My Hero Academia film finds its director, Alan Taylor talks losing interest in film after fan backlash over Thor 2 and Terminator Genisys, casting updates for Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train, Ryan Reynolds and potentially Extraction’s Chris Hemsworth make their way to Fortnite, Paper Tigers hits #7 on Netflix, Anthony Mackie closes a deal for the next Captain America film, and Hasbro releases an Aliens anniversary Pulse Blaster Nerf gun! In tribute to Brad Allan, we also do an in-depth discussion of the rematch duel from 1999’s Jackie Chan action romcom “Gorgeous.” The two martial arts legends go toe-to-toe in an almost 10-minute long sequence, showing great sportsmanship and even greater kicks. Of course, the whole endeavor is steeped in the classic physical comedy signature to Jackie Chan’s filmography. - Edited by Luigi Hernandez If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking. Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram at @actionfilmmakingpodcast Until next time, thanks for listening.

Introducing: Tim R McAdams. Tim is a business consultant, enrichment speaker, and professional action stuntman. When he isn’t behind a podium, he’s on-set for productions such as Black Panther, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, and Fast & Furious 7 as well as TV shows such as The Wire, The Walking Dead, Oz, Atlanta, and Black Lightning. In this episode, we go in depth on his experience losing 25 lbs in 3 weeks, getting beat up on The Wire, being a part of entertainment history with HBO’s Oz, and going pantsless in front of a busy street for Donald Glover’s Atlanta series. Then, Tim describes his experience working on Marvel film sets, specifically the incredible VFX magic and the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. Check out part 1 if you haven't already! There, we discuss how Tim grew from theater kid to sales associate to speaker - consultant - stuntman. Tim also spoke about his work as a director for the Stunt POC Directory, detailed how Atlanta became the “Hollywood of the South,” and explained exactly what a “ratchet” is. Join us as we chat with Tim R McAdams: Left-handed Leo, Wakandan warrior, and action filmmaker. Edited by Luigi Hernandez If you enjoyed this episode, you can support us at Patreon.com/actionfilmmaking. Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. Find us at actiondecoded.com or on Instagram at @actionfilmmakingpodcast Until next time, thanks for listening.