Bronze VIP Archive for July 19, 1999
Warning! Possible Spoilers!!
- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 12:10:56 1999 169.132.153.153)
- Pixie - Candy glass breaks easily, but it is still sharp and you always get cut going through it. So whenever you see a stunt person going through glss on the show you know there was a bit of blood afterwards. We accept that as part of the job (cuase we're so damn macho:)
Stoff - The actors have a lot of fun together on the show. I love working with those guys too.
Anyhow... gotta take off and do some work. Tomorrow is the beginning of the new season for me. So pray for me will ya?
- Jeff
gone in a kung fu vampish way*
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 12:05:46 1999 169.132.153.153)
- Angle Man - I do recall that Marti (I think it was) wrote a scene with nunchuks being used. I told her about the law that says that any shot of nunchuks must be cut from the British version. So we never did it. Who knows what weapons may or may not be allowed in this season. We'll see.
Ozlady: I don't think I have met her yet.
Sachiel: I know what you mean. It's hard sometimes because writers tend to just write things they've seen in other movies. They usually can't imagine the same things that a fight coordinator can because that's not something they really do themselves. They tend to write things that just don't work well when some tries to do it for real. I try to put something fresh in whenever I am allowed to. I'm lucky that Joss doesn't make me stick too closely to what some of his writers have put down on the early drafts of the scripts. They sometimes get carried away with describing things. He usually just takes that out because he knows.
I can tell you one thing though that Joss really seems to like... smashing glass. Review the series and see. I like it too. I think we've broken more windows than the Titanic.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 11:52:55 1999 169.132.153.153)
- bronzek8 - I get inspired by Hong Kong movies and the script itself. I try to find out from Joss just what he wants from each fight beforehand if possible.
Once a stunt person has the choreography in their heads from rehearsing a bit they are able to go for it full speed without thinking at all. That's the mark of a real pro. If you have to stop and think, "Now. What comes next?" then it will be too late.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 11:47:15 1999 169.132.153.153)
- buggo - You can tell the guy that his info is all wrong. We are set to do 100 episodes (5 seasons) and there is no sign of any let up. The show is doing very very well and has become a huge hit. He must be confused regarding the two episodes that were postponed due to the tragedy. That's all.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 11:42:45 1999 169.132.153.153)
- Sophia did a great job, but you never saw it on the show. The director shot Sarah doing it even though it is hard for her to make that kind of thing look strong. She was a trooper and did her best. That was the shot used.
Later on I was told to do a neck break with the Hellhounds and that time I got to have Buffy use some judo skills to get in position to do it. It made sense and I liked it.
Will there be Martial arts fights next season? Hell yeah! Hopefully mud wrestling and death checkers too! Tomorrow I'll be seeing Joss for the first meeting of the season and I'll badger him a bit with my ideas. He will either say, "Cool. Let's do it." or "No. That's not what I want. I want this..." or he will say "Sorry. There's just no time. Keep it simple." It will be one of those. What ever the answers are I'll just do my best under the circumstances and I hope you all understand this.
I think we've got one of the best shows on the air and I'm proud to working on it. I only pray that one day they let me do that all chase/fight/no words marathon battle episode I keep whining about:)
That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.
- Jeff
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 11:32:08 1999 169.132.153.153)
- Legal Lurker, Big Al, Ntm and others -Yep. I knew that aardvark would be back once I signed off. It seems that once I came on and defended myself and Joss a long time ago quite strongly and he has never forgotten it. So you'll see him carefully preparing anything negative that he can slip onto the board in the future. You'll be hearing carefully worded jabs about the fights and myself especially. So don't be surprised when I jump on the keyboard at anytime.
The PB was set up by Joss and the WB to allow them to publicize the show. I think it's great that we are all able to come online whenever we can and talk to fans of the show on our own official posting board. That's cool and answering questions about things goes along way towards clearing up anything anyone wonders about.
I'll answer again about the kung fu question for those who may have missed it before:
Many of the vamps on Buffy show absolutely NO sign of having Martial arts skills. When you see a vamp throw a punch or try to grab her that is simply a guy going after her.
Some vamps that have lived for a long time DO learn fighting skills. Spike and Angel are among these. When you see a vamp trying to kick like Buffy herself you'll recognize them. Also, if a Demon is walking around with a weapon strapped to his back you can pretty much guess that he should know something about using it. Most of the vamps running around are not that much of a problem for Buffy, though occasionally she gets surprised. So we can never be totally sure of what is going to happen to her during any episode.
Notice that in SURPRISE when Angel and Buffy fight vamps on the dock you'll see a vamp throw a jump spinning back kick at Angel. You'll see the other vamp get Buffy in a choke across a chain and kick over Buffy's head. These two knew Martial arts. The third vamp in that fight was the book keeper vamp. He tried to run away. Why? Because Joss specifically told me that this one couldn't fight at all. Those were the characters in that fight.
When Buffy lost her skills during the Council Test she was in the middle of pounding on a vamp who was simply strong. When she became dizzy he pounced and went right for the throat and almost killed her. He was just a strong tough guy.
Remember the vamp who came out of the ground and flipped over Xander's head and ran? We learned that he was a member of the gymnastics team and that is why he started out with that knowledge right off the bat.
In TED when you see Buffy pound the vamp with a trash can lid as Giles watches, you'll see that she was venting her anger towards Ted on a vamp who had no real defense. Much to Giles chagrin. There was a reason for that in the story.
When Buffy and Faith both fought with a Big Demon in another episode we saw both girls try the same thing: Both did a leaping kick right at him and both were knocked down because of that. Only in Buffy's fight she stayed cool and figured out a way to bend him over (by kicking him in the groin) and getting his weapon off his back to behead him. So we see the difference in their thinking. Faith was wilder and Buffy was smarter. Those are the characters.
I could go on and on with examples. Most fights have definite characters. You will see more vamps and others with real Martial arts skills and you will see some who get by on strength alone. There will be still others who are almost useless in a fight. This sort of mirrors real life. It would only make sense for vamps who have been around for a hundred years to develop some skills to fight back against the Slayer. And if you are a Master Vamp yourself you would want your guards to have some skills too. Who hires physically incapable bodyguards in real life? That sort of defeats the whole idea doesn't it?
The KBD episode was not one of my favorites either. It was another one in which we were told to have Buffy swing slower and missing due to her just getting out of a hospital bed but yet still able to rise to the occasion and fight the Monster (who, by the way, demonstrated no ideas of Martial arts skills himself). The KBD fight was trimmed in editing and so no one has ever seen the real fight we put together that day. I was told that Buffy had to break his neck the way she did and even though I thought it was cliche' I had to do it. Sophia did a grea
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 01:01:39 1999 169.132.153.71)
- BUFFY SHERIDAN!!!! oops... didn't mean to shout:)
I was that Rookie Cop at the beginning who gets scanned through the wall. I broke my fist on the concrete on that one. I was also the stunt coordinator of that movie.
Okay. Now. Enjoy those wild LOSER hours. (Lord knows what goes on here)
Good Night again and don't let the vamps bite.
- Jeff
*gone in a nocturnal sort of way*
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:49:54 1999 169.132.153.71)
- I too am going to sign off for the night. It was sure great being on here during the start of LOSERS. I haven't been around the PB for a while.
YOu guys have a good night. All I can say is that from what I can tell the new season looks full of promise and I for one am very excited about it.
Let's just keep our fingeers crossed and hope that there's no meddling from the powers above us. Remember that one of the reasons the show became a hit is because they left Joss alone to do it his way. Thus it didn't reek the way everyone predicted. It is not formula stuff. It's harder to define and really excellent tv.*
*again my humble opinion.
take care and g'night
Jeff
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:44:14 1999 169.132.153.71)
- Gyst - I'll have to wait and see what Joss comes up with regarding the werewolf thing. Jumping on THe Ragemonster was fun though:)
I did just finish teaching the BLADE stunt double a bunch of new wire gag stunts to do for the next BLADE movie. (Another one I'd love to help on but I can't make the time to be there with my buddies) They may start it up before too long I hear.
carl - pre-prod is when we get to plan out what we are going to do in the next episode. In TV we usually are in pre-production on one while we are still shooting another. We don't get any time off between shows.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:28:30 1999 169.132.153.71)
- Blueronin - ONe of my stunt guys got to go down to double Keanu on MATRIX and I met with Woo Ping before he left and talked about the project. I was dying to go down there, but I couldn't.
They want me to go over to MartiAL LAW and fight Sammo next week but I can't. I'll be busy shooting BUFFY. It's fun to get back out there and do those stunts, but I have to put BUFFY first.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:25:17 1999 169.132.153.71)
- carl - We start shooting on July 22, but we are already in pre-production right now.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:23:08 1999 169.132.153.71)
- G'night Sultress :)
*and thank you
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:21:54 1999 169.132.153.71)
- Alucard - Asked what? Did I miss it?
Hey, you can always ask me anything you want.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:16:15 1999 169.132.153.71)
carl - I was in many episodes, but only one where I got to talk. I forget the name of that one. I was a Bajoran who tried to help with a mutiny by attempting to kill Sisco.
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:08:09 1999 169.132.153.71)
- greengurl133 - Thank you. I actually got my first job offer when I was 22, but it took a while for me to start making a living at it.
Buffyis a lot of fun for me. I love the scripts and the characters. Plus I get to do fights with my girlfriend everyday and that's great. But the bottom line is the satisfaction I get when I read those scripts. I know I'm on a quality show. And getting to do quality work is all I want (although I'm never totally satisfied in that area - of course)
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- Jeff Pruitt says:
(Mon Jul 19 00:02:14 1999 169.132.153.71)
- AjO - I have done that on some movies as well as on Deep Space Nine. Sophia first saw me when she was watching movies in Hong Kong and she saw me playing the heros sidekick.
Rayonly appeared once in a film before Star Wars and that was MK. He is really a nice guy and super talented though. I just wish he had a cut of that merchandising. (Now you know why there is so much more Darth Maul stuff out there)
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- Jeff Pruitt says: