Follow the Film-Maker
Chess Sword-Fight
The Further Adventures of Aramia, Woman Musketeer
Chess and Sword-Fighting?
After commissioning several scripts about female musketeers that ended up having no real conflict and were boring to me, I decided I could do better.
As I was walking along the beach here in Monterey, the idea of chessboxing popped into my head. I had seen a short video about it a few years before. It's a real, competitive sport with 3-minute rounds of boxing and chess, with world championships and ESPN coverage (at least once)!
I can't imagine trying to play chess with adrenaline rushing through your veins and a hurting body, calming down enough to do so and then suddenly having to jump up and dodge blows to the head. Yikes!
So I substituted fencing for boxing. You know the rest.
I'm Elizeth "Zee" Labega, film-maker and force of nature. Here are some photos, and then I'll tell you what stood in my way---or tried to stand in my way. Ha!
Dissecting the script further and drawing on the backs of old business cards---storyboarding.
Auditions in another park. Actors are holding imaginary swords.
After a good number of calls and email I determined that I could film in this park without a permit. It would be fine as long as "didn't impede public use." I also had to avoid filming cars, telephone poles and lines, and homeless people with their barking dogs.
The day the swords arrived was very exciting! Using real swords wasn't an option, and ornamental swords could break and become dangerous projectiles, so I rented fight-ready props.
Ignorance, schedules, and Mother Nature . . .
. . . worked together in an attempt to keep this project from happening. I almost had a nervous breakdown, but people helped me and we made it happen!
When I couldn't find anyone to help me (for free) with the stage combat, I learned the basics of sword-figthing and choreography on YouTube and other places online and passed the info onto my fabulous actors.
Conflicting schedules. Jury duty. Costumer misfortunes (lost phone, car break-down, death of a friend). Very loud crows. Ginormous mosquitoes. Rain. Pregnancy---Michelle had had contractions the day before, but she was replacing someone who wasn't available except on the rainy day . . .
