I once saw an interview with director Michael Mann in which he explained that an actor can not just mimic the character, that they must become the character. The other day I posted about a favorite scene of mine, and for many others, from the film Collateral - directed by Mann.
Michael Mann is known for putting his actors through extensive training and gun handling in order to become the characters that they need to be. This is very present in many of his films, but most notable in Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice. The actors look authentic and real and their use of weapons and gun handling also feels real because of their extensive training before filming.
As an indie film and on a micro budget, as I assume that we will be, I do not plan on having the funds available to have an actor be able to train for months. But I would like to plan ahead for the budget to have an actor go through course on handling and safety in order to present an authentic character. Also, budget aside, many no-budget films are using After Effects or some sort of CGI to created bullet hits and mussel flashes, and all the while using rubber or toy guns.
I think that these type of effects work great for Youtube videos, but for a feature I hope that we have a chance to use squibs, fake blood, and blanks.
In the story The One You Feed, our main character John is not a hitman, a bank robber, nor a police office. He is an ordinary man who lived through an extraordinary and painful experience. In his quest for revenge he'll go to the gym, go through self defense training, and also hit the shooting range.
In the final cut of the film, I hope that we are able to create a character with skills that are as presentable as the ones we seen in Michael Mann films.
Here is a behind the scene video of Tom Cruise and Michael Mann discussing the extensive training the he did for the film.
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