It's a tough question to answer sincerely.
Being driven by a sense of purpose can be so strong that the original motivation gets a little blurry. Especially during this state of manic creativity I'm in right now. So many new ideas and solutions to sew, make, and write every day. Pushing forward with all of my willpower to make this production viable.
It's been getting a little overwhelming so I'm trying to anchor myself back by thinking over what this film is really about. It's a way to stay flexible amidst the onslaught of challenges too, being able to compromise and adapt the creative vision to get the damn thing made.
Anyway, my original mission statement was along the lines of:
"This film will explore opposing perspectives in conflict. And how quick people are to label the other as a monster, than to see their actions as a product of their circumstances."
Perspective has always been something that I find fascinating, trying to understand as many different unique perspectives and opinions as possible and understanding how they are formed.
Delivering this exploration through fight choreography also feels right for where I'm at in my journey in stunts. Having watched fight sequences nearly daily from stunties around the world on Instagram across the years of my career; I still feel like there's something left untouched by many of those talented displays of action.
Most of the action genre has clearly defined protagonists and antagonists. The good guy and the bad guy. The hero and the villian, or the anti-hero, or the hitman, and the people who killed his dog . . . you get it.
So most fight scenes are predictable or just going through the motions to get to the result. They become increasingly spectacular visually but not so much emotionally. The most memeorable action scenes for me are the ones that demonstrate the cost of violence.
That's what I want to see, something that lets the audience pick a side. Set two characters on a collision course where the violence is more than a set piece, it's unavoidable.
If neither one is the villain or has the moral high ground isn't that so much more suspenseful?! Let these two people collide and see a conflict charged with emotional turmoil underneath the choreography.
All of my real life conflicts and falling outs have never been so black and white so why is one of the most emotionally resonant mediums full of hollow plots?
This is why I need to make this film. And why I continue against all the limitations of my disability to pursue a film career, I feel like I have something worth contributing to the art form.
I have something to say.