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The Saga
of Guns
of El Chupacabra
and the Art of
Zen Filmmaking
By Scott
Shaw
This article
originally appeared in Draculina Magazine issue #32,
1997
DATELINE FEBRUARY
1997: Donald
G. Jackson
and I were
driving down the road in Baja, California, Mexico in Don's
1962 Plymouth Belvedere. We were scouting locations for a
new film. The sun had just set and the sky was a darkening
azure blue. Up ahead of us, about one-hundred yards, was a
white sedan. Don and I were laughing when all of sudden we
saw something large dart across the road in front of the
white car. The car swerved to avoid it. The car hit the side
of the road and flipped over. By the time we reached it, the
occupants were already climbing out through the windows. We
helped them get to their feet as they told us that they had
swerved to avoid hitting a Chupacabra. We instantly knew the
subject for our next film.
The Chupacabra is
the Latin equivalent to the Big Foot of North America, Yeti
(Abdominal Snowman) of the Himalayas, or the Lockness
Monster of Scotland -- in other words, a mythical creature
which wreaks havoc and basically kicks butt.
The word Chupacabra
literally translated from Spanish means, Goat Sucker. The
legend of the Chupacabra first arose in Puerto Rico and then
spread throughout the Latin American countries about this
creature which would suck the blood from farm animals,
leaving their rotting corpses in the fields. Hell, even the
X-Files did an episode on the subject.
PRE-PRODUCTION:
Giving into the
fact that the previous summer Don and I had gone through
Hell attempting to cast suitable talent for a few feature
films we made, we decided not to go through all of that
again and, instead, bring only film-family members into this
project, people we could trust and rely on. From this, we
would be allowed to keep all of our energy locked into this
project and not let it get dispersed by all of the problems
associated with the wanta-be actors and actresses of
Hollywood who just do not have a clue: "I can't be in a
movie today because I have an acting class to go to." "I
have to leave the set because I have an audition." "You'll
have to talk to my agent." "I can't be in a movie that
doesn't have a script." Etc. and so on...
Our initial central
cast was composed of CONRAD BROOKS (the last remaining Ed
Wood confident), ROBERT Z'DAR (Tango & Cash, Maniac
Cop), JULIE LUNAR STROM (a girl which our friend ERIC
BRUMMER introduced us to when we were making Ghost Taxi),
JOE HAGGERTY (Ghost Taxi), JEFF HUTCHINSON (Roller Blade,
Little Lost Sea Serpent), SAM MANN (Roller Blade Warriors),
and myself.
The concept for the
film was to make a movie within a movie, within a movie.
There is a documentary film crew out interviewing people and
collecting news footage on the remains left by the
Chupacabra, government agents hunting it down, and then
there is my character, JACK B. QUICK - SPACE SHERIFF, who is
fighting the various foes who released the Chupacabra. As
the plot unfolds, it is detailed that the origin of the
Chupacabra is unclear, it could be a mutated earthly
creature, a genetic experiment gone bad, or even an alien.
What it actually turns out to be will be revealed at the
first theatrical screening.
DAY
ONE: The
first shot of the movie was staged at Vasquez Rocks. We had
Conrad looking for his lost dog, Whitney. Immediately, he
was killed by the Chupacabra.
The great thing
about allowing the spontaneous Zen energy to guide us to
initially shooting at Vasquez Rocks that day was that there
was a major film crew at the same location. Thus, the Park
Rangers did not kick us out for not possessing a filming
permit -- assuming we were a second unit team for the big
film crew. In addition, seeing our opportunity, we took some
production stills by the lighting trucks and lines of anvil
cases that we could use for publicity shots if necessary.
Conrad, on the other hand, chose to go up and grab a bite to
eat at the production's craft service table.
The Tenets of
Zen Filmmaking
LESSON ONE OF ZEN
FILMMAKING:
Make all
unpredicted situations work to your advantage.
LOCATION
TWO: We
go to the Mizrahi Movie Ranch in close proximity to Vasquez
Rocks. BOB MIZRAHI lives in this great old house up in a
canyon about an hour outside of L.A., which used to be
inhabited by HOYT AXTON. On the property, for some
unexplained reason, there are numerous old deserted
bulldozers, trailers, cars, and various other metallic
objects. A great set for filming.
LESSON TWO OF ZEN
FILMMAKING:
Don't waste
time, money, and energy attempting to create your sets when
you don't have to. Instead, travel to them and allow their
natural aesthetics to become a part of your film.
On the ranch we
filmed Z-MAN LORD INVADER'S (Z'Dar) capture of the news
reporter (Strom) who had been documenting the Chupacabra
attacks and JACK B. QUICK - SPACE SHERIFF'S (Shaw)
encountering with Z-MAN, ultimately leading to the chase by
the TEXON FIVE, who my character eventually disposed of.
From the inception
of this film it was Don and my concept to make it a shoot
'em up movie, reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH.
The style of the feature would mirror the intent, though not
the content, of the 1971 film ZACHARIAH. That film was
billed as the first Electric Western, our would be the first
Zen Space Western. Thus, there was going to be a lot of gun
play.
One of the
interesting paradoxes of the California film industry is,
anyone who is twenty-one years old can go in and by bullets
with no questions asked, but you can only buy blanks if you
have a permit. As our production team possessed no permits,
we bought real bullets. Thus, all the semi automatic
pistols, AR 15's, AK 47's, and shotguns which are used in
this film are loaded with live rounds. Hey, blanks mess up
the barrels of guns anyway...
Our filming
continued forward and followed the path of spontaneous
creation, "Scripts are for sissies," up until the American
Film Market.
THE 1997 AMERICAN
FILM MARKET: For
AFM we created a poster in direct reference to EL MARIACHI
and edited a six minute work-print trailer for the film,
then titled, EL CHUPACABRA.
At AFM the two films
Don and I had created the previous year, TOAD WARRIOR (Hell
Comes to Frogtown III) and SHOTGUN BLVD. sold very well;
virtually all of Asia, South America, and much of Europe
purchased these films. This international interest was in
direct contrast to the reviews many U.S. magazines gave
these movies, not understanding that they were created as a
visually moving comic book and should not be compared to
much higher budget films.
From the moment the
market open, EL CHUPACABRA was such a hit that virtually
every territory desired to buy it solely on the trailer
alone. This made Don and I realize that we really had
something and we should pull it back until we had completed
the film and could take it theatrical, at least on a limited
level.
SHOOTING
CONTINUES: At
the end of AFM we decided to have DAVID HEAVENER (Twisted
Justice, Fugitive X) do a cameo in the film. He had done a
cameo in Don's KILL KILL OVERKILL and was a long time
friend. Though a lot of bad things have been spoken and
printed about HEAVENER in the film industry, his previous
over the top type of performances were perfect for this
film. We plugged him in as a cohort of JACK B. QUICK. In
addition, we met and added a needed Latino actor named,
HERVEY ESTRADA. He played the masked Mexican wrestler, THE
SANTIAGO KID.
Over the next few
months we shot predominately on weekends to accommodate
people's schedules, creating the storyline as we proceeded.
We used the O.J. civil trail, with all of its news crews as
a backdrop, we had fight scenes with actors in full monster
make-up at the Los Angles Union Station. We had them run up
and down the long futuristic halls and escalators of the
Metro Link where TOTAL RECALL was filmed, we even did a
scene in the highly secured lobby and elevators of the
Bonaventure Hotel where TRUE LIES filmed. When, and if, the
police ever showed up, we would simply tell them that we
were filming a birthday video. We even had our reporter
(Strom) abducted at the Cinco De Mayo festivities at Olivera
Street.
LESSON THREE OF
ZEN FILMMAKING:
Just do it. 99%
of the time you can get away with it.
If the police stop
you, never tell them you are making a movie, because no
matter how small your crew is, they will assume you have
money and can fine you.
SEPTEMBER
1997: GUNS
OF EL CHUPACABRA was the new title. We edited the film. It
was all we had expected with the continual gun play, martial
art fights, and comic book storyline. There was, however,
something missing.
When we had began
the film we were going for the PG crowd, no nudity and only
stylized violence. When the first edit was complete, we
realized that this film had become much more than we had
realized it would be. It was so artistic, in fact, that we
knew we had to take it to the next and final level. We
decided to shoot some more footage.
LESSON FOUR OF
ZEN FILMMAKING:
Never let your
storyline dominate your artistic vision. Too many would be
filmmakers attempt to write what they believe is a "Good"
script and then try to film it. Without an unlimited budget
it is virtually impossible to get what is on the page upon
the stage.
FILMING
RECOMMENCES: Having
again attempted to cast a few actresses through Dramalogue
and again running up against the same resistance of having
to justify to these people, WHO HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING,
except maybe be an extra, that we were, in fact, experienced
filmmakers and our style of Zen Film making did work, we
said "Fuck it." We went to two porno agencies and got a few
of girls.
Using porno girls is
one of the best things you can do when your production needs
nudity. These girls are extremely reliable. They don't
forget to make the call time or decide that any day now
Spielburg will be calling them so why should they do a
B-movie. They are professional and, most of all, they are
more than willing to take their clothing off. Mostly, they
are really happy that they do not have to have sex and that
they can actually send this movie home to their parents in
Ohio and show them that they really are
actresses.
We shot a few days
with the girls from these agencies. But, something was still
missing.
JULIE
STRAIN: Out
of the blue, JULIE STRAIN called Don. She had done a few
movies with him earlier in her career, QUEEN OF LOST ISLAND
and BIG SISTER 2000 and was just phoning to say, "Hi." We
asked, "Would you like to be in THE GUNS OF EL CHUPACABRA?"
"Sure, can my husband KEVIN (EASTMAN) be in it too?." "Of
course."
Friends are good,
especially if their husband is the creator of THE TEENAGE
MUTANT NINJA TURTLES.
Julie and Kevin
showed up at our castle/warehouse stage. With them came the
nationally syndicated television show STRANGE UNIVERSE, who
not only interviewed them, but Don and myself, as well.
Great publicity for the film.
Julie played the
role of QUEEN B and Kevin was KING ALLMEDIA. Julie and Kevin
are really good people. Kevin is the nicest multi
millionaire you will ever want to meet. He sat in his full
metal armor costume, under the lights, the whole time we did
his scenes where Julie and him send out my character on the
mission to save the Earth from the Chupacabra and then
knight me the REVERENT DOCTOR SAINT FRANCIS BLADE upon my
return. He even did his whole STRANGE UNIVERSE interview in
his costume. There is only the best things to say about both
of them.
RAP:
Shooting
completed. Well, that's a rap. The film is now in its final
stages of Post. Its initially screened will be at the DGA
(Director's Guild of America) here in L.A. and then onto the
world market at the 1998 AFM (American Film
Market).
LESSON FIVE IN
ZEN FILMMAKING:
Zen Filmmaking
is a spontaneous process. Just as the Zen understanding of
enlightenment teaching that though you may meditate for
years it is not until the moment when you step beyond your
thinking mind and realize that you are already enlightened
that you achieve Satori. Thus, if you acutely plan your
productions, with screenplays, storyboards, and locations,
there is no room for the instantaneousness of film making
enlightenment to occur and you will always be lost between
the way your mind desired the scene to be and the way it
actually turns out.
LESSON SIX IN ZEN
FILMMAKING:
In Zen
Filmmaking nothing is desired and, thus, all outcomes are
perfect.
The Essence of
Zen Filmmaking
Zen Filmmaking
teaches the concept of the Anti-Story. The stories have all
been told. As such, attempting to retell them is a waste of
everyone's time. This is especially the case of low budget,
independent film making. Why try to retell a story and
compete with a production which had a million times your
budget? Create your own instantaneous art and it will be
what it is. Fuck the story! Who cares?
If you believe that
you are going to be the next Scorsese and what ever project
you are working on is going to launch you to that level, you
will be continually be disappointed. As the Buddha said,
"The cause of suffering is desire." Just allow your film to
be what it is, pure and artistic in its own
right.
Art is art and that
is how it should be viewed. If you imitate, you are
compared. If you create, some people may not like it, but
they will have an emotion about it and this is the essence
of art.
In Zen Filmmaking,
embracing the spontaneous storyline does not mean that you
let your actors improvise their dialogue. If you do this
they will talk about so many things that have nothing to do
with anything, that any concept you have for the film will
be lost in meaningless dribbling dialogue.
The problem with
most actors is that they believe acting is solely related to
talking. It is not! To this end, you need to control the
patterns of dialogue, if you choose to use any at all. Thus,
Zen Filmmaking teaches that you create and feed actors their
lines just prior to shooting the scene.
In Zen Filmmaking
one action or situation will mystically lead you onto the
next and the next. Get your elements in place at the
location: which cast members are there, what props you have,
and the present energy will direct you into what type of
scene you will shoot. Let spontaneous creativity flow.
Zen Filmmaking
allows you to be you. Your vision, your understanding, your
creation. This is where art is born, and enlightenment given
birth to.
Post Note: Guns of
El Chupacabra was completed in late 1997. Its first
theatrical screening took place at the Directors Guild of
America in January 1998. It was then screened at Sony
Studios in that same month. The film was exhibited at the
1998 American Film Market and found wide success,
particularly in the South American and Asian Markets. In
1998 Don Jackson and myself created
Guns
of El Chupacabra II.
Initially, this
film was solely released to the South American
market.
(C) Copyright
1997 - All Rights Reserved
No part of this may
be used without the expressed permission of Scott Shaw or
his representatives.
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