\n \u201cNinja Assassin\u201d is directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars Korean pop star Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Rick Yune and legendary martial arts performer Sho Kosugi. Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill are the film\u2019s producers, with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Steve Richards serving as executive producers. <\/p>\n
Ninjas are the special forces of the martial arts world, and director James McTeigue and producers Joel Silver, Andy and Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill wanted to bring them to the screen as never before. <\/p>\n
\u201cNinjas were the shadowy characters who always came out of the darkness,\u201d says director McTeigue, who also recalls the influences of his upbringing in Australia. \u201cWe got anime from Japan and a lot of the TV serials as well, like \u2018The Samurai\u2019 and \u2018The Phantom Agents\u2019\u2014shows that had elements of the folkloric ninja in them, where the characters were raised in an orphanage or the like. For this film, we talked about those classic elements, but also adding an edgy film noir aspect to it.\u201d <\/p>\n
On hiring rain, McTeigue says, \u201cEven though it was a relatively small role, Rain\u2019s physical ability was so good that we thought if we could do an all-out ninja movie, he would be the one to do it with.\u201d <\/p>\n
James McTeigue (Director) has more than 20 years of experience in the film industry. He is next set to direct \u201cThe Raven,\u201d a fictionalized account of Edgar Allen Poe’s final days. <\/p>\n
As a boy in Sydney, McTeigue was exposed to a variety of world cinema and television and was heavily influenced by ninja television shows like “Shintaro” and “Phantom Agents,” and by films such as \u201cShinobi No Mono.\u201d He graduated from Sydney University, where he studied art and film. <\/p>\n
McTeigue made his directorial debut helming the iconoclastic screen adaptation of the graphic novel \u201cV for Vendetta.\u201d McTeigue came to the project through his relationship with the Wachowski brothers, for whom he served as the assistant director on all three \u201cMatrix\u201d films. His other previous film credits as an assistant director include \u201cSpeed Racer\u201d and \u201cDark City.\u201d <\/p>\n
I enjoyed sitting down with James because like all directors I had interviewed, he showed passion and enthusiasm in his creation without any hint of arrogance. These directors are consumed by their art and process of storytelling, and it\u2019s exciting to speak with such talent and experience. <\/i><\/p>\n
\nYou know that\u2019s funny. Someone asked me if there was something I was trying to get out. No, I guess I did it for the love of the genre really.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Director James McTeigue<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nASIANCE: What do you think the difference was or difficulty in doing Ninja Assassin compared to your other films?<\/h3>\n
McTeigue:<\/b> When you do a film that is largely wall to wall action, there\u2019s a lot of choreography that has to be worked out. There were a lot of varied settings. It takes a long time to work out the mechanics of that. So you have to be very, very organized. <\/p>\n
It just has a different template and a different aesthetic to it. So it\u2019s just kind of working out the correct balance. <\/p>\n
ASIANCE: How long was the filming? It looked like it was a lot of work.<\/h3>\n
McTeigue:<\/b>We were backing into the writer\u2019s strike when we first started shooting the film. It\u2019s hard to remember back then. (laughs) I finished the film in like 6 or 7 months of post production which is kind of normal. Then we were waiting for the right time to release it basically. We thought Thanksgiving weekend would be a good weekend to do it, so we held out for a little bit. <\/p>\n
ASIANCE: In the beginning, when you sliced the guy\u2019s head in half and it rolled down the floor? Who came up with that idea?<\/h3>\n
McTeigue:<\/b> (laughs) Well it\u2019s basically inherent in the script but it depends on how you interpret it and your visual style. The way I usually work is, I\u2019ll get with the story book artist, Steve. We like to do key frames as I like to call it. This is the aesthetic of that scene. As we work of the aesthetic of the film, then we start doing story boards. If you saw the story boards for the movie, you would see they are very, very close. <\/p>\n