David Leitch Quotes
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Coming from an action background, I always approach the action sequences in any script as kind of placeholders.
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We don't want John Wick to retire again; we're glad he's back in the game. We want a sequel or a prequel. There's a lot of fertile ground to cover.
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Friends who are directors like Jim Mangold or the Wachowskis or Zack Snyder - who, whether they know or not - have really left a mark on who I am as a director.
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Sometimes, the action genre does get stale. Although I want to go back and see my favorite characters in their tentpoles - and will religiously do that - it's really fun to see breakout ideas and concepts. Let's make some new stories.
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The DNA of 'Deadpool' shouldn't change.
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Fight choreography has far more in common with dance choreography than it does with actual martial arts. You learn martial arts techniques, but those are just the movements for the choreography. You're working with a partner in choreography. You're working on timing.
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If you have John Goodman in your movie, you want to use him as much as possible.
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There's a lot of directing within the stunt coordinator's job.
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The thing that I like about action sequences is that if they're done well, you get to know more about the character in those few minutes than you do through 10 minutes of exposition.
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I think, as a choreographer and an action designer, you're constantly giving your characters problems to overcome. That's what makes it fun for choreography. But it also makes it fun for the audience to see them solve those puzzles and how they are as a human being.
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Film is a collaborative art form. I don't know why you wouldn't recognize the stunt performers.
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You always start a fight scene or an action scene with, 'What are we learning about this character at the moment, and how are we gonna arc him or her in the next three minutes,' and it's no different with 'Deadpool' or 'Atomic Blonde' or 'John Wick.'
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Even when you're being safe, eight hours of choreography makes you look like you've been through a war. It's hard. It's like playing hockey for eight hours.
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A lot of people don't give their audiences credit. You can leave it a little mysterious. They can think about it.
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Shooting a fight is like shooting any other scene. You have to tell a story using a very specific choreography.
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I think in the 'Deadpool' franchise, the writers are really good at distilling the good stuff and applying that to the material in this universe.
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If you're trying to get to the underworld of Berlin, it's not suits and ties; it's rock and roll.
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You can sometimes break rules in comics that you can't necessarily break in cinema. It's fun to find something cool in a comic and then try and find a way to break the same rule in another medium.
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I think the biggest thing you take from the stunt world is your understanding of the filmmaking process. For years, you've worked with every other department closely. You know hair, makeup, wardrobe, special effects, and you know what everybody's needs are and their expectations. You also know how to collaborate with them.
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I find fight scenes actually more interesting, in a way, than chase scenes because you're watching your character go through this problem-solving process and fight the antagonist mano-a-mano. It's more powerful, more emotional.
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All film, at the end of the day, has wish-fulfillment.
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Stunt coordinating is a good training ground for directing because you have exposure to all the departments in film.
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Take up martial arts and get proficient. Take a sword-fighting class. Dive in and immerse yourself in it as you would any other acting class, so when the opportunity comes, that skill can be really utilized, and it's not half-baked.
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Every movie you attack has its challenges, and I was excited about the challenges presented by 'Deadpool.' I was a huge fan of the original, and I think, as a director, you have to put the script first.