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LYRIAW> Thanks for being with us here tonight Braun
FBRAUNMCASH> Thanks...glad to be here with everybody.
LOISGRUBB> Braun, the fight between Adrian Paul and Donnie Yen was
spectacular! Some think the action was speeded up, was it?
FBRAUNMCASH> It looks to me that the action was cranked a bit have no
idea why this would have been necessary since Donny is extremely fast all
by his lonesome, but, yes, it did look speeded up a bit.
DUNKNLUVR> Hi! Mr. McAsh. I liked your story in Evening at Joe’s. Now
that Highlander - Endgame is in the theater what's your next project
FBRAUNMCASH> Right at the moment, I'm finishing the editing on my first
instructional video tape, BEGINNING SWORD WORK FOR STAGE AND FILM which
will be available starting at the Mini-Con at Vancouver this weekend.
After that, I'm developing a full length novel based on the historical
Dracula as a non-Highlander extension of my novella. Hopefully, I'll also
be doing some fight direction and acting as well.
CENNEN> Hello Mr. McAsh. I don't have a question just came to listen.
FBRAUNMCASH> Thanks...hope you’re amused by my appalling spelling.
CONREPJAN> LOL...we don't take off for spelling, Braun. <g>
SBO> Just wanted to say hello and that we really enjoyed visiting with
you at Legacy.
UNDERDOG_MN> Hi Braun. First I want to say that your fight choreography
is FANTASTIC. My question is...of all the fights you've created, which one
is your favorite?
FBRAUNMCASH> I guess the standard answer for that would be the one I
haven't choreographed yet, but all in all, I enjoyed the fights in DUENDE
as far as the Highlander series was concerned I have the greatest
expertise in the use of the rapier and its ancillary weapons and the
challenge of working within the construct of the Magic Circle for all the
fights in the episode was very challenging.
LADYKANGA> Hi Mr. McAsh from the Olympic city of Sydney. Have you ever
been down under & besides working with Adrian Paul, what other actors
would, in your opinion be up there in talent & skill with the sword? I
hope we see you at the HLDU con next year!
FBRAUNMCASH> Naturally, Tony DeLongis comes immediately to mind.
Valentine Pelka and David Robb were both quite skillful. There are a few
people I haven't had the opportunity to work with yet who have done very
good fights as a performer I would like to work with Mel Gibson some time,
also with Wesley Snipes. I also had a very good time working with
Christophe Lambert, although our rehearsal time was a bit minimal.
BITHOS> Braun, Bertha here. Which of the fight sequences in the movie
was the most difficult to stage?
FBRAUNMCASH> Each fight in the movie presented unique problems, but the
one that took the longest overall was the final fight because of the fact
that it was originally choreographed for an entirely different location
than the one we ended up filming in. We were going to shoot that fight in
Romania and ended up shooting it in Kent, England. Both were industrial
facilities, of a sort (the one in Romania was the unfinished section of a
gigantic building, Casa Radio,) but they were so radically different that
very little we had staged and rehearsed could be transferred to the
England end of the shoot. Also, I had to choreograph the Ravenna
scene seven times because of script and location changes, then dwindling
rehearsal time.
HILANDVEIL> On the cruise in November, Bill Panzer said you would not
be on screen in Endgame. Why did that change? We are glad it did!
FBRAUNMCASH> I had no idea that I might not. Perhaps they were thinking
of cutting the scene, although I don't understand how they could have done
that considering that's when Duncan meets Faith . Beats me...I didn't
think I was that bad an actor...
LYRIAW> LOL
DUNCANSLADY> I loved spotting you in Endgame, it was fun. Could you
please tell us about working on that movie and how you feel about the
action that ended up on the screen?
FBRAUNMCASH> Actually, the only reason I'm one of the Highwaymen is
that I was trying to get a bit more experience into the scene to make
filming go faster and safer. In the original version I even had a
close-up. As to the rest of the fights, it's axiomatic that everything you
shoot isn't going to end up in the final cut. You try to choreograph only
as much as is necessary to tell the story and work within the boundaries
of available time, but very little survives intact. There was a lot that
never made the final cut fight-wise, but what we do have, I believe, is
very high quality, performance-wise.
LYRIAW> Speaking of Endgame Braun, you have that wonderful move that
you used twice in the movie that eventually costs Connor his head. Where
did you develop that move from?
FBRAUNMCASH> First off, there is no such thing as an unstoppable move,
as the script suggests. At worst, the person throwing it can stop it by
simply letting go the weapon, so we had to develop something that was
based on manipulation of your opponent's body including his sword-hand.
Adrian and Vernon and I worked on that move for one hell of a long time to
satisfy all its requirements - it's sort of a spring-and-trigger movement
that throws your opponent into the blade as much as the blade to the
opponent. It would have been next to impossible to have developed it alone
- you need another body to work with so as to feel the tensions and get
the manipulation of the second body. I believe together we got something
half-way plausible. It cost us a bit of sleep, I can tell ya.
TANSYHL> Hi Braun! A question I had after watching the very enjoyable
sword demos at Legacy- why would anyone chose to use 1 instead of 2
swords? And how is Peter Wingfield as a swordsman?
FBRAUNMCASH> It takes a lot of practice and experience to manipulate
two swords simultaneously as, unlike rapier and dagger, two weapons of
equal length have a tendency to just tangle each other up more often than
not. The hardest form of rapier is CASE - the use of two swords at the
same time - you have to split your body in two down the middle and use
only one weapon per side, or work in opposition high-low on a St. Andrew's
Cross sort of action so the weapons never oppose each other in the high or
low quadrants. Peter Wingfield is a very good swordsman and a highly adept
physical actor and I enjoy working with him immensely.
PJDOTD>How about a little history lesson of how you became a master
swordsman and celebrity.
FBRAUNMCASH> First off, I don't consider myself a master swordsman. All
my training and study only convince me of all the things yet to discover,
or perfect. I've been at it now for 24 years and in some venues, I'm just
getting my scratchings below the surface. As for celebrity status, if
indeed I can make some claim to modest fame, I can only thank the fans and
viewing public because without them, I'd still be a total unknown. I
started out as a competitive fencer while in drama school. At the same
time I was studying theatrical combat and taking several different martial
arts. After graduating, in between work, I spent a great deal of time in
England and Europe studying from masters and doing museum research. It
never ends.
LIISAKING> Hi Braun! I'm still in shock that the self-proclaimed
Luddite is the featured guest at a chat -- but *delighted*! Can you tell
folks a little about what you'll be doing this weekend? I understand
Anthony DeLongis is doing a sword class. Are you doing something along
those lines too? And can you tell us what you're working on now?
FBRAUNMCASH> This weekend, I won't be teaching, but Anthony DeLongis
and I will be doing some kind of demo the content of which we have yet to
determine...we like working without a net...har... Apart from that, I'm
working on a treatment for a novel based on the real Dracula (not an
Highlander piece like in An Evening At Joe's) and I've just today finished
editing the first of a possible 8 instructional videos on swordsmanship.
This first video will be available at the Mini-Con and there's a website
where you can find out all about them and order them directly.
FBRAUNMCASH> Hope my accent doesn't bother anyone...
LYRIAW> It's hardly discernible Braun, really...:)
FBRAUNMCASH> Maybe I can pass off the typos as unique Canadian
spellings...
LYRIAW> LOL!
FBRAUNMCASH> Hey...I been sitting in an editing studio for 10hours plus
since last Thurs. gimme a break
LYRIAW> You should be used to that Braun, so how horrendous were your
working hours on Endgame?
FBRAUNMCASH> Put it this way...I once did two twenty hour days back to
back. The average day was 12 to 15 hours, six days a week. Of course the
average film working day is 12 hours but it does tend to wear you down
over time. And everybody was working off the set constantly. You wonder
sometimes how Adrian and the rest do it -they seem to never sleep. But It
does tell on you eventually because in addition to the hours, there's a
lot of physical strain when you work with weapons. Adrian and the guys
shot the posse fight in Connor’s loft for 12 hours-plus a day for six
bloody days.
FBRAUNMCASH> OK...two samurai walk into a bar and...oh...OK.
LYRIAW> Ok quick question here for you Braun, what can you tell us
about the infamous Kell shredder during the dinner scene? Doug loves that
sword!
FBRAUNMCASH> The sword Kell uses is a variant of the eastern scimitar
with one big difference - it splits in two into a Case of scimitars. I was
hoping to get a sort of Kali image during the whole bloody mess.
Originally, I was going to have Kell use the twin swords for the final
fight with Duncan, but we decided against it as the element of surprise
would have already been relinquished from the dinner scene.
CONREPJAN> Braun, I was wondering....if called upon for future
projects, how would you feel about continuing your work with Highlander?
Can we hope to see you still on the team?
FBRAUNMCASH> I think that goes without saying...but just in case
anybody else on the "Team" is listening in, YES, of course I
would.
ANGELEYES53> I guess that would be me! *g* I do the public relations
for Highlander Fan Central! Thank you so much for coming and chatting with
us tonight! So are you going to take your family on vacation to Romania
next year?
LYRIAW> LOL
CONREPJAN> She's the evil one among us, Braun. Forgive her! LOL
FBRAUNMCASH> Yeah...when the Pope starts to attend Sabbats.
FBRAUNMCASH> Actually, I enjoyed seeing the country and was only
regretful that our time didn't allow more travel in to the surrounding
countryside and Transylvania. Had I known I was going to write a full
length novel about Dracula, I would have done much more research. However,
....nah, I don't think so.
HIGHLANDMG> Braun I lost my question. What is the fight scene you
are bringing? Can you tell us about it?
FBRAUNMCASH> Can you gimme that again?
HIGHLANDMG> ok the fight scene you are bring to the mini con can you
tell us about it
FBRAUNMCASH> I'm not really bringing a fight scene to the Mini-Con.
Anthony DeLongis and I will do an improvised sword demo. Normally, these
are totally unrehearsed and we basically just pick some swords and go out
and make fools of ourselves, which we enjoy immensely. So it'll depend on
what weapons I bring and what sort of warped mood Tony and I are in before
we hit the stage, but whatever it ends up being, it'll be fun for all
concerned.
LYRIAW> Thanks a lot for sharing with us this evening Braun. Remember
folks you can see F. Braun in person this weekend at Weekend at Joe’s. I
believe there is space still left available. Anything else you can share
with us about this weekend? Something about a fight script for auction?
FBRAUNMCASH> I think I got it covered. I just want to mention that the
video series can be accessed at www.swordandstage.com
. Apart from that, I’ve really enjoyed myself tonight, especially
finding out the depth of my functional illiteracy regarding spelling and
computer manipulation. All the best to everybody and thanks sincerely for
making Highlander the success that it has become. Without you, there would
never be only one.
F. Braun
PS...
I haven't chosen the script for the auction yet, but I'll try to pick an
interesting one with plenty of back-up material.
LYRIAW> It will be a great thing to have. Enjoy yourself this weekend.
CONREPJAN> thank you *so* much for being here with us tonight, Braun.
We really appreciate all that you do!
FBRAUNMCASH> Thank you.
LYRIAW> Group waves bye Braun!
ANGELEYES53> It was real fun!
FBRAUNMCASH> Braun flaps paw bye bye.
CONREPJAN> LOL
LYRIAW> LOL
ANGELEYES53> *snicker*
FBRAUNMCASH> H2O
CONREPJAN> let's give him a warm round of cyber-applause!
LYRIAW> Ok folks, thanks for coming, Melinda will keep the waiting room
open for anyone who wants to discuss the chat.
CONREPJAN> :::::::thunderous clapping:::::::
