INTERVIEW: ‘Ink’ choreographer Brian Taylor

The low budget indie fantasy INK has won a lot of fans since a pirated version first drew notice after being downloaded almost a half million times in one week. The ravishingly beautiful tale of good and evil warriors from the land of dreams battling for the souls of a businessman and his daughter, lovingly crafted by the Colorado-based team of Jamin and Kiowa Winans, hits all the right notes as it pulls viewers deep into the protagonists’ world(s). The film works so seamlessly that it’s easy to overlook the accomplished stunt work and fight choreography that propel the story. The action in INK is the work of Denver parkour expert Brian Taylor, who had never choreographed a film before. From the results of this first attempt, Taylor has a very promising future in the film industry. He recently discussed his work via email with Kung Fu Cinema. (Thanks to Kiowa Winans for setting up the interview.)

KFC: How did you get interested in Parkour?

BT: I got into Parkour and Free Running through Break Dancing. I was a martial artist for a long time and through that I wound up studying ballet with my sensei’s wife. Once in the dancing world I found B-Boying (break dancing). I did that for almost 9 years. I was looking for a flip online and saw all these crazy ninja monkeys running up walls and was hooked instantly. I have been at it for over 5 years and it is my passion. I cannot see my life without it. It is very much a discipline like any form of martial art. Once a student, you are a student for life because there are so many varying degrees and styles to it. Every year my appreciation and understanding of movement evolves because of Parkour and it has completely changed my view of the world.

KFC: Have you studied any martial arts?

BT: I did about 8 years of Akayama Ryu style Jujitsu. I was Ukei a lot, so I got real proficient, real fast.  I spent about 4 years as a bouncer at a very popular night club, so I got a ton of real world experience.

I have seen martial arts in my head since I was a child. It just makes sense. I can watch anything you do a couple of times, mimic it, and then expand upon it. So picking up other styles (at least in appearance) is easy.

KFC: What did you have in mind for the overall look of the fight scenes that would mesh with the Winans’s vision?

BT: Jamin told me he wanted sheer brutality. He wanted real life and death type of fights, with no flashy spin kicks or impossible “five finger death palm” type of moves. I had spent quite some time being involved in those types of “knock em down, drag em out” fights, so I got together with some of my bouncer buddies and we and added that into the house and hospital scenes.

What made this whole thing so difficult was the fact that each character in the movie had a very unique fighting style, so we had to take that style and “take the polish off it” and present it in a really raw, bare knuckles way.

Jamin and I were like little kids on Christmas morning when we started talking about all this.

KFC: How was the stunt team recruited?

BT: We hired crack heads……………….LOL………just kidding. The main groups of guys were or are on the Parkour Team I am a part of. We have all trained together for a while now. Let me drop some names here because without these guys I couldn’t have made this work so well.

The team: Elias Worsenroft, Lorin Ball, Michael McMinn, Jazon Khazi.

I was also very lucky to have Steve Colligon on the action and choreography team. This guy has a “Case of Whoop Ass” in his back pocket at all times. I have seen him crack open like 3 cans at once in a real word fight and it was not pretty. The other guy got really jacked up.

KFC: How long did you train the actors for the fight scenes?

BT: I believe the process leading up to principal photography was about 6 months. Jamin and I started talking about it all around 8 months prior to filming. The larger fights obviously took longer, but all the actors really enjoyed the fight training, so the whole process was awesome.

KFC: Allel uses a short staff, and Ink uses a club in the first scene before switching to the double knives he has for the rest of the film. Did you choose these weapons for any symbolic reasons? And just how sharp were those knives?

BT: Well, Jamin kind of had this part already mapped out before we started. I am sure there is some kind of symbology in it all. But it really helped me to develop their style based on their weaponry. One of the most important things about this mythology in correlation to the fighting is that there isn’t a sword shop in the mall you can just go and get a Klingon Batlith from. Everything has to kind of be made from stuff one can find in these dream worlds. That’s why most of the weapons have a worn, almost Steam Punk feel to them.

As for INK’s knives……razor sharp at all times. We actually hired a 110 year old blind ninja blacksmith to come in and sharpen them daily. Jamin would often use the knives to keep the actors in line. Let me tell you what, you did not want to forget your lines……..

Just kidding. Prop knives in any action sequence, except the final fight with all the Incubi, lots of bodies to hide that day.

KFC: I thought Liev used throws more exclusively than the other characters. Was there any idea of using the choreography as an element of character development, or was it mostly determined by what the actors could learn?

BT: Liev’s fight was designed that way to show her character. If you’ll watch that fight again you’ll notice that she tosses her opponent around like a rag doll for the first half without inflicting any real damage. I really believe it shows she had complete dominance over the fight, but only through a conscious decision does the fight end the way it does.

I actually taught her Aikido based moves for this. She really learned to do these throws. I believe she put her brother on his ass with one of these moves at some point. This was a very deliberate choice in style for her. We wanted something that said “I will kick your ass, and look good doing it!!!”

She is a great student and a glutton for punishment. I was very pleased with her ability and solid commitment to learning this fight.

KFC: You played an Incubus as well as stunt doubling Ink. Are you thinking of continuing to work as an actor or are you more interested in action choreography?

BT: I would LOVE to do both!!!!!!!!! Stunts, acting, choreography, I’ll do it all. But I live in Denver, Colorado. Not much filming going on here. So if an offer comes my way I’ll certainly consider it, but as far as moving to Movie Town. It’s not in the immediate future. I would happily travel though.

I had never really given much thought to acting until INK. I did a couple of other things with Jamin, but I had some pretty messed up dental problems over the past few years and that put the kibosh on any speaking roles. But now that those are fixed and I have a pretty smile I could become the next Brad Pitt, Russell Crow, or Orlando Blum. But more than likely I would just wind up as a Steve Buscemi or that guy that died before the first commercial in a Star Trek episode…..Henson whatever his name was.

Maybe I should stick to being a Ninja. I am deadly accurate with a blow gun.

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Read Mark Pollard’s review of INK here.

Watch Brian Taylor in a commercial directed by Jamin Winans here.