No SFX Here

The hardest-working men on a movie set are usually the Grips, who'll haul and erect lights, lay dolly track, install car mounts, and strap everything down with gaffers tape or weigh it down with heavy sandbags -- all for a shot that might get two seconds of screen time. On a Action Movie set like ours, the talent gives them a run for their money. The protagonist of Ninja Quest, Ryan Amstutz (right) not only ran and jumped his butt off through many takes of Parkour action Friday, but sparred tirelessly on the mat with his antagonist every chance he got, preparing to do movie battle on the concrete warehouse floor.


Once on the concrete Sunday, Ryan and Jamal Alexander continued to get their choreography down perfectly. After all that and many, many takes from multiple camera angles, Ryan had bounced his elbows off the floor a few too many times and they'd begun to swell with fluid. Ryan soldiered on and delivered a great performance.

As I was helping unload the production truck, carrying heavy equipment on sore, aching feet, I thought back to Ryan's feat of endurance, gritted my teeth, and finished the job. If only I could've looked as cool as Ryan doing it.