Talent, I have too. But success may take decades.
Director David Ellis is not as responsive and radiant as other Hollywood creators. But there are countless creators like him in Hollywood who are quietly working. They are the cornerstone of Hollywood.
When I take stock of the "Death Is Coming" series, I do it in the order of creativity, script, actors, shooting, and finally release. But Death 4 really doesn't say much. This time, I will focus on the director David Ellis, say it, and bring "Death 4" by the way.
Death came 4
Director David Ellis was born in 1952. He was a surfer when he was young. As a result, he has a strong physique. At the age of twenty, he was selected by the director and entered the acting world. In the beginning, David Ellis only appeared as a supporting role and dragon set in teen movies. But because of his physical fitness, slowly, David also began to take over some work as a stand-in, a stuntman.
As an actor, he has no famous masterpieces. The 1975 version of Wonder Woman's TV series and the dragon suit character in the classic 80s inspirational film Rocky 3 may be the only well-known work he can relate to as an actor. The rest of the works are hardly famous.
1975 Wonder Woman
However, as a member of the stunt team, he has been involved in many big productions. For example, the TV series "Beach Ranger", the movie "Scarface", "Deadly Weapon" and so on. He even did a speeding stunt for Bruce Lee's unfinished Game of Death.
In the beginning, David Ellis just wanted to get a job and earn money to support his family. After all, how much income can a so-called surfer earn? But as the number of films involved increased, he gradually fell in love with the line, and the idea of directing a film was always in his mind.
Limited by the lack of education, David Ellis had to buy his own books, study at night, and steal teachers on the set during the day. Finally, in 1986, David Ellis, as the second director on the spot, directed part of the scenes of Condor. Subsequently, in 1987, David also directed part of Fatal Attraction.
Just when David was happy for himself and thought he was about to become a director, reality dealt him a fatal blow - no one wanted to use an athlete-born, half-way out of the family to take charge of the tube. So David Ellis put away all his thoughts and stuck on the set. The dragon set runs, and the stand-in does it. At the same time, we will not give up any opportunity to learn in the palm of the camera.
Before his first real directing, he was a second director on set for nearly 30 films. These include well-known films such as "Physical Evidence" and "Future Water World". And the stunt work is not put down. Arguably, David Ellis is where it needs to be moved.
Madonna Physical evidence
It wasn't until 1996 that David Ellis finally directed his first film: Cats and Dogs Crazy 2: Lost in San Francisco. David was 44 years old.
David Ellis is still very satisfied with his work. The film also performed well at the box office. It grossed nearly $33 million in North America. The evaluation of the film is still mostly praise.
Just when David Ellis thought his acting career was about to get on track, for a long time, he wasn't asked to direct a script. For this gap, David Ellis is very accustomed to it. He packed up his mood, went out on the set, and continued to be a stuntman, a live director. Just like "Cats and Dogs Crazy 2" wasn't made by him. Seven years passed. During these seven years, he worked as a live director and staff member on the production of a series of films such as Soldier, Negotiator, Perfect Storm, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and The Matrix 2. This has also accumulated a lot of experience for him.
It wasn't until the second film finally found him. This movie is "Death Is Coming 2".
Huang Yiyu, the director of the first part of "Death Is Coming", wants to direct Jet Li's "Savior", and he lacks skills. New Line Pictures really can't find anyone else willing to take over, after all, a total of more than 20 million US dollars of budget, limited budget, but also brilliant, slightly famous directors will refuse.
David Ellis cherished this opportunity. After all, he was 51 years old at the time. And I've only just started directing my second film. However, because the two screenwriters were temporarily caught, the sense of patchwork of the script was too strong, and "Death Is Coming 2" did not get the first good result at the box office. But stripped of the core of the "Death Is Coming" series, the car accident scene at the beginning still shows director David Ellis's ability to mobilize the scene. Stunt people come from a good background, and naturally know how to crash the car to look good.
Death came 2 mud carts
After that, David Ellis's career slowly got on the right track. After "Death Is Coming 2", he directed "Snake Infestation Flight", which is also a big name in the circle of domestic horror fans. "Death is Coming 3" Due to the return of Huang Yiyu, David Ellis naturally left the project. For three whole years, except for one movie that was not released, there was no film to be made.
David Ellis continued to run the set, waiting for his next chance.
In 2009, David Ellis waited for another opportunity: because Huang Yiyu wanted to participate in the production of the live-action version of "Dragon Ball", no one took over "Death 4". New Line Pictures found David Ellis again. But David wasn't too interested in repeating himself. When he learned that New Line was going to make the fourth film into a 3D movie, David Ellis was impressed.
At that time, "Avatar" had not yet been released, but everyone knew that "Avatar" would adopt new 3D technology. So many film companies began to use various means to catch up with the fashion. However, most of them use old-fashioned 3D technology. After all, at that time, the new 3D was not too mature and the cost was too high.
"Death is coming 3" is going to be made into 3D, because the name is appropriate, just add a D directly after 3. But Huang Yiyu believes that if it is photographed in 3D, it will cause explosions and blood will cause red and blue distortion. So it's still shot in traditional 2D.
David Ellis is faced with the question of how to 3D is the most appropriate.
According to David's idea, the plot must have depth, everyone is immersed in the film, and 3D has a better effect. If you just 3D for 3D's sake, that loses its meaning. Unfortunately, the screenwriter is also the screenwriter of "The Butterfly Effect". To tell you a cold knowledge: "The Butterfly Effect" is not very highly rated abroad. Screenwriter Eric Belis is one of those kind of creators who had a flash of inspiration. This can be seen in his later works. To this day, his most well-known work is the Butterfly Effect. So the plot of "Death Is Coming 4" is recognized as the worst.
Director David Ellis still made the mistake: for the sake of 3D, he deliberately shot a lot of shots suitable for 3D. When CG special effects were just emerging, there were many movies that made this mistake of doing special effects for the sake of special effects. Like "Forrest Gump", it is the right way to use special effects invisibly into the movie.
After the release of the film, the reputation of this series fell directly to the bottom. Some people even say that "Death Is Coming 4" directly killed the series. Death 4 was the largest investment in the entire series at the time, costing $40 million.
Interestingly, despite the invective from critics, the film's box office was surprisingly high, reaching $186.2 million worldwide. Almost over 200 million. At the age of 57, David Ellis finally had his masterpiece.
On January 7, 2013, David Ellis was found dead in the hotel bathroom at the age of 62. He was working on another film at the time. Throughout David Ellis's entire career in film, most of them have participated in the film as a stunt crew and live director. As an independent director, he has directed a limited number of films. He's not like Steven Soderberg, who won the Palme d'Or at 26 and the Oscar for Best Director at 36, or was nominated for both films at the same time.
We don't seem quite right to describe David Ellis in terms of late bloom:
At the age of 44, he made his debut film, at the age of 51 he shot a masterpiece, and at the age of 59 he completed his masterpiece. For the rest of the day, he was like a brick in Hollywood, moving wherever he needed it. In fact, there are too many practitioners like Hollywood. All we see is a star-studded corner, and in a corner where no one is watching, there are countless "David Ellis" silently trying.
David Richard Ellis Filmmaker 1952-2013 R.I.P