Filipinos needs to be pleased with themselves!
With his world-class talent for stunts and motion sequences, Filipino-American stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo continues to make the Philippine entertainment industry proud – Alonzo was answerable for preparing Robert Pattinson (Batman) and Zoe Kravitz (Catwoman) for his or her intricate battle scene with Batman movie from Warner Bros. Pictures, which is currently showing in theaters within the Philippines.
In addition to being a trainer, Alonzo can also be answerable for additional physical duties related to the most important motion sequences within the film. He can also be the second unit director, which implies he’s answerable for shooting additional footage that can match the unique, reminiscent of large stunt shots and transitions.
Pattinson, who plays Bruce Wayne within the DC film, stated in an interview with Warner Bros. that weeks of preparation with Alonzo completely prepared him for the battle scenes.
“Rob [Alonzo] he has great style. You learn certain signature moves which you can quickly construct into different patterns,” Pattinson said.
Kravitz, who has known Alonzo for many of her life, described him and his colleagues as “amazing people.”
“He (Alonzo) was concerned about making sure everything was grounded and emotionally driven, and that’s great,” said Kravitz, who plays Selina Kyle within the film.
This time, Alonzo was given two positions: supervising stunt coordinator and second unit director.
“Dylan Clark, who I had previously worked with on Tom Cruise’s Oblivion, called me. I was also the supervising stunt coordinator and second unit director on Oblivion. “For Rappler,” he noted.
Clark also reached out to Matt Reeves about collaborating again on this project. Reeves has stated that he intended this version of Batman to be “raw, grounded and visceral”.
So how did Alonzo plan to bring Matt Reeves’ idea to life?
“Matt’s vision was to create raw and real action so that the audience felt every punch, kick, fall, impact and collision through the emotions of the characters, whether they were experiencing extreme pain or experiencing external pleasure and satisfaction in the process.” Alonzo explained.
“For example, the goal of the fight training with Rob Pattinson was to allow the threat to get much closer than he is accustomed to, to eliminate pre-emptive movements and increase his response to proximity. With this as our main goal, we trained him in FMA – escrima/ kali/arnis, penjak silat, muay thai, JKD, boxing and kickboxing.”
“With Rob, we avoided kicks and used more hammer fists, elbows and knees, while also training with sticks, which later allowed him to not only improve his response time within the closer moments of the fight, but in addition pick every thing up and use it as a weapon.”
“In contrast, the character of Selina Kyle/Catwoman seemed to keep everyone at a deliberate distance and was always captivating with her personality. With this in mind, we complemented her physicality by training Zoe Kravitz in the styles of TKD, Hapkido, Capoeira, Boxing, Savate and Muay Thai.”
“Her style focused more on speed, agility, footwork, feints and evasions because it requires her to be comfortable to be much more distance-oriented.”
Read the complete interview at Rappler.
