During the filming of Rush Hour 3, Jackie's dialogue coach Diana Weng interviewed crew members, asking them to talk about what it was like working on the film and working with Jackie.

K.D. (Kimberly) Smith, 2^nd Assistant Accountant

K.D. worked on Rush Hour 2 and Around the World in 80 Days. She’s been in this business for six years and before that, she was a production coordinator.

I’m a big fan of Jackie Chan. What’s influenced me about him is how much he enjoys himself. He has a lot of integrity. He really raises the bar when he’s on the set. He raises the game for everybody. And I think that, you can see from his heart. He loves what he does and that’s inspiring.
I like working on this film. I love it. It’s been a great experience! There haven’t been any challenges because I came in toward the end. I just finished graduate school in December. I received a Masters in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and a license in Acupuncture and Herbalogy a few weeks ago. As soon as I leave Rush Hour 3, I will be setting up my practice.
I went back to graduate school in 2001, right after Rush Hour 2, so it’s like Jackie has been this influence in my life. I worked the middle of grad school. I took time off from school to make some money and I worked with Jackie again on Around the World in 80 days. Now that we are coming to an end on our film, Rush Hour 3, I will be setting up my practice. So…it’s really cool. This is what I want to do, something from my heart, with integrity and love.

I have ideas on how I want to practice. I want it to be a global practice. I want to travel, work with communities, with children. I would love to get that all set up and then invite Jackie to come and visit some of these orphanages and places that I want to go. I have a bigger plan for my career path in the healing arts. It may start in Los Angeles and then move on from there.

John Baker, First Unit Supervisor for Mechanical Effects

John is from Delaware and moved out here in 1989 to get into the film industry. He used to bend neon and restore cars. Because he was so mechanical, Alan Hall, a Special Effects Coordinator got him involved in the film business. His first film was Dead Poet’s Society. After doing a few shows in the East coast and meeting some people, he decided to move out to California.

I work under Clay Pinney, who is the Supervisor of all the Special Effects and I’m the On-set Supervisor, the one who coordinates everything that happens on the set. It involves anything that moves on set, unnaturally, that would include all climate effects, like rain, snow, wind and fire.
My first film was Dead Poet’s Society which was shot in Delaware. After doing a few shows on the East coast and meeting some people, I decided to move out to California. On a lark, I was able to hook on another film, and as they say, the rest is history. I’ve been here in California ever since and have put together a nice resume.

Working on this film has been a struggle. I don’t know why. It’s intangible to say why. On a day-to-day basis, it has been rather confusing. But as a whole, we’ve all enjoyed each other. The crew has come together and there’s such a level of professionalism among all the departments. I think we are the driving force, coagulating and making sure that we are all moving forward in the right direction.
The effects weren’t all that complicated on this film like on Transformers or Indiana Jones, but day to day, we’ve had some interesting special effects. The most challenging was interpreting the information we received on a daily basis from the higher ups and disseminating and making the effects happen based on the information we received.

We’ve made some great effects. We blew up some things and we’ve had fights and gun shots. Some of the smaller effects we did were subtle, but still involved. We’ve made some nice flying rigs for the green screen unit which was utilized effectively. It all came around as a nice piece of work for us. I think by nature, as a film worker, a transient, we love to see projects start and project end. But it’s hard to see this one end because we’ve been together for a long time. We’ve gotten to know everybody. We traveled around and we’ve had some nice times. Despite that we’ve gone over and had frustrations on the production level, I think we’ve all enjoyed each other and I think every day, we all enjoyed coming in and it’s hard seeing it end.

I’ve had a great time on this film. I’ve had a lot of laughs and I think that Jackie’s been amazing. One of the best guys I’ve ever worked with.

Karen Jacobs, Data Coordinator (Visual Effects Team)

K.J. is from Seattle, Washington but has spent the last ten years in Los Angeles. This is her first feature film working in this capacity.

As a Data Wrangler, I’m with the camera during all the effects shots. Whether there are green screen or wire shots, I track the camera data so we know what kind of effects we have to do when we go into post production. I’m here just for the Eiffel Tower scene.

I also do many different things. I am a professional dancer. I spin hula hoops and eat fire. I work in production as a coordinator. I act sometimes in front of the camera and I have hosted T.V. shows and appeared in movies and music videos myself. I like being in front of the camera more than being behind, but working with this crew certainly gives me an appreciation for what everyone has to do and gives me the whole picture.

Jackie has been amazing to work with. It’s been really incredible to watch him work with the crew. When he’s working, he’s working harder than just about anybody on the whole set. He also takes the time to joke around with everybody and be goofy. He’s a real human being. It’s really, really touching to see someone as famous as he is be real with everybody. Normally, I’m not a huge action fan, but having been in the middle of this huge action scene, I can’t wait to see this film. It’s been a lot of fun.

Dayton Nietert, Chief Lighting Technician

Dayton's job is to light and design the lighting for the set. He was born and raised in Olympia, Washington and has been in this business for twenty-two years. After graduating with a degree in biology, he became a research biologist for the government. He was so fascinated by the subject he was studying, he decided to go back to school to study film making so that he could make documentaries about his work. After graduation, he got an internship in a production company and was later hired to work there. He says the rest is history.

If I am working on a scene that is day exterior, I have to figure out where the sun is, talk to the D.P. (Director of Photography), Jimmy Muro, about where the cameras are going to be, and then come up with a lighting design. I have to work with natural daylight and also be able to light it artificially if the sun goes down. I would use a big crane, put lights on a crane, or use bounce material to bounce the natural daylight back on the actors, depending on what the set is and where it is.

For instance, today we are lighting a restaurant that’s suppose to be on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It’s got the skyline of Paris outside the set. Behind that, there’s Trans light. I’m using fluorescent light to light the Trans light so it looks like Paris at night. After having shot on the actual location on the Eiffel Tower, I have to simulate the lighting on stage, create the same sort of lighting effect that we saw while filming on the Eiffel Tower. To do that, I’m using a special gel to recreate the color of light on the Eiffel Tower. I have to do that not just for the architecture but also the actors, Jackie and Chris, as they work their way to save the day.

It’s been great working on this film. Working with Jackie and Chris are a lot of fun. I get to see a lot of interesting special effects and rigging work. Jackie’s stunt team is always creating a stunt or special effect. Every time I show up on the set, there’s something new and interesting to watch. I’m also working with a top notch group of film makers: production design, camera, props, visual effects and stunts. It’s fun. I’m having a good time.
I think Jackie is a great guy. I had heard rumors about how much fun it was to work with him. So going into it, I sort of expected Jackie to be a nice man to work with. Not only that, he’s professional. He knows his job. He knows what it takes to put a film together. He’s fun to work with. He’s a sincerely kind man and he’s generous. He’s always throwing parties. It’s great. I can’t speak highly enough of him. I’ve enjoyed working with Jackie. I would do Rush Hour 4 and I would probably even do Shanghai Noon 3. Good luck Jackie on your future projects! I will see you in Beijing.

Bill Holmquist, Construction Coordinator

Bill’s in charge of all the sets for the film as well as the painters, the plasters and the prop makers. He’s responsible for making sure everything is done on time and on budget. He’s from Rockford, Illinois and has been in the business for twenty-three years.

Ed Verreaux, the Set Designer has designed a lot of nice sets and it’s been fun working on all of them. I also worked on Rush Hour 2, so I have met Jackie before. I’ve worked with Brett on four or five shows. We also did Red Dragon and Family Man. It feels like being in a family when you work with the same people. One of the most challenging things about this job is that the schedule keeps changing. We all have to keep up with the constant changing of the schedule.

I think Jackie is the nicest man I’ve met in this business. I mean he goes out of the way to say hi to the crew. He signs autographs, he gives out pictures, he gives gifts, and he throws dinner parties. He’s out there when he has time, flipping burgers (for Rich Cody, who is in charge of Kraft Service)! I’ve met a lot of people in the twenty-seven years that I’ve been in the business, and he’s the most personable movie star I’ve ever been around. To have someone that personable around the crew, to hang out and to be part of the crew, I think the crew tries a lot harder to do their job well. They don’t get discouraged because they’re working for a guy who appreciates it. He is just a great guy!

Robert "Bob" Branam, Video Assist Trainee

Bob works with Goldy, our Video Assist.  He currently lives in Lancaster with his wife.

It’s a high pressure position. Goldy knows how to get the crew to laugh. I haven’t gotten to the point where I’m as vocal as he is. I’ve been in the business for about a year. It’s not common that we are asked to edit, at least not to this multitude. Having Jackie next to him, coordinating the fight efforts is major.  I’m learning. Jackie’s amazing. We watched a DVD about him the other day. I didn’t know that he gave back so much to the community. He says he goes back every year and donates to various charities. I believe it. He’s always so hospitable, joking with people. Some people won’t even give you the time of day.  It’s nice to see that.

Felicity Bowring, Key Make-up Artist

Felicity is the head of the department and oversees every aspect of the make-up for every actor. She’s also Jackie’s main make-up artist. She’s originally from Australia, has spent much time in the United States and now resides in France.

It’s been really interesting working on this film, it’s been a lot of fun and it’s been very long. We never thought it would take this long, but here we are, still.

Getting into make-up is something that I’ve always wanted to do. My parents were very kind and allowed me to go overseas and study for it. And that’s how it happened. I went back to Australia and worked in TV and then film. I was really, really lucky.

The most challenging aspect of my job is dealing with the personalities. I think if you are really lucky to be creative, you can get by. But personalities, that’s the big thing.

I love Jackie. I think he’s a really smart, clever, intelligent gentleman and he’s a pleasure to work with. I hope this film is a big hit and I hope everybody has enjoyed being a part of it. I think everybody has. It’s been a fantastic crew, fantastic bunch of people. I think everybody should really be proud. I hope it’s better than all the others (big smile).

Jeff Olson, Producer (Industrial Light and Magic)
and
Lindy De Quattro, Visual Effects Supervisor

Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) is a company created by George Lucas (director the Star Wars films). The Visual Effects Department has hired them to work on the end fight sequence. Together, they will be making sure that all action pieces we are filming against green screen looks like it’s actually happening in Paris.

J: I’m excited to be working on this film. I’ve been doing this for twenty-one years. We’re here today to watch your green screen shoot and to measure all the Eiffel Tower set so that we can extend that set, up and down, right and left on the computer. We’re also here to extract action scenes against the green screen and to composite in the rest of Paris. As the Visual Effects Supervisor, Lindy will make sure all this happens beautifully, seamlessly.

L: I’ve been doing this since 1993, for about fourteen years.

J: We worked together on Poseidon. Otherwise we work on multiple projects. Our paths haven’t crossed until this project.

L: We have about 8-10 producers and visual effects supervisors and we get paired differently on the project.

J: They roll the dice to see who hooks up.

L: It has a lot to do with schedules and who’s available and who’s on vacation.

L: What makes this job challenging is the condensing of the schedule.

J: Definitely!

L: The green screen extraction will be a challenge. Even shot is going to have to be touched one way or another, the rig removal and reconstruction of each scene will all take a lot of time to do.

Text and photos ©2007 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

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