By Aaron Coley

On the elective sheet, you may have seen the elective Action Movie. In Action Movie, they were creating their own LLDC movie for the second year in a row. Now, I can’t spoil anything, so I’m here to take you into the mind of the creator and director, TJ!
Let’s start with something simple. What encouraged TJ to make these movies? Well, he said that it all started in his old martial arts studio. Every year, they did lightsaber fights at his studio.TJ would record it and edit the clips together to create a miniature movie. Then, he would create DVD’s that the kids could take home. He also created miniature movies with his friend. When he came to LLDC, he wanted to get the kids involved and wanted to get the kids involved in the process. That’s why he created Action Movie.
I asked if he could give me a gist of the new movie without spoiling anything. It’s been 100 years since the previous movie. The world is now completely different. The clave is gone, but the book may still exist. The evil master, played by Chris Baldwin, sends his two apprentices, Renn and Bray, played by Rob and Aaron, to get the book. They set off on two different paths, to get the book.
Another part of the movie is the fights. TJ did have anyone to create the fight scenes. This made it hard and frustrating for TJ because he would have to write the script, create the fights, film, get costumes, and finally edit it all together before Family Night. Not to mention he had campers who didn’t show up or didn’t come every week.
This year, however, he had two people, Jason and Emy, to help create the fights. He also made sure that he knew how long he needed people or how long people were staying. TJ also created the story beforehand. It took him about 2 hours to write the script.
TJ also has an interesting way of deciding characters. He lets the actors be the characters. He says, “I don’t want anybody to be a character that feels uncomfortable. I also don’t want them saying they don’t feel right.” He watches how the kids all act to decide who should be what character. Pretty neat!

Now the last bit of this article is just a Q and A with TJ:

Q: Do you enjoy doing this?
A: Yes. I didn’t last year. It was more fun and a lot easier this year.

Q: Who was for favorite character in this movie? How about the last one?
A; I’ve always liked the wise old masters.

Q: Do you have plans for next year’s movie?
A: No, but I’ll most likely do one. Maybe more weapons.

Q: Will you ever do the backstory of the characters?
A: No.

Q: How long will you do Action Movie?
A: As long as they let me.

Q: Who do you base the character in this movie off? What about the first movie?
A: Core: Bruce Lee
Corbin: Reason, wisdom, Yoda.
Bray: Brawler, offense
Renn: Kung fu
Grell: Sith lord, concerned for power

Q: When will the movie be out?
A: Week 8