Stunts, Action And Recognition For The Second Unit: Speaking With Charlie Picerni, Director of The Bleeding

Due to actual, live gremlins in the LA cellphone network I was not able to conduct my interview with Charlie Picerni, director of The Bleeding, by telephone. Instead, we exchanged e-mails.

His film is a low budget amalgam of grindhouse-friendly revenge flick and vampire shoot ‘em up that I half wish had been released during the heyday of VHS, just to see what kind of amazingly lurid and attention grabbing cover it could have had.

Michel Madsen and Vinnie Jones are the names above the title, Kat Von D is the ink-rich covergirl, Shawn Black is the actual star and director Picerni is a very experienced second unit and action director who’s been pulling off cunning stunts* since Starsky and Hutch made me think that sliding across the bonnet of my dad’s car was the coolest thing I could ever grow up to be capable of.

Here’s what Charlie and I typed to one another.

BC: Is it unfair to think that you’re going to be biased towards stunts and action as a film director? Is it your favourite part of directing, handling the action?

CP: No, of course not. Although I’ve done stunts and action for many years, telling a good entertaining story is always most important to me! My favorite part of directing is working with the actors and telling the story to the audience. The action comes easy creatively for me but working with the actors is more exciting for me!

BC: How important is an actor’s stunt capabilities when considering them for the cast? Are you happy to have most actors have doubles, or do you prefer them to do as many of their own stunts as possible? Who on The Bleeding did their own stunts?

CP: Although its great to have an actor who is physically coordinated and able to do some action, the acting is more important to me than their stunt ability. I can always stunt double them. Yes, most actors do have stunt doubles. There is a line between an actor doing a “physical action” or doing a stunt. To define a stunt, a stunt is not a fight scene or an actor running from an explosion, anybody can do this. I wouldn’t have an actor do any difficult stunts such as a car turn over or high fall, those are real stunts per definition! Also as a director I wouldn’t give a stunt man 5 pages of dialogue to do either! The only people who did their own stunts on The Bleeding were the stunt performers who had small acting roles!

BC: What do you think sets The Bleeding apart from the other slew of Vampire films we’re being bombarded with?

CP: I’m not sure how to answer that one…there are so many vampire movies out there right now. Most popular of course are the Twilight saga…but I think that there is an audience out there that just wants the blood and the action and The Bleeding has that for sure!

BC: I’ve always been disgusted that second unit teams, action co-ordinators and stunt men aren’t recognised by The Oscars. Particularly stunt people – these are the folk who will literally risk their lives for a film. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and on the awards that actually do exist for stunt people.

CP: Regarding the Academy…I’m on the Academy Awards Stunt Committee Board and this is a discussion that has been going on for 18 years, I am an original member. One thing one has to realize is that unlike all other departments of making a film, stunts are supposed to show the real actors doing them. This is the secret that the audience enjoys believing…I know for me it was fun thinking that the actors did their own stunts when I was a young man watching a film. Hollywood doesn’t want to release this secret as it may hurt ticket sales. On the other end, stunt people are also looking for too much recognition for what they do. The Second Unit Directors should get recognized for sure! Sometimes, they are directing 50-60% of a film! There is an award fro stunt people that was created by the stunt community, it’s called “The Taurus Stunt Awards”.

BC: What’s left for action filmmaking? Have we peaked? Or are there plenty more surprises that stunt co-ordinators and action directors have up their sleeves?

CP: Action movies will live on but what we need is better stories behind them that motivate the action…the characters doing an action that fit the story and character! Have we peaked? As long as there are humans, there will be movies…people love watching movies and I believe always will. Hollywood needs more writers with new ideas…right now we see so many remakes, which can be fun but new ideas are needed!

BC: One of the definitive stunt images is the car racing down the alley, busting its way through cardboard boxes and trash cans. It became a cliche, maybe, but at first it was a powerful and dynamic way to add force and speed to the car. Am I right in thinking this originated with your work on Starsky & Hutch?

CP: First off I hate hitting cardboard boxes, it looks “too set up”! I prefer hitting anything realistic in a real alley way. I don’t think that this originated on Starsky and Hutch but it became popular at the time. I don’t actually know for sure if I was the first one to do it…?

BC: How was it working on Starsky and Hutch? What did working on stunts teach you about directing? And how did you do as a director first time round? What have you learned since?

CP: Yes, Starsky and Hutch was the first show I ever first unit directed but I had been doing all the 2nd unit directing on the show. When the producers saw what I was doing on 2nd unit they gave me 2 episodes to direct. When the show ended the the same producers hired me on numerous TV shows to direct first unit, they liked my style of shooting. Directing my first show as a first unit director was easy for me on the technical part, harder working with the actors. I studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for 2 years in the master class with Milton Kasales so I could be able to work with actors and understand what they are up against.

I have also been an actor myself and have done many theatre productions as an actor as well! My brother Paul was a working actor for many years and he helped me when ever I had to a part to do….so this background helped me to direct my first shows! Working on stunts doesn’t help you at all as a director, directing second unit helps! I worked my way up from the bottom up in the motion picture business…my very first job was as a stand in for my brother…I think all those years of working my way up is what helped me as a director! I always stayed around the camera and observed! I did very well my first time around…thats why I did they kept hiring me! What have I learned since my first show directing…I’ve learned quite a bit! I learned how to communicate with the actors much better over the years, I’ve learned how to tell the story is the most important issue, how to stage the scenes to make it more comfortable for the actors and I’m still learning! In fact I’m directing my first play at the Odyssey Theatre in LA this fall…a new adventure!

Finally, the trailer for The Bleeding, giving just a taste of the old-school, hard boiled, in-the-flesh action that Picerni favours. You can grab a copy on DVD now as the film is out today in the UK, courtesy of Momentum.

*Sorry.