David R. Ellis
David R. Ellis
David Richard Elliswas an American film director and stuntman born in Santa Monica, California in 1952...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth8 September 1952
CountryUnited States of America
studio
Well, I think on second units it's all about execution. Because you come in there, you don't have to worry so much about the studio and all the other actors and all that.
films needed stunts unlimited
So there was always a stunt coordinator on those films that was from Stunts Unlimited and I was just one of the young warriors from Stunts Unlimited that got to be a part of it because it was a big show and they needed a lot of guys.
actual boats jet runners showing stuff towards
No, we always had something to do because I did all the wave runners and jet skis and boats approaching the atolls and stuff like that, so you could do that without showing the actual atoll or the set that you're going towards, but detailing all those guys racing towards it.
felt good great knowing learning opportunity second time
I felt that if there wasn't going to be a good opportunity, then I would just go back to second units which I love, keep working with great directors, keep learning and knowing that the opportunity would come when the time was right.
capture execute good great helps understanding
It's just about going out and getting the shot, so I have a great understanding of how to execute it, so that really helps me, and also having a good understanding of all the action that I'm shooting, it helps me in determining how I'm going to capture it.
available couple interested projects
We're talking to New Line. They've got a couple projects they're interested in me doing and I'm having meetings at MGM. There's a lot of available projects.
zero law damn
Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero.
important different lines
Yeah, getting the company that would help advertise and cross promote the movie on the release was an important factor for New Line, so we went out to a lot of different companies.
fun mean water
Waterworld was the best time of my life. It was physically demanding, but it was fun. I mean, you're in Hawaii for nine months shooting on the water every day.
car tvs helicopters
So then I started doing a lot of episodic TV, just car chases or helicopter chases or whatever.
taxi-cabs car weapons
No, in Lethal Weapon I was a taxi cab driver that Mel jumps in front of the taxi and pulls me out of the car and steals the taxi. Then I did some other indie driving for some of the car sequences.
break-up thinking games
I think my biggest break though came probably on Patriot Games because it was the biggest, longest second unit up to that point. It was like five months of shooting and a huge crew.
common snooping policy
Its pretty rare for companies to have a snooping policy, although it is getting more common.
mean stuff underwater
It was great. I mean, it's a blast directing underwater stuff.