Rope a Dope
Description :
I co-directed Rope-a-Dope I with Eric Jacobus, who also choreographed, wrote, edited and of course starred in it. It came from an idea given to him by producer and stunt extraordinaire Clayton Barber: Groundhog Day, but with fighting. It was shot in West Oakland, Emeryville, and Treasure Island, with lots of familiar faces if you've been following either Eric's work with The Stuntpeople or mine. My best buddy Drew Daniels, who shot Eric's feature Death Grip, and probably 90% of my music videos, was the cinematographer. Boots Riley donated both his house and his hit single for the film. Little Jacob, who, along with his backyard, were first seen in Aesop Rock's Cycles to Gehenna, had a fun supporting role. His father, a real life boxer, agreed to play the boxing coach. I think this was Jacob's sixth role with me, I’ve known him since he was 2-years old when I worked as a youth worker in San Francisco. Big shoutout to The Bay for embracing us wherever we went. Nowadays we’ve got professional thieves stealing a camera a week and the days where the entire neighborhood comes out to greet you seems like a distant warm memory. All of the bad guys were Stuntpeople troupe members. Dennis, the main villain, has been fighting Eric for ten years, and even taught him a great deal of martial arts. the whole thing took four days to shoot, and was extremely organized, though the set ups and variations were dazzlingly complicated. Eric and producer Rebecca knew exactly what went on each "day" within the story, and it made for very easy shooting. The only curveball was the weather. The last half of the fight was met with some heavy rain, which killed lots of momentum. But the stunt guys powered through. Eric, carrying new and old injuries, more than set the tone for the rest of the guys. Full on Jackie Chan. That's enough words. Take a peep. Stay thru the credits. We had bloopers because, like I said, Full On Jackie Chan.
Credits :
eric jacobus - actor, director, editor, fight choreographer
clayton barber - stunt coordinator, producer, story by
drew daniels - director of photography