Hit the road, Jackie Chan.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
“Kung-Fu King” creator and director Payton Charles, 7, stands with some of the people who have helped produce her movie: Mary Ann and Rick Charles, co-executive producers and Payton's parents; Rob Morphy, cameraman, editor and uncle; Hunter Charles, 9, fight choreographer and brother.
“Kung-Fu King” creator and director Payton Charles, 7, stands with some of the people who have helped produce her movie: Mary Ann and Rick Charles, co-executive producers and Payton's parents; Rob Morphy, cameraman, editor and uncle; Hunter Charles, 9, fight choreographer and brother.
Film critics may soon have a new talent to honor in the world of Kung Fu flicks, and her name is Payton Aurora Charles. She might not have the rigorous training under her belt that Chan acquired in music, dance and traditional martial arts, but then she IS only 7 years old. For now, her directorial debut will just have to do.
The Owasco Elementary first-grader wrote and directed “Kung Fu King,” a 16-minute short that aired late last month on Adelphia's public access channel 4. The video “pays homage to classic Hong Kong martial arts cinema as well as Japanese Samurai films,” according to a press release, and is all the brainchild of a little blond girl who loves the color pink, Jackie Chan and obscure Japanese action/horror/comedies. Menacing plastic Godzilla action figures mingle with the Beanie Babies collection she keeps in her bedroom closet, signaling the varied - if incongruous - passions of a little kid. Still, varied passions inspire a vivid imagination, especially when it comes to writing dialogue.
“She writes funny lines and is hilarious,” said Payton's 9-year-old brother, Hunter, who co-stars in the film.
She is also deceivingly shy when the spotlight's on her, not betraying a mind that concocted character names like “Master Sarefachalo” and “Master Gollonoll.” Both are characters who appear in the film.
“Kung Fu King” tells the story of a youthful warrior, Young Master - played by Hunter - and his sage Shaolin caretaker. The two embark on a treacherous journey through a foreboding forest and find themselves thrust headlong into a violent confrontation with a one-eyed mad-man - with whom their pasts are inextricably intertwined. Pretty sophisticated stuff, considering the director just left first grade. She got some help, though, mostly from her uncle Rob Morphy - whose collection of Chinese martial arts and Japanese films inspired her.
“One day, she just came up to me and said, ‘I want to write a movie,'” Morphy said. Payton was 5 at the time, and dictated her idea, which became the treatment for the film. That, for a while, was the end of it.
Fast-forward a year and a half to this past spring, when Payton decided to revisit her idea and asked again for her uncle's help. Once more, she dictated, expanding the treatment into a five-and-a-half page script. Of course, when a 7-year-old director describes her process, it sounds different.
“He typed it into the computer and then he made of book of it,” Payton said. Her mother, Mary Ann, got a chuckle out of the final script, which sees the film's characters motivated by a furious force more powerful than any kid: namely, parents.
“Everything revolves around parents or ‘someone told me to,'” she said.
With the help of her mother and father, Rick, Payton also served as costume designer and location scout. The film was shot in a wooded area off Frazee Street in Auburn.
“At first I thought it would be cool to make a video Payton might be able to enjoy with her friends,” Morphy said. He had connections in “the biz,” including a documentarian and a close friend who'd once managed the Merry-Go-Round Youth Tour; those people donated some of the necessary equipment. The assistance enabled the crew to film with a budget under $20. Morphy secured free sound effects from the Internet - proving you don't need an A list director to make a film.
“Anyone can make a movie now who wants to,” he said. “Hopefully this will inspire other kids and adults to grab the technology that's available to everybody.”
Morphy also acted in the film and is its de facto publicist. The adults in Payton's family seem happy to serve at her pleasure when it comes to helping the little girl realize her dreams.
“Learning that an idea she has in her head can be put on paper and then onto the screen will be great for her,” Mary Ann said.
Payton has a few ideas of her own for her future. When she grows up, she wants to be either a director or a “scientist who works with animals.”
Meanwhile, though, she and her uncle are working on a sequel to “Kung Fu King” called “Little Master.” According to her publicist, Payton should complete the film this summer, “when she's not too busy swimming and having fun.”
We'll be tuning in.
Staff writer Olivia Goldberg can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or at olivia.goldberg@lee.net
The Owasco Elementary first-grader wrote and directed “Kung Fu King,” a 16-minute short that aired late last month on Adelphia's public access channel 4. The video “pays homage to classic Hong Kong martial arts cinema as well as Japanese Samurai films,” according to a press release, and is all the brainchild of a little blond girl who loves the color pink, Jackie Chan and obscure Japanese action/horror/comedies. Menacing plastic Godzilla action figures mingle with the Beanie Babies collection she keeps in her bedroom closet, signaling the varied - if incongruous - passions of a little kid. Still, varied passions inspire a vivid imagination, especially when it comes to writing dialogue.
“She writes funny lines and is hilarious,” said Payton's 9-year-old brother, Hunter, who co-stars in the film.
She is also deceivingly shy when the spotlight's on her, not betraying a mind that concocted character names like “Master Sarefachalo” and “Master Gollonoll.” Both are characters who appear in the film.
“Kung Fu King” tells the story of a youthful warrior, Young Master - played by Hunter - and his sage Shaolin caretaker. The two embark on a treacherous journey through a foreboding forest and find themselves thrust headlong into a violent confrontation with a one-eyed mad-man - with whom their pasts are inextricably intertwined. Pretty sophisticated stuff, considering the director just left first grade. She got some help, though, mostly from her uncle Rob Morphy - whose collection of Chinese martial arts and Japanese films inspired her.
“One day, she just came up to me and said, ‘I want to write a movie,'” Morphy said. Payton was 5 at the time, and dictated her idea, which became the treatment for the film. That, for a while, was the end of it.
Fast-forward a year and a half to this past spring, when Payton decided to revisit her idea and asked again for her uncle's help. Once more, she dictated, expanding the treatment into a five-and-a-half page script. Of course, when a 7-year-old director describes her process, it sounds different.
“He typed it into the computer and then he made of book of it,” Payton said. Her mother, Mary Ann, got a chuckle out of the final script, which sees the film's characters motivated by a furious force more powerful than any kid: namely, parents.
“Everything revolves around parents or ‘someone told me to,'” she said.
With the help of her mother and father, Rick, Payton also served as costume designer and location scout. The film was shot in a wooded area off Frazee Street in Auburn.
“At first I thought it would be cool to make a video Payton might be able to enjoy with her friends,” Morphy said. He had connections in “the biz,” including a documentarian and a close friend who'd once managed the Merry-Go-Round Youth Tour; those people donated some of the necessary equipment. The assistance enabled the crew to film with a budget under $20. Morphy secured free sound effects from the Internet - proving you don't need an A list director to make a film.
“Anyone can make a movie now who wants to,” he said. “Hopefully this will inspire other kids and adults to grab the technology that's available to everybody.”
Morphy also acted in the film and is its de facto publicist. The adults in Payton's family seem happy to serve at her pleasure when it comes to helping the little girl realize her dreams.
“Learning that an idea she has in her head can be put on paper and then onto the screen will be great for her,” Mary Ann said.
Payton has a few ideas of her own for her future. When she grows up, she wants to be either a director or a “scientist who works with animals.”
Meanwhile, though, she and her uncle are working on a sequel to “Kung Fu King” called “Little Master.” According to her publicist, Payton should complete the film this summer, “when she's not too busy swimming and having fun.”
We'll be tuning in.
Staff writer Olivia Goldberg can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or at olivia.goldberg@lee.net
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Red Curran wrote on Jul 9, 2006 2:38 PM: