“Arrow” fight coordinator James Bamford jumped
behind the lens to direct Wednesday’s new episode.
And James said Act 5 of the show
features a sequence that he had been wanting to put on screen for two decades.
“The difference with
me directing as [opposed] to being stunt coordinator is I can ask for very
specific action and I designed the shots and one of the shots, which you’ll
see, I’ve been waiting to do for about 20 years and I got to put it in my own
episode,” he told reporters back in October on The CW show’s set.
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“There’s a shot and a
fight designed around each other and it’s a continuous shot that goes on for a
while. It may not make it to its fullest length form within the episode because
we’re constrained by broadcast time and what not, but it’s something that we’re
all very proud of and something that you haven’t really seen on the show
before,” he added.
Although it was his first time directing the show, James said it felt “pretty natural.”
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“I’ve directed second
units, I’ve directed action before, but this was my first time directing a full
episode of television, so in my mind, my challenges were directing actors
outside of just action, and performance with intent, emotional content of the
scene, and that sort of thing,” he said. “But having been an actor
myself back in the day, it was pretty natural, actually, and the performances I
got out of our cast were just amazing and there was nothing I asked of them
that they wouldn’t do.”
Stephen Amell, who plays
Oliver Queen/the Green Arrow, had high praise for the first-time
“Arrow” director.
“The stunt sequences
in James’ episode are the most graphic, well-choreographed, superbly shot and
put-together sequences that we have ever done on the show,” Stephen said
on set. “Aside from all that, which seemed like it was a given, he was an
incredible director. He was prepared without being rigid, he gave excellent
notes, he had a nice command of the crew and I hope that he does dozens
more.”
“Arrow”
continues Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.
Production assistance
provided by Warner Bros.
— Jolie Lash
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