Daniel Stisen has been gradually building a resume as a rising action star on the straight-to-video scene, bringing his bodybuilder’s physicality and powerful presence to action movies like Retribution, Last Man Down, and The Siege. Now, Daniel’s back in action for another bruising brawl of visceral power in the new action movie Stand Your Ground, recently released on PVOD platforms.
Directed by Fansu Njie, Stand Your Ground concerns former Special Forces soldier Jack Johnson, whose wife is murdered by a vicious crime lord, with Jack being imprisoned for using lethal force on one of his underlings while outside of his house and thus violating the “Stand Your Ground” law. After leaving prison, Jack devises a plan of vengeance by turning the law in his favor, luring the crime gang into his old house where he can invoke the law of standing his ground to its fullest extent.
Today, we speak to Daniel Stisen and Fansu Njie on the making of Stand Your Ground, the challenges of creating an impactful action movie in a relatively small setting, and some of the highlights of the movie’s action-packed production.
Fortress of Solitude: How did Stand Your Ground come about for you?
Fansu Njie: I was approached with the script by a mutual friend of ours, and I called Daniel and said, “I have a great script here, it’s very interesting and very different, but it also has an ‘80s, ‘90s vibe to it.” Daniel really liked the script, as well, so we dug deeper into it, and that’s how we got started on it.
Daniel Stisen: And I found it quite interesting as the premise for an action film with the stand your ground law. Today, there have been so many action films made, you try to find something new to do in an action film. So, I liked the concept and it was this new take on an action film, so we put it together with a friend of ours who owns a studio.
So, what was the overall experience of the making of Stand Your Ground like?
Daniel Stisen: Well, I love making action films, and I think making the movie in a house and making all the traps was quite fun. It’s like being a kid again, making all of these traps, and I enjoyed that process a lot. I do a lot of my action myself, and so you take some punches. I was actually on a crutch for two weeks after because I hit my leg so many times, so there’s injuries and fun at the same time.
Fansu Njie: For me, it was all of the practical effects for the movie, which were new and quite fun. Explosions and squibs, and we worked with a very good special effects team, so it was almost like being a kid in a candy store, so that was really fun.
With so much of Stand Your Ground taking place in the house, were there any big logistical challenges in the making of the movie?
Daniel Stisen: Well, these are small sets, so the challenge is to come up with some good action in a limited space. That can be challenging, but you can also make it work. Some of the fight scenes, we had to make a bit smaller scale. For example, the knife fight in the movie, it was in a really tiny space, so for me, that was very challenging, because the actor playing Charlie, Beau Fowler, he’s a kung fu master, and he’s so fast! So, he went too fast for me a couple of times and we had a small space, so it was a bit challenging. But again, we did a lot of rehearsing and rehearsing, but it’s definitely challenging when you don’t have enough space and you have to improvise a little bit. But it works, you just adjust the style to a small space.
Fansu Njie: For me as the director, it’s more or less the same. The space was a challenge, but the more limitations you have, the more creative you become, as well. So, that was a big challenge, but also very fun to be in that environment, even though the house was almost the size of an apartment, more or less. It wasn’t like a huge mansion where we had a high ceiling and such.
Daniel Stisen: I would say also, you have this issue with the camera where the cameraman always wants more space to move around, so you had to adjust a little bit. And we really wanted a bigger house! We came on set like “This is too small, we want a bigger house!” But, you have to work with what you’ve got.
So Daniel, with the house setting of Stand Your Ground, how was making the movie different from other action films you’ve made?
Daniel Stisen: Well, I would say it’s quite similar because on so many action movies, I’m also producing, so I also have a lot of responsibility behind the camera that people don’t see. So, a lot of problems come my way, not all of them, but some of them. So, there might be a big problem and some yells “Daniel, we need to talk!”, and I say “I’m trying to focus on this scene!”, and they yell back “Yeah, but it’s really important!”, and I yell back, “Okay, I’ll come over there in two minutes!” so, that’s challenging when you’re starring and you’re also producing. I’m not producing alone, it’s with a team, but sometimes, some of the decisions have to be taken on at the top level with the key producers, so sometimes you just have to step in, but that’s a little bit challenging.
I did Those About To Die before this movie, and that’s a huge production with a $150 million budget, and I’m just playing one of the villains, and on that movie, I had so much time. I go and do a scene, and then I have a few days where I don’t do anything. So, when I go to do Stand Your Ground, I’m doing five or six scenes a day. There was one day where I went into the knife fight and straight into an emotional scene right after. So, imagine fighting for three hours and then you hear “We’re over time, we need to hurry to shoot the last scene!”, and then I go straight into an emotional scene. So you have to breathe and focus to get into the emotions of the scene, then go and give everything. So, that’s challenging, shooting an independent film is fun but really challenging, because you don’t have the same time as you would on a $100 million budget film. So all of these things change how you operate as the leading man. If you’re in a supporting role, I don’t think it’s that different, because you may have five scenes in the film, but as the lead, I have a hundred scenes or maybe 120 scenes, and then also, I may go from a fight scene straight into an emotional scene. That’s a challenge, because that’s the nature of an independent film.
Stand Your Ground is now available to rent and buy on PVOD platforms.
