Special effects designer Neil Trifunovich tries to prepare for the unexpected when making a film.

But nothing could have prepared him for Jackie Chan.

While working with the Hollywood superstar on his blockbuster film Shanghai Noon, Chan scrapped most of Trifunovich's special effects, choosing instead to make up his on the fly.

"We spent weeks planning these special effects for that movie," says Trifunovich. "Instead, Chan would make some spectacular action out of playing with the limbs of the trees or something he found on the ground. He's the most creative action star I've ever worked with."

But Trifunovich's work has not completely been relegated to obscurity. Some of his best artifacts and memorabilia from Shanghai Noon are on display this month in the front window of Elgin St. Video.

Trifunovich says he loved working with Chan, calling him "a master of motion pictures, the Buster Keaton of action movies" and a highlight in a career that's spanned more than 50 movies and 20 years.

"Chan makes it up as he goes along. He's very spontaneous but he's like Keaton, he can find something amazing and funny around him."

The display at the video store, made up of props, plans and pictures from the Alberta shoot, features Chan's guns, arrows, tomahawks, breakaway chairs, hangman's nooses, and police badges Trifunovich collects for his old Conestoga College buddy, Elgin Video owner Bill Kinsman.

Trifunovich has created special effects for such movies as The Horse Whisperer, Murder at 1600, Body Parts and Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, which was shot in Ottawa with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in 1990.

His favourite Hollywood momento is an autographed production photo of Marlon Brando from the 1989 feature The Freshman.

Trifunovich abandoned a promising career in radio when he took a posting in CBC television's production department, building sets and creating effects.

He was recently recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the people who hand out the Oscars, as one of the leading special effects men in the world by inviting him into their exclusive society.

"That was a real thrill," he says. "There's less than 50 of us in the whole world. Those are pretty amazing odds for a kid from Kitchener."


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