Ninja Knives and scrapyards -Timefish and Emperor News

TimeFish

Now that the Nunchaku climax scene (feat Chris above) has been edited I had time to move on to attempt to fill the gaps of my short film, I shot some interiors on Friday with the 'fish' and the first fight scene with Knifegirl played by Izzy on Saturday, she looks the part, no?

She did great for he second time acting and I feel you guys will really enjoy her scene once you see it :) Nazim was the cameraman for the day and as with all my shoots, here's a couple snaps to commemorate a wrap. Guarantee all of us get famous one day, so some good pics to keep ;)

The Lighter

Nazims end of year school project stars 2 characters who bump into each other late at night and all is not what it first appears to be. I play adam and again I feel it's shot nice and shows something a little different from the normal action scenes I enjoy. We shot a small scene at his place Saturday night and the final image of the film is my favorite, when it's released I'm sure you'll agree :)

Emperor, Day 5
And today, Sunday I had a 5.30am call time down south in Otahuhu to shoot another convoy scene for Emperor. Today we shot it in a metal scrapyard and it was really exciting, seeing all the claw monsters pick up scraps of steel, swing it to the next pile and drop it.

A fun 10 hour day which is much better than the 14 we did last time. On Thursday at our Manakau shoot we wrapped with a 11.15pm finish and with no public transport (last train 9.38) I was forced to walk home through Mangere at 3am where I ran into a guy with a bottle in his hand, some islander about the same size as me but thicker, 21, paul/bolo whatever he called himself. Anyway, we talked then he asked me for shit (whatchu got?) and I said all i had was my phone (even though I had a camera, wallet full of cash, and other valuables in my bag). I knew it had taken a turn for the worse (I've been in this situation before in Hornby back home but got out of it without the need for violence - always seems to be the low socio-economic areas that have foolish guys like this) and I was thinking of how I should handle it. I know martial arts but it doesn't mean I can strike people if I feel threatened.

No, I wasn't going to hit him, I'd talk him out of this situation and not risk going to court because I had 'attacked' him. He told me 'This is south side bitch' I told him, 'I don't give a f*** if it's southside or m****f***** Northshore, my phone is worth 40 bucks and he's better off stealing someone else's, I got nothing, why else would I be walking from Manukau to Auckland at 3am if I had cash for otherwise? Did he want to get arrested for something as cheap as that? I told him I had met people released from prison who were saying how bad it was and the worse it gets and that he should think twice before going down this road, he's young, get a job, save some cash and do everything right. He wasn't budging. I looked around to see if anyone was around and and as soon as I started to look back at him the coward swung a bottle into my cheek and by the time i got up he had taken my phone and run off. No blood, just a swollen cheek and a shock. I looked around but of course the blow knocked my glasses off and I couldn't see anything in the the pitch black darkness. I searched for my glasses for 10 minutes than gave up the hopeless search. Coward never came back. I was hoping he would so we could fight fair if that's what he really wanted but he didn't, so I carried on up the road, glassesless and phoneless.

So no phone or glasses in the middle of night. Over half a city away from Home with No map, and wow. What a mission to get home! Anyway got stuck on the motorway, got a lift from a nice islander and then got a taxi from Hillsborough to home from another Samoan who's son was going to go to SAE too this year.as if it's god's way of telling me they aren't all like that and they're not. I've met heaps of smart Samoans who aren't into gang culture.

Anyway, that no hoper aside, I enjoyed my work this week on Emperor. Talked to many people during the waiting period, other extras who share what work and experience they've had on Spartacus, shorty and ads etc and talked other martial artists about the stunt game, MMA and my aspirations. I've talked to prop makers and spent time munching on the food! Today at the scrapyard we had homemade burgers of our choice and Neapolitan ice cream with lollies on top for lunch. Eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, and toast for breakfast with Ribena. Yum :)

My favorite part of today was driving through the yard during a crane shot. I love crane shots, I look forward to seeing the finished film and fingers crossed for more next week.

Weekend conclusion.
Well, since I finished the shoot late today I didn't have a chance to film the middle action chunk which is basically a foot chase through city centre ended with a small fight on the roof of a tall building, I'll be shooting that tomorrow morning. Next week is all revision for our big exam on Thursday and of course. All our assignments are due on Saturday. I'm hoping to get new glasses on Saturday because I'm dying to watch Killer elite still, because I can't yet cos I can't see!

Also saw Game at Henderson Burger King, so cool but sucked cos my vision sucks without glasses, but no mistake it was him rollign with a crew that size and th LA star tattoo on his face. Gutted i missed the concert this year cos of cash issues but happy that since I moved to Auckland I been bumping into local or foreign celebrities more often. Surround yourself with likeminded people is the key to success, which is why I spend time with up and coming filmmakers/ actors/actresses and martial artists. Keeping the inspiration flowing.

Oh Time fish, what a mission. I might ask my course co-coordinator for an extension. Because there is no way I can make the deadline with these challenges. I'd rather hand it in a week late with points deducted with a decent effort then a half assed flick hastily edited together because of a deadline.

Bring on starting Chase and the end of my school year :)

Timefish -Climax fight BTS

OK, Timefish. Time is ticking but I managed to shoot a scene over the weekend. So now I have nailed my opening scenes and my final scene. Below is a screenshot of what I'm up to in editing the climax fight. We rushed the shoot a bit but I think it looks good. (Can't wait to shoot Chase now with all this nunchuk experience. :) haha) I'm thinking about sharing a quick teaser for Timefish next week so stay tuned for that :)

And below is a pic we took after the shoot to commemorate the day :)
(from left) Chris Zhang, me, Nazim Kahn :)

It was a hot day which made it difficult to choreograph a fight in a hot humid hoodie but me and Chris managed a somewhat comprehensive fight scene. Lots of continuity errors to do with paperwork lying around and a pen disappearing from my project but it's only a school assignment so when I do Chase at least I know to keep an eye on that sort of thing.

I'm hoping to shoot the Parkour Chase on Friday and the Knifegirl break in on Saturday, and fit all this in with acting in Nazim's film 'The lighter', My emperor shoots (this Thursday and Sunday), plugging holes in my script and trying to stay fit (i keep skipping training cos of school and work), it's not easy to follow your dream but as long as you do one thing at a time you can't go wrong :)

TimeFish BTS: 1# Footchase (formerly actionstar)

Video has been edited now, check it out to see how I prepped for the footchase through Albert park for TimeFish :)

TimeFish Day 2/Emperor Day 2

Hi Folks, finished my second day as a military extra on Emperor the day before yesterday and no more work on the set til Tuesday, now I'm really excited to finish my course so I can chase the opportunities the other extras have been telling me about, like Spartacus and Power rangers lol. Would be awesome :) Anyway, no time to waste! All rockets go on TimeFish!

I was dying to see Killer Elite since it finally made it to theaters here in NZ. (6 months later than the states which sucks) But I'm looking forward to Payday next week so I can finally check it out :)

So future excitement aside, I welcome you to TimeFish.
My short HK action film for my end of year project.

Shot exterior shots for Day 1, and for Day 2 (yesterday) it's inside Jack's apartment as he argues with his girlfriend Elena (played by Victoria). It was a fun shoot, Here's a shot of my room all ready to shoot and a couple screen shots from the film. Day 3 tomorrow involves some parkour scenes and Day 4 we shoot the climatic fight scene :)

So I finished the rough edit of the scene tonight at school and it looks good considering the challenges (no room for lighting or expanded camera angles) and also I spent today traveling to St lukes to buy myself a fish and a stunt double. But so pricey, so next week I hope to get it even though it's like another nail in the coffin of TimeFish, (hard to cast this plus my idea people are unavailable or injured (good news, chris might be healed my sunday) so I might play parkour guy too lol) Still, musn't give up, will get it all finished next week, wife promises to take care of the fish after I'm done using it's good looks lol.

I went to purchase an aquatic beast...

But came home with Alpha Protocol instead.
(my fav game next to DOA4 :) I'm hoping to make a movie based on it in the near future)

Half the movie needed that fish! What are you doing Matt?!

Playing Xbox and shooting bad guys ;)

see you in a day or so :)

Day 1 on the set of a hollywood film. :)

Emperor. Day 1 Shooting.

I took the train late Thursday afternoon from Britomart to the penrose station which was near the location of the shoot. I walked from the station to base camp, applying suntan lotion in spades, ha, No thrill seeking for Matt today lol. After a 15 minute walk I arrived. My first Hollywood set. :D I was excited, and nervous as. I didn't want to stuff up whatever it is I was to be doing (cos they always tell you at the last minute) and cost the production hundreds of bucks. The Basecamp was a leased field and was covered with trucks/motorhomes/trailers/ and tents. I signed in, 3 times. which makes sense cos it's at least 3 or 4 times bigger than anything I've done before (that's what she said jk).

The first thing you notice is how many people there are, Actors, crew, extras, catering, make up, costume, drivers, security, assistants, assistants to the assistants, its incredible! I found out what number I was (in the 600's) and went to costume and put on my appropriate soldier gear. Which of course, fit perfectly, no dragging my shoes during drills today :) After gearing up with my pants/ shirt/ boots and navy type hat I got lead by a young woman through the throng to one of the many make up trailers which was busy, so I ended up sitting in the main tent with the other crew/extras/actors.

There's a book I'm reading called Zen in the martial arts by John Hyam. So I read a little to kill the time. Did you know Bruce lee's right leg was an inch shorter than his left leg? which is why he could kick as fast with his right? You learn something new everyday :)

She said before she left I could eat if I want,Ii got tired of waiting so decided to go for it and test out the food. Had a panini and a corn fritter. and water. Jeez was it was hot today...

Got into make up. I have no hair basically but they still put some product in for the hell of it. The rest of it was a pad full of sunblock. lol. One of the things they always stress on this set is health safety, even when walking around between tents. Wow. I'm going to enjoy my time here. :)

We waited for a couple of hours before we got called up to be ready. There is so much waiting on a film set it's not funny. Waiting for sets to be built up and broken down, cameras to be set, lights to be set etc. Of today I spent maybe 3 hours on the set and 9 hours in between. If I could make my living this way I would :) I feel sorry for the crew though, one of my fellow extras told me they did a 17 hour day a couple days ago. Intense man. If the work doesn't kill you the waiting will ;) ...anyways,

We lined up and got broken down, grease was applied to our clothes to make 'em look worn and sweaty cos of the Japanese sun and our brand new shoes were sandpapered in the creases to look scuffed.

Then we marched up the road to the set. Our squad leader gave us our weapons again and we got in formation and revised the drills, about face, present arms, port arms etc. Was happy to know I wasn't as rusty as I feared. Then we lined up next to these trucks which were genuine 1940's vehicles. As a Sgt, I got to ride shotgun in one of the trucks as we drove through the set.

There's a bit of an adrenaline rush as you hear the director start enthusiastically yelling through the walkie talkie, 'rolling, set! background! action!!!', Then the rev of the old school GMC truck roaring into life and the scene coming to life for the cameras. The refugee's were so well made up that I didn't need to act shocked at all because I literally was. War man. SMH. There's a saying; Fighting for peace is like F*cking for virginity. Pointless. Horrible. But this is depicting the realities of occupation so yeah...just do my job and move up the food chain, can't save the world on my wage lol

I got cooking spray or something like it smeared around my forehead, near my ears and around my neck. Sweat for the camera. Looked good too. We went through the scene a couple times for continuity and camera changes then we had a refreshment break. Then as they took down the set we waited from about 6pm until 9pm when we marched back to base camp for Lunch. While waiting I remembered why it was I was doing something that literally terrifies me and puts me out of my comfort zone. Us extras all shared our views on the industry, our previous work on shortland st, spartacus etc, what to do to break in, pay rates for certain acts, I also learnt alot of my bootcamp pals had martial art backgrounds too which meant I had something in common to talk and joke about. One had been in the army and I learnt all about that too. I'd love to do an SAS movie one day. Our army is bad ass.

'Lunch' was at 10 pm lol. Nasi Goreng, calamari, biryani rice, strawberries, watermelon, potato salad. Like I said a couple posts back. Healthy food only. Was awesome :) Yum.

After Tea we chilled abit, talked about the NZ boxing scene and how bad the SBW fight makes u s(NZ boxing) look to the world. I like the guy but he doesn't keep his hands up and his footwork's a mess and, I don't want to sound critical but as he's a NZ champion (now) I hope he improves his opponents, and therefore himself. Like Revolver's number one quote, "The Smarter the opponent the smarter you are"

By now it was really dark outside, midnight. and was quite hard running in the dark to the set. Everypne by now was in good spirits and eager to get home. Jokes abound from some of the guys regarding the calamari, "are you sure that thing was dead before you ate it?" "well if it's still alive it ain't gonna enjoy how it's coming out" lol. good times.

Talked to another of the guys while they set up the lead truck. He'd done heaps in the 3 years he was doing it, and got to do a scene with Matthew Fox a couple days ago. wow, I told him. He said his first job was Yogi bear, since then he's done numerous things. I can't wait to see what I can end up doing :)

The Lead Ute had giant lights set up on it and the camera too the ute would tow the lead jeep in the scene. It was fantastic to see this crew in action, I was in awe at how fast they were doing things. It was after midnight and there were at least a hundred people out there on set. At least today had a nice hot summer feel to it.

We Revved up the trucks and took off through a narrow tunnel with refugees in it. It was tight squeeze but it's such a rush being a truck that loud, and in army colors. Medal of Honor in Real life :)

After 4 or 5 runs we were done, we marched back, got changed and then signed out. Another day at the office :)

Being a broke student, I have to accept certain facts. A) I can't afford a car or a taxi. and B) there's no public transport on a thursday at 2am. But I was happy with my day and the experience of being on a hollywood film set. if a 12 hour day won't kill me, then a 2 hour 13k walk home from Penrose wouldn't either.

I go back in a couple days. I can't wait. :)

TimeFish

Shot the first day of 4 or 5 shooting days today. Just exterior shots. THe special effect I did for the first scene of the film will crack you up. But time is of the essence. I have 2 weeks to shoot, cut and edit this little monster. I shoot with Victoria tomorrow. The pic I shared yesterday in the storyboard.

Bought some props today, Jack's top, Knife girl's knife. Just have to go fishing when I get paid next. (for the fish at animates petstore, and a stunt double :P)

Practicing nunchuks. I know some basics, I hope the fight turn's out good :)

Life
Some of the DVDs I have recently aquired. :)

I've sorted out that we're moving out of our pad in April, so I took some posters down and now there are only 2 walls with our posters on them :) The future looks good, wife has a job and I kinda do. haha...Anyway, It's 2 am, I was supposed to sleep about 3 hours ago but I'll never find time after tonight to write this with the shooting for my school project and emperor coming up so count yourself lucky I did :) See you round ;)

What's up February?

February, we meet again. Last year I took the wife out to an Italian restaurant for valentines and 8 days later the city was decimated by a huge earthquake. Thank goodness it didn't happen when we were in the middle of it. Also I was supposed to be driving through city center to get to work at that time but that day for some reason I stayed later so I could watch a couple more episodes of Gantz, maybe anime saved me from a mistake? maybe I'm stretching, anyway, flash forward. It's 2012, I've moved to Auckland and have lived here happily for almost a year. The wife is here now and life good :) even though this week is the fourth time in our life that we've hit rock bottom (no savings, no forthcoming income, 12 bucks in the bank til payday which covers the rent/bills/food...) But this is also the LAST time so I'm not so heartbroken now. Wife starts her job next week, I'll get paid for my extra work soon and my course is almost finished so I can get a job finally!

My plans for this month include starting TIMEFISH, shooting emperor, finishing my course and finding a job :) So expect posts of that nature ;)

Me and the wife went to Chinese New Year at Albert Park, so I thought I may as well share some photos.

I was supposed to be shooting my Definative project 'TimeFish' for school over the weekend, unfortunately all the equipment was booked out. I'm 2 and half weeks out from the due date and I haven't shot a single frame of the 15 minute film. then I still have to cut, score and render it. Anyway, below are 2 screenshots I sent my course co-ordinator since I couldn't check in yesterday due to my job (which I will blog about tomorrow). This shows the work on TimeFish I have done, pretty much just the script/storyboard and titles.

Ebay is my new friend, back when I had money anyway I ordered a couple 'hard to get in NZ' DVDs, I will share them with you once I get them (edit: I have them all now, just got to take the photo)

I'm such a fan of Rina Takeda (her second feature below; Karate Girl) She is serious in her films but off camera is so fun and cute lol, would love to cast her in a film someday, I love this kick she does. She points to the ground and swings low then high in one go, very good form, another one she goes to kick, grabs the ankle with a dramatic pause then unleashes a downward snap kick. Bam, kill count= 1. Those who have seen High kick girl (hr debut) will know what I mean, Krate girl was better directed with a better story in my opinion. The fight scenes were awesome! Anyway I ordered her third film kunoichi from the UK which I look forward to watching later tonight :P

So yeah thanks for reading, tommorrow I'll share my news of my first day working on a big budget film set (still tired fro the long day you see) as well as photos of my other exploits I've been up to. I'm confident that I will one day become an actor/director. Keep reading my blogs to see how I do it ;)

"Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have." -anon