New Year, New opportunities :)

Happy New Year Everyone! Time to eat last year's challenges :)

2012 Promises to be a defining year for me as I create more opportunities and finish projects that have long been gestating. So let me share with you all what to look forward to;

1) I graduate from SAE (knock on wood) March 2012 and then I can start work on my Indy no-budget feature, Chase. (completely rewritten from the original sci-fi action thriller I mentioned months ago which is now retitled Hunter).

Chase will be a 80 minute feature film and I aim to start shooting April 2012, hopefully to be edited and available off my website Dec 2012/Jan 2013. It's the story of a wannabe action-star (yes, loosely based on an exaggerated version of me) and his road to honesty. I've written 5 fights into it and plenty of comedic gags as well as some heavy drama to give my first feature some heart and soul.

2) Also in March I hope to have also finished Phonecall, the action/thriller staring Nazim Khan and myself. I hope to enter this in some low key festivals and spread the word about my style of film. All i have left to shoot are the 2 fight scenes, a flashback and some pick up shots.

3)Also in March I will also enter JOB 23 into film festivals too, this drama/action film is what I have decided to turn in for my SAE definitive project, though I had wrestled with shooting Bouncer or Maria, I have decided that budget and cast/time frame wise this is the safest and easiest option.

4)In order to become the film star I am aiming to be I need to work on my acting as well as getting exposure on national television and more views on YouTube. I will be chasing as much extra work as possible as well as trying for ads, student films etc, but I am hoping working on my own films will give me the exposure I seek. I don't want to start my website without something to sell to a fanbase I can grow, so I'm working hard on my Actionstar webseries....

5)I aim on learning Nunchuku and Parkour properly this year so I can feature them with my Jeet Kune Do in my movies, as all 3 very exciting to watch onscreen in my personal view, I want to be able to execute them as perfectly as possible.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to have some more videos or photo's to share with you over the coming year as I chase my dream of becoming New Zealand's first action star :)

Thanks for your support even though as an action hero I'm only in the beginner stages :)

Catman/Dr Kill -News piece outtakes.

This is a compilation of some of the original news piece I had shot before abandoning the project. Enjoy it, the character might be used again in future ;)

SAE advertisement- my product choice? NZ Oranges lol

Assignment 13 of my film course was to create a 30 second commercial for a product of my choice, originally I was going to do one for martial arts shoes but then decided I should use this opportunity to avoid being pigeonholed as an action guy (which I am cos that's what excites me) and so, lo and behold, this is my art answer to the question. I took some photos throughout the shoot as a record of all the last minute action. I wrote, shot and edited this in the 2 days before the assignment was due and was happy with how it turned out considering I had no idea what to do....

A)This commercial, as part of the requirements,was marked on lighting, my studio is small and those lights, even dimmed, still lit up the room too well. Not too mention lifting that 15-20 Kg bag all the way down a hill from school and back again- with a camera case, isn't fun...In fact, I should have taken pictures lol, damn.

B) I cut up the remainder of an orange into the shape of New Zealand for a shot at the end. I Almost got NZ right, just not enough green JK

C) A finished shot (taken with digital camera, testing if my idea would work or not)

D)From behind the camera as i took the shot mentioned earlier

E) My star orange, Stunt doubles and Orange juice for the other versions of the ad which i added on the handed in DVD.

F) Me, holding the orange juice, in front of the lighting and camera set up shooting the last of it, only way I could get everything in the shot.

G) The finished Ad. You like? Let me know, and No, I'm not really a fan of Oranges. I just picked a fruit as it would be easy I thought. Apples are too common and Bananas would be too humorous for me so Orange it was :) Anyway, See you next post :)

Also here are the other 2 versions that didn't quite make it to 30 seconds, but I finished anyway to reward my efforts...

Batman: "Freeze! " MF: "that's 'Mister' Freeze!"

Hey guys/girls :)

Been watching batman cartoons lately, The Bruce Timm ones, not all these new age ones -the true dark original ones, really awesome, miss this sort of cartoon, ahead of it's time really. Growing up it influenced me alot so now that I'm older and can appreciate it more I tracked down a copy of the DVD and am reliving the claps, laughs and good times :) Batman's voice (bruce timm) and The Joker and his voice haven't been equaled since, in either cartoons or the movies. Just throwing that out there. I been a big batman film since I could talk lol. And still am, Bring on The Dark Knight rises next year :) Also Expendables 2 is gathering momentum, Jason Statham vs Scott adkins? (Fantastic, big fans of both)and Donnie yen vs Jetl i? (again, always cool -OATIC2 and Hero) Just hope they shoot the fights so you can see all the techniques and drama clearly, looks great, and since Chuck norris is in there, I wonder if there will be any chuck norris jokes? lol Love action movies soo much :)

In other news that probably relates more to this blog, This is the latest Sparring video from August when we tried out wrestling in the ring for the first time. Considering there is no 'give' in the floor, I think me and Richard were just running on adrenaline, needless to say, lots of bumps and bruises the next day :) Sort of damaged my confidence a bit, but I fought Matt last week and by second round back to my mobile ghosting self, will post that video when i get Wednesday night if Sifu remembers ;) Also shot a short film for the club, testing out some techniques, I just have to add sound effects for punches/kicks/nunchuks etc and i will upload that too :)

Above is the finished music Video that Nazim and I shot for a school assessment. For the 2 hour shoot time and edited during the week before the due date, I think we did pretty well. Anyway, i will blog more next time, about the long lasting Street fighter project (school work and our schedules making getting together and shooting this more difficult than we anticipated), Go girls, and your first look at Chase (the script I will finish tonight, then i get to play dress up to test out different looks for the main character ;) haha)

Anyway, Life is going good and all sorts of opportunities and challenges await :) Keep following, I'm sharing my Blue print :) Yeah, good or bad, smile and enjoy it, live for the moment. There's a reason for everything if you widen your perspectives....a couple favorite quotes....

"A smile confuses an approaching frown." and "So many languages in the world, and a smile speaks them all" and lastly ;

"A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give." ~Author Unknown

Our class 3D assignment, "Magicians Duel". Check it out ;)

In the story of 2 magicians with a score to settle, ones old-school, one's a new school street magician, who will win? The class wrote, filmed and edited the first minute or so then we each had to design our own 5 second minimum ending with a 3d element. Spoiler alert for most of their endings - Me or Keanu Die (not good for our self esteem guys lol), but not in mine, or Keanu's lol.

For the record, I don't have the patience, passion or drive to do 3D or After effects work ,and though I did it for this assignment and the many more to come, I do it with the knowledge one day I will be in the position to pay to have someone do it for me :) My respect goes to those who do these jobs and do them well, mine was only a small effort but drove me to the brink :) All those buttons, co-ordinates, variables and keyframes. Anyway, to watch my version click on the link below :)

In other news, I have written 3002 words now for my 1500 word essay (up from the 2,200 i had before watching Mission Impossible 2 again for the 5th time, still love it :D), I plan on asking my lecturer what bits to cut out, as i might have spread the net too wide for the question. Also, the Music Videos finished, now just doing the coloring and effects, and have just started training for the SF project so i can pull off my written choreography in October after that 'job' I hinted about for October, I go for a fitting on Tuesday, hopefully I will learn more about the part then. :) Til then, I'll leave you with a quote and Keep making those positive decisions!


Winner's Blueprint for Achievement;

BELIEVE while others are doubting.
PLAN while others are playing.
STUDY while others are sleeping.
DECIDE while others are delaying.
PREPARE while others are daydreaming.
BEGIN while others are procrastinating.
WORK while others are wishing.
SAVE while others are wasting.
LISTEN while others are talking.
SMILE while others are frowning.
COMMEND while others are criticizing.
PERSIST while others are quitting."

-William Arthur Ward

Mondays

Mondays is Finished. also joined by the 3d Project at the end of this week. then editing the music video assignment. Whoa, so much time in front of a computer screen. But I am training when I can, and writing when I can. Like I said at the start of this year. 2011 is the year to make things happen, and I am :)

Below is the link for Monday's. My short Action Film I shot last month out of opportunity and the chance to practice/learn muzzle flashes, blood etc. The film took under 3 hours to shoot and choreograph, yet editing and doing the effects was so damn time consuming and now I can see why people hire others when they helm movies, which is what I plan to do later when i shoot Chase later this year.

Anyway enjoy the short gritty detective action film I have concocted with the help of fellow SAE students Keanu Clyde (left) and Fergus Candy (right) who did awesome and probably helped because they got sucked into my enthusiasm for it, let me know what you think :)

Shortland Street, Christchurch and the mutating assignments

Hi! :) It's Been a while since my last entry but I haven't had any new footage available to share recently. I will have some new stuff for you next week so I will just spend this quick moment sharing what steps I have taken since my last blog on my chase for fame, fortune and respect.



First professional Job Late last month (and today, My second :D) as a Shortland Street Extra! :) Shortland Street is New Zealand's leading Drama. (soap) A Hospital Drama which screens 5 nights a week for 15 years and still going strong. With viewings in Britain, Australia, Fiji etc It is arguably our most successful local TV production. And I, finally, had the stars align themselves in order to get selected. (I am stoked with my talent agency right now)

As an Extra you are pretty much background talent, making the scene with the actors more believable. For example, A scene in a bar between a guy and girl wouldn't be as realistic without the crowd behind them, notice how none of passing crowd look at the camera like you see in your live reports on the evening news? That's because they are paid (or unpaid in student cases) to be there because like it or not, subconsciously as a viewer you notice these things, and the idea of film and television is to immerse you in their world and the more you can relate the easier the transition.

I can't share too much of how the crew works but what I can tell you is that it was eye opening and I am quite excited/scared of trying to get into this industry, with all the organized chaos and intimidating equipment I'm not sure I have the confidence yet to direct something of that magnitude. I'm a trigger happy guy who just aims his camera and shoots shit. I can't imagine sitting in the directors chair while camera machines glide around you, boom mics and lights swing above you, assistant directors and producers surround you and actors and actresses ask you questions all the while keeping your composure and trying to get all the magic shots before the deadline, *deep breath* well, The team sure work for their art that's for sure ;) The more I work the more my confidence will grow.

The Hospital scenes I did background work in was a)being pushed in a wheelchair, and b) Walking from one end to another through the doors holding flowers, then today (If you will opportunities into existence, they will come) We shot in the Bar, talking with other extras over drinks and overall learning heaps. My confidence is growing, especially since being around established actors and not acting like a puppy dog though these guys are local stars (in my head I'm like holy of holies wow, I have the biggest crush on that girl and she's here? In front of me? She's even more beautiful in person!!! on the outside? I'm playing it cool like it's just another day at the office- not easy) :) I mean, When I told my mom I got work on Shortland St (her Favorite favorite show) She was excited too, though you can imagine my expression when she asked if I played the drug addict last night, I told her they shoot 6-8 weeks in advance So no, but keep your eyes open in 6 weeks for me :).

In More good news, I might get a part in another NZ show but this time not as an extra, my wife is excited for me and supports me but for this one I'm actually quite scared but like the saying goes (well, the book) Feel the fear and do it anyway! so more news WHEN that test screening turns out OK in October :) (Positive things happen to those who attract it with positive thoughts)

Went to Christchurch for My nieces 3rd birthday party, Caught up with the whole family and wife and relaxed, also caught up with my music business partner. Was a really great weekend, was a little sad on the flight back to Aux but as the wife says, no guts, no glory. The next 4 weeks are going to be a pressure cooker, but with pressure comes diamonds ;)

I have (in order) the following assignments to complete; my 3d production, Music Video, Tv Commercial, Film Essay, News production and the assignments keep coming!!!! So yeah, that's what I'm fighting with over the coming month.

Also on the personal project side I have to finish editing 'Mondays' (my gun test short film) and start work on the street fighter production as my hair is almost the right length now...

And to finish up with, JKD is going awesome at the moment, Learning wrestling over the last couple of Sundays which has been great and I'm all over Little Idea (Siu lim tao- Wing Chun's first form) like a rash, Been watching alot of fights lately too so can't wait to get on the dance-floor again and kick it, anyway, It's been real, see you in a week or so ;)

Don't forget you can waste time all you want but you can't buy any more of it, so make every moment count and achieve something of importance to your goals and dreams once a day, routine is a cancer so do something once a day that helps you grow as a person ;) And Just in case you forgot what a KO looks like....

Take control of your circumstances, Don't let them control you :) Kick them in the face! :P

Tiger X Cobra - My first Aux Action/Comedy Short

That is a picture from Friday on which we shot some scenes for Nazim Khan's (a Classmate who shares similar interests and is funny too) SAE project 'Pass the line' in which he has cast me as the lead character 'Bill.' This was an awesome opportunity as you know from my films i only ever do action roles without much dialogue so if i am to be taken seriously the more drama pieces i can get and practice with the better i will be. In Theory anyway :) Anyway i talked to him about doing a short film on sunday if he and his friend who used to go to SAE as well Ruchir and they were both keen so that night i wrote a script for an intended web series called TigerXcobra.

I haven't finished any films since moving up here to Auckland so I was looking forward to shooting this. After watching Wu Xia on Saturday i spent most of the night changing the script and story boarding it for the Sunday shoot. I also spent it swearing at the Streetfighter IV boss 'Seth' all night but that's a different story and in the coming month you will figure out why i'm playing it so much right now. Anyway, Sunday came around and I met up with Nazim and Ruchir outside Nazim's place. We shot it over about 4 hours due to much joking around at the locations and stuffing up our lines but the footage we walked away with was awesome and we will digitize them tomorrow, so god willing the film should be on my youtube channel at the end of the week. Some pics from our Exploits are below :) next time i hope to be able to get my hands on some fake guns so i can play with some after effects, but for now enjoy the buddy action/comedy i have written... see you next week :)

TIGER (above) as played by Ruchir Joshi, is the brawn of the team, He is forever doing the legwork and was up for a promotion when COBRA joined the team, The position of Chief of police is open again, he just prays his new partner doesn't screw it up, cos the pay sucks and he really can't be stuffed running after crooks all the time....A desk job is his main goal....

COBRA played by Nazim, is a new detective on the streets of Auckland, The Brains of the team he uses his skills to get out of work wherever possible, slacker is what most people call him, Hero is what he prefers...

X is the Main villain played by me, A Good guy by nature and a Bad guy by choice, X (his real name isn't known) is wanted on various crime sprees and for breaking the law. Somehow he always escapes from crown custody and the team is always stuck with the short straw of getting him back. The Police are thinking of using him as a source for information on key players in the local black market but they need to bring him in to see if they can get him to bend to their will.

STAY TUNED til next week when i should have a link to the finished video :) below are some fun shots we took while filming....

The new A-team :) TigerXcobra

Now I Have shot my first Short Film in Auckland :)

I directed my student film project this weekend, 'Everyone's a Loser When It Comes to Love'.

DAY 1- Drama Scenes at the Auckland Domain. Where the Detective begs for Julia's forgiveness.

My Actor (Lee Ah Yen, an actor who is definately going places) and Actress (Safaa Humadi, an actress who though it was her first time really impressed me with her skills and manner) were both really talented and it didn't help that i had been nervous all week but we managed to get all the scenes done on the day which was great. From the moment we all met and went through the script there was some real chemistry and its to their credit that the footage i walked away with looked fantastic. Saf was very emotional ( i dont know how she pulled that off i felt guilty even though she wasnt really crying, it was just acting lol) and Lee responded with the same intensity which really made the scenes dramatic and work, then after i said cut! they would both crack up laughing and joke around, man, professionals, i find it hard keeping a straight face and i'm BEHIND the camera!


Was a very fun afternoon. I could have done without the helicopters chilling overhead and the slow drivers going through the shot but it is a public place so thats the risk. After this shoot i said to myself i will secure closed locations as i believe it would be easier, however look at all those free extras in the scene lol. Set Photo is below and was taken by a kind mother who sat with her 2 kids in the park having a picnic while i had my actors have a domestic fight in public haha awkward but this is the career i want right?

DAY 2- Action Scene at an Abandoned area with awesome look for our drug dealer and detective fight.

I had 2 Locations in mind, 1) A rooftop which i knew was empty on sundays though i couldn't ask for permission and 2) an abandoned area close to my house, i knew it looked cool but i was worried if it was safe to shoot there as i knew homeless people might be around due to alcohol dirty beds and grafitti everywhere. I thought hell, its the day time and it looks good plus theres 3 martial artists on set so i didnt think there would be any trouble if any one wanted to make trouble, here are a couple pics i had Lee take of me and Sam below in the location.

So Today was Fight Day, My cameraman bailed on me last night and my back up camera man couldnt say yes or no. I originally planned to fight Lee as the character Kevin however i changed to plan C and went to a friend of mine, Sam Jing and asked if he could play my character and i would shoot the scene as well as choreographing it, thank fully he said yes and after you see the footage in a month's time you will agree.

For his first time he was awesome and Lee helped alot with bringing that out, This was definately Lee's time to shine since I had choreographed some cool scenes and they pulled them off which was great (punch combos etc). Lee helped with bringing my drawings and ideas to life and showed me some cool ideas of his own which we chucked in there, The emotion and Intensity of this scene was incredible and probably the best fight scene I've directed yet! (i say that which each action film i do though lol, wait til you see King Style ;) haha) Below are photos we took after the scene was finished.

This scene also had the most pressure when it came to shooting, turns out there were homeless people living upstairs and our noise sort of rattled them out, but like i said we were friendly anyway so they just did their thing, A couple stood around and watched which was nervewracking. I was hoping they wouldnt get it confused for a real fight and start something but most got bored and left. The first one showed up out of nowwhere like 'he wasn't there before!' (turns out there was a side door we didnt see that everyone came down from upstairs from). Lee even gave the first one his lunch- what a nice guy man.

The other incident was that not only did we wake whoever was hiding upstairs but somebody called the Police on us! The cops showed up in the middle of one of the fight scenes when i had my back turned to them, i turned around and saw them and the one in charge smiled to his partner then to us and said "You're lucky, I almost tasered you". I said "Sorry I tried to get permission to shoot here but couldnt figure out who to ask" and then the cop said "You know there is some rough people around here right?" and I'm like "Yeah but we talked to a couple and they didnt mind, (Lee chipped in saying he gave someone his lunch lol) did someone complain?" then he's like "Yeah somebody called up and heard lots of shouting and fighting sounds so called us in" "They can hear us?" "We can hear you from the street" so i finished off with "Ok, whoops sorry, we'll keep it down, we'll just finish up" then they left. And we finished so a special thanks to Lee and Sam, sorry to put you through all that haha but the footage we walked away with was worth it. Promise :) All in all when it comes to my series or next short film I'll be sure to cast them, and this time hope to act with them too :)

In other news currently bumping on my sound radar is Eminem and Royce's Bad meets evil project, years after they started with classic tracks like scary movies, Nuttin to do etc the time is right again for them to collab after Royce and his group of super emcees Slaughterhouse were signed to shady records. This Album is Awesome, loving all the tracks! The weakest of them is lighters, hardout hiphop with the top lyricists in the game and then to hear his Bruno Mars pop voice show up? kinda takes you out the zone for a minute but yeah, 9.5 out of 10, this album is a definate must have :) anyway til the next entry, have a good week :)

The secret of comedy is believability

<---Wednesday's Shoot for school was fun :)

The Secret of good comedy is believability, jokes coming out of the characters situations and reactions, good pacing as well as writing gags with detail, anyway thats what my research is telling me. I'm still rewriting my episodes for Ivy Investigation. I'm gonna research props (for my character at least) tommorrow and i will take some photos and post them here, i wanted to make my character socially awkward but he knows martial arts. Thing is martial arts over time makes someone confident (speaking from experience) so now i have changed the character (which is why i'm rewriting the episodes) so Ken is instead a loudmouth (confident to the extreme) and doesnt show much tact hence his lack of friends apart from Anna (the other lead) who is quite the alpha female so shes always the leader when it comes to the team. I dont know. I'm working on the believability behind their friendship, its not as easy as creating the characters themselves :) Who knew writing comedy isn't all that funny ;)

In other news we have finished filming the majority of our scenes for our class project at school around Auckland and i have posted some of the pictures that my classmates took during the shooting (which was great!), next week we will start adding the 3D elements and special effects but so far it looks worth it, plus its great to be directed by other people and felt pretty encouraging. Was a very fun week :) See you next week when i report on how shooting 'Everyones a Loser...' went after it wraps on Sunday night :) (PS. I am the hooded one in the pix below, the other actor was awesome too, the trenchcoat suited his old school magician character against my street magician version :D)