Timefish is here! The film and Behind the scenes :)

So yeah, no real fish, no real in depth story, no time! Turned out OK anyway, a quick fun comic action film... I hope you enjoy it :)

Movie

Out takes

Behind the Fights

So yeah, that's it for the SAE era of Matt Kinsman lol. Apart from a ton of continuity errors (pens and script in my back pocket in most scenes and the stair number (not edited since no access to after effects when I needed it) The short film turned out OK, I hope you liked it :)

Dvds finished, Emperor wrapped, Back to work :)

Brief Blog Today, Finished my last day of Emperor last night (shooting wraps in NZ and they go to Japan for a couple days) and I took today for what it was; the weekend :) I Watched The Raid (which you should go see cos it's very rare that a movie of this genre and talent is seen on a cinema screen and not straight to DVD like Merantau was) Tomorrow I can start to train again, after like 6 weeks off and then start sussing out a job/house/camera/new project :) Anyway, wrap party tomorrow night and a short script to finish, in the mean time, check out some pics of the last couple days below :)

Timefish DVDs all done and printed for the cast, Youtube upload on Sunday night/monday am :)


Got this book from Denny when I told him I study JKD said he found it on one of his jobs and though of me, awesome book I hope to study this week, He's a cool extra from Emperor who I am working on working with in the future as he's built like a tank and is a semi-pro mma fighter on the side, just an all around nice guy really ;)

Saw the Raid today :) Wife took a photo then she tried to break my arm lik Iko in the movie, I guess an hour and a half of broken arms, legs, crushed heads, stabbings, slicing, broken spines and bullets in the face will do crazy things to your state of mind lol Anyway for a clip from the movie check out the special clip below :)

Long days at the office (Emperor shoot and Takara commercial)

What a busy weekend! Saturday I spent shooting emperor and Sunday I spent on a Japanese Commercial.

Saturday; Emperor.

We shot Emperor at Whenuapai Airfield this weekend for what will serve as Atsugi Airport, here are a couple pics that the NZ herald took when they visited the first bit of the shoot. In the first photo take notice of the truck at the very back, when that shoots in the movie I will be in the passenger side with my arm out when the film shows those convoy scenes. That pic was taken during second unit shooting when I wasn't there. It was a really fun day apart from the biting wind, but to see that many people in army gear was cool. And I look forward to tomorrow :)

Go Team America ;)

Seeing those cam's move across the tracks is cool, so much better than
our Run-with-the-camera-like-a-crab shots ;)

The Man in all green with the hand on the head is Our Sgt, the military advisor for the film. Really nice guy, told me he only had an hour of sleep before they started work. But it's paying off, all of us look the part :)

(link to article is http://www.nzherald.co.nz/defence/news/image.cfm?c_id=32&gal_objectid=10792850&gallery_id=124577#8745253 )

Sunday; Takara commercial.

When I got home from shooting Emperor on Saturday Night I had a text from my agent wondering if I was keen to take part as en extra for a Japanese commercial and being in a crowd. Of course, up for any opportunity to see the film game work and get my experience up. It wasn't hard material, just cheering, gasping and clapping on cue. But very interesting to see how a Japanese crew and a largely freelance NZ crew get along and communicate. I had alot of ideas how to shoot my film come May from working with these guys.

I was told it would be a 3.30pm to 11.30 pm shoot, but we ended up finishing at 5.30 in the morning. So the first 7 hours was just waiting around. I finished my George clooney book and played through my MP3 playlist twice. I got good at my cellphone game too lol. Anyway after a long shoot and a run home at 6 am in the wet I got home at 6.20am and chilled on the internet till wife was ready to work and take her to the train station, so today (Monday) has been basically about catching up on the missed sleep of the weekend. Haven't done a 14 hour shoot in a while, I have got to shoot tomorrow at the studio set for Emperor so the week doesn't stop just yet :) Shootings due to finish March 24 so then after that I can try hunt for a paying job to fund my lifestyle and my own movie :)

On wife's payday I can print off the DVD/DVD covers for Timefish so my next post will be the Timefish movie :) I have seen other films from my class which were pretty good but none with action yet so I hope they like mine ;)

Phonecall - Haste Edit

As I start to begin work on pre-production for Chase, I'm uploading all finished work. Time fish will be uploaded next week after i have given the DVD to the cast involved. And Phonecall I have uploaded today, which you can click on below. I might rewrite and reshoot it next year sometime as i think I can squeeze out a feature from that idea once i fill out the character's more. But in the meantime, check it out and see the product of our work last year :)

Tetris, the pieces start to fall into place :) (Shortland St & The Lighter news)

Timefish has been handed in scars and all, done more extra work on Emperor this week and have started looking for jobs/houses. Finally the Shortland St work I did in January aired, remember the post about my back? Well here I am (snapshots at end of blog) maybe The one where I talk to the girl was cut or next episode? We'll see I guess.

Nazim also gave me a copy of 'The Lighter' DVD today. It's fantastic! As soon as I get a you tube link I will share it with you guys. I'm so nerdy in this short film, watching me on screen felt foreign lol. Great directing/ editing and score by Nazim...I can't wait for you guys to see it....

Anyway in between hunting and packing I took some pics below. And until I have Timefish ready for you guys, see you when I see you ;)

Taking a pic, oblivious that my wife is a ninja ;)

Packing to move out in a couple of weeks. This is only half of my DVDs.
wow. I can see why I'm broke lol.


Tonight's Shortland Street screenshots.
(trust me, it's me, My elbow was seen by thousands lol)




to be continued (I hope :D )

Finally, it's over....

Hi Guys,

It's March now, a full year since I started with this blog. Over the year I've finished my course (graduate hopefully next month), lived and immersed myself in Auckland, Studied Jeet Kune Do and nunchuku, helped the wife move up here and settle down, filmed numerous shortfilms meeting new up and coming actors/actresses, and did some professional work in the film industry as an extra meeting local NZ film celebrities as well as getting work on emperor and meeting Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones lol! Anyway, the journey doesn't end here, life goes on! so it's time to move out of our student city apartment into the suburbs, get a real job to save for a budget and equipment and at night start working on a festival feature to try get my name/brand out there....but let's not get ahead of ourselves, let me share with you the lowdown this week.

Killer Elite!!
Finally saw it on the last day of the showing at cinemas, fantastic!!! Only a couple people in cinema so could enjoy and immerse myself in it :) Clive owen and Jason's chemistry was awesome! Dominic Purcell nailed his aussie character and the movies pacing of twists and turns was great, best action movie I seen all year, adrenaline racing at some points during the fight/chase scenes and surprise kills, also some great one liners, can't wait to watch 10/10 film again on DVD :) Hope to be like Statham one day, I've enjoyed all of his films so far :) Clive was good in this as usual, want to watch shoot em up again now :)

The Lighter.

Below are a couple screenshots from Nazim's short film 'The Lighter' which I star in, I look forward to seeing the finished project soon, he's handed it in and I hope to hand in my own project tomorrow, as you can see below night lighting is always so cool so hoping to film my next short flick at night :)

Timefish.

In regards to Timefish, what a wonderful (sic) week we have had! I cut, zoomed in and out, deleting, ctrl z'd, pasted special sound files and exported exported and exported again. No Final cut, vegas, avid, premier, after effects or anything with more than one audio channel, no budget, an desperate as I was, I couldn't find a crack that worked either. Time was running out so the whole project had to be edited in windows movie maker and layered in something called power director, but it's finished, it's finished! Thank god, Timefish was and is literally, the project that never ends.
I had to score it with proper music from Hanna, Legend of the fist etc when I had originally planned to compose it myself. But whatevs, Next project, I'll do it and enter into festivals. I'll share this with you and the world very soon, maybe next week sometime, ill take ages to upload with this snail interwebs we got here. Anyway, here's the Cover, cool and crude (rushed the masking cos due next day, however thanks to macs and PC hatecrimes I'm not handing in the finished DVD til tomorrow...)

Emperor

Filmed inside of a set aeroplane this week. and got to sit opposite Matthew fox and see Tommy Lee Jones do his thing, very intense professional man, great to see him work ;) During off time us extras sat in the studio next door and talked about global warming, politics, film industry, girls and relationships, etc, fun and this really is some of the highlights of working as an extra is meeting with people you normally wouldn't and chilling out for a couple hours.
Then when we got on set for shooting there were so many plane jokes by the crew when they went down the isle prepping for the next shot, eg, chiken or fish? chicken or fish? and, water? and don't forget your seatbelts etc, that and the hundred schwarzeneggar one liners everyone was doing during breaks between shooting. especially when the 2 merged and a guy would ask ,"chicken or fish?" for the hundreth time and somebody would chime in in an arnie voice, "I don't eat meat, where's the kosher meal?" "sorry, no kosher" "oh fuck. (turns to us) get to the chopper" lol. fun day.

Life..

well now (as of 10 minutes ago) The DVD is burned and I can hand it in tomorrow, I've got to get a nice 9-5 job so I can bring home the bacon while I chase my film aspirations. I talked to WINZ the other day as my course is finished so no more student allowance, they said you have to attend a seminar to go on the benefit while seeking work, one of the first thing she said when we sat down was 'congratulations, you are now employed by the New Zealand government.' my little boy dreams of being spy suddenly lit up, it was a funny moment. haha.
Anyways, aim to get a job before the end of the month anyway cos that's when emperor finishes and I don't have to commit to anything. I'm quietly confident I can get something, my history is pretty diverse. Videoshop retail work, Karate salesman, Storeman, whats next for Matt? we'll find out soon :)

P.S saw Safe house last night, very cool movie, ryan vs denzel fight was the best fight scene in that movie I think. Very cool :)

This week I can get some rest finally :)

Timefish Teaser trailer now online!

Here's the Timefish Teaser as promised yesterday, enjoy! :)

School is politically correctly over!! (not in real life, just on paper)

What a crazy week! I feel like cape horn! ,to understand what I mean I've found a quote for you from victory-cruises.com, "There are four or five places all over the world in the presence of which man feels perturbed, surrounded as they are by a perennial mystical aura of spirituality. If, as it is the case of Cape Horn, they are the craved destination, the obliged passage, the insuperable difficulty, everything takes the aspect and the importance of the sanctuary and of the unconsciously supernatural place. After all, its positioning of 55°56' south and 67°19' west, the particular orthographic formation and the intensity of atmospheric phenomena which surround it, turn Cape Horn unique and matchless. Cape Horn, loved and hated by seamen over the last four hundred years."

Cape horn is at the bottom tip of the South America and where the oceans squeeze past the cape and Antarctica, a tremendous force of so much water at once. The waves are Hollywood-esque. Just like I felt with so many things having to be finished by the end of this week, my exam, my film, Nazim's film, juggling it with emperor duties, looking for a new place, bills etc...So many different things going on, so I just wanted to share them with you, day by day quickly :) (and remind myself in the future when I look back on this moment. :D )

But first, there's nothing like a good book right? I'm into spies, burn notice is my favorite TV series, and during my emperor shoots I've heard many things about world war 2 which re-ignited my curiosity in the matter. I stumbled across Agent 146 by Erich Gimpel in the biography section and couldn't put it down, if you come across it, do read it :) It's a great read, one of the things I learnt was take 3 different taxi's to a destination, then walk half a K to it yourself, and the other thing I learnt is when you feel you are being tailed but don't want them to know you know by looking at them, stop in front of a storefront window, they will have to pass you, and once they do check the reflection for your stalkers face. Lots of tips like that, very cool :) also the German saying, "Speech is silver, silence is golden". :) Erich drops inside knowledge of Alcatraz and the Atomic bomb, movie material some day maybe :) Anyway, read it if you come across it. Also a manga called Jiro tanaguchi, about a 45 yr old man who time travels and gets to live his teenage life again with the knowledge he has today...really good books, makes me think what I would do in those situations, life is a product of choice after all :)

Anyway, the week :) ....

MONDAY 27 Feb
This morning we shot the second half of the footchase scene for Timefish, which was my fight on the rooftop with Nazim, there's a couple screenshots below. Then in the afternoon went to school and reviewed for Thursday's exam. Lighting, scriptwriting, and assignment details. fun-ish.

See how I'm wearing Green and the box is yellow? Yeah? Apparently so do bee's cos a bee literally chased us through the parking lot during a set up and we hid behind the stairs door. It was so funny, but scary like a survival horror film lol. I let Nazim check if the coast was clear before I went out, he didn't notice he was out by himself until he looked back lol I had work tomorrow, I have to look good ;) Also He always has a nasty habit of hurting himself when we shoot action scenes, he banged his head on the concrete shortly after the first screenshot below, but he fell behind the car so no footage to replay. He's alright, I just hope he doesn't do it again...

TUESDAY 28 Feb

11am, Nazim and I met and shot first half of chase scene for Timefish, which was the footchase through the park across my street and running towards (theoretically) the parking building we shot at yesterday. Then after this tiring 3 hours of running across the city for different takes we went to school and reviewed Ant's first day review of his part of the course. Color, audio, 3d animation, camera etc...long day but fun, he acts like a student and even played hangman with us when we had no clue what the answer was....best teacher I've ever had I guess. After school we shot some more of Nazim's 'Lighter' film with Lee Ah Yen. Looks good so far ;) The film, not me in nerdy glasses. I bought contacts for a reason :P

WEDNESDAY 29 Feb

from 11.30 am to 11.30pm I was on set to shoot my 6th day of Emperor. This time it wasn't for a convoy shot, but an interior shot of an office in Japan. Yay, I'm in an office scene :) The lighting was great, the camera movements looked awesome and the set was fantastic, down to cigarette smoke, paperwork, hand sharpened pencils, the whole legit 1940's era office deal. Like any job, you just had to look busy and for little ol me in the background, that was exactly my job, I pretended to write notes working the late shift :)

We shot some more then lunch then the next 6 hours after we spent playing cards, a game called Presidents and assholes. I was asshole once but reigned as president or vice president for most of the later games, my first time playing and I rocked it like a veteran lol. Anyway, afterwards caught a taxi home, 35 bucks from Henderson to city centre, not bad but still tough on the ol student pocket. At least home safe and no scuffles :) Exam tomorrow, went to sleep.

(REAL general MacArthur and co at airbase during Japanese
occupation on what the film is based on. The uniforms we wear are similar.)

THURSDAY 1 March

Met up with Nazim in the morning and went over the notes I missed out yesterday while I was at Henderson working, then we went to the exam. It was easier than any of us thought. What's a hardlight? C? A light that doesn't break? the 'wrong' answers in the multi-choice rxam made it virtually impossible to stuff up, still, the NZ film history ones tripped me and I ended up with a 91% pass mark out of the 100 questions. I can say it was easy but I still got 9 wrong lol.

After the exam we finished shooting Nazim's film at the Auckland art galley, we literally had one more shot to do when security came over chests puffed out like flashy peacocks with badges and said we couldn't film there. Because a flower in the background was copyrighted. Yet every tourist behind him was taking photos of the very same thing. SMH, A little power goes to big heads quickly, then again, they might have just wanted to look busy, security work sucks (I can say it cos I been there...). Anyway, we finished up and a wrap's a wrap :) I'll link here as soon as it's on you tube, but he might hit up festivals first if it turns out good :)

FRIDAY 2 March

Handed in logo assignment. Even though when I got the student counter the supervisor said he'll be right back but then shows up 40 minutes later like nothing happened. But 1 more day of that ish so I'm over it, it's been a long year but it's all done!!!

SATURDAY 3 March
Today I shot the last shots of Timefish (screenshots below) Me, the 'surprise' ending and some pick up shots. (shots I missed earlier in the year). Camera returned. Shooting is a wrap!!!

I've completed a rough cut of the film in windows movie maker until I get hold of a legit copy of Vegas or premiere so I know the pacing, idea and spacing. I will cut a quick trailer for this tomorrow, the student film is roughly 17 min's and a half, showcases my action choreography and film style and is a definite step up from 'credibility' all those years ago lol :) Check out the screenshots below :)

My last night at SAE studios tonight, said my goodbyes. Just my film assignment is due (next week or) when I get time, but apart from that, no more school, yay :) Now, the fun begins with Chase and test films, new equipment, house, job and training routines..... ;) ;)

If I look tired that's because I am, this has been a tiring month man. 3-4hours sleep one night, 7 the next, and that pattern last 2 weeks, only from last night have I been getting a regular 7-8 again. Phew, ready to sleep in Sunday :) Thanks for reading, hope you had fun, see you next time with a teaser trailer :) Don't forget to do at least one thing today that makes you happy. I know I do :)

Kind regards, your pal, Matt ;)

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 ;)