Carnage Alley Part 1

February 20th already, time flies huh? Up to page 51 of 10th rewrite of Chase. I'm getting really restless at the moment. I really thought that I would have got my movie started by now, but each day melts into the next, and I stand no closer to my goals. Just work on my sales and keeping my job, balancing that with my home life and trying to fit in training when I can....But good things take time I know so I knwo that by the end of this year I will have concrete proof I am making some headway into this mess of a dream I have.

Here is the choreography practice footage I shot with Steve that I tried to upload to facebook last week but wouldn't let me since I chucked on the police story 4 ost in the background. Check it out below,

I Finally got myself a camera last week specifically to shoot something. YESSS! It had been ages since I had shot something myself. And I couldn't find anyone to borrow a camera off, so I spent a week looking around all sorts of models trying to find the cheapest most efficient camera for my dollar that I could find. Found this JVC HD Everio at Noel Lemming for 350. The quality is great for what it is and came with bonus memory. So excited to shoot with it. As you can tell :)

I plan to shoot a short film before I shoot my mock trailer for Chase for investors. This way I have festival credentials and an IMDB listing. I've written the first quarter of the script, the other depends on securing an empty warehouse or something to shoot the fight scenes in. I want broken tables. I want blood spray. I want intense fast paced action, something I've never really done in my standard short films so count me excited.

The short film will be called Carnage Alley. It's about Hunt (Safaa), a workaholic officer who is a step away from proving that something is going down at the docks involving nuclear arms and she takes her rookie partner Thompson (Matt) along for the ride. However, things go awry when the dealer who shows up happens to be a cop himself.

I shot the first couple scenes of Carnage Alley with Safaa last week, it was fun as I tried more creative angles and feel I've grown as a filmmaker, plus its great practice for Chase. Here are some of the screenshots while I save some cash for Adobe Premire so I can start editing.

 

Anyway, I'm off to go to a car sales yard, either to look for my dream car (BMW 328i) or my child dream car (FTO) as my car is threatening to cause me trouble again. I really should have done research on Rover's before I bought it but at the time it was the right choice and even when I sell it, I will still have good memories of it :) No doubt the car will end up in one of my videos, the joys of budget filmmaking :) Until next update, take care and thanks for your support :)

2013 - Film progress

December/January didn't hold much careerwise, just focusing on learning the job, now that I know how to do it I've started work on the Chase rewrite. I sat down with an Indian Actor who is making moves at the moment and he is keen on the film providing he gets more screen time, so I've had to change a few things so now it's back to the original buddy film idea. Here's his IMDB profile anyway. He's professional and easy to get on with so if all goes well (our schedules, financing etc) He will be the co-lead of Chase. I'm also looking at Lee Ah Yen who I worked with back in a couple of student films Last year at being the villian but again, thats subject to his availability as he's been mad busy recently which I congratulate him on :)

Unti then I'm chilling like this guy and working on the script :)

In December I was looking at testing out the canon 5D with a friend, Sana, who I had worked with before on a student project. We ran out of time to shoot everything but after seeing the footage, I'm pretty impressed and will add that to my 'to buy' list. In the meantime though I will just buy a cheap camera to shoot some quick test films before my mock trailer for Chase. Below are some of the pics, what do you think? (tomorrow I will add the edited video of what we finished)

Also in December I traded punches with a TKD guy as I searched for an actor to play the part of the enforcer in Chase. We shot some choreogrpahy I had written and got his neice to film it so we have a record of it, It turned out nice, the video is available to check out on my facebook page, but here's a couple snapshots to entice you until we get top film the real gritty short film sometime next month :)

I'm back to regular training now, my aim is to train at least 3 times a week, which will improve my fitness, keep my technique sharp and also let me fufill my 'do one thing for me' promise I wrote in my resolutions for this year. Here I am below with Chris after a light sparring session :)

 So yeah, onward and upward! See you next post =) with some good news ;)

Kicking 2013 off in the right direction

At Auckland Skytower 31 Dec 2012 welcoming 2013

Happy New Year Everyone! :) 

So much has happened since my last post, in all honesty it has been hard to keep up with anything online but February is almost here and I won't be doing any overtime at the bank so back to three days off a week so I can do my film stuff. Enjoying my new job, I understand IMT's, The different interest rates, cards and insurances now as well as all the nitty gritty protocol things. It was crazy at first but now I have found a rhythm so loving my work at the moment. And the team is unbeatable lol, Never have I worked somewhere and liked everybody, it sure makes liking work easier :)

Went to Wellington in earlier this month for my wife's updated passport, haven't been there since I was a kid so it was a fun experience, of course we took a lot of pics which I've shared my favorites with you all below :) We had one day to do everything. And we did, Library, Te papa, swimming pool, embassy, shopping, waterfront, art gallery, I literally just chilled out the next day when we returned to Auckland, so much walking! But a very fun day :) So here's the pics, I'll open with the sunrise at Auckland airport and the sunset at Wellington Airport....

 

Turning the world upside down at New Zealands Government Building, the beehive :)

 

New years is always a perfect time to reflect on all that you have achieved and all that you want to achieve within a given timeframe, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to share with you my resolutions to improve myself this year and reach my goals, maybe it could spark an idea for yourself for something you'd like to try?

2013 Resolutions and New Habits

Train JKD minimum 3 times a week.

Tagalog for at least 10 minutes a day. 

Effort= you only get out what you put in.

Eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Every day, Stop skipping.

Eat healthy -protein meats, veges, fruits, sushi, etc don't turn to the easy options of Fastfood unless they are ful meals (eg thai/malaysian/chinese/sushi/roasts etc)

Drink Water and Juice, fizzy only sparingly.

Refrain from Swearing, Think before you speak.

Tidy the house up before retiring to bed at night. Start each day Tidy.

Keep car interior clean. Maintain Tidiness.

Keep work notes organized and up to date.

If you promise something, do it. Do not become a victim of excuses or procrastination.

Do one thing each day that makes you happy. (eg xbox/movie etc)

Do one thing towards your ultimate goal (actor/director) each day. A step closer is a step in the right direction and achieving your goal.

When spending money think, Do I NEED this or WANT this? Start a bigger habit of being in a saving frame of mind, your fortunes await. A dollar saved is a dollar earned.

Smile and stay positive. Drop encouraging words to friends and family. Be a good influence in their lives and the universe will return the feeling.

Don't condemn, criticize or complain. Attract the right energy. 

Remember the zen monk when things feel bad- "This too shall pass"

So life continues here at Del Casa Kinsman, Went to the beach a couple days ago keeping the relationship fun, making improvements with my sales at work, settling into training regularly and working on my script, keeping my focus on my chief of aim of being New Zealand's Ultimate Action Star. Fill you in with my next post!

 

 

 I'll also leave you with some cool motivational quotes I've come across recently, keep your mind healthy and the universe will provide ;)

Some people develop a wishbone where their back bone should be.
- Anonymous

If opportunity isn't knocking, build a door
-anon.

 Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
- Dale Carnegie

End of 2012. Beginning of the future. New job. First Film. Great life!

So 2012 draws to a close. End of the world or not, we had a good run this year. Learnt heaps, Experienced more, Lived my life to it's pinnacle :) At the end of November I started my new full time job at ASB, a pretty cool bank, and to be working in one of the top branches in the country really makes me want to step my game up, cos now its not playing for keeps anymore, it's playing for fun and success. No more living day to day for me. Seems like yesterday I was sitting in the interview stage with my new bosses and now I'm doing the work (today was awesome). 

This opportunity felt like a culmination of all my life experience, like Slumdog millionaire. My Video shop job, My storeman job, My karate sales job and those odd jobs as temps, PT cleaner, power company salesperson, wine caser, market researcher....They all taught me a valuable skill or something about myself that made me the driven man that I am today. 

The Wife's happy with her circle and job and our new set up, I've sorted out our finances, and should have most of the equipment to get started on working towards CHASE by mid Jan 2013. I have a couple of short film ideas I want to execute first to get back into my rhythm  Then it's onwards with my first feature which will have to be shot  couple days a week for several months I think. I just want to thank those who keep up with my blog for your support and well wishes and in return I hope you have a great holidays and New Year break!!! Like Fiddy says, Get Rich or Die Tryin' :P

Thoughts on my martial arts journey

My journey into martial arts has been one prewritten for me. I joined karate when I was way younger maybe 7 or so? Only for maybe 4 months maybe as dad pulled us out cos he didn't think we were getting anything from it. They would joke about years later when I began promoting that during the bow in process one class when I was a kid with my head down thinking about the class ahead I actually fell asleep lol. Then again, thinking back, I can understand why. I joined the same club again in 2009 except this time it was as one its self defence consultants, selling karate memberships as well as training in the art with the aim of teaching it later. After that fell through, I stopped training.....as I found my self training not because I enjoyed it anymore but because I felt obligated to continue, seeing the path before me I quit.

It was also during this time I had been reading up and rewatching alot of Bruce Lee Movies and documentaries. I got my hands on as many books as possible and through his work I realised what it was that I was missing. No holds barred, free expression martial arts based on the science of using what works for you and discarding what doesn't work for you. I knew I couldn't learn from books alone but there were no JKD schools around me in Christchurch. So I kept fit in my backyard and by playing indoor football. And thought one day I could travel to America.

Then Last year March 2011 I moved to Auckland to pursue my dream of being an actionstar. And it was during my first time walking around the city centre that I discovered the martialarts shop, and that shop, thank god, I found a flyer about NZ's first JKD school opening up. I texted him right away, we got conversing and I was invited to his house as he and a couple of his students were training, Chris was his assitant instructor and those 2 taught me heaps. Sifu showed me some things and some nunchaku and I was hooked. I finally found the missing pieces to my expression. There is a bhudist saying, that when the student is ready, the master appears. I think this was happily, the case here :)

Anyway over a year or so later with a life full of ups and downs training and not training I am back in the gym. After my sanda fight a couple weekends ago I am back to prove to myself not let myself down again. True to form, on the thrusday after I returned to training and got back into spar, I won 6-1 sanda rules and didn't get taken down once. If I just don't think, relax and attack in broken rhythm I have all I need! The Wushu tournament showed me that I don't need to do anything but be myself and let my body do the work instead of overthinking things. I read book where Bruce lee once said when somebody asked him how come he can kick so fast, he said one day a ladybug asked a centipede how was it that the centipede could walk with all of those hundred legs? when the centipede tried to think about how he did it he stumbled and fell over. The moral being just be. Your eye blinks before you see the speck of dust in the air, alot of us speak before we think lol I just need to let my fist find the opponents target instead of taking that second to think how I'm going to throw this punch, because it's that second that the opponent uses to duck my punch and take me down.

So yeah, learning some Dummy stuff at the moment and more wrestling take down techniques, and the more I'm learning the more I feel I've found my calling. Just wanting to share this with you all because it feels good to find a home away from home. Sifu took his JKD class from his house to a memorial hall then to a school hall, and now he owns a fully customised gym with punching bags, a ring, weights equipment, dummies and wallbags. I'm happy I was there near the start and can see how big the club has grown, I also feel I'm a more complete martial artist then I once was. I hope to one day teach it. Because though sometimes the sweat and energy burnt on that gym floor can seem crazy, the rush you feel when walking away with a smile makes it all worth it :)

Last week. This week.

Last week I did 3 days on Shortland Street and 1 day on Power rangers which was fun, I met some great people, had a good time and enjoyed my time there. Happy to get filmwork since it had been a small while since I was job hunting a bit.

If you read my blog regularly you might have noticed I deleted a post that I made about that week's work which I removed because I accidentally might have spoiled things I didn't mean to spoil which was a huge misjudgement on my part. So I just wanted to apologise to all those involved and who it may have affected and to also say that I didn't intend any wrongdoing or deliberate spoiling of any story for the shows intended viewers. I was just sharing what I've been up to but its only now I realise that people actually do come across this blog so in that regard, I will be much more careful when writing about extrawork that isn't my own productions as I don't want to be 'that' guy who people won't hire cos he talks too much. I really need any filmwork I can get if I want to make a career out of this and as New Zealand is a small industry where everyone eventually knows everyone I'd hate to get a bad reputation. (especially since I planned to pitch something to some of these companies late next year) So yeah, if you did happen to read any of my blog about this before I deleted it if you could be really nice and keep the information to yourself until either of the episode airs, I'd appreciate it greatly :) Again, a Massive sorry to anyone I've upset or caused headaches for. I'd kick myself if I could reach, I feel so stupid. 

In other news I started my first day at a Temp job as a cratewasher in a production environment. Safe to say It was the last day too. I'm soo tired after 8 hours of scraping, stacking, unstacking crates. I thought it was easy, I underestimated my physicality as it suits bigger guys who have more reach and more batteries lol Then again, skipping breakfast wasn't the smartest idea was it. (it's been a day of bad decisions it appears).  But was worth it, met another contact I can use in my film as a fighting extra so the day was another day closer to my goal after all. Will be hunting for more office based work in the mean time.

Also got Arnold Schwarzeneggar's new book. Bodybuilder. Actionstar. Governer. Legend! was so excited to buy it! Now I'm excited read it! This guy's a huge idol, I always love hearing about people who do what they say as those sort of people inspire me. Bruce Lee, Jose Mourinho, Arnold schwarzeneggar, Donnie Yen, the list goes on :) So yeah, once upon a time in a small farm village in Austria....

Also been on the internet for an hour now, I should really work on my script, so in the words of one of the greats ...

The Sanda Fight, My first public fight

"I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life."

MUHAMMAD ALI, comment after losing to Ken Norton, Mar. 31, 1973

Yesterday I took part in my first Sanda competition at the NZ national wushu champs, Weighing in at 69.1 Kg, and having trained about 4 times between the announcement of the competition and competition day without any sparring in between, I wasn't over confident nor naive to think I would do well, relying on natural ability and drive. However I thought that the experience of the fight and the opportunity to test myself against an opponent outside of the club was too big to be missed. Not only would this help me grow as a martial artist, but it could also be a catalyst to help me get my life back together . It didn't disappoint.

I knew in my heart I wasn't prepared and they say a fight is won or lost before you even step inside the ring. I thought that even so, I would be OK. A couple days before the fight I learnt some takedowns from Sifu and one of his talented students, but as brucelee said, you shouldn't punch but let the fist hit all by itself. I can kick and punch without thinking, but takedowns and counter attacking is still very thought taxing for me and I believe that downtime cost me this fight. (And obviously, the lack of real life training thanks to my car and transport issues. )

Walking into the gym bleary eyed and heart beating at 9 in the morning (fights at 11.30) I was instantly struck by the level of fighters there. I could already see from the build and the way they conducted themselves these guys had been training very hard for this, and possibly do this thing all year. I definitely felt way out of depth here. We warmed up in a nearby gym outside of the main stadium, before the organisers went over the rules.

Then we went back to warming up and they called the draw out. Murphy's Luck they called my name for the first fight of the tournament. The guy I was fighting was called Jack something, he was a member of an mma club (they told me after he had fought before), and he took me by surprise with a square sock to the face, a little dazed I continued fighting, trying to work my way in, but my efforts tired me quickly. His takedowns were pretty efficient and he made good work of the thigh kick punch combo, in fact, it really impeded my efforts to fight my thigh was so bruised from the whelps.

Anyway, The fight ended near the end of the second round having been thrown off the mat 3 times. He went on to win the gold medal so I'm not complaining, Well done to him, it's uncontested that the better fighter on the day won that fight. I'm grateful to learn this lesson the hard way. Since then I have fought in the ring at my club, with a slight limp, but did well, dominating and in control, not on the back foot retreating like I did back then, now I'm back to my normal self, dancing to my own rhythm, striking with my own trigger. When takedowns become second nature to me and a punch is nothing more than an annoyance instead of a threat, I'm going to get one of those medals next year. Til then, I'm going to train, train, train :)

Here's some pics, 

and here's my bruise from my opponents leg kicks. thanks friend ;)

I'll post the video too once I edit what I have together in one coherent clip. Til next time!