Sanda Competition 16th November 2014 -survived and won :)

Took the day off on Sunday so I could take part in my club's sanda tournament, was so happy to have won my fight! You won't believe the relief that washed over me at the end, if you watch the video embedded below you can probably see it on my face.

Thought I would share some pics of the day with you here. As for the fight, definitely far from my best, needed way more combinations and more attacking intent but in all honesty as fit as I am a runner my cardio isn't up to par. You can tell in the three weeks that I had known about this tournament I hadn't had any throwing practice, all instinct from 2 years ago but obviously the tehnique was rough lol.

After the first attack I was pretty much catching my breath and deciding how to fight more smarter than harder. When they pointed out my opponent I was instantly demoralized and starting making him out to be a bigger threat than he was, as Ali said, you win or lose the fight before you even step in the ring. Anyway, thanks for your support and let's step away from sanda and get back to making choreographed fights for a little bit, KAISF here we come :)

video;

pics;

 

 we got split into teams, my team was the black team, we won 7-5 :)

  

The JKD Club members who entered the tournament :)

 

Getting prepared for the fight I had been preparing for, chest gear needed to keep my heart from popping out from beating too fast lol

 Round 1. Let's do this :)

 Medal ceremony at the end. :)

 Happy Boy :)

 Got marks all over my body, but at least not the face or my boss would kill me lol

Can't wait til my next one now :)

New Project for 2015: Kicking Ass in Some Forest!

Hi guys :)

Been a while since my last blog or any work was shared, been hard at work at my day job so it has left me little time to dedicate to my dream for now. I've been in touch with Sifu and returned to training at least a couple of nights each week, juggling this with my some weeknight football and futsal and my job, I'm feeling pretty balanced again :)

I have a Sanda competition on Sunday which I'm looking forward too, unsure of how I'll do, hoping I do some good, as long as I give 100 percent and leave everything in the ring I will be happy. Will share the video next week after the fact :)

In terms of Matt the actor, everything's OK. When I get back Next year I'm going big or going home basically, so bring on January. I've put Bulletlist on hold for now, another project frozen in financial time. I will finish it next year though, will do some rewriting. As much as I love action, story is king.

Bought my dream Car, BMW, been wanting one since high school, Transporter always been one of my favorite films, so driving a European car has been a goal, since GKR its been on my reward list, so feels good to tick that off :)

So what now?

I've decided Since I have no money for a film. Or a large enough network to trial, to work with what I have and at least make something that won't take a year to make, too much time out of my busy schedule, and be enough of something to enter into festivals and start earning kudos.

Enter, "Kicking Ass in some forest!"

LOGLINE: When Hunter, a struggling action actor, is dragged into a forest by his desperate agent he has no idea that he's fighting for more than just a paycheck, he's fighting for his life!

Sounds fun right? And the title reflects the film so don't expect a soppy romcom or anything. There will be 3 main fights, one against a girl, hand to hand, one on three, my nunchucks vs a baseball bat weilder, a knife weilder and still thinking of a third weapon, and the last fight against a surprise guest but what you expect in every martial arts movie.

So with the script pretty much done, I started work on some location scouting, took my new baby for a spin  out to Piha/karekare which was a nice getaway daytrip with the wife and also gave me the opportunity to research for this project, here's some of the photo's below.

In the forest, but the trail was quite popular, unsure if will film here, maybe some walkytalky scenes lol 

Below, a beautiful empty canvas for the finale fight.

An idea of how epic this location looks, this will be part of the final fight scene.

And below some photos of the journey there which will be fight scene 2 and drama bits around it....

Anyway, like the page HERE to keep up with the latest on my new project, next step, rehearsing the fight scenes (let's do this right, no more turning up on the day, bang it out in 2 hours and go home and find the film...) I want this to look awesome and be something I haven't done before, and show you guys and the world some range :)

Shaking Hands with Action Superstar Donnie Yen

When I found out a couple months ago that Donnie Yen was coming to New Zealand to film Crouching tiger hidden dragon 2 I was excited. I'm not going to lie, my mind ran wild, I wanted to do all I could to be apart of it, I asked my agency if they had any parts going but unfortunately they were only looking for Chinese or asian/polynesian extras. Unfortunately I'm as white as a ghost so I couldn't really apply, I wouldn't fit in ancient china lol A friend of mine did audition though and got picked as a stand in and ended up being a PA to one of the stuntguys so that was as close as I could get to getting to meet my hero, was so happy for him lol.

Donnie Yen is The Bruce Lee of today, his technique is awesome, he does everything! act/direct/ dude even plays piano awesome. and he's just so cool in his movies. He's a huge inspiration to me when I'm trying to make my own films and start my own career. Him and Bruce Lee are even in terms of pushing me forward.

Anyway, Months passed, he kept posting teasing photos of shots around Auckland. It was so frustrating knowing he was in the same city as me and I'd never get to meet him. But then as a fan on Donnie yen's facebook page I saw he was going to try meet his NZ fans. all we had to do was download the app to stay in touch. I've always had a block phone, the oldschool phones that just text and call, no cameras etc. But this was a sign, give in! Get a smart phone! So I did. I got a cheap phone and tried to download the app but it wasn't compatible, I sweated for a week or so then he posted a link for those without the app to register. I registered my wife and I and waited for the confirmation email.

I received it, yes! It was the 5th of Oct- now I get every 5th weekend off and just so happened I had this one off, I was stoked! God works in mysterious ways :) My prayers were heard haha :) (thanks)

It was at the Pullman hotel, in the ballroom lounge. It was really nice, flash. After waiting for everyone to arrived, the man himself arrived.

 

Bey Logan (for those that follow HK movies will know he tends to produce and comment on these films and has been a big part of bringing it out to western channels) was emceeing the event, a Q and A for Donnie with the fans before a signing session. (I also talked to bey after the event about he managed to round up funding for the films and he told me just make the film, in today's age its so much easier to make a film, just get it out there and the right people will eventually seek you out, just find someone who directs, someone who likes sound, someone who likes acting etc and put ti together. Food for thought, I'm procrastinating to much, so next year (lol) I will do that and do the feature I always talk about. I talked about my plans of being an actor/director and how NZ's small so I'll try here first then build myself up. He kept calling me 'the screenwriter' cos of my question but we'll get to that later...nice guy, I can see his passion for kung fu films...

So we all clapped as Donnie Yen walked in smiling and then people started asking questions. Donnie yen answered them humbly and with grace and was so cool. Definitely can learn from this. I told the wife If I don't ask a question I'd kick myself the rest of my life, so I stuck up my hand- confident as (fake it til you make it :D) Bey was like, you there, in the white, and I stood up making eye contact with Donnie like "Hi, I'm Matt," and he's like "Hi'. wow. I'm talking to a guy I've watched destroy so many people on films late at night on hard to get dvds I've had to order in, or at the cinema with only a few people. This man who seems so big and fantastic on screen is sitting in front of me, and we're having a conversation :)

"You must receive tons and tons of scripts everyday, I was wondering what do you look for in a script when choosing a part and why?" He talked about how since making a film can take months and is such a big commitment that he only likes to take positive roles, ones that will challenge his acting or give a positive message to people, he quoted alot of reviews from everyday people about his success in Ipman, and about how he doesn't want to have to explain to his kids (if he played a bad guy) why he killed that guy for no reason. He stressed the point about having positive impact on people since he cant change the world by himself but maybe his films can inspire the right people to make the right choices. Was really cool.

 

He answered other questions, like he was offered Expendables twice but the parts were small and again he wanted to do something positive but he was open to do one if it was right (similar to Jackie Chan I think, where you don't want little cameo's if you have fans lining up to see it). Someone asked who of all the onscreen fighters hes worked with was the hardest, he said it was like music and everyone brings something differently, but Jet Li in his opinion was one of the hardest as Jet Li was so quick and in Once upon a time in china he was so quick with the pole, he said Jackie brought something interesting and yeah, there were a lot of laughs through out the session. One man asked in Chinese to show us some moves so Donnie did a little something which was fun. After that we wrapped up and the signing/photo session started.

 

The line was huge but eventually we got our turn, I shook hands with him and told him thanks for his films as they've been a huge inspiration to me, he said thanks for my support, I got him to sign the slip and he also signed my flashpoint cover which was awesome! 

 

This was the first film I had seen of his on the plane ride to Philippines maybe 7-8 years ago before being hooked and seeking everything the guy had made. Then I asked him if we could do a fighting pose and he smiled and said sure, I got the guy to take our photo with my phone then I shook Donnie's hand and said thanks again and that was that. I was so pumped. Wow. what a year, seen my hero growing up Eminem live in concert and now I've shook hands and struck a fighting pose with my hero leading me into adulthood and this acting path I've chosen. I'll never forget this day. And Now I have a photo to prove it :)

A big shoutout and thanks to Donnie for visiting Auckland and meeting your fans here! :)
 (I was going to be serious in this pic but I was so happy I couldn't, awesome day)

and Donnie with melody :)

Great photo they took with Donnie+fans :) Me and Melody in Middle at back, I'm in a white hoodie lol,

BulletList Teaser and Future plans

Hi Guys, I turned 28 today. Holy shit, time flies fast. I look back at my days lived so far and I can honestly say I've achieved a little, married (7 years this December wow), moved cities, did a little work in the dream department (TV and a feature film, awesome!), did a little work in the career department (work in a bank -at least I have a solid planB), but I really thought I would have made a huge dent in my dreams by now, guess I have to try harder this year ;)  Most of the actors I looked up to really hit their mark in their 30's after struggling for sometime, got to remember even Brad Pitt started as an extra. (video proof below lol, it's interesting howhe turned into a bigger name later in their careers)

 When I get back from Holiday this year I will do an acting course, sign with an acting agency and really get the ball rolling. Looking to get back into training soon too, realized a reason I feel a little bit missing in my life is that I haven't really done martial arts training in last couple of years. Running rings around people at futsal doesn't have the same life and death appeal of avoiding a punch and countering with a sidekick and shuffling away. ;)

On the Bulletlist front there's been no real progress this week. We got the car back yesterday which is awesome, means I can have transport to and from shoot's again. Shame about the 1,200 dollar pricetag but better a car than no car.....I'm Hoping to shoot a chunk of main scenes next week, fingers crossed I get reliable casting :)

Below is a quick teaser of what we have done so far, just a couple of shots, so you can see some of the progress thus far, -only 2 days of shooting in the can and no ADR yet either. Why do I set myself such ambitious goals? (might be 25-30 days shoot as only shoot for 3-4 hours due to budget/time)

I'm trying to come up with a quick non action drama short film I can shoot between shoots...anyway, enjoy the quick BULLET LIST teaser below...

Bullet List - Day 2 Shoot - Matt vs Ravi (Ep1)

My Car is at the mechanic. Automatic transmission problems (a story for next blog anyway) The situation was driving me mad trying to figure out a way I could still keep to my schedule of shooting something Friday 5th September for The Bullet List without transport. I don't want to be in a back of bus with camera equipment after a long shoot.

 Thank god for Jon, a friend who wanted to see how we shot our films and has passion for photography, he also has an awesome car so that worked out cool. Ravi had also returned from London so the stars sort of aligned and were able to shoot Ravi's fight scene with myself today with Jon behind the camera.

Having my first fight scene after doing the stunt course I tried to be better with my sells and do some more tumbles and stuff, I think it turned out OK, sure if we had better equipment, mats and time would have been better, but for shooting in a public space when it was supposed to bucket down with Rain we did pretty well. But oh my gosh, the continuity issues will be hilarious.  For an out of the way park on a bad weather day it sure had a lot of visitors than I thought it would, see if you can spot them when I upload the first episode .... :S

The scene we shot today is a scene from Episode one, the main action scene (there's one more) and the two of us fight during a cash delivery of sorts. When trying to choreograph it last night I didn't realise how restricted a car was in terms of combat (changed from outdoors as threat of rain warned by weathergirls). We made it work anyway with some camera tricks and I won't say more for fear of spoiling the story but the shoot went well,

 It looks good and I'm proud of what we achieved today. Shooting in public meant we had to wrap up a little bit quicker than we liked, had a couple cars full of people watching us as I was *(spoiler alert)* discussing breaking the character's neck and we were acting it out and the guy's in the van were like do it for real,*(spoiler alert ends)  Also they asked the filmmakers favorite line 'Are you making a movie?' haha. Doesn't get old *sarcastic straight face* Anyway, check out some screen shot's I've put here for you guys below :)

Ravinder (ravi narayan) waits for Mark (me)

Mark (matt kinsman) has to make a decision

Getting our acting on

My favorite part of any shoot

"Yip, One More"

The Incredible Ravi Narayan

Until next post, take care and follow your dreams :)

2013/2014 Showreel Uploaded!

With my renewed vigor in following my dream I realized I needed to update my show reel for my film CV, so below is the finished cut. Just a selection of some of the fight scenes I have completed over the last couple of years.

Looking back at it now It's only like 4-6 short films. Plus all seem to be with good acting buddy Steve apart from one lol But hey, I'm looking forward to shooting The Bullet List web series soon to show you guys, myself and potential directors what I'm really capable of. Get some real acting going on I hope, anyway, enjoy the video below :)

Ps. Still waiting on my stunt course footage to share with you guys, I will post once I get it, just here though, not on my YT channel, thanks for your support :)

My House uploaded to Youtube channel

After a busy week fianlly have managed to edit our Monday shoot from last week.

Behold in all it's 1min 30 glory! (video below)


For last minute stuff turned out pretty good, since then though I have done that workshop I mentioned last blog so heaps of new stuff I want to try out when it comes to shooting the fight scenes for The Bulletlist. Steve's a swords guy so thinking maybe an errant knight battle might be fun? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it for what it was :)

Will post Workshop review once I have been sent the videos :)

How I spent my day off: Cancelled Day 2, shot short MY HOUSE instead!

Had my one day off on the 18th August Monday (7 day rosters are (not) fun) and had planned to shoot day two of the bulletlist and had everything set up, Steve had moved some things around and I had banged out the script, locations and shooting plan earlier in the weeknights to be able to do this, however, the actress we had in mind to play Briana had to cancel at the last minute due to personal reasons which sucked for us but I understand.

Still from My House (Steve Heke)

So to keep the motivation and momentum up since I can never get enough time off for this I txted Steve, "Wanna shoot another test film instead?", we haven't shot a short film since Ambush 2 which was ages ago. "sure, my place is all good if you want". I was happy as, "OK, cool, see you in a couple of hours". I sat in front of my computer....ready to type,....What could be a good reason for a fight scene? lol. Banged out a rough plan and drove over. So funny, spent half an hour tearing my house apart looking for a balaclava I had used when I shot Mondays back at SAE in 2011. Couldn't find it so thank goodness Steve had one. What do you think? It was a hot day, so it was very uncomfortable haha.

Still from My House (Me, Matt Kinsman)

I haven't shot a film my  old way since I left Christchurch. Which are basically all my films I shot with Sam back in the day. This 'method' involves me setting up the camera on a tripod, setting the frame, pushing record, running around in front of it, shooting our scene a couple times for the editing room then running back, stopping record, replaying it, reframing and repeating the cycle! Phew! tough but fun. Below is one unedited take so you can see what I mean. (finished film to be uploaded after sfx added, maybe next week)

May contain spoilers -however chose scene that doesn't give too much away

I have been trying to keep active too. I'm 27 now. It's make or break at my job at the moment so If I want this dream I have to make it happen or it's in with the suit and the sales focus. 

Most actors do their best work in their 30's so I need to make my move now. The First of my moves is getting some credibility (ironic since that was my first film) and getting out in the industry again, so tomorrow I am doing a stunt school fight for camera workshop. Pretty excited/nervous but hoping through it that I a)learn some new things, b)meet some new people who have the same interests and might like to part in shooting bulletlist with me and c)get a notch on my film CV.

Second of my moves is being proactive in sourcing opportunities so I've also put in for an audition for a kids action tv series and an internship as a director in another series. I hope to get good news but the fact I've even applied for this makes me happy, If you don't take action today then you are no better than you were yesterday. Between you and me I really hope I get these roles :)

I also did a camera test for my outfit as 'Mark' in The Bullet List as I had planned on shooting the scene on Monday, (next month now til next free day) so I'll share one of the pics with you below, I reckon it will be nice to play an actual character for once...

Anyway, post a blog tomorrow about how my first day went of this 2 day stunt school course I'm doing. So nervous lol, am I the real deal or a pretender?, we're going to find out... Wish me luck, apart from my football I'm so unfit, hoping to survive haha....

Bullet List shoot - Day 1 review, Agents on the Jetty.

Standing at warehouse stationery, waiting for Thursday's scripts to print off, I was nervous. It had been a while since I've done a shoot, The doubting began, do I know what I'm doing? Will my camera battery last? Will it rain?. The guy's  have faith in me. I look at my phone. 15 minutes late. Great start Matt.

I pick up Steve from his place and we roar down the motorway, it begins to spit and drizzle a little on the way. "Come on god", I mutter, "don't troll me now". We get to the spot and meet Toutai for the first time, He's pretty cool, pretty much like our conversation on the phone the night before, he's passionate about acting and belives in the project. He gets in my car and we drive to the first location of our planned 3 part shoot.

We shoot at the jetty near mission bay. Just me in my grey hoody with my cheap ass camera, and the two boys in their jackets and sunnies. The wind is trying to freeze us and the clouds hang overhead omniously. But this suits the shoot fine. Great color tones :) Fighting the wind I try to hold the camera steady as I shoot the 2 agents discussing the case with the beautiful Auckland skyline in the backdrop. The wind swirls around the performers as they make their way through their lines. Definately going to need ADR. The phone has a windcut mechanism, but I find out later when I get home it doesn't make much difference. I'll definately need to invest in a mic of some sort and a portable powerkit. I should have chosen a cheaper hobby.

 

The second location is nearby, and we roll through that one without any hitches and the last one we wing it. I remembered when I shot Timefish back in the day for SAE I shot it on top of one of the carparking rooftops. This time however I drove to one in which I had worked for as a mascot a couple of years ago and the backdrop below is simply priceless. 

Location, Location, Location. But I admit, we found it quite funny rolling through a carpark looking for a park slowly with a hearty samoan in the back, a tall maori dude sitting in shotgun and a rough looking white guy driving a beat up old car. That could have been a short film in itself :)

Wrapping at the end of the day felt good, finally had some footage in the can after talking about getting this shit started for so long, made a new ally, and practiced doing something I loved for a change. Driving home afterwards I felt happy, lighter as if a weight had been lifted. Feeling Good!

Now on for Day two, finding everyone available on certain days when certain locations are free has been tough but I will be using my talent of words to help make shit happen now I know that this acting thing is definitely what I want. I will be doing a course in a couple of weeks time but more on that once I have done it, follow this blog and you'll be the first to know :)

Prepping for Bullet List. Day 1.

I have confidence! If nothing else, this dream of being an action film maker/actor is all I have. I have had a good week at work getting my targets and some closed sales and had great compliments from customers, you're the man! This boy, he's number one! Can I buy you a coffee? All sorts. Feels good but my heart rumbles at this day job knowing deep inside it's not what I want to be doing with every fibre of my being, the only thing holding me back is me and the decisions I make, so no more indecision's because even that is a choice unto itself. I choose to make it happen, now.

So after much procrastinating/time budget issues and fear of failure I have finally set in motion The Bullet List. All week I have been thinking about this project, when it is done and finished I can use it to make an IMDb profile, cut into a show reel and fund-raise for my first feature, I can see the road and where it will lead me but first I have to START it ;)

 I'm still a little iffy on the Bullet list script as I'm sure I could have done better but I'm done waiting and if I keep tinkering it'll never be finished. It's better to have a prototype than an idea on paper. I don't want to be THAT guy, the OCD and  perfectionist type. I love to create, to get out there and do it, so here goes....

Tomorrow will be Day one of the shoot. From looking at my schedule I have 18-25 days (extra days depend on the fight scenes if they stretch out or not.)

 I have casted Toutai in the role of Dean, SIS Super chief and good friend Steve Heke as my opposite, Special agent Johnson. The day will be made of three set ups, at three different locations that feature conversations between the two. I thought it would be easier on all of us if we tackled the dialog/drama stuff before we head to the action scenes as I want the action scenes to be special and I want to sort out some cheap tables and stuff to break when we shoot them.

It will be shot out of sequence obviously to take advantage of the cast's availability and at the moment this will be all of 'Dean's' Scenes. I will post some screen shots when I have them next post.

I'm so excited/nervous. I'm pretty worried as I'm only using my JVC camera. (below) and I only have to one battery at the moment (trying to track down some extra's) so hoping it holds out for me, it almost ran out when I was shooting No Way out some months back and had to rush the last scenes, no rushing this time, It's going to be done right!

 Also this week I bought the matrix trilogy as my wife hadn't seen it yet, since I quote jokes from it all the time. Watching it again I realized how much it had inspired me first time round, the philosophy, the action, the fleshed out characters and the excitement at new possibilities. This is definitely how I wanted my films to be. Awesome!

Don't lie, we've all tried it ;)

Shooting Day One starts tomorrow. Here we go!