The Bulletlist - Finished and Uploaded!!!

Hi! Happy to announce to everyone that the 'webisodes' are up online now on my Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/themattkinsman) for my project, THE BULLETLIST. :)

Check it out below! :) I really hope you enjoy it. I learnt alot (emphasize ALOT) on this journey and now turn my attention to shooting a feature film. Thanks again for your patience, juggling real life with my dream has been a 'challenge' but I'm happy there is something to show for it, enjoy :)

Also, a special thanks to those that made this possible - First and foremost, Steve! You rocked playing Gabriel and helped out heaps with most of the fightscenes, your attitude to work was inspiring especially since you were juggling this with your job as well and thanks for sticking through with it until the end. Hope this looks good on the resume ;)

 Kat, thanks so much, ever the professional, you impressed us and inspired us to step up our acting game plus had fun on set, I hope you enjoyed your time creating with us. 

Tui, Kamy, Toutai, Walter and Amber, thanks for taking part in our project with your various roles, hope your happy with the result :) 

and last but not least, LJ, thanks for helping us film the last episode and for your cameo in ep5, I'm looking forward to making some more magic on camera :) 

and to YOU - Thank you all for your support and I hope you'll be here for the next project/s :)

Day 10 of The BulletList -Screenshots from Sunday's Gabriel vs Killer Scene

As an actor/Director the most frustrating feeling you can have is the feeling that you can't be in two places at once. I love to direct and see the action happen on the lens realtime, but I also love to do the acting out. It's as vain as Kayne saying the worst feeling for him is he'll never get to see Kayne live haha. Anyway, I reached out to LJ if she was going to be free to shoot something with us on Sunday and she replied she was keen :) Which is Fantastic cos that meant we wouldnt have to suit our fight the run and tripod way (see My house; or any of my early fight films with Sam)

So with my Sunday off work (finally) LJ was kind enough to donate some time to help us out with shooting the finale episode's fight scene between myself and Steve, who was nice enough to be free on Sunday also :)

I had originally envisioned it to be the best stuff I have ever done, however due to time constraints and budget issues again I had to lower the bar on my ambitions (blood, powder/ breakables) and save it for another day, but what we came up with was pretty awesome in my biased, enjoyed the hell out of our time, opinion. Best stuff I've ever done on film anyway. Got to break something and at least it wasn't the window (almost) LJ (electrical lamp cord, long story) the lampshade (a little) or any bones ;)

The stuff we captured looks great onscreen even though we were playing with shadows most of the time as we were shooting indoors/low light and had no extra lighting.

LJ's camera has much better lens option and quality res than my own 'should be ok' camera I have used for the rest of the series. Only a couple more days of shooting now and a day on ADR....can't wait to have this thing in the bag :)

Below are some screen shots straight from Premiere, as much as I can without spoilers :)

Ending here we come! :)

Day 9 of The Bulletlist (Ep 4 Vinnie) - and some Mastercard Ad screen shots

Friday. I was dreading it as it was forecasted to rain a week earlier, but the sun was shining so thank god it didn't :)

Today we shot the fight scene for episode four. I'm happy I'm doing this project, I've learnt alot of things that I will do next time around (locations, casting, writing etc), first I have to finish it but it's been eye opening anyway and I look forward to sharing with you all what we came up with.

We shot on the rooftop of a parking building we used first time around before the rewrite. (so familiar to some) .The fight scene between Gabriel (Steve Heke) and Vinnie (Kamy Grewel) featured a little kicking and some dialog and is arguably some of the best stuff we have done, this and the last shoot were quite good. I'm in the middle of writing the choreography for the last episode as it has to be the best! :)

Screen shots from the shoot are below for your viewing.

Some badass screenshots, no?

In other news the Mastercard ad I did some extra work has been released, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, I didn't think I would be seen as way out, but I got a screenshot so have proof lol. Anyway, one day it will be more than just background apperances I can share. Just got to finish bulletlist, release a short film and get my feature up and running so I can show the world what I can do! :)

In white shirt, back right lol - I actually work in this mall for real so funny to see...

Day 8 of BulletList - Gabriel vs Wolfe Fight BTS

Good news. I have a week off of work. Bad news. It's supposed to rain all week.

I was determined to get some more of these scenes shot for The Bulletlist so this is the first week I've had to pay for a location (as with others coming up) so let's consider it an investment on my part. And sure enough, with all my history of shooting stuff in public, there was bound to be complications.

We shot at Lagoon stadium, an indoor sports stadium. I knew of this location because I play weekly futsal there and kick ass but that's a different story ;) I needed a gym location for this scene so this was perfect. Upside. It's normally dead weekdays in the am, but we were *not* lucky enough to have some bballers in the background. Which downside, means we will have to do ADR later for a couple of scenes I couldn't edit around. I shot myself playing Bball in the background so hopefully that is enough to establish there are b-ballers there when 'Gabriel' walks into shot but we'll see.

For Episode three Gabriel meets another hitman on The Bulletlist for him to 'cross' out. Amber Vanessa Davenport plays thecharacter of  'Wolf' and the two fight it out. It was our first time working with her and she was professional, easy going, focused and suited the part. She did an amazing job working with Steve to make this awesome fight and I feel we choreographed a nice exchange. 

Anyway, screenshots below from the edit, stay tuned for more news :)

I love filming, I try to enjoy the moments of making the magic come alive on screen and tell an entertaining story, I can't wait until this is my job for real so I'll never have to work again lol -feature film here I come :)

Filmwork and Day 7 of The Bulletlist

Last week I did a day on the set of The Patriarch, a feature film being shot here by Lee Tamahori (director of The Devil's Double, 007 Die Another Day) which was awesome to see him work in person. Taught me you only need to shoot until you have the shot then move on. Lee of course, shot to fame over his film Once were warriors so this film seems a similar theme of family. Anyway, can't really talk about what happened in scene or what I did on it until it's release but just wanted to share I'm working on things here and there as I upskill and network :)

Day 7 was completed today for The Bulletlist webseries project, shot the missing scenes from Episode two and Episode One today at Highbrook park with Toutai and Steve so both those shoots are wrapped now, yes!! :)

4 more episodes to complete, mainly action scenes featuring Steve and others. Hoping to have this series released week by week late June/Early July. Will keep you up to date for sure. Just wanted to share some screenshots from today with you all :)

Toutai (left) and Steve (right) in character overlooking Mt Wellington in the background. Nice shot huh :)

Thank YOU for your support of this project :)

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes stuff :)

The Bullet List (Day 5- introducing Suzy)

Thursday.

It finally arrived, First day of our hero with the female lead - the motive to drive the story forward :)

Target or Friend?

Last month I put out a casting call for the role of Suzy as I needed a young woman who was enthusiastic, had some dance or martial arts experience and believed in the project and endgoal.
After many applications, We found our star in Kat!

Kat as SUZY in The BulletList

 She was awesome to work with, friendly, easy going, responded to direction well and brought plenty extra of her own to the role, great expressions and projection. It was a fun shoot made easier by her professionalism. This also pushed Steve who came with some fine acting of his own. Really looking forward to editing this one. (post note, finished editing- looks good :D)

Like all film shoots, everything went wrong before we made things right but as I am known to say, smooth seas do not make skilful sailors. To be a directoor we need to Direct, that includes solving problems! We had to shoot early evening to balance our work commitments, earlier in the day was sorting the mechanic about my car, and sorting out the script/ shooting plan for Day 5. So 5pm planned start turned into 530pm once we found a park, fighting with Traffic to arrive.

The amount of time I was in my wife's car today, I felt like I just got out of a space shuttle when I got home, seriously, that little pod went all the way from Manurewa and town, twice, also to town twice as I went earlier in the day for some DVDS, the shirt for my sunday project (next blog) and martial arts shop investigation. (however didn't find the extra nunchuks or rubber tonfa I was looking for, may have to ebay these) Wish my BMW was back, driving it long distances was my favorite part of having it :|

So with fading light, ( I knew in my heart it would be close) People everywhere (joys of public shooting), threatening rainclouds (rained on the way, rained after, great timing), car alarms, church bells and passing cars - we persevered - and managed to pull off the plan and the results were fantastic! Can't wait to share the scene with you guys, even got a shot of possums in the park which was random but hey, right place right time :)

Below is another screenshot that doesn't give too much away apart from how great these two stars play their characters :) Thanks to this day, I have finished a rough cut of episode one! Five to go :)

Day 5 of shooting complete, Day 6 awaits! :)

The Bullet List (Day Two) - Airport scenes

My little brother came up from Christchurch for a couple weeks with his girlfriend so we went out for couple dates and all 4 of us played pool, bowling, futsal nights, restaurants, theme park and lots of Fifa and board/fun games.

Also have been focusing hard on work, eyes on the prize, heart and my mind. And this sunday recently completed the round the bays marathon, 8k so great entry point and haven't really trained so was a little worried but in the end finished, really should have done better. Was kicking myself, thought had 2 k to go but it was the finish line! Conserved way too much energy, next year I will get a much better time, this year it was 49minutes which was disappointing for me, but first time :) So OK, for now ;)

Anyway, Little brothers returned now, and no other distractions so I can return to focusing on the dream and step 1. Finishing The Bullet List!!

Since Steve was teaching a class this afternoon we planned a quick shoot and all the scenes at the airport were shot today.

Scouted the domestic terminal when I picked up my brother a couple weeks ago but far busier today, just that time I guess. Parking still cost me 9 bucks even though I tried to stay under an hour but hey, can't leave my car out in the open lest it disappear thanks to security. To be honest I was surprised. I thought we would have been stopped or asked for ID or permits or something as we were putting our bag on the baggage carousel and taking it off again as well as just loitering around the airport but because my camera looked touristy and we weren't suspicious or troublesome(I hope) we weren't asked to leave or noticed so that worked out OK and we got the shots we needed which was great!

Paticularly proud of this shot as wrote smoke bursts from the tyres in the script so surprised to actually get it on film, nice!

After I dropped Steve off I returned to the airport to wait fro planes to land/take off and get some footage for some cutscenes. So overall got all the shots we needed for todays schedule. Tomorrow is Day 3 and the gun fight :) scripts good, let's hope it turns out that way :)

The Bullet List - Day One (again) Episode One - Gabriel vs Tom

So as you've previously read I have rewritten The Bullet List so it's coherent, has a story to follow, is quick to film for lowbudget and some great action scenes. (best I've done/attempted anyways)

Here is the link to the Facebook site to stay up to date with the latest news :)

Yesterday we reshot the car fight scene and it turned out great, the location seemed seedy but was quite expansive and the actors sold the story well, can't wait for you guys to see it, in the meantime here are a couple of screenshots below, if we stay on track we should be airing this thing by late June early July! :)

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 :)

Updates and Parnell Rise finished Video

Day off today, decided to enter Action on film festival via a script submission considering I haven't filmed anything else lately, so one act down, two acts to go! Definitely feels like the best stuff I've ever written. Short Film is called 'Away'. It's about a hit-man about to quit and leave town when his old employers decide quitting's not an option. Basically an excuse to stretch some writing muscles and paint some great action scenes I couldn't possibly film at this stage in my career. But one day, right? Will keep you all up to date with how 'Away' turns out.

 

 scene from Kung Fu Elliot doco

Feedback after watching Kung Fu Elliot a couple days ago? Well done documentary, I was literally clapping, some moments of unintentional humor in there with some laugh out loud moments as the wife and I could relate to some of the acting and location stuff. It was a great story, but definitely sickening in the end. This guy has the desire but goes about it the wrong way, love his passion to film stuff and hope he makes something of himself one day but he definitely has relationship issues. Great film to learn from anyway which was the intention, the lessons I gleaned from it is always stay true to yourself and your fans, family comes first, never forget your friends who get you there, and do things for the right reasons. Hope he did make it to China and wasn't just talking shit. Googled that but nothing came up so who knows?

Matial arts :) Lately as you can gather from my last blog's, have been looking at training again properly with other people, not just skipping/working out in my garage. Investigated Hardcore JKD as on the website says can be an instructor in 5 years, which is definitely something I'd be interested in, saw a facebook page in NZ, not sure if Legit, but will follow up on main website as a definite possibility, when I do my fights on screen, I don't want anyone to question my authenticity.At the moment what I do is my expression of myself based on my basic knowledge of karate I learned at GKR and JKD I've learned from DVD's, books and with sifu when I didn't work fulltime. Nice, but my tools are basic, I want to be able to do more than just punch and kick, wrestling and locks seem interesting, and I would like to broaden my artillery.

Been watching heaps of battle raps lately thanks to total slaughter for reigniting my love of hiphop battles :), Dizaster and Daylyt my fav two at the moment, Pat stay is funny as too. Been writing some songs again which is nice, maybe finally finish that one album this year and cross that off of my bucket list ;)

Check out the screenshot below!

 Steve vs Me again :)

Thats right, It's been a year since I've actually completed this, but finally decided to get around to adding the final touches to Parnell Rise!- the web series I abandoned last year due to budget/casting issues. The scenes that we had shot I've edited together to make a somewhat coherent story. But please bear in mind it was shot a year ago (before Ambush 2 and No way out and some other shorts we've completed since then) and I wanted to finish it so I could show the guys/girls that their efforts weren't wasted and they have been immortalized in film.

Check it out below (for those who want to watch just for the fight scene it's at 6minutes 30 )

Thanks again for your support :)