On Thursday I had the distinct pleasure of being one of a crowd of folks to offer soundbytes of nostalgia and appreciation for the work of action star Jackie Chan. This comes as the 11th episode of the Kickback Podcast with Chris Jones went live this week with a multitude of voices weighing in, including stunt performers, podcast hosts, film producers and even martial arts students therein.
The Martial Club team has been busy for some months now having trained with Leo Au Young, martial arts instructor and a friendly face among those as fight coordinator for several Ip Man films on top of having studied under Ip Man’s son, Ip Chun. That said, while the Donnie Yen-starring franchise itself takes a few historical liberties, there’s no question that the films pay homage to a great man in at least one form or another which is imaginably challenging to do. Ip Man Returns echoes that effort graciously in its own way for fans of kung fu and martial arts, which undeniably serves as a hit in my book.
It’s Monday, and that means another fully loaded Hit List has arrived with loads of stunts and action. This week has a few late entries that I’ve been otherwise inspired to share, and I think you all will enjoy them in some capacity.
Of course, we’re starting this off with a playlist that’s nice and light, graced with stunt and martial arts reels. Fabio Santos kicks things off in fiery fashion next to Jason Wingham, “Kid Haru” himself – Devin White, early 2015 demo reel footage from Team Raffaelli, industry fight choreographer, actor and stuntman Tim Man and the latest awesome tricking reel from Team Emig’s own Mackensi Emory (viewable only here).
Up next are a handful of trailers, a few of which are for foreign language projects on the way, and the first comes four years in the making from filmmaking duo David Vergne and Renaud Guin. Detour is the name of the short which focuses on three jewel burglars who discover a woman brutally beaten, and find themselves taking on a darker force of evil, and the short is currently in post production.
The second trailer hails all the way from Jose Manuel at North Compass, a familiar face I’ve already written about here at Film Combat Syndicate. His next potential webseries, Uncompromised, takes our hero on a quest to avenge his own death with symbolic enemies in the form of his own personal flaws. It’s deep, deep stuff, although I’m certain the project will put all the pieces together when released.
Both projects have trailers below, including Detour which also comes with some cool character promo art. The other trailers include Rising Tiger Films’s new action drama short, These Dog Days, and SG Action’s long-awaited sci-fi time-travel gig, The Mantis!
DETOUR [2015] Official Release from Renaud Guin on Vimeo.
View post on imgur.com
Now we get to the fighting, and as always, there’s plenty of it in the following playlist. Star Wars is the way to here as we set off wity two new videos, one from Noah Fleder‘s Force Storm Entertainment, and Logan Cross’s own short, The Force. Other fights include Tripp Pickell’s latest test choreo sampler with cohort Shannan Leigh Yancsurak, Allie Marrie’s kickass performance in Faux Fighting’s latest “Showdown” serial addition, A Better Workout, Dardrex Productions’s action comedy, Snatch And Grapple, Cinematic Fight Studio’s latest client-ordered project, The Sting, and independent action director Bryan Sloyer’s newest ode to Kurt Wimmer, Equilibrium: Gentlemen’s Game!
Moving on to some longer-form shorts nearing the end of this week’s Hit List, actor, dancer and filmmaker Jordan Cann released this newest drama, My Brother’s Keeper, last week. It’s the story of a friendship broken over a girl, and a rivalry that unfolds between three crews with a surprising twist at the end. Cann himself takes primarily on dance and so there’s plenty of it here as well as a dash of fight choreography for good measure. Take a look!
And finally, we cap things off in award-winning fashion. Australian actor, writer and director David No is still making the rounds these days with his latest short, Battle Of Wills, hitting the festivals this Fall. In the meantime, it was in a private message on social media he shared his 2012 period sword drama, Forged, the story of an impetuous martial arts student who reflects on his ill-fated upbringing with his master on the night of their death duel. The project won a great share of awards throughout the world, including several festivals in the U.S. a few years ago during its run, and you can see them for yourself at the official fan page.
For now, enjoy Forged (special thanks to David for sending this one over!)
Of course, coming from the folks over at Bat In The Sun, we’re bound sooner or later to find out how their next Superpower Beatdown will turn out. Their latest still is up and clearly this one looks to be a real Fall berzerker!…
Tune in to last week’s Hit List and catch up on all you may have missed, and be sure to subscribe to the channels listed. More importantly though, if you’re a filmmaker and you wish have your stunt reels or action shorts featured in a Hit List, shoot us an email at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com
DOG official teaser ‘BRUTAL’ from SUPER MASSIVE on Vimeo.
SYNOPSIS:
A gangster’s pet hitman is charged with baby sitting a building and the only thing stopping him going mad is an old gameboy and his noodles. One night a young woman looking for a flame for her drugs and a pillow for her head changes his whole universe.
REVIEW:
Leeds-based stunt team, SG Action is one whose works I’ve spoken heavily of in the last two years, and although it’s taken roughly another year or so, their latest shortfilm effort is finally gaining some traction in 2014 film festival circuit. Directed and produced by Robin Schmidt, Dog is a collaboration between the team and indie film production company, Supermassive, and was originally a two-part music video featuring hip-hop artist Dream McClean before it became a collective effort to build a larger shortfilm narrative following a successful Indiegogo funding run last year. The move was also Schmidt‘s chance to try something new for the UK market since there are not a lot of films of its kind made locally, and while budgetary concerns were an issue, Dog was still pretty impressive.
Simon Wan plays the title role it its Chinese iteration, Gao, a psychologically cracked and maniacal gang enforcer who obeys the commands of his boss, as well as that of his handler, Xian, played by Simon’s brother, actor and stuntman Martin Wan. The story kicks off right away with McClean‘s special appearance aiding in the introduction to Gao as he relentlessly raids a pimp’s hideout, single-handedly taking out everyone in the room. Unfortunately, Gao is forced to stay at the hideout as punishment for not killing the pimp and his men as ordered, and is left by himself to watch place with nothing more than a package of noodles and a Nintendo Game Boy to keep himself from completely going insane.
From there, we are introduced to actress Sophia Del Pizzo who plays Sophia, a drug-addicted prostitute who also happened to be staying at the hideout prior to Gao’s arrival. Their surprise introduction to each other leads to an uneasy co-existence whereby Gao allows her to stay as long as she provides him new batteries regularly, and the film eventually montages its way through with Sophia and Gao building a unique bond beyond their awkward, flawed and destructive chemistry, aside from the language barrier they share. Their relationship eventually reaches a boiling point that forces Gao to confront his humanity from time to time, often illuminating his struggle to be a compassionate, able-minded human being while identifying what it means to be “honorable”. That honor begins to take shape after he is relinquished of his time-out and assigned to a job, only to return to see Xian raping her, leading to a climactic showdown that will incidently determine Gao’s fate, as well as Sophia’s.
I’ve had the opportunity to screen at least two versions of this shortfilm with this being the second. Both shared different characteristics in editing while Schmidt continually worked out the kinks these many months to make his latest project solid for its delivery. Having seen its final version, I can honestly say that were it given a bigger budget, the U.K. would have had something major on its hands as a great feature film for the niche.
Dog showcases a gritty, dark and entertaining action concept that presents Simon and Sophia in a suitable story with good acting and plenty of editing ornamentations to keep the viewer otherwise stimulated, in addition to solid fight action from SG Action’s own, stunt coordinator Chris Jones, with performances from the team, as well as Martin in the final fight. The various audio crescendos, VFX tweaks and pacing were also a good tool in helping craft this low-budget fare into something worthwhile, granting a sense of artistic quality that would not be there if Schmidt wasn’t as tenacious as he was before finally letting the public see his work. Clearly there is a level of care here, and it while one can only hope that a project like this is garnered with greater prospects and accolades, it goes to show that when done with passion and love, the final result can be pretty rewarding.
The shortfilm has already received numerous nominations and runner-ups internationally between North America and Indonesia, and more selections are underway before its online airing.
Subscribe to the official Facebook pages for SG Action and Supermassive to keep track on more Dog news and other adventures in film.
In the not so distant future, on a cold English winter night, we find a dystopian vision of a post-industrial hell. Where for a time so called ‘Superheroes’ weren’t just confined to existing in comic books. Tonight is the 10-year anniversary of the mysterious and destructive event that claimed the life of Britain’s most famous vigilante ‘The Face’, society has descended into overpopulated desensitised squalor.
The gang over at UK-based martial arts independent filmmaking and choreography troupe, SG Action have unveiled their newest shortfilm in the form of gritty action piece, Vendetta. Written and directed by the team’s own, lead actor and performer Martin Wan, Vendetta is another in a slate of online gems tailor-made and suited for the worldwide online martial arts action cinema fanbase, and anyone with an eye for quality action and cinematic potential looking to hire this awesome team for larger projects.
Vendetta also stars Chris Jones with actress Freya Thomas. Wan is also set to appear in this week’s forthcoming shortfilm crowdfunder fight pitch for Brandon Kahn’s inspired new series, The Streets Of Myth, and will also be starring opposite brother Simon Wan in the Supermassive co-production of Dog, from director Robin Schmidt in the coming months.
SYNOPSIS:
A lonely crime lord contemplates his life of villainy, corruption and violence. His empire crumbled, he awaits his fate at the hands of an unknown assassin. He has nothing left in the material world, even his unloved wife leaves him with a sense of regret and venom.
With nothing left to do but face his would be killer, he sits on his throne and awaits his fate.
While we are still awaiting the release of the independent filmmaker Robin Schmidt’s shortfilm gangster thriller, Dog, the folks at SG Action are working on a new action shortfilm set for a possible release in a few weeks titled Vendetta. The short film is described as “a tale of betrayal and revenge, focusing on the final evening of a crime boss, and his inevitable demise by his enemies…” with action elements designed with less of a martial arts appeal, and more toward survivalist elements within its choreography.
Vendetta is written and directed by Martin Wan, who stars along with actress Freya Thomas, in addition to several key SG members involved in the stunt work, including Chris Jones who can be seen in one of the three posters newly unveiled on Wednesday at the very bottom of this page. Vendetta is expected tentatively in mid-November with a trailer approaching before then.
Wan is also expected to make a brief appearance in director Brandon Kahn’s upcoming conceptual promotional action short to crowdfund the inspired series, The Streets Of Myth. For more information on other upcoming events, and exciting new cinematic content, subscribe to SG Action on Facebook and Twitter.
Nearly a year and a half in the making and since launching earlier this year in January, UK-based action and stunt performance group SG Action is out to stake its claim in the field of martial arts cinema. They are professional athletes who specialize in acting, drama, action comedy, stuntwork, tricking, freerunning, Harlem shaking (okay well maybe not Harlem shaking, lol), gymnastics, cheerleading, and even share credits for television and film, as well as live stage shows. They have their own Facebook Page, their own official website, a Twitter audience, and their own Youtube channel, all of which where people can subscribe to catch a taste of some of the action packed projects they partake in, as well as podcast updates to provide news and event info.
This week, in addition to illustrating some of their recent test fight footage, they also took an interest in showcasing their feats on camera with the help of a Motion Pro X3. Filming at a frame rate of anywhere from 800 to 1,500 frames per second, you would have never guessed a guy like Chris Jones could come just millimeters away from losing a toe while kicking a fruit off of a sword tip with such precision and accuracy.
This short video plays perfectly in its experimental value with timing and filming speed, illustrating beautifully shot mechanics of martial arts stuntwork in high definition, from tornado kicks, kick-ups and praying mantis techniques, to Jim Key’s use of a rope dart (3D is a must next time ^_^), and a girl named Eleanor who is all brains, beauty, and a total boss with nunchucks.
Feel free to check it out below or click HERE if the embed fails to load.
Don’t forget to check the description in the video for further credits, and for more info about Motion Pro camera, I would stick a link in here but just go and google it. 😉
Dobell recently unveiled the new trailer for the latest shortfilm, TOMB RAIDER: NO ANGEL, starring Tabitha Lyons as Lara Croft, along with Annabel Bates and Robert Holden, with Jon Hutton, Ross McDowell and Darrell Wilson. Further credits go to hair and make-up artist Kalissa Bentley, boom operator Nic Samiotis, driving and catering by Lorna Lyon-Smith, location Manager Phil Branscombe and costume designer Krystina Kitsis.