Land of the Kami

Editing, editing and more editing…

Paz — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:24:08 +0000

After all, what are holidays for? Two successfull days editing the final part of The Solution… Here are some pictures I grabbed from the editing preview panel, hope you like them…

Click to view slideshow.

Don’t forget to visit my FaceBook page on www.facebook.com/pascal.fintoni

Until next time.

Action speaks louder than words and so do pictures…

Paz — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:26:28 +0000

We have filmed three fight scenes already and the momentum is gathering pace.

On 1 May - Lord Tomikoto faced The Shogun Executioner, the location was our favourite forest in County Durham, a filmmaker’s paradise…

On 8 May – The Bokken Master met Lord Tomikoto on the beach which gave us some truly awesome footage… Photo courtesy of Graham Hill from Rock Art Productions.

On 15 May – The Assassins took on Lord Tomikoto in an open field, absolutely loved filming this scene…

Check out the Land of the Kami – Extended Version Photo Album on Facebook for more pictures…

A lot of hard work in terms of production value, costumes and fight rehearsals really paid off and our modest first attempt is slowly but surely turning into a brilliant feature film.

Thank to you all our crew members, supporters and well wishers for their continued support.

Until next time.

Paz

Welcome to Action Cinema Talents and Ideas Factory

Paz — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:30:07 +0000

‘A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.’ Walter Gagehot.

Welcome to our blog. We love action adventure movies and a few years ago we decided to embark in our own filmmaking projects. Driven by passion, real talent and a fair amount of insanity these are our stories…

The intention is for our records to be used as resource and information for the crew behind Land of the Kami and The Solution as well as fellow film makers and martial artists out there.

LATEST UPDATE:

The Solution - Principal photography completed, post-production in progress. Check out posts below for full update. Have a look at our Facebook Photo Abum sneaky previews.

Land of the Kami extended version is in pre-production! Following on from the success of the medium length version we have decided to film additional fight scenes. Watch this space for more news, in the meantime check out the Land Of The Kami Production Photo Album on Facebook.

ACTIF Productions in the media:

Check out the Journal Live website. Hope you saw the feature on ITV News! Great article on the Sunderland Echo Online.

Behind the Scenes pictures now available: click here to view it on YouTube with music.

Watch Land of the Kami Trailer on YouTube.

Enjoy.

Pascal

Return To Land Of The Kami

Paz — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:31:29 +0000

Return to Land Of The Kami - 1 May - Lord Tomikoto v The Shogun Executioner

The team is back together, the swords are sharpened and after 3 months of pre-production we were back where it all started on Sunday 1 May.

Encouraged by the great feedback we received when Land Of The Kami was first released, we have been working on an extended version. We will explore the story of Lord Tomikoto, you know, the bad guy… and give you even more action and drama.

Check out the photo album on Facebook.

Sorry for the very long hiatus, I know it has been a while since the last meaningful post. I am just too busy with post production for The Solution and production for Land Of The Kami to blog. I will try harder but regular brief updates can be viewed on the facebook page.

Until next time…

Austin Film Festival 2011

Paz — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:24:21 +0000

Thank you to Lacy Long for getting in touch….

The 18th Annual Austin Film Festival is accepting entries for the 2011 Film Competition!

Below you will find an overview of the important facts pertaining to entries and deadlines for our competition. It would be wonderful if you could post this in the appropriate areas on your blog to inform your readers and filmmakers of this great opportunity. Happy to help!

The Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft and business of writers and filmmakers and recognizing their contributions to film, television and new media. The AFF champions the work of aspiring and established writers and filmmakers by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships.

The 2011 Film Competition is open for submissions!
Regular Deadline: June 1 ($45)
Late Deadline: July 1 ($50)
Very Late Deadline: July 15 ($60)

Please let us know if you will need additional information in regards to this press-release or anything else related to the competition or the festival. Feel free to contact myself at film@austinfilmfestival.com or David Gil at1-800-310-3378 or davidgil@austinfilmfestival.com .

Best,
Laci Long

Just testing the new link to facebook

Paz — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:36:56 +0000

Just testing the new link to facebook

First light at St Marys Lighthouse

Paz — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:28:16 +0000

Pascal The Director on set at St Marys Lighthouse

Back in early 2008 when I wrote the treatment for The Solution I dreamt up this dramatic sequence at St Marys Lighthouse, one of my favourite spots on the Northumberland Coast. Of course I also wrote that it would take place at sunrise, it felt so magical and visually exciting on paper…

Well, in reality getting up just before 4am is not much fun but on the 30th of May it was all worth it and truly hope that the rest of the gang shared that view. Everybody worked so hard (to keep their eyes open), time was an issue as we had both the rising tide and the rising sun to take into account, both the lack of continuity and the lack of dry land was going to make things rather interesting!

In jst a few hours we squeezed in action scenes (well Jake running about!), drama, dialogues, manly hugs, and lit up flares for effects. Jeff did his thing and had this scene coordinated with coastguards and local police. What a way to bring this project to an end. Definitely one of my best memories of this project.

Next up, you’ve guessed it, breakfast time! So around 9am we all piled into the local Morrisons for a gigantic full English Breakfast each.

Once the bellies were full we headed to The Fabriam Centre where a great friend of the project, David Ward from Aligned Solutions, had organised for us to film in the sumptuous reception area of this great building. It will all make sense when you see the film, honest!

We completed filming at midday, which may seem a short day for us but then again with the all crew being up since 03ish in the morning, it had been a full day already. Plus we needed to keep our strength for the last day of filming only a few hours away…

Until next time…

And one year on… back in the garden

Paz — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:59:07 +0000

Another fun day for Cailtin on the set of The Solution

One year and one week later… and we are still working hard on ‘The Solution’. The team was in good spirits today (well I fed them well… learned that trick quite early on) and we were back at Whickham Gardens to complete a gory scene we filmed late last year… As you would expect the location had changed, the light was different (it was sunny!) and Jake had the shortest hair cut ever inflicted on a human being!

Getting the framing right to hide all the above was an absolute nightmare, but in the end we got some good footage including some great exchanges between Shepherd and Stone.

We also completed my wife and daughter’s death scenes with some great help from Maddi and Knoll who brought in much humour, cheap fake blood and saliva-enhanced makeup to the party.

Once again we are extremely grateful to David Peacock and his wonderful hospitality. Third time at Whickam Gardens and it is always a great experience.

Until next time…

Blood, guts and chopped tomatoes…

Paz — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:26:46 +0000

Although the end of principal photography is fast approaching (honest!) I was keen to keep challenging Knoll and Maddi, our Make-Up Special FX geniuses. After their great tour de force for ‘The Experiment’ scene at Hoults Yard they were more than ready for today’s challenge (pronounced ‘shallunge’ a la Inspector Clouseau).

A few weeks back I had described to them a scene entitled ‘The Lost Souls’ which was to depict the breakdown in morality as some of the soldiers who had survived the infection torture one of the savages.

Let the fun begin

An outdoor location was important so we chose Kepier Woods where we had filmed Land of the Kami a couple of years ago (already!). A mixture of nostalgia and convenience led us back to the woods, although the wild garlic remained a major issue for Paul and I. Next up was finding screenperformers happy to play ‘eveel’ soldiers and I am so glad that my work colleagues James, Liz and Kate stepped in. For the savage Tristan volunteered (did he?) and for the second time this month made a great contribution to the project, not to mention bringing the outfits and guns which made a big difference to the whole scene. Paul had the luxury of a day-off and focussed on the physical expressions and use of space for all 4 performers.

So it was up to Knoll and Maddi to share with us their vision and how they wanted to present their make-up fx.

To say their minds are particularly twisted would be an understatement, from urinating, stabbing, shooting in the head, blood bursting, vomiting, brain dripping, it was all there in one sick exciting sequence… just can’t wait to edit this one.

Thanks to James, Liz, Kate, Tristan, Paul, Maddi and Knoll for a great day. See you at the Premiere.

Raising our game…

Paz — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:05:34 +0000

There have been many highlights in this project; looking back at the many locations, support from professionals, numerous extras, make-up special effects, fight scenes and dedication of the core production team, I still shake my head in amazement thinking ‘how did we get so lucky?’.

I do not have the full answer but I do know that The Solution is produced with a lot of commitment and heart which seems to attract the right level of positive attention. Add onto that a great deal of networking and something magical seems to happen.

Brendan Healy, Tracy Gillman, Pascal Fintoni

Today we were blessed with this generosity and heart that characterise our region. As part of our journey into filmmaking I was keen to work with local actors, with this in mind I had dreamt up a prologue and epilogue for The Solution. With the help of my good friend Graham Hill we managed to convince Brendan Healy and Tracy Gillman to spend a day with us and deliver the opening and closing sequences for the film. Their names will be familiar to some of you due to their extensive TV and Theatre work, check out the web for more info.

The same generous spirit meant that we also had access to a great location courtesy of Ravensworth Properties Development. A splendid warehouse all to ourselves for the weekend, what more could we wish for?

What a Team, from left to right: Derek, Pascal, Graham, Knoll, Maddi, Paul.

As the saying goes ‘pictures’ speak louder than words so I shall leave with some great photos from a very enjoyable shoot for all.

Our warmest thanks to Brendan and Tracy for supporting the project, to Graham for the videography and sound, to Knoll and Maddi for make-up and electricity, to Jules for organising the catering with some help from Denise, to Paul for the great fight choreography, to Rob and Paul for great screenfighting performances, to Geoff at Ravensworth Properties for access to the warehouse, to all our friends and supporters present on the day… yep, filming does take some organising!