I’m proud to present to all of you: Unit 21, the first ever Hackney-based Martial Arts action short!
It started off as a group of us, who were all attending the same multimedia training course over at YHworld. As the weeks progressed the idea came up to round out the course in style, by filming a fight movie, starring all of us. I took on the directing duties, wrote something in a very short space of time and within a few weeks we were filming.
It was a great experience, overall. I had never choreographed a proper fight scene before, none of the people on screen were professional actors or professional martial artists. We were all learning from each other as we went.
There’s some things I wish I could have done differently. We ran out of time so the entirety of the stick fight scene near the end had to be shot in 15 minutes. I only really had time for two sequences of fighting there, so shot two quick over-the-shoulder shots of both then we rushed out of there as quickly as we could. The microphone accidentally came out for the last ten minutes too so we lost sound on a lot of footage.
Despite what difficulties we had, I’m proud of the finished product; and proud of everyone who worked on it, who gave me their free time and their faith. This film, to me, is a lovely bookend I can place at the end of an amazing productive time I’ve had over at the YHworld offices. Easily the most productive period, artistically, of my entire life.
Let me know what you think. Thoughts, comments, critiques, etc. At a later date I will write a longer blog post on the tips and hints I’ve picked up from the shoot that I’d love to pass on. We learn together, so that we may strive together, into the light.
Until next time
Office Mustafa 