Portfolio > NUNCHAKU (2006)

Nunchaku is part of a series of films produced in London, UK by The Astbury's between 2002 - 2012. Jake and Daniel Astbury made Nunchaku as a response to their experiences as teenagers on the streets of London in the 90's and early noughties. Bruce Lee was a key inspiration for the films themes, both as a martial artist, but more importantly as a philosopher. The film is a visual narrative whose protagonist is given the choice to take revenge on an attacker, the impact of this choice could effect his life path there after. The film was shot across the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham as well as parts of East London. This was the first film that Jake Astbury employed an anamorphic lens on DV and Super8 cameras, after numerous tests with other aspect ratios. Jake and Daniel shot the film one day a week for two years between 2002 and 2004 and accumulated four hours of footage for the 10 minute film. Post Production was completed early 2005. There was no actual budget for the film. The money spent on the film went towards travel, food, and paying for the Super8 stock, development and professional telecine of film. The most challenging scenes were the fight scenes, as no other crew members were employed on this film. Jake and Daniel took both performing and crew roles to make this film, using a tripod and marking key points to set compositions prior to both of the brothers being in front of the camera. For the end action scene two sets of cardboard Nunchak's were made so that body contact shots could be filmed.

Written and Directed by Jake Astbury and Daniel Astbury.
Deelo played by Daniel Astbury
Intruder played by Jake Astbury
Dream Demon played by Jake Astbury

Technical Specifications:
Format: Mini-DV and Super8 shot with ISCO-OPTIC 2x Anamorphic Lens
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Sound: Stereo
UK, Colour and Black & White
Duration 10 minutes 41seconds

Versions: 2006 4:3 Letterbox, 2010 16.9 Letterbox, 2020 1920 x 800 extended cut.

Copyright Astbury Films / Jake Astbury 2020 / 2021