#The Monk and The Samurai Press Kit

The lives of two men, a monk and a samurai suffer unbearable loss. Heroic to the end their tales intertwine as they battle with the chaos, redemption, justice and vengeance within.

Table of Contents

SYNOPSIS

Note: As our Story Is an adaptive folk tale brought to life through a poetic fable, we took a filmic approach to represent it visually to the world.

ACT 1

Our Main character a simple farmer, aspires to devote his life to finding his one true love. Finding her they marry and have a child whom one day rises to become Japan’s mightiest hero. Upon one fateful day their lives are changed forever through the treacherous murder of their one true love and mother at the hands of evil men.

ACT 2

Both men suffer internal loss deeply. Each lost to depression, the father struggles to guide his son. Failing to understand the warrior within his son, he loses him to a path of bloody revenge. Both men go their separate ways suffering a life of trauma, struggle and absence of clarity, they must learn to grow internally in order to overcome the
darkness within. They both find fame and turn their loss into meaning as their paths unknowingly bring them back to each other. The end of their tale unites them both once more.

ACT 3

One man, a holy saint, a man of peace and another man, a fierce warrior, a tool of death and vengeance upon all that is evil square off in a conversation between father and son. The son realising that all along peace was attainable, all he had to do was surrender his heart to the inevitability of loss in order to overcome it. Unsure of himself, the mighty warrior after all this time, reluctantly softens in his fathers embrace and finally accepts his guidance. Father to son, man to man our mighty Samurai realises through a battle. of whits and confused aggressions that he himself was his greatest enemy all along. Both men end their tale reaching into the heavens beyond where they too are reunited with the memory and love they both share for their long lost wife and mother.

CREDITS

READ BY

JOHN M. SHANG

ACTION DESIGN

TROY A. SANDFORD

VISUAL FX COMPOSITING & TECHNICAL EDITING

HISTROFOR YEDIGAROV

VLADIMIR ERSHOV

PRODUCED WRITTEN DIRECTED

TROY A. SANDFORD

VISUAL DESIGN

TROY A. SANDFORD

PERFORMANCES

JOHN M. SHANG

JOSEPH ELICONTROL

HRISTOFOR YEDIGAROV

TROY A. SANDFORD

HAZEL HAN

BOYMAMATOV ZIYODBEK

LUO YUAN HAO

THE SHAKUHACHI FLUTE

PLAYED BY RENZO STUDIOS

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

TROY A. SANDFORD

VLADIMIR ERSHOV

JOSEPH ELICONTROL

CAMERA

HRISTOFOR YEDIGAROV

JOSEPH ELICONTROL

JOHN M. SHANG

TROY A. SANDFORD

VLADIMIR ERSHOV

EDITING

TROY A. SANDFORD

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Troy Sandford began his martial arts journey at the age of seventeen. His travels took him from Australia to China. Troy has always been a film maker, he now dedicates his life to training the martial arts, and inspiring others to walk
the path of the warrior by telling stories with the art of film. Troy’s aim is to tell martial stories through film that will allow others to navigate their lives and obstacles from the point of view of a martial artist.

DIRECTOR’S VISION

Originally aspiring to create a book of short bed time martial art stories ideal for kids and adults that one can share with their students or growing child as a bed time story, the concept evolved into moving pictures. We began by adding still imagery. The project developed and became well received during the creative process, we decided as a team to shoot out action pieces 0 dollar budget on the iPhone as we are a professional film studio it was a side ambition and done un lunch breaks and spare time here and there.
The original concept was to create online YouTube still images with an asian feel and tone that resonates with martial artists globally and lovers of asian culture.
The Warrior and the monk is a famous tale. I took it and revamped it into an original story. Placing themes that were emotionally compelling and similar to what I have suffered and experienced in real life.
I have learned to become the monk and the samurai. My vision was to split my experiences into these two characters whilst accentuating that love and the pursuit of meaning is deep at the core of every true warriors adventure and life story.
I have suffered and this is my mythical representation of which I envisage all martial artists who struggle feel the very same thing, they just take different paths and endure unique struggles to find peace within.