Casting

I'm doing a stills shoot for KNOG in a couple of weeks. I've been casting people for the different roles. KNOG has given me a crazy amount of freedom to do things the way I want. I love that level of trust. It's hard to find in commercial work.

Young kids in love and up to no good...

True Love and Chaos pt2

I stare at this photo everyday...

(I don't know who it's by, or where it's from...?)

Ron Mueck Rocks

Went to the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery on the weekend with the kids. Such great work.

No guessing what my poultry loving son Ollies favourite piece was.

The Best Script. Ever.

Last week I read the best script I have ever read. it was sent to me via a US manager. It is by no means perfect and needs work in places, but the subject matter and how it could be realised on screen has my mind bursting with possibilities and potential. It's the kind of script that I feel I became a filmmaker to make. And given half the chance I would work day and night for how ever long it took to get it made.

Unfortunately... the possibility of me getting that chance is about a million to one...

I took a photo of the stack of pages just after I finished reading it, so I would remember the moment.

Who knows? I'm sure bigger dreams have come true.

True Love and Chaos pt1

Lately, I have been drawn to images and films and that explore or portray ideas of 'chaos', as broad as this sounds it fits very specifically into the development of a few film projects and in particular Cherry Bomb.

Earlier today I saw this amazing short film over at Boing Boing. I wouldn't usually be drawn to this overly technical style of filmmaking, however, Nuit Blanche wears it's bells and whistles proudly on it's sleeve, yes it's FX we have all seen before, but here the visual audacity doesn't take away from the simplicity of the idea and more importantly the emotional connection between the man and woman.

What I really like about this film are the two characters who are totally engulfed by chaos, literally, smashing glass and crashing cars, and yet they remain totally at ease and focussed, almost hypnotised by one another.

Please click out and watch the clips in the largest way you can!

Also check out the equally impressive 'Making Of'. I think seeing the process behind making Nuit Blanche made me appreciate the film even more. Even though most of it's trickery is revealed, there is surprisingly more comping and FX work going on that I first thought. Making the narrative and the romantic spell of which the couple are under (of which no computer effect could enhance) even more impressive.

I dont know... maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic!

Sketchy Japan

I've been cleaning out my office at home (SO exciting!) and I came across an old journal I made when I first travelled overseas in 1999 to Japan. I'm not sure if it was because it was my first trip O.S or because it was Japan, but the whole experience was incredible. I don't think I blinked for the two weeks I was there, every moment seemed so exhilarating and unique.

One of things that this old journal reminded me of was my approach at the time for documentation. I had some purist notion that it would be cheap or improper in some way to take photos, particularly of tourist destinations. Rather I thought it more appropriate to sit and draw the places I was there to 'see', this way I would remember the textures, the light and the overall 'scene' in far greater detail. It was great to look through all these sketches and it was true, I think I was able to recall in very clear detail alot more about the location than what the sketch provided. Perhaps because I was required to sit and observe for a much greater amount of time than if I was quickly taking a photo and moving on.

(click on the image for a larger view)

Seeing these little drawings made me dig into the collection of shoeboxes under the bed where all our negs and prints have been meticulously filed and organised (not). The majority of photos I did take on that trip, were point and shoot snapshots of random details and observations that jumped out and demanded to be recorded.

Apologies for the crappy scans!

One image that stood out to me while shuffling through the stacks was from a roll I took late one night on a subway platform deep within Shinjinko train station, Japan's and perhaps the worlds (?) busiest train station. I set my old Nikon SLR up on a signal box and every time a train came in to stop, I took a single shot, which was framed by the trains window, capturing the packed commuters lost in their transient thoughts. Man, that was a cool trip...

Perhaps...