Shoots #2 and #3

This was the shoot. The hardest shoot in the schedule. And I'm so happy that everything went smoothly.

The shooting location was Jamieson and the surrounding area, about 50 km out of Mansfield and nearly four hours drive from Melbourne. It was always going to be a hard slog. On the drive there we decided to take a quick detour and check out Kinglake, where I had planned top grab a few quick shots of the fire-ravaged town. This posed a few problems, mainly those of the ethical variety. We wondered if it was 'right' to take footage of a town that was engulfed in a fire that claimed many lies, and we were still questioning this as we ate lunch in the town centre. Following a quick chat, I decided to move a few kilometres out of the town centre and pull off the road and take a few shots of the trees down there, well out of the way of any people and properties. It was raining and we didn't want the camera to get wet, which is where my car's sun shield came in to help out! (see below)


Following this we took a few shots whilst driving, before turning our attention to the cabin at Jamieson. When we got there it was action stations right away. It was getting late in the day, and the sun wasn't piercing through the cloud cover at all, so for light reasons we had to get our act together quickly. But it was absolutely pouring. We sat, wet and cold, in the cabin's lounge whilst everyone waited for me to make a decision. I almost leaned towards postponing shooting to the next day, but realised we'd be up against time and so decided to brave it. It was quite possibly the best choice of the trip. We shot some fantastic footage, including a sweeping long take of damien's character approaching the cabin, and assorted other shots outside the cabin. The light had exhausted itself completely just as we finished filming, and so we adjourned inside for a quick break before shooting the internal cabin scenes.
The internal scenes required a bit of set-dressing and lighting setups to be managed, but after a while we achieved a great balance, and along with the already fantastic ornaments lining the cabin walls, the place looked great. This part of the shoot went incredibly smoothly and after a few hours we sat down for a lovely spaghetti dinner and a few beers, and talked over the next day of shooting. We worked out that the next day we would have to endure a 30 minute uphill climb to the mine, whilst also filming selected shots along the way, before shooting a few road scenes, returning to the cabin for one or two final shots, before packing and leaving. We knew it was going to be tough to fit it all in so we went to bed.



After grabbing batteries for the mixer from Jamieson, we set off on the walk. Along the way we found a burnt out old van so we used it to grab a few quick shots before continuing the uphill climb. Strange as it may be, we battled against the sun at some points, as it kept peeking through the clouds and destroying the overcast look we were trying to achieve. It soon retreated however, and we got a few more shots of Damien walking and some really cool sounds from a nearby mine interest. After a tough, sweaty climb, we eventually reached the top and found the old mine.




We got some great shots and then descened back down the mountain to have lunch at the cabin. Time was agasint us, and we had to shoot some shots with the car. We budgeted for about 45 minutes, but quickly realised it would take just a bit longer when the car battery died. Yep. Awesome. When this happened, Damien jumped in the driver's seat as me and liam pushed the car off the side of the road and manouvered it so that it was on the road, facing downhill. We then ran and pushed as hard as we could, and sighed with relief as the car's engine burst into life when Damien popped the clutch. We finished off this shot, before returning to the cabin and grabbing some wilds, and heading off on the long journey home.

It was a fantastic couple of shoots, and we got around 2 and a half hours of superb footage that I've been painstakingly going through. I have to thank Elise, Liam and Damien for all their hard work, and I can't wait to get into the suites and start editing!

Shoot #1- Bushrangers Bay

Last week was the first shoot day for my project, and the location was Bushranger's Bay in Cape Schanck. The location is not only an hour and a half (at the least) from the city, but the main shooting area is a 45 minute trek down the winding bushranger's path, and due to the fact that we were only able to pick up the gear at around 12pm, we were going to be very hard pressed to get all the shooting done before light failed us.




The walk is really rather beautiful, taking you through fields before returning to the coast and dipping accross small creeks. The sun came out for a bit, but quickly disappeared behind thick grey clouds. When this occurred, we were met by what can only be described as the best of weather, and the worst of weather. The wind pickjed up ferociously and whipped the sand around us, swaying the trees and delivering the occasional shower. Thankfully though, the rain held off and were left with these windy, dark and overcast skies, which were perfect for the film. Just not so perfect for the walk. When you eventually come out of the shrubs, you are met by the most amazing vista: a white, sandy beach completely free of any sign of human life.





We got all the shots we needed on the walk, and then took some fantastic ones down on the beach. There was a moment when we had to wait for a ship to get out of our shot, but everything went really smoothly, and we prepared to pack up and start the long walk back to the car. And then it happened. I found one of my shoes, but the other was missing. After quizzing Damien and Liam to see where they'd hit it, I slowly began to realise that it had actually been taken by the sea, the sneaky tide that crept up on us as the day wore on. So I was left with one shoe, and did what any man would do in such circumstances: get my recoursefulness on and tie a plastic bag to my foot. Needless to say, it was the most uncomfortable walking experience of my life, yet Damien and Liam found it hilarious. I didn't really mind though, because I knew we had nailed this shoot.

Drains

Here's a view images of some drains I checked out near Gardiner.

Meeting with Damien

Last week I met with one of the members of the brainstrust, Damien, and we thrashed out our ideas over a nice cup of tea and a few too many cigarettes. With his help we refined my concept considerably. It is no longer looking at a destroyed city through focused eyes, but instead looking at it in a more abstract way. I will not make any mention about what is going or why there aren't people around and why everything's so grimy and grotty, but will rather film them and let the viewer decide what is going on. I'm starting to think about it in a more self-reflexive (yeah I cringed when I wrote that too) manner, and examining why this concept attracted me in the first place. Alienation. Isolation. This is how I feel when I'm living in this city sometimes, so essentially while the character will be exploring the darker sides of Melbourne, I will be exploring the darker places of my conciousness.

The Abandoned Car Park

Recently I did some location scouting and found this old abandoned car park which would be perfect for the film, so I decided to take a few snaps. The car park itself is multi-tiered, with the bottom level covered with a generous layer of water, muck and debris. It's so quiet down there, and the feeling definitely matches the tone of my piece.

Moving things along

Exploration is the name of the game folks, and it starts right here, on the web. I've been checking through photos and such on flickr and have been attempting to locate some cool spots to film fragments. So far i have found a place in kensington that will look great on camera, as well as a mental asylum in Bundoora. The various drains I have mapped out to shoot in include Burwood, Moonee Ponds and Kooyong. I have also discovered a great, abandoned underground car park that will be perfect for this project. The next step is creating custom stories for each one and working out shooting plans, as well as taking more photos and posting them here.

I'm now thinking of having everything presented in two ways. One will be a straight up film connected by a VO narration, the other will be the fragmented way that will include a lot more interaction. I can best sum this up with one particular section.

If we go back to the car on the beach scene, presented in the film it will be different sections meshed up, but in the fragmented story it will be an ezedia clip where users can click on different items on the dash and different movies will play. I really want to get on with filming this extremely soon.

Video Intro

This video has been designed to highlight the mood and themes that i'll be aiming for with this project. I think it's a great little introductory clip as it really taps into this notion of emptiness and destruction and basically, the end of the world, which is what Melbourne 2038 is all about.

Oh yes, and before you all say OMG copyright infringement well duh i already know, hence why its on my own server and not an RMIT one. This is a developmental blog, and i think using video/images when I haven't gathered my own content yet is a perfect way to show what I'm trying to do.

The music and narration is an excerpt from a Godspeed You! Black Emperor song called 'The Dead Flag Blues'.

The Black and white footage is from Chris Marker's film La Jetee.

The final shot is from the upcoming film The Road.

Other stuff includes found photos and footage from the Melbourne g20 protests.