GALLIPOLI DONE...

I finished Gallipoli last week... Kind of unbelievable. For over two years it's been this monolith project that ended up consuming every single part of my life. This time last year I was wondering "...how on earth are we going to make this?" and now it's done and I'm wondering "...how on earth did we make that!".

Normally I'm quite sad when a production is over. But I'm happy to say I was quite relieved to walk out of the post house for the last time. Not because I hated it, far from it, but I was just super tired. I've put everything I could into making this series as good as it can be. I'm exhausted now in a way I have never felt before (one of the reasons why this blog has been a little neglected). I'm spent.

Luckily, I'm really happy with what we have made. It's epic when it needs to be (the script always had a scale that scared us all) but ultimatley it's emotionally driven and intimate in it's tone and nature. Hundreds of people across all departments put a huge amount of energy into the series, above and beyond what I could have expected. As a director to be supported by so many truly talented people is humbling.

Eight hours, on air sometime (early-ish) next year.

PICTURE LOCKED

Just locked off the final episode (9) of Puberty Blues series 2. Bittersweet feelings mixed with a deep and very satisfying sigh of relief and exhilaration...

It is finished.

CABIN FEVER

Long days cutting with Dany Cooper (who is awesome!). Ep 7 finished, about to lock off Ep 8. Ep 9 still to go...cabin fever setting in.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

I already loved 10CC's I'm Not In Love (who doesn't?), but after seeing this 'making of' I love it even more. Although I doubt it will ever appear in Puberty Blues, the song has been an important  tonal/musical touchstone for composer Stephen Rae and I.

Immersive, melancholic, pre-digital awesomeness!

LAST NIGHT

Back in NZ for our final recce bro. Shooting for the next three days...

THE LOOK AND THE FEEL

Nice article over on the Digital Pictures website with me and cinematographer John Brawley talking about 'the look' of Puberty Blues. People get obsessed with 'the look' of things, but a lot of the time I think and hope they are talking about 'the feel'. I do love the way Puberty Blues looks, but I'm much more happy with the way it feels. 'JB' is not only a great DOP, he has over the time we have spent shooting 'Puberty' and other things become a good friend. He is a true and valued collaborator and someone who as a director you want and need at your side while fighting the daily battles of film production.

JB with boom swinger Mark Van Kool and cheeky Ashleigh Cummings poking her head in!

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY

I can't show too much from the shooting of Puberty Blues just yet... but here are some photos taken on set over the past few weeks. They kind of remind me of postcards. I've just finished directing Episodes 1 and 3, I'll edit them for few weeks and then head back out to shoot episodes 5 and 6. The wonderful Emma Freeman is currently out on the front line directing Episodes 2 and 4.

If there was a hand scribbled note on the back of each these 'postcards' it would read...

"I'm having an absolute ball! Wish you were here! x"

Done.

Finished Beaconsfield today...! Although that old saying does spring to mind... "You don't ever finish a film, you abandon it..."

Don't have an on air date as yet... but I suspect it will be early-ish next year maybe.

Some snaps taken during production that haven't made it here after the break...

THE DARKNESS

Been spending the week sitting in the dark, colour grading guys sitting in the dark. Most our conversation about the grade has been about how 'dark' we can make 'the darkness'. I wrote  a few months ago about how black a mine really is and I know if we were grading for 'cinema' we could perhaps go a sniff  darker than we have. But as Beaconsfield is for broadcast we have to take into consideration that people may watch the film, heaven forbid, with a light on or even wierder, they may not be watching the film on a 'broadcast calibrated monitor'.

Regardless, I'm really happy with the direction the grade is heading and it feels great to be on this side of a long production schedule and to be almost 'finished'.

REED-CORE

Spent some time in Sydney over the last week with Stephen Rae who is composing the soundtrack for Beaconsfield. Being a story that takes place predominatley underground, early conversations were about 'elemental' and 'organic' sounds. The sound of rocks, air and water and music that forms in and out of the environment. For the past few weeks (amongst our discussions about cameras, watches and motorbikes) we have been working through demos and musical sketches and these ideas are now becoming more defined. Through Stephens sonic explorations we have settled on the clarinet as one of the key instruments. I must admit I've never been drawn to the clarinet, I tend to steer clear of  'reed instruments' in general, (except I'm quite fond of the oboe), but  the way Stephen is using it is really different. Then I realised there is a whole album I love that uses the clarinet in a beautifully textured and ambient way. So I'm really looking forward to see how it all keeps progressing.

Below: Sydney mid afternoon storm, recording studio flowers and Peter Jenkin (lead Clarinet of the Sydney Opera) recording clarinet sounds for Stephen to compose and edit with. 

LOCKED OFF

Who ever said "... you never finish a film edit you just abandon it..." knew the feeling of locking off the Beaconsfield cut over the weekend. But I think the feeling is always there whether you have 10 weeks or 10 months or  just 4 weeks as we did on this project. There is always something to tweak and explore and I don't think you could ever feel 100% 'finished'. This is what the film looks like... all 125 minutes of it.

Huge thanks to editor Andy Canny who was a pleasure to work along side. Andy put in so many extra hours to try and make the film as good as it could be in the time allocated. Over the many late nights, early mornings and a few of all nighters, I appreciated his objective eye and attention to detail.

THIS WEEK

Finished the offline with Pete at The Butchery for the commercial we shot last week...

Then jumped in the car for a two day solo road trip through country Victoria and New South Wales to my home town of Tamworth...

More photos after the break...

Arrived to find my father in-law Keith, waiting patiently for Santa.

And Super Natalie and the kids who flew up a few days before.

Three weeks holidays! yipeee!

Hidden Treasures

I updated the Behind The Scenes section of the website with a short clip - quickly cut from a tape from 'Tom's Camera'. As part of his school activities while on set he was given the task to shoot and edit a little behind the scenes film of his time on the movie.

It's quite a cool little insight into some of the things that he observed that others might not have noticed. The worlds is an amazing place to a 10 year old. Anyway, while spooling through the tape, (which in a funny way felt like looking through some else's diary) I found this really cool section of Tom and his acting coach Loren (who is also a great actor and stars as Lilly in one my favorite fun films ever) killing time singing songs together.

It really shows what Tom is like, just a regular down to earth kid, and it also reveals the warmth and friendship that was formed between Tom and Loren over the course of the production. Although I'm sure both Loren and Tom would have stories to contrast this. (In fact Loren still might have one or two bruises on her shins as evidence of this.)

Behind the Salt

Weekly updates to the Behind The Scenes section of the website will be posted over the next month or so. A snippet from the Salt Lake has just been put up. Apologies that all the BTS clips so far seem to feature me and in particular me sitting in the drivers seat of a car at some point. Some different perspectives coming up, I promise. I'm not sure about 'behind the scenes' in general though. As a fan-boy, I'm really into them, I love what they reveal and what you can learn from them. I remember watching some Aniversery Edition of the The Wizard Of Oz when I was a 14, and even though it was a VHS tape, it had a little featurette (not the actually footage I'm writing about, but similar) of some scratchy Super 8 that was shot on set of people in tree costumes waving their arms so the 'branches' moved and IT TOTALLY BLEW MY MIND! It wasn't just seeing behind the scenes, it was like peeling back the absolute veneer of make believe to the point where the film and most importantly the story, just fell apart infront of me. It was a little like finding out about Santa or the toothfairy not existing.

So I'm not crazy about seeing any BTS before I see a film. Because the last thing I want when I'm watching a film and totally engrossed in the drama, is to be reminded mid-scene about what was going on behind the scenes.

While I can see the benefit of sharing clips to tease and provide interest in the film pre-release, we have tried to cut and select clips that a) dont give anything away about the story, and b) doesn't reveal to much about the scene that you are seeing behind. And therefore jerking you out of the film when and if you see it. The clips are more about process and little access to the reality in which the film was made in.

Print it!

As an ex-graphic designer, I find hard-copy printed material very stressful, especially when designing things for yourself. It's one of the things I love about the web, it's always liquid (the ink never dries), so you can always go back and fix and refine details, but with print, once it's signed off that's it. It's on the press, to be printed X amount of times, over and over, mistakes and all! I had a few print bungles when I was a designer, can you tell...? : )

Thats said, I've been very excited about the printed material for the release campaign. The poster looks great, (thanks Marcus ! I'm sure I drove you a bit nuts, but I appreciate your fine work!). Also I'm very pleased that Madman printed the posters 'double sided', which means the colours and print will be more solid and saturated once in the light boxes. Geeky I know, but so much thought, time and effort goes into making these items, it's cool to know they will be presented as best they can be. I'm sure it makes an impact on the public even if it's on a subconscious level.

Along with the regular A5 flyers, we have also designed some beautiful 'limited edition' fold out poster/flyers, that should be in your favorite cinema, cafe, bookshop etc very soon...