Take cover

I know very little about this film apart from what it's beautifully raw trailer tells me. Which isn't much. It makes me ask a lot of questions and gives me very few answers. Which makes me really want to see it! Add it to the top of my 1500.

Is there anything more eerie sounding than an air raid siren? Can anybody translate Vincent Cassell's monologue?

AN ISLAND, A ROSEBUD

Burning LEaves

I wrote about The Burning Leaves a while back. I used a song of theirs called Home on the closing credits of Last Ride. I was totally obsessed with that song for a long while and I still feel lucky I was able to make it part of the film. It's been a long time coming but I recently received a copy of their self titled debut album. I thought it would be good, but was I wrong. It's freaking sublime! Recorded at home with vintage gear, listening to this album feels like discovering a forgotten classic from the 70's.

The Burning Leaves to quote one reviewer "make haunting, melancholic vignettes that sound like they might break if you listen to them too loud." It's an accurate description. For me they tap into something so achingly beautiful with such simplicity that it seems all to effortless, but I'm sure they have sweated over every heartbeat of the 41 mins of the album.

My one complaint is that the album is only available through their MySpace page (Fifteen bucks! Free Postage!) For better or worse these guys are fiercely independent and so far have done everything themselves. No label. Which I'm more than impressed with, but it's a crime that this album isn't in every record store, in every city (both on and offline). I fear it's going to become an undiscovered masterpiece. But what do I know... I'm not a musician nor am I in the music industry. Enough rambling.

I didn't take the photos below, but I wish I did. I hope to work with Indie and Craig again soon.

Photos by Elena Heatherwick. Cool work on her blog!

stuffed

Last week I went to a taxidermist to research an element of a film I'm developing which I haven't mentioned here (yet). Needless to say the place was pretty fascinating. I've always found taxidermy and the process itself interesting. This particular place was large and sterile and they delt with a huge number of dead things from both here and over seas. It was very 'factory' like. I'm actually looking for something a little more, shall we say 'backyard'.

Also... on this same day while riding home from the office I crashed my motorcycle when a driver changed lanes and didn't "look left, look right, look bike'! I ended up slamming into the gutter and breaking my arm. So while I may not be as stuffed as our little friends above I am a little battered and bruised and will be typing with one hand for the next five weeks or so. Bummer.

Yes, no... maybe?

A photograph of photographs being edited...

HAIL

I've spent some time recently taking photographs on the set of my friend Amiel Courtin-Wilson's feature film Hail. It's been really inspiring sitting on the front line and watching Hail come together. Amiel is known for his wonderful documentary films and this is one of the few times he has directed 'fiction'. And I'm sure from what I have been seeing the lines between documentary and fiction will be well and truely blurred. If you are a regular reader, you'll know this is the kind of approach to film that really gets me excited. Amiel is working with a very small crew of only about five people, allowing him to work intuitively and spontaneously. I like it a whole lot! Below are some portraits I have taken of 'Dan' who not only 'stars' in the film, but the story of Hail is drawn closely from his life and those around him. The film is currently in post and will premiere early next year. Can't wait.

Divert or Engage?

Speaking of Cinema Verite I saw the legendary Albert Maysles give a master class years ago and he said something very similar to this. It's a quote I've thought about almost daily since. Albert rocks!

NEVERLAND

I was cleaning up my office and came across a dusty VHS tape of my student film Neverland. I made the film as part of a Post Grad in documentary (a course that sadly no longer exists) I completed in 1998 at the Victorian College of the Arts, an amazing institution that soon may also not exist. The year I spent at film school is up there with one of the best years of my life. I spent that year totally immersed in film, primarily documentary film. The VCA totally changed my life and set me up for the opportunities and experiences that have followed. Although Neverland is a little 'clunky' in places I really enjoyed watching it again after many years sitting on the shelf. At the time I made it I was obsessed with 'longitudinal observational films'. Documentaries that are filmed over a period of years and that take us deep into the lives of characters that no other kind of filmmaking can match. To this day I still believe that observational film / Cinéma-vérité is the most compelling and legitimate form of filmmaking. Fullstop. Films like Crumb, Paradise Lost, Bastardy, anything by the Maysles's brothers, or anything by the Pennebaker or Wiseman. Actually I'll stop this rant now... it's another post another time. Needless to say, Neverland was my attempt at longitudinal observation, shot over two weeks (course limitation), not two years.

Some of Neverlands' themes (growing up and growing older and the resistance to the responsibilities with which that brings) are themes I'm still fascinated with as a filmmaker and are ideas I'm exploring in much greater detail with the films I'm developing at the moment. One part of Neverland I was really drawn to at the time and I think still stands up is the interview with Eli at around 8 minutes where he is applying the final touches to his mohawk in the mirror. It's a sequence where what he is saying and what he is doing (literally) mirror each other. Where Eli's vision of his life in a broader sense and the details of his immediate life collide. I saw Eli a couple of years ago walking along the street. Still with a mohawk, still in leather. Looking older, but still 'the same'.

Eli above, Ron below.

Ron went back couriering and road for at least another 10 years. I would see him occasionally around the city. I haven't seen him for while though, but I imagine he still could be out there now pushing those pedals at a furious pace.

CAMERA BAG

I have really enjoyed looking through the short films and images at CameraBag.tv. A site that aims to "Celebrate image makers and highlight the beauty and style of the camera". The profiles find a nice balance between creative process and camera geekery. There are only four photographers profiled there at the moment, but it looks as though it will continue to be updated.

I can not see this soon enough!

Through a strange sequence of events I was able to see some of the 'uncut' rushes from the actual 'heavy metal picnic'. I can't wait to see the final film!

I'm BACK

I had a great time at the Vladivostok International Film Festival. The film was received really well. I always thought it had a bit of a russian thing going on in it. It's always nice to get feedback directly from an audience and I had a really lovely man come up to me after one of the screenings and say via an interpreter that he very much enjoyed the simplicity of the story, the more he watched, the more he realised there was more to the story than he first thought, and then in broken english he told me "In the final scene, my brain said 'yes', but my heart was saying 'no'..." I think that was what I was always looking for. I also had an interesting question in the press conference about the violence towards 10 year old 'Chook' (played by Tom Russell). The journalist asked "In Russia there is a saying where children tell their parents 'You did not beat me enough', meaning they have grown up to 'soft' and it is their parents fault. Do you think children should be beaten?" Needless to say there was an 'awkward' pause, before I went on to say that I could never condone any kind of violence towards a children. Not my own, and not to anyone elses. But then again, perhaps I'm one of the soft ones. It was an interesting cultural take on the film though.

I haven't travelled to as many festivals as I have been invited to this year for various reasons, but I was really glad to head back to Vladivostok. I hadn't watched Last Ride for nearly a year and although it was one of those screenings where I sat through and cringed at all the mistakes, the could have beens and I should haves and what ifs, it was really nice to be sitting in the dark and watching the film we made so far away from where we made it.

The photos I mentioned I was going to take have worked out well. I won't post any here just yet. But I wanted to say a special thanks to Dimitry who assisted me in finding a few a people and locations, as well translating and driving. It was really good getting to see another side of Vladivostok with him. Here he is posing with his cool russian made Zenit 35mm complete with a sinister looking 300mm lens and sniper like add ons. Thanks Dimity!

GOING BACK TO VLADI

Tomorrow morning I'm jumping on a plane to Vladivostok, Russia. I'm heading to the 'Pacific Meridian Film Festival'. I travelled there six years ago with Cracker Bag and the festival have now invited Last Ride into their feature film competition. The last time I was there. I got a really bad dose of food poisoning. I remember counting down the minutes till I could get on a plane out of there. I vowed never to return to Russia, anywhere in Russia, with the just the thought of it making my stomach churn for months afterwards.

But time heals all wounds it seems and I was quite pleased to be invited back. It's quite a fascinating place. When I was there last I took a bunch of photos and I have always wanted to go back and try and document the place a little better. This time I have organised a driver / interpreter / fixer to assist me. I have no real plans, just a list of places and things that might lead to one thing or another. I'm quite excited about what I might find.

Below a few selects from my last trip.

Who are we making films about and for?

I find this really fascinating...

It just blows my mind that most films don't pass this very simple test.

1. Does the film has more than two women in it, that have names?

2. Do they talk to each other?

3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man.

Its so simple but when you start going through the movies you love, adore and respect, very few will pass the test. There will be alot of films you think will or should pass, but they won't.

Are our story telling conventions really that rigid and simplified that women can only participate structurally in the most basic of ways? I can think of very few films that pass this test. Thelma and Louise (maybe?), Kiarostami's Ten, Im sure there are more, there has to be. It's alot tougher than you think. Particularly the minute you even step near 'mainstream' cinema.

So, do you know any movies that pass The Bechdel Test?

UPDATE : Head over to www.bechdeltest.com for a comprehensive list of films which pass the test. Interestingly there is a lot of disagreement on what does and not pass with some movies on the list. It looks like alot of films at first, but when you take a closer look only films that have a ': )' after them fully pass. There are some surprising results. Who would have thought Machete would have passed!?

MASTER FILMMAKER / MASTER CHEF

David Lynch is a hero of mine, I love nearly all his films, but sadly I've never been able to get into Inland Empire. As much as I wanted to and I've attemped to watch it a few times there is something about that film which has never clicked. Anyway, the saving grace of Inland Empire is a very special extra feature on the DVD which is a 20 minute film of David Lynch cooking himself a dinner of the ancient grain Quinoa and some broccoli. Doesn't sound that exciting, but believe me it's one of the most strangely satisfying cooking shows you'll be lucky enough to see. It's not so much the Quinoa, but a story he tells while he sits on his dark balcony and has a cigarette while he waits for the the dinner to cook. Maybe it's just me but when I first saw this I was totally mesmerised. It's like Lynch draws you in and hypnotises you as he recounts a train trip he took through Europe many years ago.

I think this is one of the coolest extra features on a DVD I've seen. Bon Appetit!

Part Two is here (there is a point at 5mins 34 that is SO beautifully surreal and so incredibly David Lynch!)

And I recommend the Quinoa too, it's delicious!!

pictures of pictures

I can't help taking pictures of pictures. I'm OCD about it. To the point where I can't actually remember taking some of the photos below, let alone where they were taken. I just have to take them. If I don't take it when I see it, It will keep me awake at night. I've been taking pictures of pictures for years. My film / clip Paradise is all about shooting pictures of pictures. Kind of the motherload of pictures of pictures. I think for me it's about seeing how the light falls in the original picture and how that corresponds to the light in my picture. A selection from the last few months...