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DOOMED YOUTH

Select pages from a visual and tonal document I put together to hand out to cast and crew in the lead up to shooting Gallipoli. Made up from a selection of archival material, paragraphs from Les Carlyon's wonderful book, poems from some of the great war poets and my own photographs.

Jo Ford our production designer has said (half jokingly) that she wished the project wasn't called 'Gallipoli' as it brings with it such an immense amount of scale and preconception that it overwhlems with expectations. So I found an alternative title which helps establish an idea and an over arching theme that is constant throughout the project.

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LAST DAY

Ten weeks of Gallipoli pre-production came to an end yesterday. A huge challenge in many ways. I haven't taken anywhere near the amount of 'pre' photos that I would have normally and this alone is an indication of how intense the process has been. Gallipoli is a beast of a project and I think I would be a nervous wreck right now if I wasn't surrounded by the best best people. I've really have the dream cast and crew and I feel totally supported going into this shoot that we all know is going to be very tough at best. I feel very privileged to be where I am right now (although I do feel like throwing up).

This snap of the writer Christopher Lee deep in thought, reminds me of the Ernest Hemingway quote "Writing at it's best is a lonely life…". Christof spent most of last year holed up alone writing the eight hours of television we are about to make. But for the past two months, he has sat in this room and for many of those days I sat across from him and we worked on the scripts together. Christof is one of the most generous and wise people I've had the pleasure to work with. It's been a wonderfully collaborative and learning experience.

#CAMERAJESUS

Germain McMicking, Cinematographer.

THE WAY OUT IS THROUGH

ANGEL SMOKE

Have never felt time move so quickly in pre-production. The Gallipoli pre-weeks are going by like days… Coming to terms with the fact that there will never be enough time to prepare for everything by the time we begin shooting in 3 weeks… Regardless, I'm feeling very supported by the team I have around me.

THE QUIET BEFORE...

Entering that very precious stage of early pre-production where it's not too busy, there's time to do what you need, to catch up, to think out loud, to listen to music, to watch movies, to leaf through reference books, to shove ideas together, to plan, to suggest, to dream. I've moved into the Gallipoli production office and for the next week or so I'm the only one on my floor. It's so bloody wonderful to have this time and space because very soon it's all going to fill up and disappear... But right now, this is the bit to cherish.

Coming into land last week after a day of casting in Sydney.

'TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD'

Carved and gilded in granite in Martin Place, Sydney. Glorious dead...

NEXT...

Gallipoli. A 4 x 2 hour drama series produced by John Edwards, Imogen Banks and Robert Connolly, written by Christopher Lee and based on the No 1, best selling book Gallipoli by Les Carlyon which is heralded as the definetive account of the Gallipoli campaign. Les's book is dense with history, highly detailed and spiked with the most beautifully poetic descriptions of the people, the landscape and events of that chaotic and bleak patch of turkish coastline where over a 100 000 men died over the ten month. It's this powerful combination of truth and lyricism which has drawn me to the project with both excitement and fear.

We started early pre-pre-production last year, and will go into official pre-production early 2014, shoot and edit 2014, to air (on Channel 9) 2015, coinciding with the 100th year anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, April 25th 1915.

I've begun working full time on this over the past few weeks and will finish sometime late next year... crazy times ahead. Stay tuned.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

I was a 14 years old when I first saw Pink Floyd's Live at Pompei. It blew me away then and it still does now. The clip below has been such a strong influence on me as a filmmaker over the years. I like the pureness of it all. It's more about capturing the energy that is there, rather than trying to fabricate what isn't. It's about tapping into the essence and documenting it in the most unaffected way.

It's funny how random things inform and inspire what we do. It's usually (and hopefully) such a random mix of things that the culmination of them all manifests to become something new and not derivative of the sources.

One week into shooting Puberty Blues 2, I'm drawn back to have another look at Echoes. This clip is like a compass to me. If you want to cut to the chase, jump to 6:30... Magic happens.

Do yourself a favour and watch the whole film here... (Directors Cut!)

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY BLUES 2 #2

Cheryls house.

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY BLUES 2 #1

Driving around revisiting old haunts from Series 1 as well as discovering new locations for Series 2. Finding inspiration and clues for colour palette, texture, tone and detail...

OLD SCHOOL

Not only did part of our Puberty Blues school location burn down recently... but what remains still standing has been vandalised beyond repair. Got to give the kids some credit though, they obviously worked very hard and put alot of time and effort into this particular project. Every room, every surface, inside and out of the entire school has been smashed, tagged and sprayed.

I can see their individual report cards now... "If only he put as much energy into his school work as he did his vandalism!" 

BOOTH

Slow posts of late... Firstly I got a new laptop so I've had the joy of transferring, updating, re-finding, sourcing software and plug-ins etc. All seems to be working fine now. But seriously, screw you iTunes. Surely there is a simpler way to transfer a music collection from A to B. Still missing huge chunks of my old library... argh! And why can't you export your playlists as a group and not individually. Dull. Also, I've re-located to Sydney and in pre-production for Puberty Blues 2. Let the games begin!

UP NEXT

At the end of April I'm heading back to Sydney for Puberty Blues Series 2. I'll be setting the show up again, directing the first two and the last three episodes (5 of the 9 eps). I can't wait to get sucked back into that world. It feels like a best friend that I'm desperate to catch up with, span time and create new adventures together!

The above trailer is cut from the four episodes I directed from Season 1.