JOURNAL
The process diary of film director Glendyn Ivin
Filtering by Category: Photography
Three books that inspire me no end.
Glendyn Ivin
Werner Herzog is more than a filmmaker to me. He's more like a father. And this book is full of all the fatherly advice (about filmmaking and life, of which the two for him are forever intertwined) and sage like wisdom you could ever expect, need or want. Just looking at the cover gets me excited.
I'm not a huge fan of all of his films. But I'm a huge fan of this book. It's one of the most educational and down to earth documents of a filmmakers approach and process. It kills me that someone can communicate ideas and experiences with such apparent ease and simplicity.
The chapter on his experience of making his firsty American studio film is one of the most soberingly honest accounts of Hollywood I've ever read.
Robert Bresson's pocket sized book of cinematic meditations is full of film secrets and revelation. When in doubt a simple flick to a random page can focus, inspire, and suggest a fresh approach to the job at hand.
No other book has given me so much. When on set I keep it in my pocket and consult it regularly. It's of and about a particular cinematic sensibility but I highly recommend it to any filmmaker.
"My movie is born first in my head, dies on paper; is resuscitated by the living persons and real objects I use, which are killed on film but, placed in a certain order and projected on to a screen, come to life again like flowers in water." - Robert Bresson
The First and Last Photo of Tom Russell. And one other...
Glendyn Ivin
THE PHOTO ON THE LEFT is the first photo I took of Tom at his screen test in Adelaide in May 08. We had seen quite a few kids around the country but the moment Tom walked into the room I knew there was something different about him. He gave an 'OK' screen test, but it was who he was on either side of the test that really stood out for me. He was and still is just such a regular kid. But through the lens something else happens. He takes on a different life, like there is something going on behind his eyes, like he has seen a lot of things.
THE PHOTO ON THE RIGHT was taken on the last day of shooting about 3 months after the first one. I'm still amazed at how different Tom looks. So much more hard and steely eyed. There is a fair bit of hair and make-up going on in that shot but essentially it's the character Chook well and truly on his way...
I have cast alot of kids and worked closely with the same casting director, Fiona Dann for many years. But there is still no hard and fast rules on how to do it well. I think I even googled "How to cast children in feature films" at one stage during pre, just to see if there was any help out there but I didn't find anything useful. In the end it comes down to a gut feeling.
However, a few of the things we took into consideration with Tom were...
1. Even though he had no film experience, he had recently been in the Adelaide production of Les Miserables, so he new what it meant to go through a production process, work hard and late etc.
2. Tom's parents are very grounded and supportive. When you cast kids you also cast their parents, and we were very lucky with Kate and Wally C.
3. Tom is the youngest of 4 kids. He has three older sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 26. So he spends alot of time with, and is very comfortable around people older than him. This was really important, as he essentially spent seven weeks on the road without a bunch of adults and no other kids.
4. He is a really, really regular and normal kid, who is confident both on and off camera. Even though he really wants to be an actor / performer, he doesn't seem to place any real pressure on himself to do so.
The shot above is of Tom a few weeks ago. His head is shaved because has just finished his second feature film playing a kid who has leukemia. I saw him and his folks when we over in Adelaide for a screening and they all came back to watch At The Movies in the hotel room afterwards.
Tom was pretty excited to see himself on TV, but I think he was much more excited about being up late so he could watch Family Guy once At The Movies was over.
Last Ride flickering away in the dark...
Glendyn Ivin
I can almost smell the popcorn.
Last Ride Exhibition
Glendyn Ivin
With so much visual material generated during the making of the film, we have been looking at different ways to utilize some of it.
So to coincide with the release of the film we are having an exhibition of photos at Cinema Nova in Melbourne and the Palace Verona in Sydney. I'm really excited about the selection of images, they looked beautiful when I went and saw them at the lab the other day.
Some of the prints will be given away afterwards. If you are keen I'm sure there will be info at the cinemas. Or I'll post details here later. The photographs will be on display at the Nova from the 23rd of June. And at the at the Verona soon after.
I have always taken photographs, and part of my need to get into film years ago was a real desire to see the photos I was taking 'move' and come to life. But over the last few years (and perhaps with the emergence of increasingly good and very affordable digital cameras) it's something I am being drawn back to more and more.
A few of the many faces of Tom Russell.
Glendyn Ivin
Rumour has it that Tom has had to shave his head, smooth to the skin! Hard to imagine. All part of his next role in the new Nadia Tass and David Parker film.
All the best Tom!
More Roads
Glendyn Ivin
Last week I spent a day filming with an old friend Celeste, who lives in Strathewen, one of the communities that was devastated by the Black Saturday fires.
Even two months after the fires, although there is some regrowth peaking through, the place still looks and feels apocalyptic. Also kind of beautiful, in it's own sad and surreal way.
I haven't shot anything documentary related for a long time. It is my first love when it comes to film making. It's what I studied at film school, and docos have inspired and challenged me more over the years than any other type of film.
It felt great to be there with just a camera with a mike on top, chatting to and observing people as they did their thing. It's a really simple process that's totally stripped bare of all the organised chaos that shooting drama brings with it. Hopefully I will get back up there and shoot some more.
One Year Ago Today, Again.
Glendyn Ivin
After spending a couple of days driving through The Flinders Ranges, I began feeling a little giddy with excitement. To much fresh air perhaps...
I had such a great time on this trip, I think we were out there for 8 days all up, and we drove around 5000kms, it really was like watching a dream come together in slow motion. However, the real trick at this stage was that the film had not yet been financed. We were being very pro-active and starting early so if and when it did get up we had already begun a major part of the pre-production, but on the other hand if the film failed to get funding, this trip would have been a great big tease for what 'could have been'. So once we returned home the pressure really started to build.
Below a selection from the thousands of photographs I took of locations and landscape on that first ride, many of which became part of the film.
Finished... almost.
Glendyn Ivin
I wanted to be able to write that the film was officially finished today, but a few minor issues have popped up just to make it exciting for everyone involved... Nothing to worry about really. Especially as there are so many people with real worries at the moment due to the horrific bush fires raging about a half hours drive from where I'm tapping. Everything gets put into perspective when tragic things like that happen for sure.
Today we had a screening of the complete film in a Gold Class cinema at the Jam Factory. Really nice to see it so big and lush up there on the big, big screen. It's a beautiful thing, but I must say it's very hard for me to watch. I'm so attached to it, and so aware of all the glue thats holding it together, but others who have been working on the film all the way through were definitely drawn in, the way an audience should be. Which is a very good thing.
I have spent the last few weeks putting the final tweaks to the grade. We were fortunate enough to have Olivier Fontenay do a final pass over the film. Olivier is french guy who graded the film Breaking The Waves by Lars Von Trier, a film that totally changed my life. It forever changed the way I see things, and how I would begin to approach every aspect of my work as a director. It was really cool talking to him about. I thought he might have thought it was daggy, me asking stories about it and all, but I was quite surprised when he told me that working on the film had also changed his life and work process in many ways as well.
But, I don't necessarily want to single out Olivier, because Ian Letcher and the whole team at Deluxe have been a pleasure to work with and have been very supportive of the film from the start.
Adelaide Screening Announced
Glendyn Ivin
Last Ride was partly funded by the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, and as part of the deal they get to sneak a peak of the film first. Today the full program of the festival was announced. You can now book and buy tickets to see Last Ride on the 27th and 29th of Feb, after that it wont be till mid year until you can see it in theaters. SO if you have been searching for an excuse to visit rAdelaide, here it is.
Hallowed Halls
Glendyn Ivin
As I mentioned below, we did our final sound mix at the South Australian Film Corp sound studio. It was good to return to the building we did our pre-production out of 6 months ago. This time I could lift my head and have a look around at where we were, I wasn't burdened with the stress of the impending shoot.
As weird as it has been spending alot of time away from home and family, I really enjoyed returning. I don't know much about the history of the SAFC, but a walk around the corridors with their halls hung with rows of film posters that have been in some way influenced by the SAFC or in particular been created in part in the building, it felt great, even a little humbling. Perhaps I'm overly sentimental and too much of a fan boy, but I love the fact that some of the films that have influenced me over the years were created within the same walls where I was now attempting to make my own film.
One of the posters that kept jumping out at me, no matter how many times I walked past, was Storm Boy.
I remember clearly seeing Storm Boy at the Tamworth Regent Theater when I was about 7 or 8 years old. It connected with me the same way that it connected with everybody who saw it, it was such a simple story about a lonely boy and his friendship with a pelican (Mr Percival). I remember being totally aware of it's use of visual storytelling rather than dialogue. The film had a lot of space and Storm Boy as a character had this universal appeal of being every child. We all knew how he felt.
It's funny how these sort of stories bury themselves deeply within your psyche. I know for sure that Storm Boy has had a deep influence on me as a filmmaker. When it became available on DVD years ago I re watched and even though it was a little more rudimentary than I remembered there were some beautifully poetic sequences and amongst some clumsy plotting towards the end, was a film that felt cinematic and still universal in it's portrayal of childhood. Very much in the same vein of The Red Balloon a film which is a great influence as well. Interestingly like The Red Balloon, Storm Boy was directed by a french guy Henri Safran. Perhaps it's a European sensibility and an outsiders eye to the landscape and story that brought that special quality to it.
It's no secret that one of the things I liked about Tom Russell (who plays Chook in the film) when I saw him the first time was that he reminded me of Greg Rowe who played Storm Boy. So much so in fact that when I cast him we decided to cut his already long hair into a very similar style to that of Greg in Storm Boy. It's a very heartfelt and sincere reference and perhaps even a homage to a film that planted one of the earliest seeds of film making deep within me. Last Ride and Storm Boy are very different films, but thematically and in a desire for simplicity and visual storytelling they are quite similar. I can only hope that Last Ride shares some of the endurance and a place in peoples hearts and memories the way in which Storm Boy has.
Chook vs Storm Boy
The other film poster that I almost bowed to every time I passed it was Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby (click if you dare). Man, what a film. I went and saw it soon after I moved to Melbourne in 93. I went with my friend Hools to the Hoyts on Bourke Street and we sat in the back row. I don't think I blinked for the first 30 minutes. Surely the first act of that film is one of the most brutally intriguing openings to a film. Ever. It's one of my most fond cinematic moments. At the end of the film I don't thing Hools and I said anything to each other for a good hour or so. We were just so stunned... and I still am just thinking about it.
Everytime I see, hear or think anything about that film my heart beats a little faster.
I also love this french poster for Breaker Morant. Co-incidentally I saw Bryan Brown in the halls while we were in pre-production in June and he was half way through shooting Beautiful Kate in the studio. He asked me how long we had to shoot our film? "Six weeks." I said. "Six weeks eh... allot of film makers complain that six weeks isn't long enough to shoot a film. But we shot Breaker Morant in six weeks and we had the fucking Boer War in the middle of it!" It was a hilarious comment and a very encouraging one. It filled me with some confidence, what ever we were heading off to do for the next six weeks, at least I didn't have to worry about staging a full scale war in there somewhere. Thanks Bryan.
And speaking of Bryan. Another film I love, that was also based out of the SAFC in the 80's and that shares some similarities to Last Ride, particularly in it's themes and locations (and that Antonia Barnard, co-producer of Last Ride was the production manager of) was The Shiralee.
ps: I wonder where Storm Boy is now...?
The Sound Lounge
Glendyn Ivin
Last night we finished the sound mix. In some ways it feels like a bigger milestone than locking off the edit. Not sure why. Perhaps it's because even after the edit I still knew there was a long way to go with post, sound being the biggest of all the jobs. I've been obsessed with the sound and music for the film for the past 8 or 9 weeks. Literally. Every moment of my day and night, including many weird dreams and nightmares have been caught up in the sound of the film in one way or another.
And even though I'm feeling a little unsure of what to do with myself now that the mix is set in stone and I cant do anything else to it, I ultimately feel really good about it.
Craig Conway and Paul Shannohan did the initial sound edit at their very sexy new studio Final Sound in Melbourne, and Craig took on the overall sound design as well. I think they worked seven days a week for over a month sourcing, creating and editing 1000's of individual pieces of sound for the film.
John Simpson who co-incidentally lives in Quorn S.A , where a chunk of the film was shot, took on the foley. Check out his cool studio literally in the middle of nowhere.
And as discussed previously Paul Charlier composed the music in Sydney.
We all met up with Gethen Creagh in Adeliade at the South Australian Film Corp mixing theatre and mixed away for 3 intense weeks. I say intense even though most of it for me anyway was spent sitting on a couch drinking gallons of green tea, while others beavered away, pushing buttons and tweaking knobs. But it is an intense experience none the less. I love sound, I think I love it more than image. And I definatley feel more confident talking and discussing sound than I do pictures.
If the films pictures was an apple I could describe to you what the apple looks like, whether it was green or red, or a mixture of both perhaps. How big and or round it is, if it had a stem, and how long that was and which way it bent etc. But if the films sound was an apple, I could think about and explain in obsessive detail not only the colour and shape, etc, but I could discuss the spots and blemishs on the skin, every ripple and dimple, what the stem looks like and how far it reaches inside the apple, how it would feel like in your hand and what it would taste like if you took a bite out of it. (Is that a really crazy analogy..? I think I'm losing it...)
I can just see and hear the detail in sound more easily than I can pictures. And I believe sound is a far more powerfully emotive element than a picture can ever be.
So it's intense in the way that every decision we made was a really important one to me. And for every tweak and modification we made, I wished we could have done 10 more, and then another 10 after that. I think in this part of the process, we didnt so much as finish the mix, but we abandond it when we absolutley ran out of time and could do no more. But as I have mentioned many times on this blog, time is not something you have much of when making a feature film of this size.
Anyway... I'm really happy with the result. And very proud of the talented and colaborative team I had around me.
Adrian Medhurst(Assistant Mixer) Gethen Creagh (mixer) Craig Conway (Sound Designer) Me (in need of a haircut and shave) Paul Charlier (composer) Missing from this picture - Jack Hutchings (editor) and Antonia Barnard (Producer behind the Lens) and also Nick Cole (producer) who graced us with his sage like wisdom and guidance for a couple of days as well.
Paul and I. And Craig obsessing over some minor EQ of his own in the background.
Just a few more weeks to go...
What's The Sound Of Music?
Glendyn Ivin
Assistant Steven is smiling cos he can finally get some sleep!
This is a shot of the music cue that the film ends with. It has kept me and others awake for many nights for many different reasons...
Tonight we finished the music. Paul Charlier has created something quite special. In very little time I might add. It's probably been the trickiest part of the process for me personally and I wont say it's been an easy run.
Music is such an intangible thing. Everyone has a different opinion of what they do and don't like. Finding a common language to discuss the intricacies to creating a piece of music is something that will continue to frustrate, confuse but ultimately intrigue me for the rest of my life.
In the end for me it comes down to the fact that all the other aspects of the filmmaking process I can physically get my hands on. I can bash away on a keyboard and write. I can make decisions about casting. I can search for and choose locations. I can attempt to direct. I can physically place a camera and make an assessment on what lens should be used. I can assume people share and understand my vision for things. I can bash and crash an edit together. I can hold a microphone, I can even make the sandwiches if I have to.
But essentially when it comes to music, I cant play an instrument (despite my father and brother being very talented musicians). So I physically cant grab a guitar or a keyboard and play it like I'm hearing it in my head. AND THAT KILLS ME!!!
Jack, Greig and Jo and others that I have worked with over a long period of time, share a common language and set of experiences and references that allow us to communicate in a kind of creative shorthand. It's very easy for us to discuss things of a visual things amongst ourselves. But, I hadnt worked with Paul before and this placed us in the tricky position of finding this language in a very short amount of time. And in my opinion it's far harder to discuss sound than it is pictures.
Perhaps thats why Werner Herzog said he would give 10 years of his life to play the cello. Not so much as to be able to play an instrument but to be able to cut to the chase while working with musicians and composers. It's interesting watching Herzog in that clip. He famously said once that making films is a physical activity more than any other. And there he is in the studio sitting quietly in awe of what the musicians are creating. It's the least active I think I have ever seen him. BTW that clip is from the extra features on Herzog's GRIZZLY MAN one of his most accesable and best films. I highly reccomend it!
I'm obsessed with sound and music. I think about it perhaps more than other other element. In fact if I am really honest, I think I make films cos I can't play an instrument. After all film has much more in common with music than any other form, as like music, film is linear and time based.
I've been in Sydney for the last week working with Paul and we finished today after two days of track laying at Sound Firm. It was such a pleasure to finally hear the tracks being layed down. I cant wait to get to Adelaide now and get into the final mix with the others now that we have all the ingredients to finish the film.
The end is in sight!
Slashing and Burning...
Glendyn Ivin
I was well aware of the concept that the edit allows you to re-make your film (again). After writing it once, shooting it second and then editing (re-writing) third.
But what I wasn't aware of was that I would actually go through the process of making it again. The same levels of inspiration, exhaustion, excitement and anxiety...
Jack and I have had a few dark days and sleepless nights piecing together what is essentially a very simple story. One thing we have learnt, particularly at this half way point is to trust the script. Something I have had to do at every stage of the production so far. Especially when confidence is low and confusion abounds it's essential to go back to the written text and use it to navigate your way through.
We are still reducing scenes to their essential and bare minimum, but the beats and their function are still there on the screen. When we do totally cut (as in delete) a scene, particularly ones that I love, I know it's for the greater good for the film. Thank the lord for DVD's and 'deleted scenes', that way I dont have to ever let go totally.
We had a very special guest come to The Butchery this week. Super star Tom Russell popped in with his family to have a sneak peak of the edit, while they were in town for a weeks holiday from Adelaide. Tom was his usual self, unphased by the process but kind of curious to see himself on screen. He blocked his ears to the swear words and complained at the amount that appears to have been cut from the film. It was great to see him and family.
It was a weird experience for Jack to meet Tom in person, as apposed to watching him on screen for the past 10 weeks. "He's much shorter than I thought he would be. I felt a little starstruck." Jack said after they left.
Snip, Snip.
Glendyn Ivin
The film in cards. Our new best friend.
Jack The Butcher boy.
My own POV for the next couple of months...
I love the editing process. When you are shooting the possibilities are endless. Where should I put the camera? What lens? Where are the actors? What are they doing? How are they doing it? Etc, etc... But when you are in the edit, even though there are still a whole bunch of possibilities, it essentially comes down to - this is what we have, how do we make it work. Simple. Kinda...
We are currently 2 weeks into an 8 week edit. So far, so good. On day 1, Jack sat me down to watch a 2 hour 40 minute assembly of the film (which he had been working on from day 1 of our shot). I really thought I was going to freak out. Assemblies usually do it to me. The film you see is just all the information, without any real attention to rhythm or pacing, story arch or selection of performance. But I think because Jack and I have cut for so long (here is the first thing I cut with Jack about 8 years ago, and another clip I'm really proud of that we did together as well, and this, oh yeah and this, not coincidentally all shot by Greig as well!) and are really good friends, I was amazed at how well it all seemed to fit together.
Jack and I share a very similar head space for film and story telling in general, so we are making the same film. Some sequences obviously looked as though they needed a stack of work, but others seemed to just sit really well on the screen. Kinda how I thought they would. Encouraging!
Then we went back to scene 1 and started to cut. And that's what we have been doing for the past 2 weeks. Curently at scene 151 of 190.
The whole process at this stage is cutting away whats not needed. Cutting lines of dialogue, shots, characters and scenes. I really like to strip things back. Regardless of the blood, sweat and tears it took to get the shot(s) it's so great to just cut it out. To constantly simplify so the viewer has as little information as possible. So they are left asking more questions than there are answers given.
It constantly surprises me how much you cut out of a scene and it still makes sense, or better still it makes MORE sense.
Outside the window at 4pm the other day.
It's been really cold and rainy. I love this kind of weather. Perfect for holing up and sitting in a dark room and cutting.
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