THIS TOOK MY BREATH AWAY...

...not sure how this could ever be a 'planned' scene, unless those birds are CGI. But I like to think it's a wonderful example of a cast and crew working intuitively and responsively to any given moment. A process where everyone is in synch. Where the director creates an atmosphere and gives 'permission' for moments for this to occur and develop. I think it's about being open to every moment and ultimately being well and truley 'in the moment'. Which with all the pressures of time and money and in this scene, fading light, I find as a director the absolute hardest thing to be... but moments like the above remind me to keep at the forefront of my mind. Regardless of what I'm expecting, planning or needing from a scene, ultimately the most important thing to happen, is the thing that is happening right there and then.

MURUNDAK, SONGS OF FREEDOM

My friends Rhys and Tash over at Daybreak Films have recently released their latest feature documentary 'Murundak'. The film tells the story of the 'Black Arm Band' a super-group of legendary Aboriginal musicians from the past and present.  In showcasing the talents of the individuals the film charts the history of the Aboriginal protest movement and it's unique and very defined relationship to music.

I really didnt know what to expect from the film, I have no special interest in Aboriginal protest music nor is it something I would actively seek out. But Rhys and Tash have created a film that is so rich with the spirit of 'music' in general and not just a particular genre that I was soon swept away into a world I knew nothing of, but was really keen to explore and learn much more about.

The surprising thing for me and I'm sure for others, is even though I know very little about Aboriginal protest music, I have actually been quite happily exposed to it through far more popular music over the years. For example, I knew some of what the song Solid Rock was about. As a kid growing up in the 80's I loved it, but the film showed me the song in a new and very different light. It's way more than a forgotten mega hit of the 80's. It's relevance and power is just as significant now, perhaps even more so. The live version of that song that is performed in the film will stay with me for some time. Another song I'm quite familiar with is 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' which forms one of the centre pieces of the film, again I really like that song, and who doesn't, but never knew of it's history and it's significance to Aboriginal people. I like how these songs and more, exist in the mainstream and yet are very powerful political messages. I can't imagine a song like Solid Rock making it to the top 10 these days.

Having followed the making of the film from afar over the years it took to make, I know the guys really struggled in particular with the editing of the film. I think Rhys nd Tash were stuck in the edit suite for over a year (!) Trying to find the right balance of performance, interviews, historical footage, the history etc. And perhaps most importantly trying to shape a film which welcomes you in a way so you want to learn more (as apposed to a lot of films which become just advocacy for an 'issue') But watching it I could see no evidence of this creative struggle, in fact to their credit the film feels effortless in the way it flows. In this way the film actually feels like one whole piece of music.And making something so hard, look so easy is part of the filmmaking process these guys have nailed.

Murundak is currently in cinemas, check here to see if it's playing near you.

Heart Worn

I've had this clip of Townes Van Zandt singing Waiting Around To Die parked in the Hoaxville cue for far to long. Last night I was driving home from a recce in country Victoria with DOP Jeremy Rouse and he clicked on the CD player in the car and this very track came on. This clip is one of the most perfect examples of what a music video could be as apposed to what most are. Purely performance based the film mkaers captured something very spontaneous, raw and touching. It's an excerpt  from the film Heartworn Highway, which I have on DVD and it's currently one of the 1500.

So, so beautiful.

And I dream about the red of his guitar and the blue his shirt.

YOUTHVILLE

I saw this a week or so ago and it's really stayed with me.  The film feels like you have tapped into someones 'memories' or you have tapped into the way we remember memories. It's not a collection of momentous, epic events, but rather a sequence of regular moments that when cut together create a real sense of the time these kids spent together, just hanging out, 'spanning time' (insert link to Photo Booth Scene from Buffalo 66, which sadly doesn't seem to be on the YouTubes). Sure these kids are good looking hipsters and there are skateboards, but I'm sure if any kid with a bunch of friends shot and cut enough footage and synched a moving track underneath you could get something similar. I guess thats whats cool about the film, it's not what they are doing, it's the fact someone did it! Very cool.

If I find out that this is actually 'branded content' for a Nokia camera phone, Sony HD thingy or a pair of shoes, I'll be super disappointed!

MIGHT BE TIME TO GET ADDICTED, AGAIN!

For about 6 months of my life when I was about 24, I was obsessed, no, addicted, to a computer game called Marathon. It might look super clunky by todays standards but believe it or not, it had very immersive gameplay. I played my way through Marathon, Marathon 2 and then one day when I was about two thirds of the way Marathon Infinity, mid game, I just quit. I'd had enough. Like an alcoholic who had lost the thirst. I never felt like going back to it, it was just finsihed and I was done with the screen. I never really played another game like I did Marathon. I mucked around with Doom and Quake a bit, I really got into Tony Hawk on the PS2 with some housemates for a while and I love playing Little Big Planet with my son (when he's not banned from it). But I've mostly avoided video games mostly because I know how they can take hold of my every waking moment. And I've got other things I'd rather be consumed by. But... that might all change with this incredible 'trailer'... which looks SO freaking amazing!

Sometimes, when I'm in the edit suite for a commercial and we are having trouble making the cut work, I always joke about just cutting it so everything is in reverse, and then it will appear that it was meant to be confusing and tricky. But I doubt that was the case with this. It makes me really want to kill a ton of zombies!

LIKE, LIKE.

I really like the short films of Everynone (I put up 'Words' a while back) The films have such a nice tone to them. Warm and affirming but still very human and understated.

There's a story on every corner

This clip has been doing the rounds a bit, but I think it's a great reminder that stories (and characters for those stories) are found in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times. I wonder if this guys '15 minutes' will help him get off the street and into a recording booth somewhere. I hope so.

THE QUEEN OF COOL

I think I have contributed to a hundred or so hits to the you tube clip below over the past few days. It's one of the coolest live performance clips I've seen. I saw Blondie last week on tour with the Pretenders and my friend Adalita supporting (who by the way is releasing her debut solo album early next year and it's amazing! More on that later though...)

Blondie may look a little different these days, but man she is still the Queen of Cool!

I want this song in Cherry Bomb!

THE CAMERA IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CAMERA.

I find it interesting that Alex Roman who directed the short film The Third And The Seventh below decided to portray the cameras you see in the film as antique and definitely antiquated. The 'prop' cameras are in the frame perhaps only as an a novel and aesthetic reminder of a device that once was the best and perhaps only way to capture 'reality'.

It's interesting because the film is entirely created in CGI. Nothing new about that I guess, but I dont think I have ever seen entire 3D environments look and 'feel' quite as real as this. Nothing has been photographed traditionally in the film. It's all created via computer and Roman's amazing aesthetic, lighting, modelling, textures and no doubt, obsessive attentional to detail. The film has no narrative and is more a formal exploration of architecture that doesn't exist (in the real world) and the second half drifts off in a more surreal and less 'realistic' direction, but there are some sequences in the first half that are really impressive and make me think that the way we make films really is changing forever.

I guess this 'shooting live action' thing was fun while it lasted...

A short 'making of' can be found here.

Thanks for the link Collin!

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?

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!

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!?