SHOOTING STARS IN RURAL OZ

What a way to fall back in love with one’s country. Just hit the road and immerse yourself in the landscape. And the people.

For my first project, I’ve been lucky enough to be invited into the fold of a close knit family who after a bit of cajoling, opened up to the camera like a bunch of pros. My first Aussie client for Legacy is a fascinatingly diverse Catholic family who are spread around Victoria and over the boarder into NSW.

The matriarch of the family had 14 children of which 12 survived and she now has 31 grandchildren. I’m making the film with her eldest grandchild, who is a very old friend of mine, Andrew Barlow.

His father John is the eldest sibling and luckily he was there over Easter to vouch for me. Which made a huge difference. Having known him for about 20 years, I guess mutual respect was evident and that allowed for his gorgeous Mum and fascinating siblings to trust me. Though they took a bit of convincing, some more than others, we managed to get a huge amount of footage and interviews done.

It was such a different experience for me, as usually I interview filmmakers about their projects and though we may talk about challenging things, it’s overall pretty positive. I have never had to deal with uncomfortable emotions. And the tears flowed, freely at times and tough memories were aired. It was a humbling and fascinating experience. I had to really stop myself from trying to console people and letting that raw emotion flow for the camera.

I’ve seen it on film sets. I’ve cried watching actors’ emotions come flooding out during a scene. I’ll never forget shooting Penelope Cruz and Rhys Ifans in the Isle of Man (very glamorous!!!). They knocked the whole crew’s socks off. Watching real professionals like that batting words at each other, it’s like witnessing top violinists playing a duet. It’s poetry in motion, cheesy but true.

I think because we were planning this as a test shoot and we weren’t sure how the Barlow clan would react, Andy’s and my expectations were pretty low. We planned to get lots of B Roll and background filler, perhaps one or two interviews, particularly with his Nana. But in the end, they were almost lining up to talk. It was truly an incredible experience. As it was Easter weekend, with its religious significance and because it’s a time when family come together, we just hit a sweet spot or something. But everyone opened up to the camera and blew us away with their honesty.

What a beautiful camera we hired for the shoot. Thanks to the guys at Video Australasia and to Hamish, Campbell Knott and Jeremy Boxer for all their advice. The Sony EX1 records High Def footage straight onto PC cards or a hard drive. This allows you to download the footage direct to your computer. If you have a MacBook Pro, the card slots right into the express slot and away you go at around 8 x real time.

Though of course it wasn’t that simple. We had a variety of technical hitches but luckily Andy has a techno brain, so he did battle and mostly won.

The footage looks beautiful. I can’t wait to go over it all and plan our next shoot. It’s dependent on various schedules but hopefully we might even get in some more shoot days before Cannes in May. It’s gutting that BALIBO didn’t get into the final selection. They’d got such a great reaction from one of the programmers, but there are some strong Aussie films this year.
I know that Rob Connelly, BALIBO’s talented Director, is still fine tuning the film. I can’t wait to see it. Though I haven’t been involved at all, Andy is an Exec Producer and feels very connected to the people and the project after spending time on set and getting his film hands dirty. It sounds like the East Timor section of the shoot was incredible and changed the lives of many people involved.

Check out this link to see Rob talking about it and a few sneak peaks.

Working on a film set is an experience that’s hard to describe to people who have never been near one. If you ever do visit, it seems like nothing is happening and then there are short bursts of intense activity when you ‘turn over’. But if you’re working on one, you know that every minute of every day the crew is trying to align all the moveable parts, all the myriad elements such as light, wardrobe, actors, design, props, make up etc. etc. etc. With crews that can surpass 100 people, it takes time to get each section in place and move forward as a team.

But on a good set, it fast becomes like a family. You form such intense friendships and it’s like you’re in a world all of your own. A bubble. That noone can touch or understand. It’s a crazy life, as sometimes it can be hard to get back to your ‘real life’ after each film. I’m not sure how healthy it all is, but if the elements are right (and filmmaking is true alchemy) it can be an incredibly enriching experience. Or it can be a nightmare!

Anyway, I’m up in Sydney at the moment and have lots to write about that but must save it for the next instalment. I’m heading to the ASTRA Awards with the wonderful Tony Barber. Pity I can’t wear my killer heels, but I’ve got a great frock and am getting myself all glammed up. The dress code is ‘sophisticated’ so I’m interested to see what the Sydney world of television comes up with. Will be a bit different from the BIFAs and the BAFTAs I’m sure. More soon.