Random Nation

I just finished seven days of shooting a VCA third-year film as 1st Assistant Director. This film had the biggest budget of any student film I’ve ever worked on, the biggest crew, the biggest costuming requirements, most expensive equipment and best catering. It was a wild, crazy ride and really only the second film I’ve been able to fulfil the role of 1st AD properly on. My understanding of the role has become much more detailed because of this experience, I think mainly because of the fact that there was a dedicated person fulfilling every other crew role which meant I was able to concentrate on my job by itself.

I prepared a scene breakdown, one-liner schedule and a full schedule for the entire shoot, I went to location recces for each of our locations, I went to crew meetings, I prepared all seven days worth of call sheets, and on the shoot I had to keep it to schedule because every single location had restrictions on it (whether it was the sun going down on exterior days, the closing time of the library or the fact we couldn’t keep our child actors for more than eight hours (or past 11pm). This shoot required a lot of coordination, and it was really great having a 2nd AD because I was able to give her one of my walkie talkies and make things (like getting costume changes, make up touch-ups, getting people working in different parts of the location to be quiet during takes etc.) happening a lot faster. The walkie talkies came in especially handy when our unit base was practically 1km away from the stormwater canal we were shooting in!

We had two days of steadicam, we shot on Red camera (4k), we had a massive beast costume with stilts, a dead, tattooed man that needed two hours allowed for makeup time, and except for the library, the art department had to totally redress the locations we were shooting in, so this was definitely the biggest non-studio production I have ever worked on outside of ‘Elephant Princess’.

The kids who played the children in the film were amazing – really well-behaved, always ready to go when we needed to do a take, and just really nice to be around. My relationship with them on-set was also really important, because I was usually the one having to ask them to leave the warmth and cosiness of unit base to rehearse or do a take, and also the one making sure they stayed warm, drank lots of water and didn’t get sunburnt.

I definitely found the exterior days the hardest – partly because it was the start of the shoot and everyone was getting to know each other – because it was cold and we had early morning call times – and also because we were often shooting a long way away from our unit base which meant if a prop or piece of equipment was forgotten it took at least 10 minutes to retrieve it. We didn’t get rained on once though – which is pretty amazing luck!

The library was a fantastic day – we got everything shot that the director and DOP wanted and wrapped a little early, and it was quite amusing shooting for five hours communicating almost only via whispering. The dolly shots from this day also looked great – I’ve learnt from this that libraries are excellent film shooting locations!

The house days were challenging because I felt like I really need to be pushing the crew the whole time to get everything shot on time, but in the end we either wrapped on time or only 10-15 minutes over which is not a bad effort!

I think the best thing about this shoot is that crew moral (especially for the second half of the shoot) was quite high – there was a sense that everything was generally well-organised (not perfect, of course, because nothing ever is) and that we were all working on a really great production. I’m confident this film will turn out really well and I’m really looking forward to seeing it!

I’m still not sure if being an AD is something I want to do professionally – I like the pre-production scheduling and the on-set logistical side of making sure there is a constant workflow of things happening (while we’re doing this, something else can be happening etc.) but I’m still not quite sure of myself when it comes to knowing when to let something run overtime to keep the director and DOP happy that they’ve got the perfect shot, or when to put my foot down and move it along. It’s also hard to know exactly how to make something happen faster when you can see it could be done quicker, without sounding like a horrible nagging and annoying person.

I guess I would need to keep AD’ing on more productions to figure these things out, but for now I look forward to seeing the screening and going to the wrap party!

In 2007, Esben Storm had the rights to ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’ (at one point, even Jonathan M Shiff held the option) – now, it has actually received production financing and it looks like there’s a whole new team involved!

From Screen Australia:

Tomorrow When the War Began is based on the best-selling book by author John Marsden and follows the journey of Ellie and her friends who band together when their country is invaded and their families are taken. Renowned screenwriter Stuart Beattie, whose credits include Australia and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, will write and direct. The film will be produced by Andrew Mason for Ambience Entertainment.

I am VERY VERY VERY excited about this – but I also hope like hell they don’t screw it up, because this film could be HUGE. It could be BRILLIANT! It might actually be an Australian film that is both critically acclaimed, AND actually does well at the box office – if they don’t screw it up.

Another project for me to keep my eye on (and I will be VERY interested to see who they cast).

The ‘Writing for Children’s Television’ short course I was enrolled in at CAE got cancelled due to low enrolment numbers. I can’t say I’m surprised (it’s entirely possible I was the ONLY person who enrolled), but that is very disappointing nonetheless. There is a ‘Writing for Television’ short course starting in August that may be useful, so if that doesn’t get cancelled as well, I might try that.

I have really been enjoying my ‘Introduction to Screenwriting’ class and it has definitely made me feel more confident about understanding the elements I need to have in my concept and scripts, but it is a lot broader and has focused mainly on films (and examples shown in class have been from feature films) so it would be good to have an opportunity to participate in a class that focuses just on television (given story and character development is quite different due to the major difference between, say, 90 minutes of screen time for a film, or 26 x half-hours for a television series).

A new Australian television drama/comedy set in a university! Can’t wait for that one – NOTHING is ever set in a university, except that boring soapie ‘Headland’ a few years ago.

I got my Final Draft software in the mail today. It occurred to me that learning how to use the software that is industry standard in Australia is really important, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it from EVERYONE, so figured it was worth the investment. It’s much better for me to put together the script for my project using the accepted format, and after looking into it, it does seem like the software will save me a lot of time and effort formatting it. I’m learning a lot about screenwriting through the introduction to screenwriting course I’m participating in at the moment, and I think it’s logical to view the learning of industry software as an important box to tick in the list of things I need to do to complete my Honours project.

An absolutely beautiful two-page summary of writing for children’s television in Australia.

A magazine article written by Guy Halifax outlining the difference between writing for children’s and adult dramas.

‘Dance Academy’ Series 1 – Sydney (Werner Productions/ABC)
‘H20: Just Add Water’ Series 3 – Gold Coast (Jonathan M. Shiff Productions)
‘Trapped’ Series 2 – Broome (Northway Productions)
‘Lockie Leonard’ Series 2 – WA (Goal Post Pictures)
‘My Place’ – Sydney (Chapman Pictures/Matchbox Pictures)

There’s also a lot of animations, but as they’re for a younger audience I’ve tended to leave them out.