I attended Popcorn Taxi's talk with Dion Beebe last night and I have to be honest and say that I didn't feel that the intervew was contucted well at all. So maybe more luck with Metroscreen, who are interviewing Cinematographer John Seale next month. Andrw Urban will be hosting and interviewing.
John Seales most recognised credits are-
Picnic at Hanging Rock - Operator
Gallipoli - Operator
Witness - DoP
Rain Man- DoP
The English Patient - DoP (Also won him the oscar)
The Talented Mr. Ripley - DoP
The Perfect Storm - DoP
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- DoP
Cold Mountain - DoP
Poseidon - DoP (comming out soon)
Details are as follows:
Thursday 22nd June 2006
7pm-9pm (Doors open at 6.30pm)
$20 (unless you are a member of metroscreen, then it is $15)
Bookings are essential
612 9361 5318
metro@metroscreen.com.au
Paddington Town Hall
www.metroscreen.org.au
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Day 3 of Frail
Pip the Grip on the dolly with the Moviecam.
Alex the Director in conversation with the 1st AD Joel.
Bonnie Elliott (DoP) and Morag (Focus Puller) working their craft.Overall it was an excellent shoot. I was presented with challenges and was lucky enough to play with new gear. Like all focus pullers I have worked with so far, Morag teaches me so much and she reminds me that every day you learn new things. I love learning and never want to stop:)
Day Two of Frail
My slate
My 1st EVER 1000' loaded magazine of 35mm film!!!!
Morag, my focus puller with the Moviecam.
What a beautiful way to wrap day two!
Checkpoint Premiere
This is the invite I was sent for the premiere of Checkpoint (the first film I loaded 16mm for last year!!!!) Dan and I will both be attending
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Day 1 on the set of Frail
On the set. Frail is a short film made by Azure Productions.
Believe it or not, these mags, which are so simple to load, gave me grief this morning when we had unexplained noise comming from the mag. We opened them up and had a good look and couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong. All of our theories were wrong, and then even wierder is that fact that they all stopped making the noise and we were able to shoot as per normal.Thank goodness as we had done a gear check yesterday at Panavision and the mags were silent!
The camera built. It has the Angeniux 250mm lens on it with a 400' mag and a 6x6 matte box.Tomorrow I load the 1000' mag. Again I am such a nerd. I am so excited!
We are shooting on old stock.
Kodak Eastman 5218 096 014 01
For black and white... should be wicked!!!!
Bonnie Elliott the DoP, operating from a high angle in teh dolly. Our grip for the shoot is Pip the Grip! He is awesome!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
National Geographic Shoot
A few months ago I was lucky enough to be asked to work on a National Geographic shoot with Hugh Miller and Katie Rose. I was to be the Clapper Loader on the Hawkesbury segment of a series of 90 second vingettes on "What Makes An Expert".
They filmed 3 all together, 1 in South Australia, 1x in Central Queensland and 1x in The Hawkesbury River. (I was not part of the first two but both Hugh and Katie said that it was unreal!)
It was a great shoot. The locations were unbelievable! To think that just minutes from Sydney is a world away from what most city folk could even imagine. We truely are the lucky country and it was one of those shoots, that even with working from magic hour to magic hour (Sunrise to Sunset), I could not help but think to myself that I really have it good.
The lenses that we used, the shots that we got, and then the personal journey of cultural experience just made the whole thing priceless. But enough blabbering on about how much I loved the shoot.
You can view these vignettes online at the National Geographic website. Go to...
www.nationalgeographic.com/travelaustralia/ask.html
They filmed 3 all together, 1 in South Australia, 1x in Central Queensland and 1x in The Hawkesbury River. (I was not part of the first two but both Hugh and Katie said that it was unreal!)
It was a great shoot. The locations were unbelievable! To think that just minutes from Sydney is a world away from what most city folk could even imagine. We truely are the lucky country and it was one of those shoots, that even with working from magic hour to magic hour (Sunrise to Sunset), I could not help but think to myself that I really have it good.
The lenses that we used, the shots that we got, and then the personal journey of cultural experience just made the whole thing priceless. But enough blabbering on about how much I loved the shoot.
You can view these vignettes online at the National Geographic website. Go to...
www.nationalgeographic.com/travelaustralia/ask.html
Moviecam
Today I spent the day at Panavision learning a new camera that I have never worked with before, Moviecam. We tested the gear and did an insurance test. Here is the focus chart that we used to test the lenses.
Our gear. We managed to condense the amount of hard cases that we are carrying on Morag's car to fit it all in.
This is the chart that we use for the steady test. Basically it is an insurance test to ensure that the camera is in working order. We shoot the grid so that the cross in the middle is straight, we then in a dark room wind the film back and re-shoot over the exposed stock wih the grid tilted on an angle.When you view it back at the lab, if the lines move over each other it is not a good sign. But our test was fine. (as expected)
For more info on insurance tests read Eurbank or Harts manuals on camera assisting. They are good reads.
This is an actual nice pic of the Moviecam we are using. Go to www.moviecam.com or www.panavision.com.au for more information. It will be my first camera on 35mm where I have loaded a full mag of 1000'. How exciting. I am such a nerd:)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
If Magazine News Article 16th May
This article was published on the If Magazine website. I worked as a camera assistant on both Black Rain and Brown Trash.
Black Rain was shot by Bonnie Elliott on 16mm, with Morag Mankar as the Focus Puller.
Brown Trash was shot by Andrew McLeod on Mini DV and I was the only camera assistant.
Metro Screen: Multicultural Mentorship Scheme & Raw Nerve screenings (NSW)
WHEN 16 & 17 May WHERE Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall
Short productions made through the Multicultural Mentorship Scheme [MMS] funded by NSW Film and Television Office [NSW FTO] and Raw Nerve funded by the AFC will have their premiere screening at the Chauvel Cinema May 16 and 17.
Metro Screen runs these schemes in partnership with the NSW FTO. These schemes provide culturally diverse and first time filmmakers the opportunity to produce short drama’s, documentaries and animations. Each of the nine filmmakers showcased over the two nights has access to equipment, facilities hire, stock, post production facilities, and a $2,000 budget. In addition, each filmmaker was mentored through the process by an industry professional. These schemes run annually.
* Multicultural Mentorship Scheme screening, Tuesday May 16 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Patti Tsarouhis’s drama Timoleon, George Barbakadze’s drama Black Rain, Alia Alexandra Eva Hassim’s animation The Green Grass of Home and Alina Gozin’a’s drama Closing Stages.
These films are a bitter sweet array of stories dealing with loss, the distance between old and new home lands, Chernobyl 20 years on, sacrifice, tradition and the beauty of finding humour in any situation. These films reveal the migrant experience, cultural discrimination and conflicting value systems.
* Raw Nerve screening, Wednesday May 17 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Luc Anthony’s experimental drama Composure, Tresa Ponnor’s drama Brown Trash, Michelle Bleicher’s experimental drama The Hat, Maree-Louise Evans’s documenatry Squeegeeing, and Sam Phelps’s drama Falling for Grace.
These films deal with dark comedy, sex, adventurous hats and the age old notion that a kiss is not just a kiss. See unlikely circumstances producing romance, introverts on a winter’s day and discover an absurd rollercaoster of uncharted sexual awakening.
Metro Screen invites the public to these complimentary screenings to acknowledge the work and success of these new independent filmmakers and to experience new stories and ideas produced by young Australians.
Venue: Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall Cnr Oatley Rd & Oxford St
Time: 6pm to 7pm
Fee: complimentary, reservations not required.
A Welcome To Country by Lester Bostock will start each screening.
Black Rain was shot by Bonnie Elliott on 16mm, with Morag Mankar as the Focus Puller.
Brown Trash was shot by Andrew McLeod on Mini DV and I was the only camera assistant.
Metro Screen: Multicultural Mentorship Scheme & Raw Nerve screenings (NSW)
WHEN 16 & 17 May WHERE Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall
Short productions made through the Multicultural Mentorship Scheme [MMS] funded by NSW Film and Television Office [NSW FTO] and Raw Nerve funded by the AFC will have their premiere screening at the Chauvel Cinema May 16 and 17.
Metro Screen runs these schemes in partnership with the NSW FTO. These schemes provide culturally diverse and first time filmmakers the opportunity to produce short drama’s, documentaries and animations. Each of the nine filmmakers showcased over the two nights has access to equipment, facilities hire, stock, post production facilities, and a $2,000 budget. In addition, each filmmaker was mentored through the process by an industry professional. These schemes run annually.
* Multicultural Mentorship Scheme screening, Tuesday May 16 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Patti Tsarouhis’s drama Timoleon, George Barbakadze’s drama Black Rain, Alia Alexandra Eva Hassim’s animation The Green Grass of Home and Alina Gozin’a’s drama Closing Stages.
These films are a bitter sweet array of stories dealing with loss, the distance between old and new home lands, Chernobyl 20 years on, sacrifice, tradition and the beauty of finding humour in any situation. These films reveal the migrant experience, cultural discrimination and conflicting value systems.
* Raw Nerve screening, Wednesday May 17 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Luc Anthony’s experimental drama Composure, Tresa Ponnor’s drama Brown Trash, Michelle Bleicher’s experimental drama The Hat, Maree-Louise Evans’s documenatry Squeegeeing, and Sam Phelps’s drama Falling for Grace.
These films deal with dark comedy, sex, adventurous hats and the age old notion that a kiss is not just a kiss. See unlikely circumstances producing romance, introverts on a winter’s day and discover an absurd rollercaoster of uncharted sexual awakening.
Metro Screen invites the public to these complimentary screenings to acknowledge the work and success of these new independent filmmakers and to experience new stories and ideas produced by young Australians.
Venue: Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall Cnr Oatley Rd & Oxford St
Time: 6pm to 7pm
Fee: complimentary, reservations not required.
A Welcome To Country by Lester Bostock will start each screening.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Starcross'd
The last 4 days saw me work as Clapper Loader on a short film "Starcross'd". It was created by Digi Media Student Pat Clair, who directed the piece. In short it is his pet and I think it will be fabulous. We had proffesional dancers come in for the shoot, Amy, Sarah Jane, Kaylee, Jason and Ethan. They were brilliant. The moves these guys showed us were really really good. They were masters of their art from breakdancing, hip hop and freestyle these guys were great.
Andrew McLeod was the DoP and Bonnie Elliott was the operator and Brie Walsh was focus puller. Tigs was the 1st AD, which was great. I last saw her on a short film we shot out at Richmond for 3 days "Checkpoint"
Day 1 and 2 saw us with support, so it was a big couple of days. We knocked over approx 30 shots each day which was what we were aiming for. Day 1 we had the Digi Beta, and then for the rest of the shoot we used a HD camera.
Day 3 and 4 saw us with support, Gaffers, Grips and Design support too. The crane came out on day 3 and we used the dolly on day 4. (yay for Turbo, Boshey, Jason, Ryan and Rowan!)
Over all the shoot went really well, Pat even spoilt everyone with a bottle of Cab Sauv wrapped in celophane with candy hidden inside after we wrapped.
My slating is definatly improving and my camera notes are more detailed now, and I am no longer relying on Brie to give me the details for my sheets. (With prime lenses I am fine, but we were working a zoom lens and I found myself needing to always check what mm we were at because it changed so frequently)
I liked working with the HD, from an assistant's perspective the split is far easier to work with and it has a much clearer picture. Have a look at the pictures below, they will give an idea of what I am talking about. The whole shoot was blue screen so I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Andrew McLeod was the DoP and Bonnie Elliott was the operator and Brie Walsh was focus puller. Tigs was the 1st AD, which was great. I last saw her on a short film we shot out at Richmond for 3 days "Checkpoint"
Day 1 and 2 saw us with support, so it was a big couple of days. We knocked over approx 30 shots each day which was what we were aiming for. Day 1 we had the Digi Beta, and then for the rest of the shoot we used a HD camera.
Day 3 and 4 saw us with support, Gaffers, Grips and Design support too. The crane came out on day 3 and we used the dolly on day 4. (yay for Turbo, Boshey, Jason, Ryan and Rowan!)
Over all the shoot went really well, Pat even spoilt everyone with a bottle of Cab Sauv wrapped in celophane with candy hidden inside after we wrapped.
My slating is definatly improving and my camera notes are more detailed now, and I am no longer relying on Brie to give me the details for my sheets. (With prime lenses I am fine, but we were working a zoom lens and I found myself needing to always check what mm we were at because it changed so frequently)
I liked working with the HD, from an assistant's perspective the split is far easier to work with and it has a much clearer picture. Have a look at the pictures below, they will give an idea of what I am talking about. The whole shoot was blue screen so I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.
The crane
Day three saw the crane come out. On the crane is Bonnie Elliott, the operator and Brie Walsh the Focus Puller.
ON THE SET OF STARCROSS'D
STARCROSS'D is a short digi based film created and Directed by Pat Clair. The DoP was Andrew McLeod and Bonnie Elliott was the operator. Brie Walsh was Focus Puller and I was Clapper/Loader. 
The first two days were unsuported, so we had no Gaffer and Grips dept, so that was a pretty hectic couple of days.
The prosthetics were a little weird on this, the lights kept drying the makeup blending the prosthetic to the skin and as a result was cracking. Loads of KY was needed to keep it moist. 
The tracking marks are for the digi supervisor. So when perspective changes whilst the camera is moving, the background will move accordingly.
STARCROSS'D PICS
These pics were taken on day four of the shoot.
Turbo cutting light
We shot on Digi beta for day one and on HD on days two, three and four.
Boche's dolly
Welcome Note
This is really a personal blog for myself to remember and note the films that I work on. Anyone is welcome to read, however most will find the information quite irrelevent for themselves. For fellow film buffs and work mates, you will likely like a little read. If entertainment is what you are after, go to the social page jaxlives.blogspot.com
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