Pre-Production Updates

23/02/2000

I'm still undecided on the shooting stock - either Super 8 or digital video -- I've shot a roll of Super 8 with a camera I bought a while ago but haven't used before in order to test it - but I haven't viewed the roll yet
Done alot of research on video vs super 8 which I've summarised in this article ~~ I was pretty lucky - this was research I was doing anyway but in writing it up as an article for a local screen resource's newsletter as well I get a certain amount of dollar's worth of credit for use of their equipment ~ killing two birds with one stone - and something I want to keep doing as well
I estimate the budget to be in the $4000 - $5000 range - most of which is in film stock and telecine (if I go the Super 8 route) which I'm most likely to ~ because it's film (the advantages of which are looked at in the article)
Read two good books Persistence of Vision and The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook - both of which I thoroughly reccomend, and will continuually refer back to when need be - the latter is more proffessional, but the former still just as worthwhile -- full of many good tips - particularly one which I've really taken on - you have more time than money (and also never pay full price!). It is quite sobering though with both of them that they were written by two partners who both made a few films - never recouped their money and are writing these books to help alleviate the debt. I think it's something to take on board -- not to destroy the passion but just as a reality check - it could happen to you! -In fact what happens to the people in the Guerilla book is almost beyond belief - and if it weren't so serious it'd be funny - I think they should make a film out of their experiences.
I've decided to look into a new writers grant through a state governemt film commission here - but I'm not going to hedge anything on it - and if it means I'm in the position where if I got one I would lose the copyright over the script, or my ability to make it - then I won't take it -- unless it leads to a clear production path - the idea is to get my film career happening, rather than waitng and relying on others.
Another issue is I want to be in it so I think I'll get someone else to direct and produce it - I'll concerntrate on the script, the role, and getting it together from an executive producers point of view - I was going to do up a story board but I'm not sure if I should now. I was originally interested in directing it - but with alot of reliance on a First Assistant Director -- but I just don't think I would be able to concerntrate on the acting well enough if I was doing that as well - I might be wrong but it seems the right choice at this stage.
My main priority at this stage is finishing the script - but I've made a few enquiries with regard to prices of film stock etc - and the best I've got so far is $18.95 for 100 rolls of Kodachrome (I'm hoping to sneak by on a shooting ratio of 3:1) -- but I'm also going to research what stock I should have, though I think for price alone I might have to end up going with Kodachrome
I'm also keen to finsih the script so I can use it to start attracting cast and crew as well
I see the main purpose of the film as being a) what it's about - then b) as a learning experience for myself and others then c)a calling card or example that I can make a good coherent film, and use that to get funding and further support etc for other projects
Whether shot on Super 8 or digital video it'll be finished on video - and edited on my computer once I've set it up to do so! I'll then sell the video and try and get it shown in festivals as well - though as a non-competitive entry (I don't believe in competitions and prizes)
Although it's already in need of revision now - the production schedule as it stands now is as follows (I haven't detailed the post-production stage yet) [removed this to here ~ an historical updates section]

29/02/2000

Received some good advice the other day saying I might not be able to achieve this within the time frame I've laid out and that I should not rush it just to get it achieved - because what use is a calling card if it's a piece of crap! ~ which I agree with ~ the time frame is arbitary, and may be re-adjusted as I go ~ but it's a mixture of trying to make it happen, but with also trying to maintain the integrity of the work - we'll see how it progresses ~ it's good advice and has made me concerntrate on it more
picking up the grant forms today - and just concerntrating on the script at this stage

05/03/2000

After alot of consideration I've decided not to pursue the new writers film grant that I was going to ~ basically because I'd rather keep the major impetus with me ~ or to put it another way I'd rather fly by the seat of my pants ~ when you go through something like that the major responsibility I thinks rest with them, but this way I find very exciting and self-empowering which I think is what it's all about - obviously I can't do it all myself and do need the help of others - but if the majority of the responsibility falls to another organisation and it has to conform to their time frames and priorities then I think I've missed the boat -- so this is how I'm much happier with it
Found a site about a film which a guy got financed through the net!! ~ which makes me think about looking into that here - the url is http://www.forcor.com/, and he has started one for his new film at http://www.sharkybaby.com/index.html
Also neglected to mention before most of the historical research I've been doing has been coming from the excellent book "First Contact" which tells the story of the first gold prospecting expeditions into the New Guinea highlands in the early 1930's - the extraordinary thing about it is though that they took cameras and on some expeditions movie cameras with them, and there's actually footage of some highlanders seeing white men for the first time ever - it's truly extraordinary stuff and one of the bestbooks I've ever read - there's a good review of it somewhere I read on the net - but it's an absolutley fantastic book - and apart from just being great in it's own right it's provided me with alot of historical context for what I'm writing, though the events in my film take place 5 to 6 years after these. It's written by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson, and the ISBN is 0-670-80167-4 -- they've also done a documsntry of the same name with some of the actual footage in it.

07/03/2000

I've gone off the idea of having someone else direct - simply because I have too many ideas fot the over all shape of the film and I think it would be unfair to ask someone else to direct it and then over ride them in alot of critical areas - like the use of music etc and some shot selection ~ but then on the other hand I also think what a beautiful thing it is just handing it over to someone and just doing my part in it - the acting - at the time ~ but I think the first one still holds sway; so what it would be at this stage is getting a 1stAD to run the show in the shoot, but only after I'd worked out all the shot selection and even doen reconnaisence (I have no idea how you spell that) trips on the locations in the weeks before hands and worked out all the set ups etc beforehand with the 1st AD and the DOP -- I don't think it's a problem in principle doing it this way, as long as everyone knows before hand and is happy to do it this way (and I realsie it could make getting people harder, but that's alright) -- but the big problem might come practically because I want to be able to give my all to the acting when we're shooting, and if that's not possible then I will hand it over ~ but it really should be all handed over to the 1st AD by this stage ~ but this is all something I want to find out - which is another reason I want to do it - because I'd rather do that here, than further down the line when practically at least there would be more at stake - and I also feel in a way as director I'm taking reponsibilty for the over all sucess/functioning of the whole project, which since I'm the one starting it, one part of me thinks that's important - but a good production team though would do that anyway -- so we'll see - this is how it is at the moment ~ I'd like to hand it over, but I'd like to keep those over all things in place and this might be the best compromise ~ we'll see

01/04/2000

Just posted the synopsis
Bought a Super 8 projector yesterday - a Eumig Mark 605D - for 55 bucks! - it works quite well, but unfortunately doesn't screen at 24 fps - but I want it just to check film for visual type errors, so it should be alright for that - the roll I shot a while ago came out well - lovely rich colours, grainy in low light, but that was without extra lights - and a few little things like dust and a slight smear on one of the lenses - but that's alright - it was a test roll and it's served it's purpose quite well
I also got a Standard 8 editor with the projector - an Elmo Model 5 - which I don't want - so if anyone's interested in buying it e-mail me - I'm looking for around $25 Australian for it
The script continues well

17/04/2000

Made some changes to the synopsis - thanks to Evan Clarry for some advice on it ~ it's basically going back to an earlier idea which I was wanting to avoid because it was making some of the emotional content more intense than what I wanted to deal with - but it's better this way, hence the change -- also updated the company list - slowly drawing it together, but most people I won't be able to get on board until after the script is finished -- which is going well - I'm going to try and sell it afterwards as well too - so a big production of it hopefully can be made, I might push the schedule back a few months as well in order to give me a bit more time to plan and develope it - which works out well too because it would be better to shoot in summer too rather than spring

17/05/2000

Moran's Falls in Lamington NP
on the Scenic Rim

Everything's going well at this stage - the script is progressing well - I haven't started re-working the production schedule at this stage but if I'm to be shooting in Nov/Dec I'm going to have to hurry up and finish the script in order to get all the other work done so at this stage I'd like to have it finshed by the end of June - I guess I'd be just over half way there at the moment, not counting rewrites etc
Went to the Scenic Rim yesterday which is a big mountain chain here in Queensland, Australia which has alot of rainforest and beautiful views - and it's here I'll be looking to shoot the outdoor scenes - I know it's a different type of rainforest to Papua New Guinea but at my budget I think it's acceptable!
Have also been thinking of shooting it in black and white instead - because the look might be good, and could suit the time and place etc - but what I'll do is shoot it in colour (which will cost less that black and white) and then experiment with it - turning it to black and white in editing and see which I like more - that way I have the choice of both, and it will cost less than if I shot in B&W
I've also saved enough money now to start coughing up something for the film, so I think I'll buy the editing gear for my computer - given how many books have said don't start unless you have the money for post production - but we'll see
I also have a co-Executive Producer now which I 'm quite happy about

24/06/2000

I've just bought 150 rolls of Kodachrome (which makes for quite a sight) from Kodak here in Australia - I managed to get a discount rate of $15 per roll, because of the large order size - I might be wrong, but I think otherwise it still would have been $16 roll which is still quite a bargain - so everyone in countries with stronger economies than Australia - and there are plenty! - you might find it cheaper to buy it here.
Thanks to everyone who suggested alternatives of where to buy it (I did look into the Kahl place in Germany) - but I only saw all those posts a few days ago [on alt.movies.cinematography.super8] - I don't know if it's me, or netscape - but when I check the newsgroup I don't get all the posts downloaded to my screen - I'm going to look into it (I found the other posts through a search on deja news) -- so sorry to anyone too who I probably should have replied to.
The film is going well at this stage - the script is still developing - I have a cinematographer now, Sue Barker, and someone who is keen to try some digital imaging, Andrew Jackson - which is possible since we're finishing on video - so we might try a few huts in some long shots, and also maybe an old Junkers plane - with someone walking away from it after it has landed - we'll see.
Also looking into the telecine at the moment - I want to use a Rank Cintel because (I think) that scans the frames rather than films the projected image and hence the end result is much better - and given that I'm shooting on film to get the better image I want to make sure I maintain as much as possible of that quality
Also attended a sound design workshop at QPIX with our sound editor, Rob Greenfield, which was quite useful - and am looking into the post production at the moment in terms of converting my computer - what I'm looking at roughly is 2 IDE hard drives of about 20 gig each - and a video card which comes with Adobe Premiere 5.1 pre-packaged -- but we'll see, still researching

4/07/2000

Went to a farm at Lamington last Saturday, to check it out for the highland scenes - it seemed quite suitable, but we have to consider the cost - they won't charge us for the rights to film there (because we're a low low budget production!) - but (which I didn't realise at the time) it's rented out as a holiday farm and they want to charge us at that rate ($130 a night - 8 people staying there - more at a pro rata rate, and we'd have to bring a porta loo!)-- so we'll see, there's another person in another area which we're going to call as well. Sue brought a Canon XL1 DV camera with her, and took some footage, I might capture a few shots here - it looks good. The area we looked at is the free hold land on the map below - marked 36, 37 and 39 -- known as Luke's Farm - if anyone knows the area it's right near O'Reilly's Guest House which is also on the map
Neglected to mention earlier I have a script editor, Robyn Evans, who is eagerly awaiting a first draft! Robyn had just finished a script editing course at The Australian Film, Television and Radio School - and is assessing this for free
Starting to look for a few more crew now - 1stAD, or Co-director etc - producer as well
I've realised the schedule will have to change - to fit around everyone's committments, since this is on a deferal basis, we'll have to shoot a few scenes a week, I think - for a day or two each - leading up to the big shoot at Lamington, which will probley take a week, and another one in a local hall - which might take 4 or 5 days.

7/07/2000

Unfortunately Sue's had to pull out of the production due to work committments ~ so thanks for the effort you have put in -- and in terms of the production there's still plenty of time to find a other DOP/Camera Operator
The test roll I shot ages ago on my camera had a white blur on the left hand side - I was unsure if this was the projector or camera - but Sue confirmed it was the camera, and doesn't appear to be mould ~ most likely grease on a lense right in the guts of it ~ which fixing could be a problem. We were going to use her camera as well, so now I'll have to get mine fixed (and buying another second hand camera could be cheaper) or arrange to borrow another camera - we'll see. I tried very quickly to capture some of the shots from the location trip the other day, using another computer - but we had very limited time and the results weren't crash hot - we'll have to try again - but one shot came out okay. We also tried a quick home telecine of 2 rolls of mine using the Canon - the results, as could be expected weren't very good - hence why we'll be using the Rank Cintel - but the only shot I captured from those 2 rolls was this one on the left below to illustrate the grease, I'm not sure about the crap in the top right corner either but I think it's from the projector.
The second shot is the location shot, but there were much better shots or scenes than this, so I'll try to recapture them later

6/08/2000

Just bought a Beaulieu 4008 ZM II on eBay. The camera is in Germany, and I sent the money a few days ago - so hopefully should have it within the month ~ fingers crossed. I'm going to send the camera on to The Film Group in The United States to get a crystal synch control unit attached to it.

26/10/2000

The camera still hasn’t arrived yet - he told me that he sent it on the 25th of September, and I asked for it to be sent air mail, so I’m getting a bit worried now ~ but hopefully it’s still on it’s way, just delayed in the postal system
I finished the first draft of the script about three or so weeks ago, it’s still being looked at by one of the script editors at the moment - but to me it basically contains too much (philosophical) theory and not enough emotional development between the two main characters - so that’s something I want to look at in the next draft ~ but essentially the main narrative framework of it ~ or structure if you like - is pretty good, so it’s mainly just changes with in that
I’ve been doing alot of production work in the interim - whilst waiting for the camera - getting equipment together etc - and that side of it is coming on quite well
I’ve pushed the shooting dates back again - that’s for two main reasons - firstly I don’t want to proceed with out a good script and I need just a bit more time on that, and secondly I think I’ll need a bit more time for casting and rehearsals ~ so at the moment it looks like we’ll be shooting in Jan/Feb or Feb/Mar 2001 over the weekends in those months, and with a week or so up at Lamington
I decided to open my old Sankyo ES-66XL camera up, just in the hope that I might be able to get to that lense element that had the grease on it - but the whole lense set up was sealed so I couldn’t ~ and to be honest even if I could I might have had trouble putting the unit back together ~ they are quite precision intstruments! ~ so it just turned into an open it up and have a look at it session, which was interesting
Reworked the web page as well

2/12/2000

The camera arrived yesterday - the whole thing turned into a bit of a nightmare which I’ll detail at some stage because there’s a number of lessons that can be drawn from it - but it’s here now ~ although a number of accessories that I also paid for aren’t ~ but anyway I can look into getting the camera serviced then fitted with the crystal synch motor and an anamorphic lens now
I did a lighting for exteriors course the other day through QPIX which was quite useful - I was lucky in that one of the DOP’s taking the course works on Beastmaster - alot of which is shot outdoors in a forest so we did a number of set ups and exercises in those circumstances which will help with a number of scenes in the film. I also met Brian Vaughan who is making a film set in Papua New Guinea as well - so we’re going to try and help each other out in whatever way we can
I’m putting the final touches on the second draft of the script now, and I’ll start approaching more cast and crew with it in a week
Peter Berkahn has come on board as an Associate Producer and is trying to raise some money for the film - fingers crossed!

14/12/2000

I finished the second draft of the script this morning, and although it will still under go some reviews and changes, it is a big improvement on the first draft I think ~ mainly in the areas of character development and emotion. With this draft now I am approaching potential cast and crew members, and the preproduction planning is being based around it as well
The camera is being serviced in Melbourne at the moment and early indications are it's alright - but I'll find out more in about a week
The budget now is more likely to come to the $9000 mark at the moment

17/12/2000

I got a tripod yesterday - a Manfrotto 141RC
Also got a lot of copies of the script done which I'm now starting to distribute

5/2/2001

Well what a difference six or so weeks makes - everything's coming together very well at this stage - most of the crew is in place now (which I'll post in the next few days) and most of the Australian cast is cast
The Papua New Guinean cast is still coming together and understandably requires more work as there are less Papua New Guinean people in Brisbane - but it's still getting there and we're working throught the PNG Consolate-General's office, various schools and universities as well as the general PNG community here
We went down to just near Natural Arch yesterday to look at a farm we're we'll be shooting highland exterior shots - it was a beautiful farm surrounded by spectacular rainforest covered mountains - it's just perfect for what we need -- I'll put some photos here soon - once they've been captured off the tape we took - we also went to Moreton Island, on another day, looking for locations for the first beach scene, but didn't find anything suitable - all the coconut palms were around the resort there, and there wasn't any stands of them where you couldn't see buildings - unfortunately they just don't occur naturally this far south - we had a great day though! - snorkelling and swimming, and took some nice photos including the one below

Scene from Moreton Island

I've spoken at length to John Hocknull who was a Patrol Officer in the highlands in Papau New Guinea and who had a number of experiences similar in some ways to those in the script - he gave me alot of advice which the film will be better for, and is helping with the casting too
The shooting schedule is firming up now and we'll be basically going through for 9 weekends from the 10th of March - including all of Easter and the May day long weekend
We had our first meeting last Wednesday for the whole company which was quite sucessful - alot of basic information which was relevant to everyone was gone over, and we're going to meet regularly now but on a departmental basis
I've also formed a company Mango-a-GoGo Productions Pty. Ltd. (ACN 095 693 379) which will be the legal backing behind this ~ and hopefully for other films too we can go on and make
The camera has been serviced and is currently on it's way to the United States to get a crystal synch timer unit for the motor attached to it

9/2/2001

I've captured a number of shots of the farm from some DV footage Richard took - and here they are: remembering it doesn't look quite as impressive at this size!

I was also asked to write an article on the film for the February QPIX newsletter

8/3/2001

Well we're right in the thick of it now - I can't put everything down here or my brain would fall out but basically it's all progressing well - some aspects are going better than others, but over all it's procedding quite well ~ a few points are:
We've had to delay shooting by at least a week (we were planning this Sat Mar 10th) as the camera has been held up in customs on it's way back from The Film Group in the United States, where it got a crystal sync -- it is then getting an external battery pack put on it by Milan at Beaulieu Cinema Services in Melbourne, before it comes back -- it was then going to get an anamorphic lense attachment put on it, courtesy of Alan Beale, but that is looking doubtful now as we either need a much larger anamorphic lense or a zoom lense on the camera with a much smaller front diameter - or else our field of view or useable angle through the lenses is going to be so small it will be a major problem -- so if that can't get sorted out in the next few days we won't shoot it in cinemascope - but just a normal Super 8 aspect ratio - which would be dissapointing, but acceptable. All of these camera problems could have been sorted out with enough time if I had got onto it earlier, but I didn't so that's my fault.
Another similar problem will be testing it all - so we'll shoot one or two scenes and then express freight the film to Kodak's labs in Switzerland and get it back and telecined all within two weeks I think - and then get straight into the rest of the filming, all things being well
The casting, crewing and locations etc are all falling into place, though it's a slow old process - and we've had a few drop-outs etc, but that's okay and in each case we've found people more suited to the job -- rehearsals have started and I'm looking forward to just concerntrating on that more soon
There's been alot of positive response to the subject matter of the script and I guess our ethos in making it - which has been very nice
I've updated the cast and crew list too
Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to take a finished copy of the film with me to Europe now as due to a number of other reasons I'll be leaving earlier than originally expected - but I think that's okay because it's an international market now, and although I can't be there in person with it, I can still deal with them from Australia once it is edited and complete. There's no way too unfortuantely that we can make the deadlines for the Brisbane International Film Festival this year either - but they've invited us to submit for next year, so that's okay

Pre-Production Production Post-Production Premiere and Beyond

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