JOURNAL
LOCATION SCOUTING
Australia is a really wonderful place. There are so many different landscapes, environments and places you can visit (often within a short drive of each other) that it can leave you speechless. Today, we experienced that first hand.
We were trying to scout a location for a film we are doing set in Darwin during the Second World War. We needed a beach that didn't have much headland that we could get a car up onto, or at least near to. So we drove down south from Sydney, through the Shire and out past Cronulla towards Bundeena. We were just over an hour outside of the city and already we were in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere.
Scrubby bushland surrounded us on all sides, opening on occasion to reveal great sweeping stretches of grass and rocks that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. No wonder Australia is so popular with film crews, you can get everything you want here. Let's just hope the government give back the tax breaks so more productions come.
Anyway, after driving through bush we wound our way down into lush forest and finally to the first potential location. We knew right away that this wasn't right as we couldn't get near the sand but from where we stood we could see a very cool waterfall about a hundred meters in front of which was a beach. Weird.
We drove on, through Bundeena and past some really awe-inspiring rainforest (words do fail) finally coming to Garie beach. This looked like it would suit our needs, especially this spot. However, the location was too developed for our needs and we'd have to cheat too many angles to get around the headlands (which Darwin doesn't have and we want to be realistic) still I got some good photos:
I took pics of a stormy sky, more stormy sky, the headlands and the view from behind our potential location and then another shot taken from behind our location with a stormy sky. We were a bit spoiled as we were standing in this really beautiful spot and were basically the only people around.
We continue to drive then to Stanwell Tops, which is were Tim and I both went on our year 7 camps. It has changed a lot. We stopped to get something to eat as the beach wasn't right for us and took a photo of the local wildlife, who happily sat there while I snapped away.
Then we continued down the coast heading for Woolongong. Along our way we drove along a new stretch of road built out above the sea that wound its way beneath some very intimidating cliff tops, which were by now wreathed in fog, cloud and rain, it was all very dramatic and quite beautiful to look at. The fog and rain continued to roll in once we passed the cliffs, shrouding the distant mountains in mist and helping to create some cool shots, here and here.
Then, by accident, we found our location, just north of Woolongong. Initially it didn't look right, but as we investigated we found it to be perfect. We could get the car right up to where we wanted it and were able to frame shots nicely enough to make the beach look like one in Darwin. From the spot I also got my favourite shot of the day, which best reflects how we will use the location in the film.
We then got on the highway and headed home, which was an adventure in itself as the rain was coming down in thick grey sheets and making the whole countryside look like something out of a horror film. In fact, driving round today, it is easy to see why the land is so steeped in mysticism. It truly has a life of its own.
Monday. Apr 23.
LULLABY
Lullabies are funny things. Most people know what they are but ask them to label the ingredients that go into making one and they'll probably draw a blank. We had to try and discover the answer to that question today as we found ourselves writing a lullaby for a film.
After searching the net for what seemed like ages and finding very little on the construction of this musical form we stepped back and looked at their purpose: to comfort and send kids to sleep.
So, we now had our definition but still didn't know what went into making a good lullaby. They're all simple little ditties, which they must be given their purpose, yet as with most 'simple' things there is a lot going on beneath the surface.
As songwriters who are most used to writing in a pop style, working with the stripped down and simple form of a lullaby didn't seem like it would be that difficult. Yet when we tried to fit all of the pieces together we found out just how difficult it can be.
The tone of a lullaby is the most important part and so the first thing we decided to do was get a melody (Tim developed a very nice one) After this we just dove straight in and tried to fit a few 'comforting' and 'motherly' phrases to the music. After a while a twist on a classic phrase clicked and then from there the rest of the song grew organically, which was an enormous relief as it's a rather important part of the film.
The point of this story? Take another look at lullabies, they may seem like kids stuff but the truth is far from it! See if you can put one together...
Monday. Mar 26.
TOAST
We all love a bit of toast. Some people like it just kissed by the heat, creating a light crust around the bread, some like it well and truly brown, others like it almost black. Well now you can have it like Hello Kitty. Strange but true.
Wednesday. March 15.
HOW OLD IS IT?
I've been doing some thinking recently about what constitutes an antique. To most people an antique is any piece of tat that looks old, furniture with a good patina, lots of dust etc etc. A train of thought that is instantly derailed by anyone with even a small amount of knowledge in the field of antiques.
Technically the definition is 100 years, with anything else being known as a collectible. Although that definition (which is an American classification derived from Customs practices) comes under scrutiny when you go to countries with a longer history, such as Europe. A 150 year old table is nothing compared to a 300 year old chest of drawers.
I think for most people in Australia the "more than 100 years old" time frame is difficult to adhere to given our youth and so I'm inclined to believe that the Aussie classification would be an object of aesthetic or historical significance produced before 1950. Food for thought.
As well as thinking about antiques we also got some songwriting done today, adding another song to the country band's bow. Since I last posted (a long time ago I know) we've also laid plans for a new short film for this year's Ignite festival which I will be revealing over the next few days.
Monday. March 12.