July 24th, 2012 by Glendyn

July 15th, 2012 by Glendyn

Sunday night and I’m writing a treatment for a commercial I’m pitching on. Which means a little procrastination… and Youtube gems like this.

July 13th, 2012 by Glendyn

July 8th, 2012 by Glendyn

Watched a wonderful documentary about legendary french photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, and some other artists. I’ve transcribed part of one of the interviewers below because it’s so beautifully relevant and to the point and it won’t stop echoing around my head…

While flicking through a book of his photographs, HCB pauses at what would arguably be one of his most famous photographs ‘Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare’ (1932). An image which describes perfectly his idea of ‘the decisive moment’.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: I shot this one through… in between planks. I slipped the camera through but I couldn’t see. That’s why it’s a bit blurry. The planks were like this, so only the lens went though. I couldn’t see a thing through the viewer.

Interviewer: You couldn’t see the man jumping?

HCB: No.

Interviewer: That was lucky.

HCB: It’s always luck. It’s luck that matters.You have to be receptive that’s all. Like the relationship between things, It’s a matter of chance.

If you want it, you get nothing. Just be receptive and it happens.

… Here it’s geometry, the way it’s framed. One shouldn’t think about it but the basis is geometry. The divine proportion.

Intuitively, I know how it sits. But thats all I can say.

It’s the physical rhythm, 1.618… 3.1416… The Golden Number. We know how it sits. A compass will tell you, but it’s in the eye.

I go for form more than for light. Form comes first.

Light is like a perfume to me.

It’s such a wonderful note on listening, watching and responding intuitively. Not being technical or academic or overly formulaic in an approach. But being present and open to what is actually happening in front of us at the time. Having your eyes wide open and aware of the things around you.

HCB was 92 in this docco. He died in 2004. The whole film is fascinating, but you can skip to 16 minutes 09 seconds for the gold!

July 4th, 2012 by Glendyn

I arrived back home in Melbourne today after locking off my last episodes in Sydney yesterday. And tonight Network Ten aired a three and half minute (!!!) ‘sneak peek’ of Puberty Blues.

I think we were all a little nervous of what a ‘first look’ might be like. But I think it sets a nice and inviting tone. It feels like the show in that it’s ultimately warm and character based and there is just a sniff of some of the darker territory the actual show delves much deeper into. Cool that Ten are supporting the series so early on with such a generous chunk of airtime!

Both Ashleigh who plays Debbie and Brenna who plays Sue called me immediatly afterwards shrieking down the phone giddy with excitement!

July 2nd, 2012 by Glendyn

It’s been a long time since I posted anything about my feature Last Ride. The film was actually the genesis for this blog back in August 2008 in the lead up to it’s June 2009 release here in Australia.

Even though Last Ride has travelled around festivals and sold steadily in territories all over the world, a U.S theatrical release seemed a distant if near impossible reality. Well it took some time but this weekend Last Ride opened in cinemas in the U.S (Chicago now and New York from Jul 6th).

Big thanks to Content and to Music Box Films and also to the legendary reviewer Roger Ebert for giving the film such a glowing review!

The U.S artwork takes a very different approach to marketing the film. There is a great contrast between the two pieces of key art and not just in the colour pallete. Infact I don’t think you could get two more different approaches. The Australian poster which featured Hugo Weaving and Tom Russell sharing equal billing with the stunningly poetic landscape, whereas the U.S version sees the stars in close-up and and treated in a far more ‘rugged’ way. Interestingly they also added a rifle to Hugo’s hand in the image below the title as well. (There was an interesting post discussing the pros and cons of the different posters here on Madman’s Facebook page.)

I like them both for different reasons. The U.S poster definitely feels like it sells the film harder and for a ‘small film’ like Last Ride, perhaps thats exactly what it needs.

Last Ride also available on Video On Demand.