May 22nd, 2013 by Glendyn

April 24th, 2013 by Glendyn

Slow posts of late… Firstly I got a new laptop so I’ve had the joy of transferring, updating, re-finding, sourcing software and plug-ins etc. All seems to be working fine now. But seriously, screw you iTunes. Surely there is a simpler way to transfer a music collection from A to B. Still missing huge chunks of my old library… argh! And why can’t you export your playlists as a group and not individually. Dull.

Also, I’ve re-located to Sydney and in pre-production for Puberty Blues 2. Let the games begin!

April 6th, 2013 by Glendyn

A day pre-shoot in Sydney for Puberty Blues 2. Wandering the streets of Elwood and Brunswick and a couple of chilled days on the peninsula south of Melbourne over Easter.

April 3rd, 2013 by Glendyn

A couple of years ago I went to the Vladivostok film festival with my feature film Last Ride. I had been there a few years earlier with my short film Cracker Bag and it always remained a strange and very surreal place in my memory.

This time I really wanted to explore a lot more of the city than I was able to the first time. I made contact with a photography student who lives there and he drove me around for days exploring the outer suburbs, translating, meeting locals and generally looking much further afield than what a film festival introduces you too.

I have a whole bunch of photos from this trip I’ve never really shown anybody. Some photos I took one night of some skateboarders ended up in the 2012 CCP Documentary Award, but the rest are just taking up space on a hard drive unseen for the moment.

I just came across this shot I took while exploring an abandoned building. The building was in the middle of the city which is congested noisily with cars and pedestrians but inside the building it was surprisingly quiet and still. The ground was littered with rubble and used syringes.

On one of the upper floors I was startled to find a couple of kids sleeping on a window sill. At first, I really thought they were were dead as they were so ‘lifeless’. But as I stood still I could sense their breathing, slow and faint. I’m not sure if they were stoned, drunk or just tired. I thought they looked so peaceful perched on the window, soaking up the sunlight, blissfully unaware of me or the four story drop to the ground just behind them.

I’m pretty sure this wasn’t their ‘home’ but I did feel a little like an intruder. I wasn’t sure if I should take a photo. I felt that in some way I might be stealing some of their solace. But of course the documenter got the better of me.

I only took a few of quick shots, edging closer with each frame, trying to get close enough to see them properly, but far enough away not to wake and disturb them. Each step crunched broken glass underfoot and in the big empty space the normally quite shutter on my camera seemed to heavily ‘clunk’ and echo through the empty shell of the building.

Later when I downloaded the images I saw that the boy sitting up was almost cradling his friend in his lap, the detail below shows his hand resting gently on his friends cheek.

It’s a moment and a photograph that has stayed with me. In all it’s sadness and it’s beauty. I hope these two had found a moment of warm escape and were dreaming deeply of different lives in different places.

I’ve often thought of them and wondered what they were up to and what they might be doing now. I hope they are both well. They seem like perfect characters for a film.

March 7th, 2013 by Glendyn

Early morning ride into the office…

February 21st, 2013 by Glendyn

Hotel windows I’ve stared out of recently…

February 17th, 2013 by Glendyn

February 13th, 2013 by Glendyn

February 10th, 2013 by Glendyn

February 4th, 2013 by Glendyn

Right up at the most northern tip of New Zealand is Cape Reinga. My friend Nigel Bluck urged me to make the trip up there and I’m so glad I did. The Maori believe the spirits of their dead travel up along 90 Mile Beach and finally to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife. The place definitely has an energy, regardless of belief or mythology, it feels significant.

Below is a photo looking out to the water from the cape. Thats the Tasman Sea on the left, smashing into the Pacific Ocean on the right, what a trip… Spirits leaving and oceans colliding, it’s an intense place to say the least. I loved it. I could have stayed there all day, in the mist, just standing there in awe of it all.

February 3rd, 2013 by Glendyn

Just under this tree here…

January 8th, 2013 by Glendyn

Just back from the annual Xmas road trip. Melbourne to Tamworth with a (child free!) new year side trip to the Byron Bay area and back again. Over 3500 kms all up.

It’s a long way, especially with two kids and a dog in the back seat. But there is also something totally bonding about it. As a family we have spent a lot of this year apart due to my and Natalies work commitments so there was something cool about the family being ‘forced’ together in a confined space for hours and hours cruising across the country.

Despite the groaning and the occasional “Are we there yet!?” I think secretly the kids love it. I know I do.

January 1st, 2013 by Glendyn

New Years Eve. Perched high up in the hills of Mullumbimby, NSW.

December 27th, 2012 by Glendyn

For the last few years (here & here) I’ve made the two day road trip from Melbourne (Victoria) to Tamworth (New South Wales) for Xmas with family. Each time I’ve stopped in a little town called Peak Hill to have a break take a photo of this weird potted plant outside some closed down shops and the ‘Gents Hairdresser’.

2010

2011

2012

December 19th, 2012 by Glendyn

December 7th, 2012 by Glendyn

Location scouting…

December 2nd, 2012 by Glendyn

Over here in Auckland, New Zealand shooting a commercial but had a much needed day off yesterday which also coincided with my birthday. Choice az bro! Spent the day walking around browsing in book shops, sifting through and listening to records and taking photos of things I saw along the way…

On vinyl I discovered the joyous and somewhat indefinable Wild Bill Rickets. Kinda dub, kinda jazz, kinda musical in a way I haven’t heard before. Bought two albums. Kinda obsessed with him now. Loo Loo (below) was the gateway track, groovy, haunting and strange!

Also I had been wanting to see Beasts Of The Southern Wild for ever and I had missed it when it was on at our local cinema. I didn’t want to see it on a plane, train or download so I was excited to see it was screening in downtown Auckland. It’s a beautiful film and I can see why for such a small, strange and extremely art house film it has managed to cut through.

A good day.

November 12th, 2012 by Glendyn

Yeah. Nah. Maybe. Ok. Let’s chat more. Let me think about it. Soon, yeah? Not sure. Perhaps. What if? Lets see what happens. Ok? Maybe? Nah? Yeah?

November 2nd, 2012 by Glendyn

October 26th, 2012 by Glendyn

I’m a bit late posting about the passing of the late, great cinematographer Harry Savides who passed away last week. Such an inspiration. He shot so many great films but I think my favourite is Gus Van Sant’s Last Days. The film is so beautifully shot. I remember seeing it with my Dad in a near empty cinema Kino in Melbourne when it was released years ago. I was so blown away by it’s minimalism, beauty and poetry. It’s become one of my favourite films. I left the cinema in awe, speechless. My Dad turned to me as we hit the foyer and said in disgust “Don’t you ever make a film like that…!”. Double speechless…!

So whenever I think of Harry Savides, I think of Last Days and when I think of Last Days apart from fathers ‘advice’ I think of this very simple but stunning scene…

After watching the above clip, watch how they shot it below. Something wonderful about watching a small crew work in unison. I often wonder why they didn’t lay all the track for the dolly and then remove the front pieces as they dollied back, and not have to relay and level on the fly. I like to think that not even Gus Van Sant can afford all the toys all the time and they only had a few lengths of track in the (small) grip truck. A perfect example of how necessity particularly in film making are nearly always the mother of invention.

Harry Savides, genius!