'TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD'

Carved and gilded in granite in Martin Place, Sydney. Glorious dead...

ROSEBUD IS 7

…and innately more happy than she appears in these snaps!

SUPER HEROES!

This looks good. UPDATE : It's VERY good. See it here...

TWO DOWN, THREE TO GO

Have finished Eps 1 and 2 of Puberty Blues 2. And now deep in pre for my second block where I'll shoot the final episodes 7, 8 and 9. Never shot three episodes at once before. Shooting two at once is tricky enough, three is a mind fuck... feeling a bit rooted.

I heart Kurnell.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

I already loved 10CC's I'm Not In Love (who doesn't?), but after seeing this 'making of' I love it even more. Although I doubt it will ever appear in Puberty Blues, the song has been an important  tonal/musical touchstone for composer Stephen Rae and I.

Immersive, melancholic, pre-digital awesomeness!

I LOVE BRUNSWICK

Wintery afternoon walk around the neighbourhood. I have lived in Brunswick for the last fifteen or so years and even though it has been gentrified a fair bit (since this film over 20 years ago)... I do love the flecks of old school gold that still shine through.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

I was a 14 years old when I first saw Pink Floyd's Live at Pompei. It blew me away then and it still does now. The clip below has been such a strong influence on me as a filmmaker over the years. I like the pureness of it all. It's more about capturing the energy that is there, rather than trying to fabricate what isn't. It's about tapping into the essence and documenting it in the most unaffected way.

It's funny how random things inform and inspire what we do. It's usually (and hopefully) such a random mix of things that the culmination of them all manifests to become something new and not derivative of the sources.

One week into shooting Puberty Blues 2, I'm drawn back to have another look at Echoes. This clip is like a compass to me. If you want to cut to the chase, jump to 6:30... Magic happens.

Do yourself a favour and watch the whole film here... (Directors Cut!)

SPRAANG BRAYYKE...

Saw Spring Breakers last night (trailer here). I haven't been so engaged and inspired by a film in a long time. I've been a fan of Harmony Korine from back in the day. The film Kids (1995), directed by Larry Clarke and written by Korine when was like 18 or so, totally blew me away. And the night I saw his debut feature Gummo, is perhaps one of the more defining moments in my creative life. That film was and still is a revelation to me.

Between Gummo and now he has had a few hits and misses in my opinion, but his work has always remained singular in vision and in and of it's own specific world. The films are not always perfect, but I don't think he's seeking perfection. I think he is exploring other things. He is a bit like Herzog in this way, Korine is searching for deeper truths and in the process discovers the absurd and the beautifully surreal.

Spring Breakers is perhaps Korine's most accessible film, in many ways it's his most extreme and experimental. The approach of using the non-linear narrative aspects of music videos and applying it to a feature drama structure makes perfect sense and mid way through the film I wondered why I hadn't seen this done before . The neon skittles colour palette, the sound design and the dark essay of youth culture, hedonism and materialism.

There was a point in the movie where I wished the film would last a for days and how great it would be to just sit back and let it wash all over me for hours and hours. Thats a rare feeling for me in the cinema these days. I woke up buzzing with enthusiasm and with a very clear and defined feeling that there is still so much potential in cinema and story telling. Spring Breakers got me all totally excited about it all again!

Part 2 of the above interview here.

And just give James Franco ALL of the awards! He is amazing in this!

Enjoy some other Harmony Korine highlights below...

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY BLUES 2 #1

Driving around revisiting old haunts from Series 1 as well as discovering new locations for Series 2. Finding inspiration and clues for colour palette, texture, tone and detail...

10

Our beautiful boy turned 10 today!

THE THREE ELEMENTS OF GOOD (DOCUMENTARY) FILMMAKING

One of the most valuable things I learnt at film school was a very simple break down of what contributes to 'great documentary' filmmaking. Interesting people, doing interesting things, in interesting places.

I'd argue these three things should be applied to all filmmaking in general.

FUCKED UP PHOTOS

I only heard the band for the first time a few weeks ago and it was love at first listen. My buddy Mike bought me (and my other buddy Stu) a ticket to go and see them live as they were touring Australia and then through a sequence of good fortune the opportunity came up to photograph them as well! Backstage portraits of Damian, Sandy, Jonah and some chaos in the pit. So nice to meet you guys.

Thanks Micro!

FROM CHAOS...

...comes beauty.

I think Push The Sky Away is the first and only Nick Cave album I've fallen for. I love the intimate textures and arrangements. An album of beautifully crafted songs that firm their grip on me with every listen.

WIFE

FROM LITTLE THINGS...

Just jumping on the Gotye bandwagon for a moment after his mulit grammy winning efforts yesterday! I've not listened to the album, apart from the single that's hard not to have heard, but I love this self made 'making of' he made for his 'Making Mirrors' album. An album that obviously had such humble beginnings, recorded in his parents shed.

A wonderful reminder to do things your way, keeping those who love and support you close and work hard.

Congrats Gotye!