VFX and Filmmaking

It has been a while since I last updated you guys on whats been happening with me and film work… And the answer is a lot.

A few weeks back I did a promotional short film for a shopping centre chain similar to Westfield. The short was in the theme of The Hangover and followed the CEOs of the company on a bender and the morning after.

On the Hangover set

My role on the shoot was as Runner/Gear Assist but was a very quiet job for me (not too much for me to do). But the really great thing about the shoot was that I managed to make some connections with the production company Jungle Boys which is a very successful TVC agency also moving onto drama now too. I had been told by others that it was a good idea to get on there books as they get a lot of work and they couldn’t have been more right.

Arri Alexa being used for Uncle Tob

Since that shoot from Jungle Boys I have another two potential jobs with them in future as a runner and art department work, and just yesterday did a Uncle Toby’s TVC (television commercial) for a new product release of theres. The shoot was great but didn’t exactly start out that way. I got a call a few days prior and what I understood was that they wanted a runner/extra for the shoot which ofcourse I was well up for. I ended up getting there to find that it wasn’t a runner or crew related job at all but just an extra roll, the confusion came from the fact that the character that my extra was in the commercial was in fact a film crew member. So in the ad I ended up playing the camera operator, which was actually pretty cool because the “prop camera” was a fully operational RED camera. Also for my actions to look more realistic the (real) camera crew actually taught me some of the basic operations of it!

behind the splits

So after an hour of shooting as an extra acting like I was using the camera I was wrapped by the production manager and could have left with my $100 but not only did I feel that one hundred bucks for an hours work is a rip for the production company, but I really wanted to help out for the rest of the shoot. I was mainly assisting with art department, helping them to deconstruct there backdrops and load them into the truck. After 6 extra hours of this, boy did it pay off, at the end of the day the Production Designer/Art Director asked for my number as he said he has a lot of work coming up! and really nothing is more satisfying then making a connection like that.

Green Screen action

Now as great as the opportunity was I also had a great few day shoot on a short film being produced by Screen NSW for ABC. The short is titled He Say and is written, directed and main charactered by Leah purcell who has also been in films such as Somersault, Jindabyne and Lantana. He Say is part one of a series of six short films being produced by Indiginous Australian film and television artists. The film follows the deeply emotional and tragic story of Leah’s character as it explores the reality of masculine brutality and violence against women and the impact it has on ones family.

Matthew Temple operating the steady cam

My role on the production was as Art Department Assist/Stand by Props. A really engaging and fun role,  the reason for this being is that its none stop, there is always something to do and often not enough time to do it. This is great compared to a runner job for example where there is often nothing to do meaning the time moves so so slowly. Also on top of that being in art department you are on set all the time, always working with the key players, such as the DOP (director of photography) and the Gaffer (head of lighting). This role allowed me to really make some good connections so when it came to me emailing everyone after the production they actually knew who I was, rather then the random dude that would be driving between set and the production office non-stop (as you do when you are a runner).

So thats all thats happend within the last few weeks so things are really ramping up as you can see, cant wait to see what happens next!