Happy end of financial year everyone!

My father is downstairs shouting "Mega Guess! Mega Guess!" at Deal or No Deal on TV.

At 6:30pm my family will start watching Today Tonight or A Current Affair despite my protestations.

I live next to the Shire.

Help me!

MAP Project screening

I said I'd post about this, so should do it before I forget... apologies for another film-related post, these are notes for myself as well, something to come back to when I do MAP Project! (next year)

Loved the installations, and not only because I'd been hearing about them for a while from Imogen, Mel and Meredith.

Loved the use of light and frame composition in Imogen's, specially when the Girl is playing with the cards, and also when the other girl is walking down the hallway. The music was excellent as well.

Mel and Mez's use of astroturf was fantastic! (the green background - keeping that in mind for future prod design) Some beautiful closeups as well and a real sense of menace about the piece.

Bina's film was probably the best of all the short narratives.

Also impressed by Sam's 80s glam music vid desperate housewives revenge fantasy.

All of the above were shot on FILM. I was thinking of shooting on 16mm for MAP Project, just put off a little by the expense of shooting a short drama on film.

First though, have to drag myself through this doco first. I'm going to go and write that sponsorship letter now for flights, tape stock etc... this is actually one of the things that I hate about film, the begging for freebies part, wish someone else would just give me money for all these things.

sick

I spent this morning, the first half-an-hour of my shift at work, in the ABC toilets spewing up the contents of my breakfast (fruit salad). Classy.

I alternated also between pressing my forehead against the roll of toilet paper or the wall wishing for the pain and nausea to STOP.

I called my boss, who hadn't come in yet, and said that I needed to go home. Rhiannon is fantastic, and she's arranged for someone else to do my shifts today, tomorrow and Wednesday!

I haven't eaten anything all day because I can't keep solids down.

I will post about MAP Project screening night soonish.

Blergh.

Createx screening

I managed to haul ass from work at 9:30pm to catch the end of the Createx screening! They were all my class films at the end, so I'm a bit cut I didn't get to see Iz, Stef, Mary, Mel, & Keya's. My friends are SO good. They were yelling to Andrew, "Don't play her film yet, she's going to come to the screening!" Don't know if I told you guys, but I LOVE you ... group hug!

There was an overwhelming sense of relief from everyone - everyone did SO much work on their Createx films, and now it's screened and now it's done.

I'm using the phrase "haul ass" a lot. I really shouldn't.
A) It's American
B) It reminds me of the thing that my dog does when he has a itchy bum and he drags his butt on the floor to scratch it.

acceptance and rejection

Our doco Crossing the Ditch got a production subsidy for Metro Screen of about $3,300 as part of their Jump Start program ... we asked for about $5,000, and got $3,300 of in-kind facility and equipment support (not cash), about 70 per cent.

So, even though this is a tiny percentage of what this project needs, this makes our little doco feel a little bit more legit! And I'm working with Metro Screen again, which is always a pleasure. The good thing about them is that they support emerging filmmakers, because based on Andy and I's experience, we probably wouldn't have gotten any cash from the AFC, FTO, Film Australia or the broadcasters etc.

I feel all jittery and excited - like the initial feeling you get when you start a project, but then you are brought crashing down to earth when you think of all the work ahead of you!

***

The Metro Screen letter came with a rejection letter for Glory from the Odense Film Festival letter from Denmark (isn't international mail exciting?).

I'm so wary of thin letters now. They contain rejections! So far my little film has been rejected from Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Odense and Cannes - fairly large-ish festivals so no surprises there. All thin letters or emails with benign subject headers *sigh*.

I'm sending it out to smaller indie European festivals now (mainly because they have no entry fee, and I think it'll fare better than in the US). I just want some screenings so my cast and crew have something pretty to put on their CVs...

Shorts on the Shore Film Festival!

Jade, Mel and my doco 'Queen St Gallery' won the runner's up prize at the 2007 Bailey's Shorts on the Shore Film Festival - we won $500 and a bottle of Baileys!

Hurrah!

stalking cate blanchett and more doco stuff

The company who I work for doing a bit of transcribing on a doco, Shark Island Productions, invited me to a private cast & crew screening of In the Company of Actors at the Chauvel. Seeing as I've been incredibly lazy with going to see things at the Sydney Film Festival and it was the last day of uni and there was free alcohol (!) I totally wouldn't miss it.

Plus Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving feature in the doco, so I was hoping they'd be there, so I could point and whisper "There's Cate! There's Hugo! Five metres away from me!" But sadly they weren't there - FOILED AGAIN!

I dragged along Lam (who I believe he totally become hetero for Cate, he loves her so) and Veg. It was a fantastic doco, I really did enjoy it ... it documents the behind-the-scenes events of the STC's recent production of Hedda Gabler. All you theatre fanatics, go SEE it!

***

So, I'm co-directing a short feature doco with Andy called Crossing the Ditch about these two guys who are crossing the Tasman in a kayak! 60 days in a kayak! And trying to be the first people ever to do so. It's fascinating stuff and you can check out more about the guys here

I'm producing it at the moment, and we're awaiting the outcomes of a funding applications. Fingers crossed! But I'm looking for a more experienced producer to come on board, someone who knows more about public liability and distribution and funding than I do ... so that's on the list on things to do soon.

***

Went and saw the French doco Forever at the Syd Film Festival and it has all these gorgeous moments in it - if you like slow Varda-esque docos, go see it. I'm planning to get it on DVD if it gets a local DVD release.

laughing at QUT

Found this story an interesting read today. It's about a film student at Queensland University of Technology trying to do a PhD by way of making a film called Laughing at the Disabled, and the lecturers trying to shut the project down.

From what I know of the project, I agree with the lecturers ... there's a line between 'comedy' and blatantly being mean-spirited and cruel.

I love the line when one of the lecturers said "You wouldn't make a film called Laughing at the Aborigines" BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T.

And it sounds like - from the report - that the creators of the program haven't consulted with community groups about the sensitive subject matter either. Feel free to correct me if you know otherwise.

Why am I not surprised it's a film student though?

car accident

Well, I just had my very first car accident today. Just when I was pulling out of a car space at Roselands after having brunch with Anna banana, I accidently bumped another car!

The owner was there, and there was not a scratch on the car, I couldn't see ANYTHING. I'm like "Where?", but he was quite insistent. The car wasn't even that good. So, we swapped details.

The owner asked me at the end of all this, "Are you angry?" Of course, I'm angry! I'm hardly ever angry, but I think I was, and I guess I didn't mask it very well.

GRRRR! It is my fault, I get that, but the only thing that irks me is that I don't think the car was damaged.

In good news however, I got some awesome skinny leg jeans from Stella McCartney for Target for $42 today! They're a good fit, and they're not low-waisted, and a good colour. That brings the total number of jeans I have to FIVE.

need DVD printer and those crazy Europeans

Does anyone have a DVD printer I can use to print on the surface on the disc? Willing to pay cost of materials, ink etc. Just a bit poor at the moment, and some of the places I've talked to about DVD printing want an arm and a leg!

Was registering my film at this European website, and came across a few curious options...

Hmmm...

(Apple+Shift+4 Linjie! I love it!)

soup and baths

I know blog posts have been poor of late, mainly because I've been locking myself up in my room and trying to do assessments ... note the "trying" part, which is why I'm blogging now.

It's SO cold now. My mother won't let me have an electric blanket because she thinks they're a fire hazard. So it takes me forever to go to sleep because I spend the first hour freezing, literally shivering, teeth-chattering stuff. I've discovered I can't get to sleep when my feet are cold!

Then in the morning, the air is cold and I can't bring myself to get out of bed before 10AM.

I had two baths today it was that friggin' cold. Yes I know, wasting energy and water. I'm such a convert to baths. It's just luxury to sink into a pool of warm water and just forget about everything ... I swear, sometimes I've caught myself on the brink of falling asleep in a bath.

My mum bought a 'bath pillow'. It's a little plastic cushion that suction cup sticks on the side of the bath! I don't know how I ever functioned without it. Obviously, does not help me if I develop some sort of bath narcolepsy.

Got a rejection email from Perth International Film Festival for 'Glory' today, *sigh* I believe it to be one of many, many to come! Just got to develop some tougher skin.

Fallen in love with soup! My Cuppa does an awesome Chicken and Corn Soup with warm brown bread, and the Stock Market down in the Tower does a fantastic Croatian Goulash ...mmmm.