Dr Boogers Casebook

We made this one at home with Renee Mondy once again doing a marvellous job as D.O.P. Our 2 year old Dachshund Booger ( I picked his name...) did very well under highly unusual circumstances and completed his acting duties with great style, having only small dog treats as his reward. What a pity I can't get all my other actors to work for this! Our set was a green screen in the back yard in the bright sunshine with the veranda table in front of it. For a very short one joke film I think DR. BOOGER'S CASEBOOK works well. The main thing is I haven't been sick since I took the prescription!!

Punxatawney Phil

We shot PUNXATAWNEY PHIL over 2 days ( wow - first GROUND HOG DAY reference) about 2 weeks ago at a very steep set of stairs in Newcastle. The crew was Graham Bryant and myself. Graham is a member of our club, Newcastle Video Makers Club and a very experienced film maker. You'll notice from his work on LLYND NAIRN LADY JUGGLER and this film, that his specialty is close ups. And he shot this hand held and it was rock steady, well focused and easy on the eye. It wouldn't have been the same film without him. On the first day's filming we were equipped with large plastic Slinkys and these just didn't work. We couldn't get a decent run out of them. The next day we had smaller metal ones and these weren't much better, I had visions of footage of Slinkys racing up lots of steps chasing me running backwards behind them but the most we could get them to do was 3 or 4 steps! The music comes from my Corel editing package and it works well. We entered our film in our club's latest open competition “Unexpected Outcome or Parkland” and we scored a 2nd place. Graham and I had a lot of fun making it and for a short one joke film I think it works well.

Lair

We shot ‘Lair’ in the ruins of the old Mental Home, a secure facility for the criminally insane near Wyee NSW. The place has been trashed and heavily graffitied , plus it is a perfect ready made set for a movie. It was finished earlier this year and it recently won first prize in our film club's first open competition of the year. Renee Mondy is our sole actor in this one and she does a first fate job as usual under trying circumstances. The damaged buildings and trashed surrounds plus the eerie solitude of the place does give a certain creepiness to our film. I was taken by the graffiti - it seems to be watching, a sort of evil knowing witness. And as luck would have it there was just enough on site for us to complete a story - although, we filmed over a few days ( weeks and months apart ) and some of our featured graffiti would get painted over...I had some old footage of an extreme close up of a camp fire and I used this in our opening credits and end titles - to give our titles a distinctive look. Then I passed the ball to Ian Huish ( a great friend and collaborator ) and Ian provided: the wonderful creepy music; colour grading; sound effects; the animation on the faces of the graffiti; the Devil and fire effects; plus a ton of very helpful advice on this project. He was very much an ace up my sleeve. Thanks man. Lair also represents a very different type of story for me, I usually make short comedies or documentaries and this was my very first drama. We were very pleased with the end result and I think in time I'll have a go at a few more stories with an edge....( queue the crazed laughter...)

Sharks 2 A Bite To Eat

Sharks 2 A Bite To Eat is the first time I've ever done a sequel. We shot this only a few weeks ago with the wonderful Col Marshall starring and Mark Owens as our D.O.P. I was encouraged by Ian Huish to create a sequel. Ian wrote the script for this one, and he's keen for me to do more. I will certainly shoot one more, they're a lot of fun to make and there's a wealth of ideas for the shark to make it's entrance....

I Escaped From KFC

This film was shot at Barnsley NSW by good friend and collaborator Mark Owens, and features a rather strange bird called Cocko, a female Australian white cockatoo. Cocko was owned by an elderly gentleman who sadl passed away. She was very distressed and deliberately pulled out all of her feathers. By the time we had filmed her she was back with a new owner, her spirits had lifted and she was ready to dance again. And what a sight Cocko is, she looks like your lunch is dancing for you! The music for our film is by Jason Paris. Jason has provided a heap of wonderful music for my films and we are currently working on another film together, a music video clip for his song The Hearts Eternal Vow. It was great working with Cocko, she is just so full of mischief and fun. The last thing she said to us as we were packing our gear up to leave was “rahh, get me outa here, rahh!”

The Broughton Island Mystery

This film was based on a true story. We shot this last year at Broughton Island. The film features good friends Trevor Anderson and Fred Vanags plus myself, and our crew on the day were Carolyn Starr and Gillian Smith. Trev has a huge boat and carted us all out there from Nelson Bay. The water was a nippy 16 degrees which made my underwater camera housing fog up quite a bit. I got a cramp and ever helpful Trev bent my foot back the wrong way ( which was fun...!) I'd sourced a bottle of Bell's scotch whiskey and painted it gold to look like a ship's bell, some gold chocolate coins and borrowed a jewellery box to stand in for a sunken ship's treasure. When I was half burying these things the sand felt strangely rubbery. Turns out I was trying to dig into a stingray's back! Mick Rippon again provided the music and sound effects, brilliant work again as usual. And Steve Ezzy created the authentic looking old treasure map of Broughton Island with sea monsters and a tall ship. Our day filming was really a small adventure and I'm very pleased with the end result.

Walkies

I completed Walkies in late January this year for entry into my clubs one minute competition. The film stars Malcolm Young and our two dogs Lacey and Booger. Malcolm does his usual top notch performance.We filmed it at Edwards Park, Lake Macquarrie and DAPA theatre Hamilton with a host of volunteers as our audience. Initially I wanted to film with an orchestra but you can only go so far on a $10 budget....!!