Feature film logline

We are currently working on a logline for the feature film version of Kanowna. Here's the first version. - 'Western Australian goldfields, 1902, a battle weary war hero returns home determined to find his fortune, only to discover it in the most unexpected place.' What do you think? If you read this somewhere would it interest you enough to want to know more about the film?

All quiet on the Kanowna front

Like the calm before the storm, all is quiet on the Kanowna front.  We have sent DVD screeners off to a number of festivals and all we can do is wait!

In the mean time the press kit is being finalised and should be finished very soon.  The website is now online and has had close to 300 hits since we went public.  Interestingly we've had visits from Mumbai, Kiev, Klaukkala, Ovideo and Misawa just to name a few (I have no idea where some of these places are).  It's a good indication of how global film is.

I was trawling through the many photos from the shoot and found a couple gems of Clarkie.  I've used one in the press kit and this is also on the website, but for those of you who haven't visited it yet, here it the photo I'm talking about.  Taken by Ben, I think the crew had moved on to do the final shot and they stayed behind in the Asia town alley set to take this.

Excellent photo, don't you think?

Visit the Kanowna website

Here it is!  Something you've all been waiting for.  The Kanowna website is officially online and going public.  Check it out, tell all your friends, add it to your favourite bookmarks and keep an eye on the progress of our little film.

www.kanownathefilm.com

Sound spotting

Just finished a two hour music spotting session with Geoff, the films composer.  We went through the film scene-by-scene and discussed emotional beats, story points and structure.  I really enjoy the creative process and working with Geoff is always good.  Interestingly we are working over Skype, as he is in Sydney and I am in Perth.  So long as you are working off the same files, with timecode, it is really easy to communicate and get your ideas across.

Sound spotting session has be organised for Wednesday morning and I am really looking forward to that.  We're getting close!

Larson Studios

David will be working the post sound on Kanowna at Larson Studios in Hollywood.  The gang at Larson's are highly regarded and have won around 20 Emmy's and 1 Oscar between them.  So there is a lot of knowledge and talent around the place.  I visited there when I was last in LA and they were really friendly and accommodating. 

It's mad that our little film from Perth, Australia will be mixing there, but it's exciting and I know it will lift the film to another level just by having professionals of this level involved with the film.

Kanowna (short film). Sound Post begins!

Due to a little delay we are about to go into Post Sound and Music.  LA based, Emmy nominated Sound Editor David Raines, will be leading his team for the post sound on Kanowna.  We are really excited to have David involved in the film.  His involvement eventuated when David offered to work on the project during a telephone conversation with Kanowna's Director, Chris Richards-Scully. 

The final mix is scheduled for March 5, so keep watching for updates and a few surprises.

Kanowna poster

Hello everyone and sorry for the lack of posts of late, we have been very busy and will be adding more to the blog very soon.  Here is a draft of the Kanowna film poster, Michael and I have already made suggestions for alterations to the designer, but I thought it would be nice for you all to see it anyway.

We are discussing the colour of the title's font and will be posting the options for your feedback in a future post.  If you have any comments about the poster please let us know, we'd love to hear from you.

Follow Kanowna on Twitter

http://twitter.com/kanownathefilm

Kanowna website

I've been busily working on the Kanowna website, which is looking pretty funky and almost ready to go live.  Unfortunately you will all have to wait until the film is finished, before we advertise, but when we are finally ready to 'go live', we'll need everyone's help to get the web address out to everyone they know and encourage them to get it out to everyone that they know and so on...

For now, we'll keep modifying the content and wait until the official date.

The package is in the mail

Two big deadlines on the same day!  Always happens this way doesn't it?

Anyway, they weren't for the same project and Michael had to do most of the work in the final sprint to get the Screen Australia submission into the mail.

Writing a synopsis and director's statement post filming of the film was a really strange and annoying experience.  We've shot the film and just need help financing the post production, can't we just show them the film, they'll love it and want to support us? ... nice try.

Post production continues to move forward and we will finish Kanowna regardless.

I've found my DOP!

Our DOP emerged from the abyss today, to say hello and talk about the colour grade.  No, really Dev has been working hard and has had only four days off since Christmas.  We had a great chat about the colour grade.  It will be exciting to see all the footage graded, it already looks so good.

Kanowna's Music

I had a long Skype music spotting session with Geoff today, we went through half the film and discussed dramatic moments, in-and-out points and styles for the musical score.  Exciting to begin this phase. 

Mathilda dropped in on the last part of the meeting to give her input, which was a laugh for both of us.

Kanowna begins post sound and music

I had a quick chat with our Composer, Geoff Russell today and I realised that we only have two weeks to get the music right, before we are scheduled to go into the mix!  That's putting the pressure on.  Geoff a fanastic composer and this will be the third film I have worked with him on.

The first was my film school film, Icarus, the next was another self funded short called Hearts and Minds, each time he has come up with amazing film scores.  He is an incredibly talented Composer, a great collaborator and friend.

I'm looking forward to working with him again and hopefully one day soon we'll get to work together on a feature film!

Kanowna (short film) - fine, fine cut

Today, Sarah (Editor) and I went through the film again and addressed the feedback from the LA gang.  Some of the suggested changes really worked, some needed slight tinkering with the suit the pacing of the current cut and some didn't work at all.

It was quite a draining session, but I think we're really heading towards a much better cut.  Still, we need to be mindful about what film we set out to make in the beginning.  Some scenes have been dropped, some scenes shortened and sometimes we've had to make big calls about sequences we loved, which didn't work within the narrative structure and storytelling.  It is a great process and an exercise in maintaining objectivity throughout.

We reconvene tomorrow evening and that will probably be the last editing session before we present to Michael, our Producer.

Feeling a little drained, but we're almost there!

On another note, I had a long conversation with Dustin on the phone today about marketing, festivals and the feature, which was all very exciting and we came up with a really good idea that I will look to incorporate into the feature treatment.

Vision lock-off delayed for Kanowna

This morning has been a very busy morning.  I spent an hour on the phone to David in LA, who has finally gotten feedback from a number of people over there, about Kanowna.  The feedback was very comprehensive and targeted at improving the films focus and making it more dramatic.  This is the kind of feedback I have been looking for, every scene was broken down and questioned, with no attachment to anything.  Questions were asked about what characters were doing, where should the focus be and what was I trying to do.

A few big changes were suggested, which will make the film shorter and more focused.  I really want to try them so we've made the decision to delay the lock-off for a week.

Aside from the edit, we've been working on poster designs and the website.  These are progressing really well and I think we are close to having a really 'striking' poster!  Very exciting, but there is still much to do!

Happy New Years

Welcome to the year of 'Kanowna'!

Kanowna fine cut changes

Sarah made the changes to the fine cut as per notes we received at the screening last week and kindly uploaded the latest version of Kanowna, even though she has gone to Melbourne for a Christmas break.

Michael and I viewed the latest cut of Kanowna this morning and discussed the changes made, how they effect the film and what we think should be done to get closer to our vision lock-off.

Kanowna the short film - a Fine, Fine Cut

We played the fine cut of Kanowna to a small, select audience on a big screen in a lecture theatre at Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley today in the hope that we would have a vision lock-off after the screening.  Most of the responses we received were not new to us, but the most valuable was a point made by Richard Hyde who is my creative collaborator on a number of projects and script editor on Kanowna.

He made the point that some of the off-screen dialogue may be getting in the way of a particular scene, which also takes impact away from the introduction of the films Antagonist.  It was a really valid point, which Sarah and I really liked, so we are going to explore the possibility.

So, with the advent of the Christmas holiday season and Sarah going to Melbourne for a holiday, we've decided to delay the vision lock-off until early New Years, that's if it doesn't impact on the Sound and Music schedules, but Michael will be liaising with them.

So even though we only had a small group at the viewing, the session was extremely valuable, with new discoveries that will hopefully make our film even better.

Kanowna 2nd Unit

We have officially canned the 2nd Unit pick-up shots!  After much deliberation, Sarah and I honestly believed that the shots we intended to get, actually in Kanowna, would be a waste resources as we really don't need them to tell the story.

Test screenings of Kanowna

Michael and I have been screening the Fine Cut of Kanowna to a select few people since we received the cut a couple of days ago.  Generally there has been little comment about the structure of the film, only about various segments or events within the film, which have generally been subjective viewpoints.

There has been some very good reactions to the film and everything is positive.  I have a couple more people I am screening the Fine Cut to, before we head to Vision Lock-off early next week.