A little news report which appeared on WIN TV

Kanowna nominated for WA Screen Awards

Kanowna has been nominated for 2 Western Australian Screen Awards in the following categories:

• Best Director
• Best Production Design.

We would like to thank the judges for their recognition and we are humbled by the nominations.

Kanowna teaser trailer

For those of you who haven't seen the Kanowna teaser trailer yet, here it is.
Stay tune for more news coming very soon.

New Kanowna film poster design

We have been trying out different marketing materials and this is the latest Kanowna film poster design, which the director, Chris Richards-Scully put together.

Please leave a comment or visit our Facebook fan page and compare it to the current poster.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kanowna-the-film/107906619232285?ref=ts

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.

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.

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.

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.

13.35 or there abouts

We viewed a twelve minute cut of Kanowna this afternoon, which I must say I had trepidations about.  However, Sarah did a really good job with dropping some shots, compressing a couple scenes and ending some scenes at different points to what was filmed, to work the story into a film for an audience and not for us.
I really liked the flow generally, but there were a couple things that I felt I needed to be in the cut to add impact and push the emotional journey of the main character.  Michael viewed the film for the first time (after the rough cut) and said he really got into the story and followed the journey.
There are a few story points I am questioning are strong or clear enough, but I am very happy with where the film is at.  On the drive home I did voice my concern to Michael, that it felt all too easy to reach this point.  I know that in this instance, I have written the film also and know the story backwards, so I am questioning my objectivity for the benefit of the film.
The next stage is to show some 'virgin eyes' the current edit and get their opinions.  This process can be fraught with ridiculous comments or suggestions, soul destroying moments, uplifting viewpoints and elation.
I have sent the Fine Cut to Geoff, our composer for him to start his process and I look forward to his views, hopefully tomorrow.
So, I need test subjects... Anyone interested?

Blog Traffic

I've been using Site Meter to keep blog traffic records, since October and we are now at around 920 hits, since then.  Well at least someone finds my random musings interesting enough to read.  I've had hits from the Netherlands, Moscow, Thailand, Vietnam, UK, USA, Ireland, Spain and of course, Australia.

Seriously, it will be great to the films exposure.  There is still a long way to go on the Kanowna journey, so keep coming back to visit and tell all your friends, wherever they might be.  Hopefully soon we will be adding some behind the scenes video, shot by our wonderful friend Kris, who I met at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival three years ago, came from Los Angeles to join our merry band of filmmakers.

Anyway, keep spreading the word and hopefully we'll tip over the 1000 mark very soon.

Warmest Regards

Chris Richards-Scully

15 minutes, including credits...

We've got the cut down to about 16 minutes (without credits), now the fun begins.  I really like the work Sarah has done with the film and I think it is all there.  We still need to go through and ensure we've got all the best performance takes, but essentially the cut is probably close to a 'Fine Cut'.  Unfortunately it is running 1 minute over our preferred time duration of 15 minutes.  Screen Australia won't fund anything over 15 minutes and most of the big festivals don't want anything longer.

Sarah is going to tighten up the edit over the weekend and we will let Michael (Producer), see it on Monday.  Hopefully she will manage to squeeze some time out of the edit and we won't need to cut much out.  Although I have already thought of areas where we might be able to cut into, but I'll wait to see what she comes up with.  This is always the most difficult part of the process, on Iron Bird and Icarus I had specific time durations I needed to work to and each time I faced the exact same dilemma as I now do with Kanowna and each time we figured it out.  It is a good discipline to get used to, because if we were delivering for TV, we'd have an exact duration, if I was doing a TV commercial, I'd also have an exact duration to deliver.

Michael has negotiated the sound post, which is fantastic, he is still speaking to Geoffrey Russell (Composer) to see his requirements and we also need to find the funds for the conforming of the pictures, colour grade, titles, credits and output.  Exciting, but closer.

Post Funding application

I've seen the quote to finish the vision part of post production, to deliver a quality Master, which is colour graded and meets all the technical requirments for festivals, distribution and screening.  It is scary and we still have to factor in the sound post, mixing and music recording.  So Michael has been busily looking into post funding through Screen Australia.

I can't believe the amount of paperwork you need to supply before you even step into the door.  I need to supply a one line synopsis, a one paragraph synopsis, a one page synopsis, a copy of the script, a director's statement describing my directorial approach to the project, CV, post production notes and a bio.

I can't understand the need for the various synopsis or the director's statement, the film has already been shot and we just want to finish it.  Anyway, I guess I'm going to need the various synopsis for our marketing and for festivals, so might as well do them now.  Well, at least we have until January to complete the paperwork.

Kanowna short film - Day 2

Day 2:  Flies, sun, horses and more flies!

Today we shot out on a salt lake, just East of Meckering.  I'd forgotten how difficult it is to sustain yourself out in the elements and many of the crew also didn't have much experience working in those conditions.  Plus, we lacked real resources to cope with sun and wind and hence, we suffered a little.
On the positive side, we had horses today which really gives the film a feeling of scope.  We shot the horses galloping in a wide-shot, which was fantastic!
We really started losing the light in the late afternoon, due to an approaching cold front and Dustin's last shot of the day was in cloud cover, but you have to take what you can get.  His performance is so strong that it didn't really matter.
Peta was a trooper today!  She had to do a scene running across the salt lake and she stumbled.  She didn't stop, she just got back up and kept going.
All-in-all, a very successful day with only a couple challenges for the performances and coverage.

Clarke Richards and Bluey

  

Dustin Clare as Trooper Brown

  

Dustin Clare on horseback

The cast for Kanowna, the short film

Just to remind everyone who is in Kanowna, the short film.

 

Dustin Clare is playing Trooper Brown. 

Peta Sergeant is playing Osarno. 

Ben Khaw is Chomatsu.

Clarke Richards is Trooper Clarke.

We've got a good group of very talented and eager actors.  The characters are layered which will give the actors a good challenge to breathe them to life.

Let's try to make Kanowna, the short film, again.

After numerous false promises, false starts and lost hope, we are going to attempt to make my short film,  Kanowna again. This blog was hijacked for the production of my last TV project attempt, called 'In and Under', but that is now on the backburner and we are a couple weeks away from shooting Kanowna.

Unfortunately this will be another no-budget film. That said, a number of us are banding together and contributing cold, hard cash to make this film a reality. You can't do a no-budget period film, you have to have period costumes, props and other items which are necessary to make the world believable. I did write this film with the view of making it for no money, but the reality is, we do need some.

Once again my good friend and collaborator, Dustin Clare is set to play Trooper Brown, Clarke Richards will be playing Trooper Clarke and Peta Sergeant will be playing Osarno. Other crucial roles are still in the process of being cast and this is a worry, but once again, with no budget we have had to do what we can.

Michael Facey has taken the reigns as Producer and is doing a great job creating everything from nothing. A number of my film friends have jumped onboard to help because of their belief in the project, which I am most greatful for.

The film is set in the 'Outback' and Kanowna is actually a place which is about 40Km's North-east of Kalgoorlie, because of our budget restrictions we've had to find a location close to Perth for our exteriors. Michael and I drove out to Meckering on Sunday and lucked upon an area of saltlake which is perfect for the isolated feel I want to bring to the film. It is now a matter of getting permission to film there and scheduling everything so it works.

I am concerned that we still don't have many of the necessary components in place to start production, but hopefully it will all fall into place in the next few days.

Day 3?

I've lost track of the timeline, but that's OK I'll just update you on the happenings to date.  

Michael Facey has come onboard as Producer and will be working closely with Richard and I to get the Pilot completed.  Michael is a really dedicated young producer, or I wouldn't be working with him.  

Many emails went flying between the three of us last night, in an effort to nail down some definite cast and also generate ideas.  Richard has many contacts and Michael knows a lot of the WAAPA crew, so between us I was hopeful.  Today I secured David (iinet) Smyth and sounded out Igor Sas.  Richard contacted Rhoda Lopez and by chance she will be in Midland on that day of the shoot, so hopefully that will work out.  Emails have gone out to more actors, but we are still awaiting confirmations.

Michael has managed to secure Bassendean Oval and hopefully Swan District FC will come to the party as well.

We now have an Editor and a Gaffer... Dave Le May will be getting back to me with his availability to DOP, depending on an interstate trip.

Everyone is working very hard and I am confident we will make a good film!

In and Under

It has been a while since my last post and I apologise for the delay.  Camille has since got back in touch with me and it appears that we have agreed to disagree on the script and I will now be moving forward in search of a new Producer and funding possibilities.

Dustin called today, he is submitting something into the One 80 Project and he would like to put me down as the Director.  Absolutely I replied.  I have taken a look at the trailer and it looks pretty solid.  It will now be up to the supporting material he can come up with.

He has inspired me to look at what I might have in the vaults.  Richard and I have been developing a TV series that I think would be a perfect fit for the competition.  He agreed and we are going to attempt to also put something in.  The catch is, there is only 21 Days until the competition closes.

So for the next 21 Days this Blog will be focusing on our attempt.

Money!!!

I've had a couple days being very concerned about how we're going to afford to make this film. Unlike the way it was a couple years ago, it is harder to get crew to do things for free. Normally I would just go and find young, recently graduated film students to fill the void, but the people Camille has been talking too and talking about, are professionals. Admittedly some have already committed to Kanowna, but there are still some very important roles we need to fill.

It's hard not to worry about these things because you want to make it the best you possibly can. As the Director you could say; "don't worry, that's the Producer's job". I'd agree and if we had a budget I'd agree more... anyway, I should stop worrying.

Still waiting for feedback on the new draft from Camille. I don't want to send it out to everyone with the footnote, "there may be changes". Everyone knows there will be, but I want to get it as close as possible.

Things are looking hopeful that we will soon have Kingsley Reeve onboard as the Sound Designer. He is the most popular theatre sound designer in Perth and wants to move across to film. Ash speaks very highly about him and I value his opinion. We still have to meet, but I'm positive.