Eel Noir

A new film

Jonathan — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:55:58 +0000

As I’ve mentioned on Twitter – and as Chad Taylor has briefly blogged – I’ve started shooting a new film. Realiti is a script that Chad wrote in the time between me making Black Sheep and Under the Mountain. We were developing it together as a film that could contain big ideas, while being made on – even benefiting from – a modest budget. We decided to revisit it this year – not least because a modest budget can now be more modest than it ever was, but also because it was a story that had very much stayed with me over that time. As we went over the various drafts of its development it was exciting to discover that, in almost every way, the best version was the first draft that Chad had written, based on a treatment he’d written and that I’d responded to, and partly inspired by a loose ‘mood’ reel I had cut from some favourite films.Another aspect of Realiti that I was very attracted to was the idea of making a low, low budget film. Some of the films that had earliest inspired me that I could actually make films myself were things like Bad Taste, The Evil Dead and, later, Pi. I’d thought, read and studied a lot about how to make a film for next-to-no money. One of the reasons I had started off making 100-odd music videos was to learn to shoot as much film as I could, and also to have a hand in as many aspects of production as I could including producing, directing, editing and, later, cinematographing (?) them myself. Therefore, it was something of a surprise when my first film, Black Sheep, raised a budget of more than $5 million; Under the Mountain was made for more than $10 million. I’m under no illusions about how fortunate I was to be making films in those circumstances (and how much help I had getting there) but, as I learned, more money does not necessarily buy an easier road; not to mention the fact that $5-$10 million – while a vast amount of money by New Zealand standards – is still, by international standards, a relatively low budget. Certainly it’s the kind of money that buys you all the obligations and anxieties of spending a vast amount of someone else’s money, all the mechanics and structures of the big film production but, not necessarily, the resources or freedom to achieve what you hope to. After making two films with the mixed blessings of budgets in the millions I – perhaps ludicrously – began to regret that I might never get to make a no budget film. With a number of factors coming into play, including failing to get a medium-budgeted adaptation of a novel off the ground, and my reluctance to pursue any of the international opportunities that came my way during my brief period of ‘heat’ following Black Sheep (and the subsequent precipitous cooling of said heat) and, really most significantly, the substantial realignment – downwards – of the international independent film business coupled with an explosion in digital production and distribution, it seemed the perfect time to tackle Realiti.

We began shooting last week – in a way very different to my previous two features but, as it happens, not hugely differently from the way I worked in the years when I was learning my, ahem, craft.

Of course I’m still learning a vast amount about the craft – and art – of filmmaking, not least in the last few days. I look forward to talking more here about what I learn and discover in this – for me – new way of making feature films, including the equipment I’m shooting it on, the size and configuration of the crew I’m working with, and the benefits and impediments of working this way. Until then, here are a couple of images from Realiti: the film features above, Michelle Langstone and, below, Nathan Meister and Miranda Manasiadis.

PS: A chocolate fish to the first person that can identify all the films captured in the montage in the middle of the post.

The Night of the Hunter

Jonathan — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 02:32:12 +0000

Seeing this image in The Night of the Hunter was the first time (I can remember) my mouth literally dropping open at a shot in a film. The film is a must-see – directed by actor Charles Laughton, starring Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish (Lillian Gish!!). It was shot by Stanley Cortez – in astonishingly expressive and theatrical black & white.

Faction

Jonathan — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:38:52 +0000

There’s a new New Zealand comics anthology / magazine just out now, called Faction. It has a range of cool comics by the likes of Karl Wills, Matt Emery, Ned Wenlock, Christian Pierce, the comic’s curator / publisher Damon Keen, a cover by the mighty Greg Broadmore and heaps more. Oh, and me – a story called Bookish. It’s a beautifully produced, perfect bound publication – a testament to the hard work Damon put in to making it, and the crowd funding campaign he ran to support it (and thanks, of course, to the generous donors to the cord funding, who are credited in the back of the comic.)

As someone who many, many moons ago tried something like this (a once-only comic called Scratch), I know how hard it can be to keep going. I hope this issue does well, and that we see more of them in the future.

You can get Faction from comic shops around New Zealand (I expect) or from here. There will be a FREE digital version soon!

Animating

Jonathan — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:46:05 +0000

I’m doing some stop-motion animation! I built this guy a while ago – felt and foam body over wire armature. The head and hands are Milliput. All going well, this will end up in a music video for my band, The Dickens. Right now I’m just enjoying making this guy move. There’s something really nice about shooting actors who’ll do exactly what you want them do … even if it’s only one frame at a time!

Heaven

Jonathan — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:46:55 +0000

Chad Taylor and I have been doing a sporadic comic together over this past year called City Lights (he’s written a third episode, I’m yet to draw it). We’re also collaborating on a film together – an original screenplay of his called Realiti.

Chad recently asked me draw a cover for the Kindle version of his novel Heaven. Of course I jumped at the chance. We looked at a bunch of pulp book covers and comics (like Modestly Blaise – if only I could draw like Jim Holdaway!) as we headed for the above image. The legs were inspired by those on one of the pulps we found.

Heaven was made into a film by Miramax in 1998 by Scott Reynolds, starring Martin Donovan.

You can buy Heaven on Kindle here, and most of Chad’s other titles here.

Blog

Jonathan — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:30:12 +0000

Here’s a bunch of stuff – news, thoughts, process discussion on film and comics. Talk about gear and equipment; how I’m putting my new film together; progress reports and information. I’m wondering how (and why) you make films – and comics – in the current entertainment, information and digital age … I’m enjoying thinking about the questions and working toward answers. I’d love you to join in the conversation.

Home gripping

Jonathan — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:10:15 +0000

Here’s the rig I bodged together to get shots like the one below for the Close Readers video. I did these by myself, wobbling up and down my street, attracting funny looks from the neighbours. But the good thing about having the resources to just do this kind of fiddly stuff in your own time is that you don’t have a bored crew watching you and a producer looking at thier watch. It did take me a few goes (of shooting, going up to the house to look at it, going back down again), but I got everything I wanted.

Well, until my modestly-priced-from-Hong Kong flexi-arm broke — it’s been cool for a monitor or light … but not quite strong enough for my 5D being bent into different shapes …

Threat Level

Jonathan — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 01:06:13 +0000

Black Sheep

Jonathan — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 00:25:23 +0000

BLACK SHEEP was the first feature film I wrote and directed. It was filmed in February / March 2006 and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in the prestigious Midnight Madness section less than six months later.

I’d had the germ of the idea some years before: ‘heh, New Zealand film about killer sheep – that could be fun …’, but it wasn’t until New year 2003 that I sat down and wrote it – hammering out a draft in less than 10 days. I showed it to a few people, saying ‘I won’t tell you what it’s about, just read it.’ The response I got was great. That draft attached producer Philippa Campbell and the support of the New Zealand Film Commission. Richard Taylor at Weta Workshop was also a very early supporter of the film, and his faith in the project and my ability to realise it as well as his commitment to Weta making the effects work was instrumental in getting the film made.

You can see a gallery of Weta Workshop concept art here.

The creatures in the film were designed and executed by Dave Elsey, who had come to New Zealand from the UK, via some time in Australia working on Farscape and Star Wars Episode III – for which he was nominated for an Academy Award (he later won in 2011, with Rick Baker, for The Wolfman).

The film shot for five weeks around Wellington – on the coast north west of the city, in a homestead northeast in the Wairarapa district and in Peter Jackson’s Stone Street Studios. It featured Nathan Meister as ovinophobic hero Henry Oldsworth, Peter Feeney as his brother Angus, Danielle Mason and Oliver Driver as environmental activists Experience and Grant, Tammy Davis as farmhand Tucker and Glenis Levestam as housekeeper Mrs Mac.

You can go here to buy the US DVD of Black Sheep.

Close Readers – New Spirit

Jonathan — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:46:33 +0000

Here’s a new video I just made for Damien Wilkins‘ Close Readers. The song, ‘New Spirit’ is the title track of the album. You can get it here.

The video stars William Brandt – author of The Book of the Film of the Story of My Life, and previously seen in Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table.

This clip was filmed around Wellington over a day and half (plus a little noodling around, er, shooting my own foot … as it were). Portions of this were shot near where I shot my short film Chogar. I believe others, too, have shot here in the past.

This is the first thing of any (minor) substance I’ve shot since I put together my 5DII rig and I’m really pleased with how the workflow has gone. I graded it in Adobe SpeedGrade, which I’m also really pleased with.