I'm Back...

...and quite ill.

3 things happened on my trip to Mt Hutt, NZ


1 - I'll never return to that mountain - weather/road access/dis-interested staff

2 - I really want to return to a ski-life, nothing can deter my love of the sport (even 90+km/hr winds)

3 - most of my party were struck with an amazingly bad form of the flu...

am now nursing myself back to semi-health, and deciding what I want to do with the remainder of my life...

Ski'n Ian

P.S. the above photo is one of only 5 that I managed to take at Mt Hutt. During the GOOD weather I was focussed on skiing, and when the weather went BAD... well I was nearly frostbitten taking the above shot.

I also submit the following video for your perusal - it's BIG (no idea how to reduce it's size, I may look into it and modify later), and advance appologies for the shocking audio quality (it's pretty much the worst wind recording I've ever made :)

gone skiin'...

...and it's going to ROCK

best snowfall at Mt Hutt in YEARS.

I'll be gone from 9th - 17th Aug, and unavailable until the 20th.

more information when I can.

Ian

This is the end...

…my friends, the end…

I’m officially un-employed again.

What a wild ride it’s been. Almost 14 months to the day that I left Brisbane; I’ll be returning.

The mighty flu hit me at full force and reduced my fitness efforts to an abysmal lack of movement and over-eating. Combined with my love of good coffee – it has resulted in my current pudgy-ness.

I am however on the path to redemption – 6 ½ weeks and counting… I have a goal, and it’s to NOT hurt myself on the ski-trip.




The final few weeks of shooting were entirely dedicated to Stunts and special fx/title sequences: which should go some-way to showing the film-makers commitment to making a “massive mega-budget-action-film TM”

There were some days when we had over 420 people on-set to help recreate various wars (main unit was much smaller), and it was one of those few times when the sound department could relax and watch all the big ‘splosions; as none of our work will make it through the various stages of post-production and onto a movie screen (it’s nice and noisy; however it lacks the "punch" required, and will be re-created later…); still ‘twas damn fun to watch.

As stated above – I’m heading home. It’s been too long, and I need to spend some time up in Brisbane sorting out some stuff before jetting off to NZ for the ski holiday (Mt Hutt has snow! – one of the few places in the southern hemisphere that does at the moment).


See you all soon.

Skiin’ian


P.S. as per usual, I'm lazy, so the above post is from early last week - I'm actually in Brisbane right now - it's nice and sunny up here, and my commitments are pretty low right now, so feel free to contact me with times to catch-up.

best contact is the mobile phone.

happiness is...

- Sunrise Photos of the opera house

- Ordering new skates (technically happiness would be USING the new skates, but...)

- Movies

- Replacing some U2 albums that were stolen many years ago


All in all it's been a good day

On the work front - I'm recording 2nd Unit for the next two weeks.
Still unsure of my finish-date, as it all depends on whether I’ll be re-joining the main-unit (when it down-sizes into 2nd Unit… it’s all a little confusing to explain); or moving onto another project.
Either way it’s unlikely that I’ll be back in Brisbane before June.

more photos

the actual sunrise...




I'm pretty sure this is one of the water taxis that the production use to ferry crew across the harbour; poor buggers must've been returning from last night's work...




reflections are cool




phone-booth...




Circular Quay...




and the harbour bridge...



See ya

Ian

another month...

...another 4 paycheques? ...another lunar cycle? ...another...ummm, nevermind

so what's happened in the last month or two?

I suppose the biggest news is that I'm going skiing again. the flights are booked, accommodation and hiring of cars is sorted, and lift-tickets reserved.

look out mt hutt (I know; i should really look into a bit of variety). for 5 days during the 9th - 16th August 2008 - you're mine... again.

(it seems a little strange that I started this blog in late 2006 with mention of my upcoming ski-trip, and now I'm embarking on another - to the same location no less)

what else has happened

apple.com (via i-tunes) has launched the set-to-screen series. for the feature film AUSTRALIA

for proof that I actually worked on the darn thing, and wasn't on a nine-month sabbatical - check out the pod-cast on stills photography at the 1:20 mark - I'm the boomie in the camo-shorts on the left of frame. that was the last day (almost sunset too) out at diggers rest near kununurra WA, with main unit... fun times

not exactly the most auspicious beginnings on the internet, I know; but still, 'tis interesting to finally see something about the film; it's going to be special...

things are still going well on the current project; we've moved into night shoots on an island in sydney harbour, and it's no where near as bad as first thought.

there's sound to be recorded as the original issues (reverb/planes/traffic/boat noise/birds/rain) have reduced themselves to be at least workable.

It has of course been raining non-stop (well partially non-stop :)) for almost 2 weeks now, and it's getting a LITTLE tedious having to drag ourselves up to work yet another rainy evening... at least we've been indoors

Unfortunately the boom op injured himself and has been replaced temporarily; also the original sound recordist (whom, I worked with on the last film) has returned home for some long-overdue family time, and also been replaced (with our 2nd unit recordist).

I'm waiting for fate to step in and render me either lame or stricken with something that will remove me from filming (everything happens in threes...); but so far I've been lucky enough to only get a bout of pre-winter cold and flu, nothing too serious.

nothing else to report really; I've been working. I've also been working at night - and therefore improving my coffee-making-skills exponentially.

until next time

see ya

skiin'ian (woo hoo, i can finally use the nick-name again)

Sweet as...

…nothing… It’s not a full sentence; and yet it can sum up so much. equivalent to; cool, no worries, and OK; “Sweet as” has a multitude of uses.

In NZ it covers everything.

The main unit is now in the process of shipping its-self back to Sydney for a few months. 2nd Unit remains on the south island shooting the jaw-dropping effects sequences that will surely astound audiences in May 2009.

I would have posted more often; if I were actually taking photos… It’s weird; but I feel more inclined to post on the blog, if I’ve taken a bunch of photos.
The job was not conducive to taking photos; hence the lack of posts…

Also, I stop taking photos once I’ve hit what I feel is my artistic limit (this is something that I can’t explain; and even more of a concern than the no-photo = no-post)

I hit it VERY early in the trip, and the following photo is my own personal pinnacle…



It’s a view from the hike I took up Queenstown gondola. And if I may say so – one of the best I’ve ever taken…

Ok, time to sign off.

Ian

P.S. I’ve had a few very nice emails requesting information and photos, and thought I should point out that I’m not able to take any photos of the set. I’d be fired for sharing ANY information about the film (including photos); it’s just not worth the repercussions.


P.P.S The t-shirt was one of my few indulgences during the brief trip to NZ. I'd seen it in a Queenstown store, promised myself to purchase on a day off; and never got around to it. By the time I'd searched and failed to find it in Dunedin, my heart sank. it was an absolute fluke that Christchurch international airport has a global cultures store... and that they had one of the shirts in stock.

art is cool...

...and so is Dunedin.

their public art gallery has a nice exhibit at the moment. Elizabeth Thomson's (no relation) "my hi-fi, my sci-fi".

Also on display is Monet's "le debacle" which is pretty impressive.

check it out, if you're in town.

If you do happen to be in town; there's a good chance that you're either:
1 - a student who's about to start classes (Dunedin is a MAJOR university town with over 20,000 students expected in a weeks time);
2 - Here for the MASTERS games (there's almost 8000 people expected)
3 - Possibly off a cruise ship, on your way to Antarctica?

Dunedin is a surprising little town, good food, a nice vibe, and a familiar climate for those who enjoy the cold.


we're back in town for a little while, shooting in the forests about an hour out of town (the pine trees feel surprisingly canadian, which always makes me happy), and closer to the city in an old cement works.

speaking of work, it's all going quite well.

don't know why I seem surprised; as we've got a fantastic crew, and amazing scenery - what more could you ask for.

the differences between this film and the last are as numerous as they are massive.

Not that either one was the correct way to do things, but it's almost a holiday to return to the regularly structured form of shooting feature films; and our pace has been a nice contrast as well.

One thing that has made me really happy is how good the local crew are; I was always expecting good things (i mean, c'mon; lord of the rings...), but damn... they've got the logistics of shooting in remote areas well and truly sorted. Everyone is really friendly, and it's got a chilled vibe that doesn't usually happen on bigger productions. it's almost enough to make me want to move here...

I'm having a small issue getting used to our lead actor's accent though... after 9 months of hearing him speak with a hearty Aussie tone, it's a little disconcerting to hear some northern american coming out. Then again, his previous character didn't have claws either...

Photo time...


from the top of the queenstown gondola (which I hiked up, then caught down...)

The photo at the headd of this post is from a small side-trip to the otago-coast

catch you soon

Ian

been busy bro...

NZ is good, more photos of the landscape are coming; when I get a chance to sift through and pick the good ones...

see ya;

Ian

crossing the ditch...

this time tomorrow I'll be sitting in Queenstown, hopefully with some kind of beverage in my hand; contemplating the next month of location shooting...

photos may be posted; we'll see.

Ian

I'm going home...

I guess it had to happen sometime, even if it seemed like it would never end.

We’ve wrapped. (Technically we wrap after today... I’m currently sitting in stage 7, as we set-up on one of our last few shots)

I’m now charged with cleaning and packing all the sound gear into a shipping container so it can travel during the holiday period, and arrive in NZ in time for the next film...

...Of which I can’t disclose any information – mostly because I haven’t officially been contracted yet.

Other things that have happened in the past month, or so;

• I flew home to attend a birthday party – and bought a cheap suit

• Drank lots of coffee as I discovered the virtues of the UNIT truck’s espresso machine

• Saw a few more movies (INTO THE WILD = Good, BEOWULF 3D IMAX = no so much, SICKO = made me glad to be an Australian, SHOOT EM UP = fun, but nowhere near as good as HOT FUZZ {which I picked up on DVD})

• My car was broken into – stealthily, as they didn’t break any windows or destroy the door-lock. They did manage to completely TRASH the ignition in a failed attempt at stealing the car; and took my new-ish GPS system (which was well hidden, but uninsured)

• Subsequently I can’t drive home – instead I’m flying; then renting a car for a small break up the sunshine coast with my mum/sis/brother.

• I didn’t end up re-joining the gym, and due to the extra eating I was doing (and the added stress of recording on splinter unit), I un-did all the good work of the past few months, and feel a little out of shape.

• Attended a cool wrap-party. Not much more to say – ‘twas a fun night.

• I bit the bullet and FINALLY purchased a GOOD set of in-ear reference headphones (even with the online discount it was still about 10 times as much as most people would spend) and the sound is INCREDIBLE...

Okey dokey. That’s it from this neck of the woods.

If all goes according to plan; I’ll be taking a bunch of photos in NZ during late Jan 08 (hopefully they'll match the beauty of the one at the head of this post - which I took in 2004), so expect more from me then.

Until next time

Happy over-commercialised-christian-gift-giving-day,

And a merry new year

Ian

Sydney...

...with a camera

It’s been quite a while, I know.

Things have well and truly settled into a relentless; un-wavering rhythm. I know I say that a lot, but how many ways can you say things haven’t changed much?

Various tid-bits of my mundane (yet strangely fulfilling) life over the past month-and-a-bit
• Still recording sound on the “splinter unit”
• Still going to the gym (until my membership expired this week – now I have to ponder whether I should re-apply for another month?)
• Still sleeping WAY too much on the weekend
• Occasionally seeing a movie (blade-runner final-cut is boring...)
• Climbed the big-ass bridge with the mates I normally climb the hills with up in brisbane
• Drank lots-o-beer at the Lowenbrau (well I was designated driver, so I drank considerably LESS than the others...)
• Got a flat tire on the bicycle, which I repaired; got a 2nd flat whilst taking the photos in this post; fixed THAT tear, re-inflated, and the tire is flat AGAIN (4th time lucky?)
• I’m coming home for Christmas (yay!)
• I may not be able to go skiing (boo!) depending on the start-date of the next-job.

Ok, photo-time.
Till next-time;
Enjoy.

Ian



Opera-house steps...



...Where people get married...



...then run away.



The opera-bar, at the opera-house (tasty-tapas)



Big-arches



Big-arty-arches



Even MORE-arty-arches



Ummm... stuff.



Curvey-stuff in the city



Statue-y stuff



And a final hero-shot of the centre-point tower.


See ya

This time I really have no idea for a title...

Yup; I’m truly stuck for something to write about. I guess that’s the reason for the lack of recent posting.

Work; is work. We’re back in the studios (obviously), and things are progressing quite nicely.

As much as we all enjoy the locations aspect of BIG film making (it’s seriously cool – with the sightseeing and travel and per-diems, and what-not) it still feels better in a studio.

When working in the comfort of a (mostly) air conditioned studio, there’s time to relax and focus on the storytelling without the usual demands of MOVING all the equipment and people all over the place.

Case in point – the Public Address Speaker system (Big speaker allowing the director to talk to people over vast distances) that is the usual bane of my sound assisting duties; didn’t move more than 3 times the whole last week; and my right shoulder would like to thank whichever deity allowed this to happen.

Of course when the equipment doesn’t move all the time, you can get stuck for things to do (if you’re not directly involved with the takes – like focus pulling/boom operating/acting/etc).

Consequently allot of the crew are shuffling around, trying NOT to make noise (failing miserably by the way). It becomes MY job to somehow quieten them, and try to lock-down any other noise that might render the performance of our lovely actors acoustically useless.

Actors’ shoes can make quite a bit of noise on hard surfaces, especially when there’s dirt to crunch. These “footsteps” are abnormally loud in relation to someone’s voice – so when you’re recording an actor’s dialog, all you can hear is a MASSIVE CRUNCH, where there should be the dulcet tones of their lustrous voice. The disconnect is even worse when you can’t see the feet of the actor with the offensive footsteps because they’re “off-screen”. (It’s truly weird to be hearing crunching during a close-up on the other actors face)

We have various ways of overcoming the problem (ranging from simply taking the shoes OFF, to applying a layer of foam). The best way however is carpet.

I’m now quite adept at laying down carpet quickly and securing it with gaffer tape so the actors don’t slip over. (NB – gaffer tape doesn’t stick to dirt)

If you don’t lay the carpet at the correct time (after they’ve laid dolly-tracks for the camera, but BEFORE they put down any focus-marks) people get miffed. There’s no way that they’ll give you a 5 min window to JUST lay the carpet, so a good percentage of my day is spent standing around, then trying to roll-out carpet whilst still getting out of the way as lot's of HEAVY equipment is wheeled around me

Once you get the carpet down. It’s time to prowl around the studio and shut things down.

• Why is that door open?

• How do you make the fire-detection-system shut-up?

• What can I use to plug-up the hole in the wall where the additional power cables are coming-in?

• How do I politely tell someone who may or may-not be extremely important (and way above my pay-scale) to be quiet during the highly emotional exchanges of our actors...?

Once you’ve bored yourself stupid trying to be a sound-nazi; it’s time to clean equipment, go for coffee runs, think about what you’re going to have for lunch, check your phone (for the time, missed calls etc) and eventually change a battery or two.

Such is the life of a sound assistant. Although I prefer the term Utility Sound; it implies that I’m more of a rounded person; plus I CAN mix if needed to, or even Boom.

Speaking of; I’m going to be booming for the next two weeks, as our regular boom op has some family stuff to attend to.

So we’ve shipped out our attachment from W.A. and he’ll be assisting (sorry... utility-izing?) until such time as either our regular-boomie returns, or I burn enough bridges by causing boom shadows and smacking people in the head that I go mysteriously missing and never come back.

Other things that have happened since I last posted.

• I joined a gym – as much as I HATE gyms (especially the pretty-poser-society that’s attached to them) I decided to do something semi-constructive with the 10 hrs I have to myself each and every-day. The local-ish gym is open ‘till 2200 four nights a week, so that means I get a good 1 ¼ hour after we wrap, to bash myself silly and return home completely exhausted, thus expediting the sleep-process...

• I saw a movie... no seriously, this is a highlight (as I hadn’t watched one in quite some time) it was the talking rat/chef one; and surprisingly less kiddie orientated than I’d ever thought possible.

• I bought a backpack. And when I buy a back-pack, you’d better believe I buy the heck out of it... as always, I went for a good one. (water-bladder/metal frame-chasis-thing/etc/etc) mostly so I can carry a set of clothes and towel whilst cycling to the gym after work; but also for when I next go skiing...

• ...I’ve made plans to go skiing... This was my first choice for a title to the post – but I decided against it because the dates are still not locked in, and it’s so far into the future (late Jan 08). Still; plans are afoot for a week-long tour of Hokkaido, JAPAN (powder capital of the world – where they measure snow-depths in METERES, not inches)

• I did some washing. Ok moving along...

• Purchased an e-tag for the car (now I can use ALL the toll-roads in Sydney without fear of needing coins – yippee?)

• Had some fish and chips at Bronte beach, before swimming in the natural baths (man is it still cold.)

• Found some Burt’s Bees lip-balm online (well ebay actually) and am eagerly awaiting it’s arrival. For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of the peppermint lip-balm from Burt’s bees you’ve never really lived. (yes I’m aware just how ridiculous I sound here, but my girlfriend at the time got me hooked on the stuff back in 2003, and I’ve never been able to find it in Australia).

Well that’s about it since I last posted. I don’t think these will be regular anymore as I’m struggling to find anything useful to blog about.

Plus – I’m running out of

PHOTOS from the Archive...



That’s me, the only time I’ve ever fired a gun (it had a blank round in it)
Post-wrap on “convictions” 2004 - which has just been accepted into the “BIG BANG” film festival in Philadelphia, USA.

Ok, see ya

Ian

I love my job...

...more specifically, I love the things that I get to do in my job.

How many people can say that they’ve recorded the rushing waters of a fast-flowing, croc-infested river-crossing whilst driving single handed, sticking a microphone out the drivers window... At night...

Or sat by yourself in the centre of over 500 head of cattle; 100s of kms from the nearest “city” with only the milky-way lighting your way... (I’m guessing a few more than the river –crossing thing)

In what other profession do they pay for your accommodation, transport, and food; then give you access to a massive dried mud-flat to play cricket on as the sun sets...

Where else can you watch over 1100 cows being mustered by helicopter; whilst a 6-wheel ATV races alongside and a massive wire rig floats a camera mere feet above their heads...

There are of course; downsides.



Many full-time film technicians are lonely souls; so devoted to the pursuit of these amazing sights and experiences, that it’s difficult (if not impossible) to maintain a normal life.



I don’t have any hard statistics, but I’m sure the failure-rate of relationships in the film industry is higher than most others.

It takes a certain type of personality to subject themselves to the “instability” of feature film production. They often work VERY HARD in a short period of time, then not at all; until they get the chance to try again.

That chance may be mere hours after their last job had finished, or months – there’s no telling what will make a crew person (or talent for that matter) hireable.

How do you buy a house; start a family; if you’ve no idea when the next paycheque is coming.

Sorry for the rambling post – but I’m in a reflective mood right now.



This time tomorrow I’ll be back on Main Unit in my usual sound assisting position.

It’s been an amazing run, and I always knew it would come to an end. Just didn’t want it to.

You can expect my posts to become more sporadic as we finish-up in Kununurra throughout the next week, and return to the stages of Sydney.

Once there, I’ll have less to post about (if anything); and it’ll all return to normal as we plow through the interior scenes of this epic film.

It’s been a wild and crazy location shoot, but one that I’ll remember fondly.

PHOTO FROM THE ARCHIVES



Mt Coot-tha Lookout Sunrise 3rd May 2005

Friday 7th September 2007
UPDATE – it’s been almost a week since I composed the entry above.

We returned to Diggers Rest – this time with the full cast and crew for a few days of mad scrambling in the DUST and WIND.

I was bumped up to Boom Op for those days, as our regular boomie had to return early to Sydney; and I have a newfound respect for the sheer amount of work that he does during our shooting day.

I fly our of Kununurra tomorrow. It’s done. There’s a small unit cleaning up various shots here and there, but the majority of us are moving onto the next component of the filming – Studio work in Sydney.

The landscape is still breathtaking; even after 5 weeks of it. If you ever get a chance to make your way up to the far north west – do it.

Ok, time for me to sign off

See ya

Ian

What do you do....

...On your day off?

Well if you’re a part of 2nd Unit, you head out to the salt-flats location, and play cricket as the sun sets.



During the day – a mild-mannered carpark...



...On Sundays: playground for the gladiatorial heroes...
as the sun sets, it gets progressively harder to see the ball, yet they soldier on



Ready... aim...



RUNNNNNNN....



Bouncer...



You could also grip it and rip it (good luck finding the ball)

Well, 2nd unit has almost finished; and soon I shall re-join the main shooting unit in Kununurra, which ironically enough, may be then moving out here to Diggers Rest...



Cool Dam, where I managed to record some eagles, and crows....

The Equine Influenza scare, has halted any movement of horses... so we can’t even transport our thoroughbreds from their holding area, to the shooting locations. (keep in mind I’m not that well informed on the ACTUAL restrictions, all I know is that it’s not good for us)

Bowen had rain, Kununurra was delayed, and now the horses are inadvertently changing our schedule... at least none of them are sick.



Sunset Tree.

I'm too tired to write anything else, so I’ll leave you all with a PHOTO FROM THE ARCHIVES



...which is from an Ice hockey game in Vancouver 2001, I think the Canucks won...


Ok, possibly going internet-dark when I move back into town, and my 3-phone still doesn’t work – but I can actually check messages from a land-line now.


Cheers

Ian

Cattle...

...are normally pretty relaxed.

So sometimes cattle properties have to use use Helicopters to Muster (round-up) the cattle.

We’re doing the same thing...



The pilots are usually VERY nimble in their little craft, and pull some serious turns

2nd Unit is going well – the camping is turning out to be great, catering is still Fantastic; and I’ve been able to drive around and collect Atmospheres and sound FX using the uber-cool Surround-sound microphone.

As a part of my FX collection, I’ve been hanging out near the cattle guys when they collect the cows at the end of the day.

Here are a few shots.



The stockman’s 2nd best friend (behind his horse... of course) is the trail-bike



Aforementioned Stockman – closing the electric fence at the end of the day.


I finally went through the rest of my Emma gorge photos, and picked a few of the actual gorge...








Bonus shots



Arty-shot of the Cockburn (pronounced CO-burn) ranges; a fitting backdrop to our cattle action...



...and a shot of the local emu that stalks guests at diggers rest.

Ok that’s it for the moment.

I’m back on main-unit at the end of this week (2nd unit continues, but without any sound recording)

my 3-phone still doesn’t work in Kununurra, so email is best.

Ian

P.S.

Photo from the archives...



...Is a shot of customs house in Brisbane