Tasmanian ACS E-News, 10th December 2014

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From the Tasmanian President, Peter Curtis ACS

Welcome to the end of year issue of Clips, the ACS Tasmania Branch Newsletter. It’s another interesting edition, so thanks very much to all members who made time to write and submit a contribution.

Your Tasmanian committee has been busy in recent months as we gear up towards hosting the National ACS Awards on May 2nd next year. There are all sorts of plans in place and challenges we are yet to face, but it’s definitely going to be an exciting event to host. Now that the the various state awards ceremonies are over, this is the next big thing on the ACS calendar. We are also organising a number of support events around the awards which will be announced as they’re confirmed. These will be of particular benefit to ACS Tas members who will be able to enjoy having interesting ACS workshops, screenings and equipment displays right at their doorstop.

In case you’re yet to see it, we’ve created an National Awards web page on the ACS site. This will be updated regularly and is definitely the place to go to find out what’s going to happen in Hobart between Friday May 1st and Sunday the 3rd.

www.cinematographer.org.au/2015awards »

In recent months we’ve held a couple of fun little ACS Tas events. The first with Mark Dobbin ACS, who was briefly home in Tasmania. Mark screened some of his more memorable assignments for Al Jazeera and talked us through his work, his kit and his life, living in Bangkok and travelling throughout Asia. It was a great night and lovely to see Mark back home. We look forward to seeing him receive his ACS Accreditation certificate at the National Awards ceremony.

A few weeks after Mark passed through we held another local event with Rob Myers from Panasonic, hosed by Southern Cross Television in Hobart. We got to tour the impressive new Southern Cross/Aus Stereo studios in Melville street, as well as enjoy Rob’s presentation. Southern Cross also put on a great gourmet spread for us, in fact it was the best catering at an ACS event ever, complete with top Tasmanian Pinot and Champagne. Thanks Damon Wise! The theme of the night was 4K video and we got our hands on the latest GH4 and X1000 cameras while Rob gave us a thorough run through on the technical aspects of 4K cameras, and the new 4K Varicams in particular. We viewed some truly stunning 4K video captured on the Varicam in a wide variety of locations and lighting conditions. The results were staggering.

Members of the Tasmanian ACS enjoying the hospitality of Southern Cross Television

It was a true pleasure to join eight ACS Tas members at the Vic/Tas Awards in Melbourne a few weeks back. Once again our branch shone as seven members picked up a haul of awards - Eleven in all (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze). Those who received awards should be justifiably proud of what they’ve achieved. There is great satisfaction in knowing your work has been judged by your peers and considered worthy of recognition. Fingers crossed some of our gold award winners go on to win a Golden Tripod at MONA in May.

Joe Shemesh

I sent out an awards results email to all Tas members the day after the ceremony but in case you missed it here are the highlights….

Joe Shemesh, dominated the highly regarded Wildlife and Nature Award Category by achieving a rare double - two Gold awards. The first was for Mountain Air – Valley Mist and the second for the highly acclaimed Bookend Trust documentary on Tasmanian cave spiders, Sixteen Legs.

Watch the promo for Mountain Air-Valley Mist »
Watch the promo for Sixteen Legs »

Pawel Achtel, won a Gold Award, in the Experimental and Specialised cinematography category. This award was for a 3D documentary he filmed in the Coral Sea. using his 3-Deep underwater Housing.

Check out Pawel's work »

Mark Dobbin ACS, won the Gold Award in the International News category for Aid Relief – a story shot in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan.

Have a look at the work of Mark Dobbin ACS »

Mark also won a Silver Award in the Current Affairs category for a moving story on the Fred Hollows Foundation’s amazing work in Nepal, titled The Gift of Sight.

The gift of sight »

Trent Butler won a Silver Award in the Current Affairs category for another Al Jazeera feature, Locked Up Warriors, which dealt with high indigenous incarceration rates in New Zealand.

Locked up warriors »

Yours truly picked up the Gold Awards in the TV Magazine and Lifestyle category for a Landline segment on the recent expansion of Tasmania’s irrigation schemes.

Landline Tasmania's irrigation scheme »

Beau Molloy took the Silver Award in the same TV Magazine and Lifestyle category for a CNN feature on racehorse breeding in Japan.

Have a look at Beau's work »

Beau also won Silver in the prestigious Documentary Cinema/TV category for Cocoa-nomics, an investigative piece on child slavery in the cocoa plantations of Ivory Coast.

Cocoa-nomics »

And finally, in the highly contested Web and New Media category, Andrew Quail, from Southern Cross TV in Launceston picked up a bronze award for a Burnie City Council initiative called City By the Sea. Andrew has only joined the ACS in recent years and it was lovely to meet him and his wife Sarah at the awards.

City By the Sea »

It was a bonus to have the I Like to Move It Expo on over the weekend of the awards. Our own Tom and Chris from Aerial Inspections were among the many exhibitors at Dockland Studio, Sound Stage #4. The boys managed to draw quite a crowd when they flew their drones outside the massive shed.

I Like to Move It Expo, Docklands Studio

I am hoping we can do something smaller, but broader, at the National Awards in Hobart. This can only be achieved with some support from various national sponsors. The ever helpful Rob Myers at Panasonic has a real soft spot for Tassie, so he’s keen to make this happen. Rob’s got the ball rolling and Ron Johanson is right behing it so I think we will see a number of sponsors and suppliers exhibit come next May.

Two things before I go - First up, ‘do yourself a favour’ and take a look at the latest series of Noirhouse on ABC Iview.

Noirhouse »

This is a classy little comedy series made on the smell of an oily rag by ACS Tasmania member Shaun Wilson. David Hudspeth was also involved, working as Simon Gray’s tireless gaffer during a hectic shooting schedule of about a week.

Finally I would just like to express my gratitiude to the Tasmanian based ACS sponsors - Screen Tasmania and Southern Cross Television. Both are long time supporters of the branch and contribute much beyond sponsorship at the awards.

Merry Christmas to you all and a happy New Year – Peter Curtis ACS

Aerial Inspections-Tom Waugh

ACS Tas members Tom Waugh and Chris Fox have had an extremely busy few months since our last edition of Clips. Back then they had just gone ‘full time’ working for their business Aerial Inspections. Tom and Chris fill us in on what they’ve been up to.

On location at Fishermans Bay looking out to Snowtown Wind Farm, SA (Photo: Gerard Wood, New Era Media)

Cadel Evans and Jeff Connolly atop the wind turbine, Snowtown (Red Epic MX)

It’s been a fantastic few months for Aerial Inspections. We have been filming with our UAV from land, from boats and from cars, in a variety of locations ranging from Wineglass Bay to Snowtown!

The Kettering Incident has been keeping us busy, filming in and around Hobart. With our recent purchase of two Red Epic MX 5K cameras, we’ve transitioned from the Blackmagic 4K Production cameras, which have served us well.

Flying from a boat on the Derwent River, Hobart

We’ve also recently bought a CNC milling machine, which is now in service. This means we’re able to cut out our own UAV designs and parts, from carbon fibre or aluminium. We can also cut high-density foam for pelican cases, allowing custom designs to house specific bits of kit.

The UAV flies through pine forest, following alongside Ella Watkins on Theodore’s Gift (Photo: Fraser Deeth)

We recently headed over to Melbourne to exhibit at the ACS I Like to Move It expo. We had a great time at Docklands Studios, meeting fellow drone operators, cinematographers, grips and equipment suppliers. It was interesting seeing all the other amazing gear, like the Technocrane and our favourite, the Shotover K1 helicopter mount. As part of the expo, we flew our UAV just outside the studios, to show how our systems work and the variety of shots we can achieve with the UAV / MoVI combination.

Tom talks through details of the demo at Docklands Studios (Photo: Warwick Field)

It was also great to see so many Tassie ACS winners at this years Vic/Tas awards. We are definitely looking forward to the National Awards in May next year!

Other projects we’ve filmed in 2014:
• Hydro Tasmania/Madfinch 100 years of Hydro Tasmania documentary.
• ABC TV Life in Ruins in Hobart, Victoria and South Australia, airing in 2015.
• Roar Film/Wild Fury Thylacine Research Unit (TV series pilot).
• Russell Morris music video Van Diemans Land (http://goo.gl/98K7ER)
• Commercial for Siemens Australia at Snowtown Windfarm with Cadel Evans.
• Roar Film/Tile Films Death or Liberty Irish/Australian TV doco drama.
• Red Jelly agency Wineglass Bay Cruises Commercial and brochure shoot.
• Elli Illiades Theodore’s Gift short film.

Roaring Beach, Dover (Red Epic MX)

Wineglass Bay panorama (Nikon D800)

At speed with the jetski (Blackmagic 4K)

Robert Heazlewood

A Rainy Night in Georgia, by Randy Crawford, is one of my all time favorite songs. The emotive and visually evocative cover has always set up a lingering connection to that historical southern state in the land of the free.

And wonder of wonders there I was on my first night in Georgia, rolling out of Atlanta airport on what could be a Greyhound bus, to keep it all with modern American folklore…. OK, it’s not a Greyhound, but it is a bus, and it is raining.

The songs on my IPhone really are a sound track of my life.

I am privileged to be on tour with Tasmania’s Southern Gospel Choir and hoping to shoot a documentary on this amazingly courageous adventure to expose the choir to the heartland of gospel music in Dallas Texas, Tuskegee Alabama and Los Angeles California.

I have elected to record the magic moments on my trusty Panasonic AF102. Over recent years I have been captivated by the terrific pictures this little camera shoots. I just love the shallow depth of field. I know this project will be a stretch at times for a camera that was not really intentioned to be a ‘run and gun’ camera. However it always delivers emotive pictures in the appropriate circumstances. With some serious help and advice from the always affable and helpful Rob Myers at Panasonic I’d made my preparations.

I also added the ATOMOS Ninja Blade, to be able to deliver Apple ProRes files and I then duplicated the whole kit, so I would at least have a chance getting some half way reasonable edited sequences of the performances, which might just save the sanity of the editor who always adds such great value.

Laying ambush in a project like this, with such a hectic travel component, is the mass of ten equipment bags. Five pelican cases of gear, two trusty Miller Solo tripods and my light stand.

Years ago I had made a square metal case for the light stand so that if I had an accident in airports with the airport trolleys the case would not roll a hundred metres and create mayhem among other travellers.

On the morning I was picked up from home by the maxi-taxi I looked at the stack of cases and thought, is this massive over-engineering?
Can I leave a couple of these cases behind?

Well after two days on the road I had dipped into every case.

Some of the venues were expecting the cameras to see in the dark. I was saved a couple of times by the brilliant Lumix 25mm, which could almost see in the dark with an f1.4 on option. I found myself making a mental note to apologise to my wonderful, patient and always forgiving editor.

This was going to be an exercise in high risk, with occasional high reward in the very tight depth of field shots I was expecting to shoot.

Back home and still to unpack my clothes case, I have yet to do the shot-list, so I am still very apprehensive about the final outcome. Regardless, there are some memorable highlights that will stay with me forever. And thanks to Rob Myers I reckon in a couple of the very low light locations I might just get a sequence or two that matters in the final cut.

A proud participant in the Dallas Veterans Day Parade

In Dallas, the Veterans Day parade gave me a new understanding of some of the glue that sticks US foreign policy together. A day later the visit to Potter’s Church revealed the strength of faith, by the thousands who attended the services there.

No time to even iron my shirt. Potters House Dallas.

There was the absolute purity of the Golden Voices choir at Tuskegee University; the university that grew from the legendary and inspirational efforts of the brilliant and visionary Booker T Washington over a century ago. Just to be on the campus was a privilege.

St Lukes Church Dallas - Lets get this church rocking.

In Los Angeles the energy at the Breath of Life church where once again the simplicity, honesty and warm hospitality of the African American congregation left all on the eighty-five member touring party, regardless of religious affiliation, truly amazed at the faith and warmth in the welcome.

The Southern Gospel Choir was magnificent, the members certainly delivered on their responsibility. My shooting script was written long before I left for the US, and updated after each day’s shooting. Now as I commence the task of shot listing and allocating sequences I know I must keep in mind the integrity and energy of the visit. But isn’t that the task we all face as visual storytellers; keep the integrity of the story telling front of mind and enhance with entertainment where ever it is credible to do so?

Doug Thost

Aurora Australis sitting in ice near Davis Station.

ACS Tas Member, Doug Thost, has just returned from Antarctica. He was Voyage Leader on V1, the Davis Station resupply trip for the Antarctic Division. Nice to see Doug got the chance to pursue his passion despite holding the onerous responsibility of managing the resupply of the station after a long cold winter. Great Stuff Doug. The shot of the Aurora Australis, from the deck of the ship named after it is truly inspiring. Best selfie EVER!

The best selfie ever. Only a two second exposure.

Dick Marks OAM

The December issue of AC Magazine features another terrific Tassie story, this time on Aerial Inspections. It is also my last as editor. I have retired, to build my new garden at Woodbridge. Over the past two years I’ve been determined to highlight the achievements of some our finest local cinematographers who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best that Australia has to offer. I will try to convince the new editor, as yet unannounced, that we should not be ignored, but it would be to our/your advantage if you did a bit of self-promotion as well. AC Magazine is always looking for fresh, quality stories with great images and all it takes is a quick e-mail to the editor and there is a fair chance that your story, and images, will run. Or if you wish to discuss a story with me first, I will be happy to pass it on.

I don’t know of a better way to self promote.

See you all at the Nationals. Cheers, Dick.

Some of the AC articles featuring Tasmanian cinematographers published during Dick’s tenure as editor. Look out for Tom and Chris in the latest issue coming out any day now.

Joe Shemesh

At the recent ACS Vic/Tas Awards Joe Shemesh picked up two Gold Awards in the Wildlife and Nature category. Here Joe shares with us some the background on each of these stunning pieces.

I’ve been capturing natural history imagery for fifteen years now, but am still astonished at the endless intricacies and variety to be found within Tasmania’s remarkable landscapes.

‘Mountain Air - Valley Mist’ is a six-minute visual journey showcasing some of Tasmania’s most iconic landscapes. The imagery has been captured over 18 months and in some cases, month-long stints were required in order to wait out the vagaries in weather that make Tasmania what it is - a cinematographers dream. Some of the locations visited - Cradle Mt/Lake St Clair, Port Davey, Tasman Island and the Gordon River to name a few.

The film was produced for the Cradle Mountain Parks and Wildlife Service. It’s a bonus chapter included in the ‘Cradle Mountain - Land of Fire and Ice’ interpretive DVD, which features at the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre.

A range of filming platforms were used during the production phase of this commission. Helicopter work was carried out with 2 of Tasmania’s leading companies - Helicopter Resources and Tasmanian Helicopters. Bruce Colewell is my pilot of choice, as he possesses that all-important ability to understanding the shot required, and how to achieve it with as little fuss as possible. Par Avion provided all the fixed-wing aircraft and boats. This allowed AC Doug Thost and myself to fully explore Port Davey.

‘Sixteen Legs: spider love’ reveals the unique mating rituals of giant cave-dwelling spiders, endemic to Tasmania, who have been seeking partners in the dark since around the first age of the dinosaurs and the continental breakup. This result of over two years of subterranean filming, 23 years of scientific research, and 200 million years of evolution will be presented by master storyteller Neil Gaiman.

David Brill ACS

Congratulations to David Brill ACS for picking up an award at the recent UN Media Awards in Melbourne. Along with entries from ABC-TV’s Foreign Correspondent and 4 Corners programs, David and Geoff Parish were finalists in the Promotion of Positive Images of the Older Person award. Their entry was for an SBS Dateline piece call Free the Bears which documented the work of Australian grandmother, Mary Hutton, in her tireless effort to stop the mistreatment of bears throughout Asia. David didn't fancy his chances against the ABC juggernauts but he and Geoff pulled it off and took home the award.

View Free the Bears »

Paul Di Benedetto ACS

Former ACS Tas President, Paul Di Benedetto ACS sent in this recent GoPro snap from a windsurfing safari in Western Australia. Clearly Paul was enjoying the moment. Those of us who’ve known Paul a long time recall his passion for chasing wind and waves around Tasmania in years gone by. It’s great to see him rekindle his love of this sport.

Peter Harmsen

As camera technology gets smarter, we all want to keep up, and shoot better and cleverer images. When you sit down and watch some of Aerial Inspections work you realise the sky is no longer the limit. Tom and Chris do some truly amazing stuff.

For me, the biggest dilemma is knowing where to draw the line in investment. There are some incredible deals on some awesome kit, but at the end of the day images are still driven by the imagination and creativity of the eye behind the lens.

At the end of last financial year I convinced myself (and somehow my wife / manager / treasurer) that the way forward was a new camera.
I'd recently used my Canon EF lenses on the Canon C300 / C100 and liked the images - but not the ergonomics, viewfinder or audio setup.

Now after 4-months with the Sony PMW-F5 I am convinced I made a good purchase. It’s much more ergonomic and the pictures from the Super-35 sensor are simply superb. With an incredible 14-stops of latitude, editors love it too.

The ability to shoot at 150 frames per second is a real bonus, and Sony are soon releasing embedded upgrades, to allow it to shoot 4K and up to 240 fps. I can’t wait!

Here's a link to a clip from a sailing promo I shot with the F5:
Make sure you watch in HD!

SB20 Promo »

Here’s our ACS Tas President playing with the F5 on a slider while shooting for the 2015 ACS National Awards promo. We used the F5 to shoot the Government House and MONA shots.

Editors note: Although Harmo insisted we use this image in the newsletter, which highlights my awkward stance and balding head, I can't complain. Harmo was very generous with the promo, as were Tom and Chris at Aerial Inspections. Robert Heazlewood wrote the script and the ‘main man’, Mike Sampey (he even did the voice-over), pulled it all together. We are a really versatile mob!

Pete Harmsen is also responsible for the 200-frame night timelapse image of Cradle Mountain, which has been on all ACS State Awards artwork around the country and will feature again at the Nationals. Here’s the link to the promo in case you haven’t seen it.

ACS National Awards 2015 Promo »

Simon Wearne

Former ACS Tas President, Simon Wearne, has been living and working in Japan for some years now. He still returns to Tasmania regularly and we always enjoy seeing him. Here is Simon’s latest update.

Quite a bit has happened since my last post in ‘Clips’. Around the middle of 2012 I proposed a new course, delivered in English, to Wakayama University. It's a National University and the first to establish a Tourism Faculty. So now I teach Visual Production for Tourism and Image and Critical Writing for Tourism. It's a way of exposing students to English but with more fun and less technical English learning. Essentially it’s Visual Communication. I also pick up some classes on Eco Museum, Environmental Ethics, and Subculture. I work three days a week as an Assistant Professor, helping out with an internationalization and program development initiative. There’s lots of travel to parts of Asia I’ve never been to and shooting, mainly stills, on those trips.

Just after I started, the Uni offered a PhD in Tourism for the first time. I applied and was successful, so I flipped my Doctoral Research at QUT to a more suitable location. I am now coming to the end of year one of three in my PhD and cannot believe my luck. The research is focused on Japan’s Traditional Whaling and it is based in Wakayama Prefecture, where Industrial Whaling began in the 17th century. In those days it was sustainable.

A Sekobune (Chase Boat) - The fastest human powered wooden boat in the world.

It’s an awesome pictorial topic and is taking me all over the country. I am attracting some very positive media. This is participatory action research and I will write something about this in a later edition as it is designed with practicing cinematographers in mind.

The positive reception I’ve had in this country is amazing. A good friend, Akagi Masakazu, a leading underwater cinematographer, invited me to Interbee last year in Tokyo.. Interbee is Japan’s version of SMPTE. While there I met Paul Ivan from ARRI - Hong Kong and asked him if he would be interested in letting my students get their hands on ARRI high-end production cameras. He loved the idea and suggested a D20 or D21, but before he got back to me, NAC, the ARRI agents in Tokyo, were on the phone and its now a done deal.

A student using the D21

I now have a superseded D21 for the first semester of teaching the Visual Production subject, and it has created quite a buzz on the campus. Shindome san and Aoki san from NAC, offered to come from Tokyo and demonstrate the new Amira, the Alexa, and NAC’s high speed camera technology, which is used on F1 super slo-mo’s, and set be used for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. On top of that their technician from Osaka came down and showed us NAC’s latest eye tracking technology, which is being used in some fascinating research settings. Have you ever wondered where a Tokyo Taxi driver’s eyes go during his normal working / driving day? So you can imagine this was always going to be a full day, so I put out an invitation to all the local industry people to join in. The day was fantastic and the students and visitors were rapt.

I put together a small exhibition, which was called “100 years of Tourist Cameras” (I will put this on a blog for you catch later). The course is going well, though we haven’t shot anything yet. Getting some basic knowledge down first.

There was everything from Amira to pinhole cameras and my old faithful SP, Malcolm Douglas' Bolex and some other camera history which will be on a blog with details later.

Interbee 2014 has just wrapped up and I ran into Brett Smith from Miller. There were many more internationals attending this year, due to it being Interbee’s 50th anniversary, not to mention a fair bit of interest in 4K and 8K. I saw NHK’s 8K-3D exhibit. I spent much of the day with Hideo Kihara, who has just retired as NHK-TV’s head cameraman. He is now working with Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Co., Ltd., agents for international helicopter company, Agusta Westland, as technical advisor on camera mounts. NHK have 3 massive Agusta AW 139 helicopters and 14 other choppers nationally. Remember that's in a country half the size of NSW, but with a coastline 3,000kms longer than Australia’s.

Last year, while at Interbee I was invited into a special secure area to test-drive the prototype Panasonic 4K Varicam. I was sworn to secrecy. Earlier this year I saw one of the 4 cameras that currently exist in the world, as it was trialed near my home, in a mountain location in Wakayama. It was being tested for underwater applications by Akagi san. Amazingly, Panasonic have insisted I use one of these cameras for my next semester class and they will supply it, without charge, for the duration of the course. I am extremely grateful to Takeshi Narita, Chief of Panasonics Service Support Group, who has been so enthusiastic and helpful. As some of you may know, the Varicam has an interesting focus indication feature and it’s performance is impressive. This camera, or its relatives, will be used for the 2020 Olympics, as Panasonic is an official supplier.

I get to meet some great people in the network here, directors and leading cinematographers. It is a great privilege and indicates what great relationships we can forge with our ACS equivalent, JSC and MPTE in Japan. I recently attended a JSC event for ARRI’s Amira in Osaka and their executive and members were very welcoming. Some have contacts in Australia and are very OZ friendly. They’re also available to help with crewing and services up here.

Very recently I was in Fukushima working on two research projects and who should be holding a production meeting in the foyer of the hotel but Jaems Grant ACS. I picked the bloke who seemed least engaged in the discussion and asked him what they were all doing. He filled me in and then added, “I’m just the sound recordist”. I put him straight in the kindest possible way. Many of us “were just the soundo” once! I had a very quick exchange with Jaems and look forward to further email contact.

Before I go, congratulations to all winners at this years Vic/Tas ACS awards and good luck at the Nationals. All the best as you get the show for MONA together. I am sure it will be as well received as other national hosting’s we have done in Tassie over the years. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you are up this way or just want some local knowledge. simon@stripeydog.tv

Max Moller

For the month of October Hobart based Natural History Cinematographer Max Moller headed to Europe with his RED Epic in hand to attend the Wildscreen Festival - the premier wildlife film event held ever 2 years in Bristol, UK. Max’s journey started in Switzerland where he spent the best part of two weeks filming in the Swiss Alps. Max caught trains, cable cars and funiculars to reach some of the highest villages in the world, capturing breathtaking footage of snow-capped mountains, deep valleys and quaint villages. Also along the way Max captured rolling hills with cows grazing that produce some of the best cheeses in the world, plus villages with centuries-old castles perched in their centre.

After a busy two weeks of taking in the best that Switzerland has to offer, Max headed off to Bristol via Rome. Here he spent time capturing footage of this stunning and interesting city, filming some of the world’s most recognisable landmarks. The highlight of the trip though was Bristol where top wildlife filmmakers head every two years to attend the Wildscreen Festival. Top of the bill was a small conference with Sir David Attenborough where Max was able to meet the man who has inspired so many people in filming and conservation. His words were truly motivational, as he called upon the next generation of filmmakers to capture the beauty of nature, to bring it to the masses and implore people and governments to protect, conserve and value the environment.

Throughout the week-long festival, Max was also able to meet with many people from the nature and wildlife film community and many production companies who showed great enthusiasm for his project ideas and filming on this wonderful island on the other side of the world.

Heidi Douglas

My documentary DEFENDANT 5 is airing on ABC2 at 9.30 pm on Monday, December 8th 2014. I hope you can all catch it. It’s taken a lot of work over many years to make it!
"Young filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas goes to Tasmania to make a documentary about the destruction of the island’s ancient forests. As anti-logging protests escalate, logging giant Gunns Ltd reacts to public pressure by suing Heidi and 19 others for $6.4 million for allegedly conspiring to destroy the company’s business. When Heidi discovers Gunns wants to use her footage as evidence to support its claims, she faces a crisis of conscience. Heidi’s response is to turn the camera on herself to document her personal struggle as she goes into battle against a corporation out of control.”

David Pyefinch: People of the Hydro documentary

I was pretty happy to see this Hydro centenary film launched in mid-October. I’d spent the best part of a year making this 28-minute documentary, which in essence, is a social history film about the people who forged amazing careers at the Hydro over the past 100 years. This project, a collaboration between Hydro and my new company, Madfinch Pty Ltd, had a 3-week run at the State Cinema in Hobart and has been very successful with audiences so far.

I was very fortunate to have an amazing crew on board. Chris and Tom from Aerial Inspections did some remarkable work, flying over dams, and managed to capture footage, which showed the structures in a completely new way. It was a great addition to the final product. We also managed to recreate the past, using actors and treating the new footage to match the old black and white archival pictures.

This was a really satisfying project and I sincerely hope you get the opportunity to see it.

And finally – this contribution from Andy Cunningham. Spot on Andy!




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