Category Archives for Film & Video

Film & Video

Mamma Mia it’s a Musical!

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Ever heard the expression “to polish a turd”?  Some people might consider the countless days I spent working on this project as doing exactly that. I tend to disagree.

It is intended to be viewed by only those interested – which is about 3 people if you add up all the halves. And most importantly, it’s my Mothers’ Day gift to mum and baba – so it was worth the trouble.

Here’s a synopsis and review I wrote just in case Rolling Stone magazine needs a guest writer to review it sometime:

A family of Sydneysiders find that their multi-award-winning chicken is missing. Bereaved, they take the audience on a fascinating journey as they piece together the clues to retrieve her. In the darkest of times, they learn the hard hitting lessons about family: Grandma’s got this s**t covered, and no one goes hungry when mum’s around. It is a tongue-in-cheek look at society through the lens of a modern day Von Trapp family. Irresistible performances all round. Five stars.

Let me acknowledge that this was an ambitious project, and one that I am completely under-qualified to create…. or have any kind of singing role in for that matter. And yet, it exists – in all its glory.

This may be simultaneously the most terrible and most wonderful….ly awful thing you’ll see this year. If you can make it through the 2nd and the 4th song – you’re in the clear. At least do me a favour and make sure you catch the finale. The salmonella poisoning reference is worth it.

Happy Mothers’ Day, Mooom and Baba! I love you so much!!!

Thanks be to my sister Tania, who vocally carries pretty much the whole thing: Legend. Max, Klaus and Pru: Phenomenal performances. But let’s be honest, it’s mum and baba who steal the show, and for that I am so proud and grateful!

Oi! Happy Straya Day!

To celebrate the national day of our magnificently large brown continent (and land of legends), I have dug up from the vault the original Keith and Kev. You little bloody ripper! Now pass me a bloody bottle opener! Strewth!

From the Vault: Pissy Chrissy

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I have recently discovered that the good people of the United States do a wonderful thing at this time of year. They have radio stations exclusively dedicated to playing Christmas songs. All day. Er day.

As a huge frother for celebrations, I naturally added the station to my car radio presets at the first opportunity.

Here’s a little Christmas cheer (and jeer) I whipped up with my mate Anna while I was in London in 2010.

Having difficulty focusing on the words because you’re so distracted by the epic melody and masterful visuals? Here are the lyrics.

Ding dong merrily on high, pals!

Poster Rollercoaster

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My favourite part about wrapping production on a film is blabbing about it to EVERYONE (as long as post is going smoothly). And what better way to blow my own trumpet than to make a killer poster, and slap it on every last inch of the internet?

In the week between wrapping Winning Formula in Los Angeles and me moving to San Francisco, I bought a shockingly cheap photo studio setup – 3 softboxes and a backdrop rig – and got the entire cast to come in and have their character photos taken for promotional purposes.

During this session, Prudence and I shot the poster as per my concept sketch.

concept sketch
photoshopping
… kinda shite

… Or at least what I thought the poster would be. I saved all of this work at very low resolution to my google drive, then promptly had my laptop and camera (with backup images on the SD card) stolen, as you well know, faithful follower of my blog, Klaus.

So there I was with a film poster that was unprintable. Bloody useless for all the good people at Sundance and Canne who will be champing at the bit to get their clammy hands on a full size 27″x40″ 300dpi poster for my micro-budget slapstick comedy. Because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that those good people love micro-budget slapstick comedy.

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Prudence Vindin and Claudia Pickering with George Clooney leaving Canne in a limo in the future. He has really enjoyed Winning Formula. They are indulging in Moët mimosas.

A new poster was needed. Lucky for me, Pru was back in the United states a few months later, and we still had access to our costume headdresses (which were later stolen, so this really was our last shot at it).

our studio
our studio

We strung up some white fabric in Cassie’s (the costume designer) house, and with the help of Klaus, we reshot a poster far superior to the original. YEW!

Winning Formula Film Poster

Vanity Fox…oween

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While joining in my quest to complete the Foxen mural, the effervescent, deeply creatively inclined puppet enthusiast, makeup artist and hair stylist Katie Nash (some might assume she is the grandchild of Madonna, Leonardo Da Vinci, Jim Henson and Elizabeth Arden) took pity upon me; I am, after all, missing out on Halloween in San Francisco which, I gather, is an absolute hoot.

Not one to let timing get in the way, Katie decided to celebrate with me in advance over chicken tacos, some killer makeup and on-point Vogue circa 1985 (a great year) styling:

Please be sympathetic to my post-day-in-the-office, pre-looking-like-an-actual-fox dreariness. The dramatic nature of this transformation has raised concerns that Katie may actually be practicing some kind of voodoo or witchcraft. Highly appropriate for the season.

Theories are surfacing that badgers too, are using similar techniques to glam up after a long day in the woods.

And this is the last fox post. Scout’s honour.

From the vault: Going for Gold

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With all of this hoo haa surrounding the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and the recent announcement that Tokyo will be the host of the 2020 Olympic Games for the second time; I thought I’d post something relevant. And frankly, I froth for the Olympics and our little Aussie rippers going for gold.

Here is a short film Anna and I shot last year shortly before the 2012 London Olympic Games as a part of the Banjacks and Pervis series.

By coincidence it had a few similarities of the 2012 Absolutely Fabulous episodes aired shortly after we shot it. We were jazzed as the eternally hysterical Jennifer Saunders is our creative role model and this basically proves that our minds are one.

What Happened to the Baked Bloody Dinners?

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This being the final instalment of Keith and Kev’s musings at the bowlo, I’ve provided below a brief and alphabetised list of basic Keith and Kev vocabulary for your perusal.

Australian Fast Bowler, Australia’s Pass-Time, Asshole (pull his finger out of his)

Bloody, Bowlo, Bugger, Bandicoot (looks like the asshole of a), Bourke Street Bakery, Backside (working my – – off), Barbie, Baked Dinner, Balls from their Boot Laces (wouldn’t know their)

Cricket Pitch, Clacker, Cut your Grass, Commodore, Competitive Bowls

Deal or No Deal, Dropped Pie (looks like a), Darl

Ehhyhh

Flamin Struth, Faffing Around

Galah, G’day

Head like a Half-Sucked Mango, Hooroo, Hyundai Sonata

Inbloodycredible

John Burgess

King Dingaling

Lawn Bowls, Loo

Meat Pie, Meat and Three Veg, Michael Clark, Mate, Mumbo Jumbo

Netball, No Worries

Outrage (bloody)

Porkchop (carry on like a), Paperbag (couldn’t find a tennis ball in a, farts around like a mosquito in a)

Queen’s English

Reckon, Ripper

Struth, Sport, Sheilas, Spunk, Shane Warne, Sausage Roll, Snags

True blue, Telly, Thorough-bloody-bred, Top notch, Trot, Twit

Unbloodybelievable

VB

Woman’s Blouse, Wallaby in a Wombat’s Hole, Wit’s End (I’m at my), World Class Lawn Bowls Team

XXXX

You Bloody Beauty, You Little Ripper

Zookeeper Stuck in a PortaLoo (useless as a)

That being said, enjoy:

An Interview With Blogger Claudia Pickering

Something that was not mentioned in this interview was the Harry Potter reference that is this blog’s name (only recognisable when spoken in an Australian accent). How elitist.

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Claudia Pickering runs the blog thedarclaud which is about her creative endeavors. She is the producer and star of the video The Sebring which stars Danny Trejo. Here is a link to her blog:

 

http://www.thedarclaud.com/

 

Q:  What inspired you to start your blog?

A: As a foreigner (I’m Australian), I was looking for a way to display my work so that I had a record for myself and my friends here and overseas. I felt like a blog was a good way to have my work available without shoving it down my friends’ throats and also a great way to quickly direct new acquaintances to my stuff. And San Francisco being such a tech city, it only felt appropriate. And I wanted business cards. With spot gloss.

Q:  What is your strangest LA story?

A: Although running naked (except for Reeboks) across the desert with my…

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Authentic Australiana

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Righto, here’s the second instalment of Keith and Kev. Still babealiciously dripping with authentic Australiana.

Get at them.

Foxen. It’s the plural.

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My life thus far has been a decoupage of mixed emotions and messages surrounding the common fox.

1. My mother hates them as they kill all the chickens and only eat one – necessitating her locking them in their coop every evening. She also used to go shooting foxes on farms as a young vet student.

2. My godmother’s family share the name Reynard and swathe their house in ornate figurines and tasteful imagery of delightfully mischievous, handsome foxes.

3. My favorite Dr. Seuss book was Fox in Socks… Which resulted in my ICQ name and first email address back in the 90’s (Wow. Just wow, that I just said that) being Fox In Sox. At hotmail of course. Also, I thought, what a foxy and appealing name to the pimply braces-clad boys who might court me via the internet in the hopes of sharing a bag of Wizz Fizz at the train station after school the next day; or more desirable even, that we might both be attending the same school-organised dance (I was enrolled at an all girls school, inter-school dances were our livelihood) where I would put on an impressive display of branding, upholding my web presence as the ‘fox in sox’ by donning a pair of knee-high rainbow socks.

4. I was also a big Roald Dahl fan as a kid, and frankly, Fantastic Mr Fox carried on like a complete jerk.

5. My closest family friend has a penchant for arctic fox fur, seizing any opportunity to travel to a climate cold enough and accepting enough for her to adorn herself in her plethora of luxurious wintry garments. Mind you, she’s in the Reynard family so I imagine that had some influence.

6. My most-viewed video on the internet to date involves Banjacks and Pervis (Anna Bennet and I) purchasing fox furs from a vintage store and wearing them while we have a spitting competition in the park. It’s called Vintage Furs.

So where does that leave me? Loving them? Hating them? Killing them? Filming them? Well I’m clearly thinking about them. And in doing so, Klaus and I noticed a flaw in the English language. Check it out:

One Ox, Two Oxen.

So…. I propose

One Fox, Two Foxen.

Come get some, Oxford dictionary. Or should I say, Oxenford dictionary.

Anyway, all this fox business came up as I’ve been asked to paint a fox mural with a friend from work this weekend. We shall name it Foxen and be paid in beer. Thus inspiring the following:

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So yeah. Foxen. It’s the plural. Spread the word.