AHOY
I recently had the immense fortune of being permitted to gate-crash / help out on an exciting project with a few rather brilliant individuals. A short film – shot in five consecutive days – with a crazy-talented cast and crew.
The film is called Bathrooms. And, yes, it’s about a bathroom. Well, actually, I lie – it’s certainly not that simple. Bathrooms is an indie little Australian drama centred on an adolescent boy’s private fear of and fixation with death, in the midst of other hidden family trials. The entire thing takes place in a family bathroom. A beautiful story, driven by beautifully vulnerable/human characters, all beautifully captured on a RED camera. AHH. BEAUTIFUL.
AAAND it was written and directed by one of us. Ange Armstrong – currently in second year Media at RMIT – wrote and directed this piece of brilliance. So you’re all obliged to support her beyond stalker level, since she is a fellow RMIT Media and Communication member.
Anyway, I somehow managed to sneaky my way onto this project. I don’t really know how. Luck. Skill. Ha – no – just luck.
I worked alongside a fabulous team, all the while trying my very bestest to soak up as much of their skill and talent and knowledge as possible. Yes, Adrian, I was a sponge. I had to sponge. And sponge I did. And stalk. And ask questions.
The crew was made up of a few freelancers, RMIT and VCA graduates, some current VCA students, and some current RMIT Media students – the other RMITers being Ange, Michael Lincoln and Michael Johnston.
I cannot even describe how much I learnt. In a broad sense, as well as in regards to detail. I am very grateful towards Gerald Wiblin for so generously spending the entire final day telling me all about lighting and regularly quizzing me on what he had said. Red heads = 800 watt lights. Nailed it. Thanks, Gerald.
I helped out on sound during this shoot, and that meant that I pretty much received private tutoring from the brilliant audio engineer, Dave Williams – current lecturer at JMC Academy. This, too, was rather excellent. Rather very excellent. I am greatly appreciative. Cheers, Dave.
I can now also wrangle a cord. Finally. That’s right. Usually when you ask someone to teach you how to cord wrangle, they go: “like this”, and their hands and arms and the cord all becomes a blur of crazy. And then you’re left standing there in a daze, having to consciously force your mouth closed after realising it has been hanging open. But not this time. I can finally wrangle a cord. Victory.
I’d just like to give you all an idea of the level of effort and attention to detail that has gone into this. The aim is to enter the short into Australian and international film festivals. Hence the meticulousness.
First of all, THEY BUILT A SET. THEY BUILT A FREAKING SET. A BATHROOM. WITH THEIR OWN HANDS. And it wasn’t just a room. Everything had been strategically thought out, mapped, measured, carefully designed – certain bits for certain shots, even elaborate external set pieces built for some shots. It was done down to the last detail, with practicality for crew considered key. The colour of the bathroom wall interior was even selected specifically to compliment the actors’ skin tones. Yep. I know. Crazy.
Here’s a nice little time-lapse vid of the set construction. Fabulous work, Jacqui.
Bathrooms Set Construction from Angeline Armstrong on Vimeo.
Just to reiterate – THIS FILM WAS SHOT ON A RED CAMERA. RED. CAMERA. Waaaa. Everything looks glorious on it.
I gotta say hats off to Sam Howard – plays the main character – for expertly soldiering through many intense hours of physically- and emotionally-challenging scenes with such a great attitude. And for helping take down the set afterwards. Sorta. Hahaha. I also enjoyed the Maltesers.
And then there’s Annie. Production managed like a boss. And kept us all alive. Alongside Ange’s mum. Thanks for feeding me. The food was scrumptious.
And, of course, Jess with her consistently cool attire and equally chill/kind attitude (plus her hard work).
While I feel an urge to describe every crew member and actor in excruciating detail, I think it’s probably not the way to go if I want to keep you all reading and get to the important part. I’ll keep it brief. Not only are these all crazy-talented individuals, but they’re also just great people. Very nice people. Superb human beings. Mkay. I’m done.
I also played a lot of basketball. Just coz.
To recap: the story is beautiful, thoughtful, touching. The visuals are outstanding. The sound is going to be amazing. The acting is unbelievable (in a good way!).
SO, take a look at the Facebook page. Check out the Pozible video. Please. Just do it (#nike – ha, I kid).
https://www.facebook.com/bathroomsmovie
The Facebook page has some amazing stills and such from during production, as well as some great videos – the set being built, the DOP’s (Josh Mitchell-Frey’s) incredible showreel, and some behind the scenes action.
The Pozible campaign only has about 10 days to go. And they’re still short of $400. What’s more – if the target isn’t reached by the deadline (August 20), they get nothing. No money at all. Zilch. Which is a bit of a dilemma…
So if you’re at all intrigued by this project, it would be fantastic if you threw a few dollars their way. It’s worth a bit of change from your pocket. Just pretend they’re a homeless man. Or a busker.
I’ll give you a cupcake. And a high-five. The best high-five you ever got.
That’s incentive for ya.
But it really is a project worth supporting. So go check out the links and like the Facebook page.
It shall be an amazing piece of independent film.
Hooray.