Australians getting back into film for major projects!

Jon O'Brien · August 6

The return of professional film cinematography at long last in Australia! Sydney based short film makers. They get their filmstock processed overseas. Very exciting news. I like how they say in the article that we have reached peak 'junk food' availability of digital or words to that effect. Another way of saying it might be terminal McDonalds level of video everywhere. If I can go to a cinema and see Australian made films shot on actual film again I will be very happy indeed. Well done to these filmmakers!!

https://filmcentralmagazine.com/2024/07/meet-the-young-australian-filmmakers-turning-their-love-of-celluloid-into-a-calling/

Jon O'Brien · August 6

They also put out a call for those who might become involved in a partnership with Kodak to reintroduce feature film processing in Australia. Read what they say! Be great if Russell Crowe decides that film is the way to go, at least for a percentage of our film production. Come to think of it, Coffs Harbour locations would look amazing on 35mm..

Mark Dunn · August 6

Red and yellow Panavision magazines! Hmm....wow....probably.

Jon O'Brien · August 6

Yes if I ever get a gig filming with a Panaflex I think I will try to avoid the red and yellow magazines if I can.

Karim D. Ghantous · August 7

Cool. Although I think that people have forgotten how to make movies. That's a bigger problem IMHO. Let film disappear if it must, but let's make movies properly, like we used to.

There was a TV miniseries from about 10 years ago, Offspring, which was written really well. I didn't watch it but I saw an episode here and there and it looked well made. They shot that on Red cameras. I'd like too see more TV shot on film.

OTOH... I finally got around to watching Lady Bird. That was shot on an Alexa, but massively underexposed, so it looked almost like pushed Ektachrome (no detail in the blacks, high contrast). So maybe it's not the medium, but how you shoot it. Digital mimics film very well if you expose it correctly, which entails underexposure. Exposing digital correctly looks meh.

Jon O'Brien · August 7

Talent figures out how to make a good movie. We have that talent in Australia. Talent can be rare but it's there.

On television, two of the best productions made in Australia in the last ten years in my opinion have been the 'Catching Milat' miniseries, and the multi-season series 'Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries', with the stories being largely based around the St Kilda area (though not actually filmed there most of the time). Both shot on digital of course.

Dom Jaeger · August 8

On 8/6/2024 at 4:29 PM, Jon O'Brien said:

The return of professional film cinematography at long last in Australia! Sydney based short film makers. They get their filmstock processed overseas. Very exciting news.

I'm not sure this represents the return of professional film cinematography in Australia, it's just another 16mm short film, and there are plenty of those being shot here all the time. There are in fact four other new Australian short films also shot on 16mm screening at this years MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival). We have a lab that can process 16mm and 35mm, the issue is just that it doesn't have the capacity to process large enough batches for feature films, or be fast enough for dailies. And sometimes the owner shuts shop for a month while he goes on holiday. His rates are roughly the same as sending film overseas to be processed, which is why some people prefer that route. But outside of a few very indie productions no-one has shot an entire feature on film in Australia for about a decade. If these guys can get a film feature up and shooting then that might start some balls rolling, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

There is definitely demand though, and I know someone who is actively trying to get a bigger lab up and running here in Melbourne, so fingers crossed. But it's still a huge financial gamble, and logistically difficult with our small population.

Jon O'Brien · August 8

Very nice to see a Sydney film magazine writing about Australian filmmakers who shoot on film and seriously aim to make it their calling. This is what we need.

Does anyone in Melbourne write articles or newsletters about the goings-on down there in the film shooting world that I hear mere snippets about? If so, great! Could someone let me know where I can read something?

Yes, Werner does a great job at Neglab. He is a living legend.

Dom is pretty much my only connection with Melbourne's film shooter community. What I know, I know through Dom (not your fault Dom, I know, but I know next to nothing about the Melbourne film shooting community). I will say though that it comes across as somewhat ... aloof.

I like how Sydneysiders promote things that need to be communicated.

It would be great if any journalistically-minded soul in Melbourne who is interested in film would actually write something about it. Perhaps they have, and I will learn more soon.

As for Queensland? Ha! I've not met another film shooter filmmaker yet.

Jon O'Brien · August 9

Australia needs some kind of online magazine/newsletter specifically for celluloid filmmakers. There's Facebook groups but they're just lists of inane posts, ads, and reminders. Someone needs to write good articles and make occasional videos and films. Maybe I should do it.

Dom Jaeger · August 9

20 hours ago, Jon O'Brien said:

I know next to nothing about the Melbourne film shooting community). I will say though that it comes across as somewhat ... aloof.

Not sure what you mean by aloof, like snobby or something? How do you reach that judgement without actually knowing anyone from the community?

Anyway, here's a few links to articles or promos for some films shot by locals I've had the pleasure of meeting.

This was a cool project by Danny Cohen, who followed Courtney Barnett around for several years with his 16mm Aaton:

https://www.anonymousclubfilm.com/film

Here's an article on a film shot on 35mm by Melbourne cinematographer Ed Goldner:

https://acmag.com.au/2021/10/03/inang-maynila/

Here's another AC mag article about the Victorian film Nitram, describing how Justin Kerzel wanted to shoot it on 16mm, just one example to dispel the notion that no professional filmmakers want to shoot on film in this country:

https://acmag.com.au/2021/09/01/nitram/

Here's an IF article on a short film shot by local cinematographer Joey Knox:

https://if.com.au/victim-short/

I'm sure google (or a subscription) would dig up more.