CREWEDMAY.2016

Drawing Out The Truth Air Time

Animating doco 25 April OB pedals into RotoruaCREWED | 1 CREWED

As this edition has been taking shape, the NAB Show has been running in Las Vegas. At an event running alongside NAB, several NZ production companies won gongs at the World’s Best TV & Film Awards. We’d also like to give a THE DATA BOOK 2016/17 shout-out to Moxion, winners of a different kind this month, the only screen PRINT EDITION FINAL DEADLINE REMINDER industry company taking away a cheque from Callaghan Innovation in their latest grant round.

We’ll have some reflections on the NAB Show in our next issue, but we’ve been very interested in Ang Lee’s presentation of 120 fps material from Create a listing in The Data Book and The Data Book online and you will reach his next feature. Whatever Peter Jackson and James Cameron’s differences of opinion about movie delivery via The Screening Room, both have the New Zealand and overseas decision makers who matter.

championed the use of HFR in production: Jackson for his Hobbit trilogy, MAY.2016 VOL.01, no. 03 Cameron for his upcoming Avatar sequels. Cameron’s producer (and Big • The Data Book print edition is the industry showcase that shows Screen Symposium speaker) Jon Landau also championed HFR at another producers the options for shooting in our country and regions. recent industry event in Las Vegas, CinemaCon. • The Data Book online gets thousands of visits per month and about 40 Whatever HFR might mean for audiences, it means more a lot more data to percent are from countries like Australia, USA, UK, and Germany. They use manage for productions. When I did the math on how many gigabytes of it because the Data Book online presents them with relevant information storage a minute of 120fps at 4K would require, my kid said, “So what?” I told him that a floppy disk used to hold 1.44 megabytes. that is categorised and organised in a way that search engines cannot do. “Dinosaurs are dead too,” he replied. To promote yourself and your business in the 2016/17 print edition of CREWED is the techo-focused It’s been a mammoth month (see what I did there?) for NZ film. publication from the The Data Book and The Data Book online go to the www.databook.co.nz. publishers of SCREENZ

Several titles have had run outs in cinemas, from the local premiere of CREWED publishes 10 times If you’d like to talk through the options to promote yourself and your David Farrier and Dylan Reeves’ Tickled at the NZIFF’s Autumn Events, the a year, monthly from February to November. business through the Data Book and the Data Book online, call or email me. continuing theatrical runs of Crossing Rachmaninoff, Mahana and Three Wise Cousins, the post-NZIFF return of Orphans & Kingdoms and, of course, the Editor & Publisher: record-munching run of Hunt for the Wilderpeople and just-opened 25 April. Keith Barclay More local titles will open during May. Outside of the NZIFF, I can’t remember [email protected] Thank you for being a part of the success of The Data Book and helping 021 400 102 promote yourself and the NZ screen industry. seven local features playing in the same month. Publisher & Advertising: Ande Schurr reflects on Hunt for the Wilderpeople while the good folk at Weta Kelly Lucas [email protected] Digital talk pigs and other hairy creatures. Peter Parnham talks animating 021 996 529 The final deadline for listing in the Anzacs, and from other battlefields Production Designer Gary Mackay talks about Netflix’s Marco Polo, soon to air its second season. Subscribe at 2016/17 Data Book print edition www.screenz.co.nz/newsletters extended to Friday 13 May 2016. www.crewed.co.nz/newsletters Enjoy. Keep up with us on Twitter Contact information twitter.com/screenznz twitter.com/crewedNZ Phone: (+64) 021 996 529 on Facebook facebook.com/screenz.co.nz [email protected] facebook.com/crewed.co.nz www.databook.co.nz Copyright in all CREWED content lies with the author. Content may not be reproduced without prior permission.

3 | CREWED THIS MONTH CONTRIBUTORS

Ande Schurr Ande has been location sound recording for a decade. He is passionate about growth and writes articles for freelancers. Editorial www.schurrsound.com 03 Publisher Info 05 Contributors

Isaac Spedding With 10 years of diverse experience internationally in both on demand and live content, Isaac is a Creative Technical Director and Camera Operator who loves new technology and working on projects in extreme locations with people pushing the boundaries of what is possible. www.isaacspedding.com

Say What? Getty’s Images Weta Digital Peter Parnham Gary Mackay - Stocking up - This little piggy 06 8 12 Peter is a freelance technology writer, business mentor and systems specialist who spent many years in the screen industry equipment business.

Tony Forster Tony has worked in theatre and screen production for some decades. He recently made his first feature documentary, An 25 April Crew View Accidental Berliner. Crankworkx - Drawing out - Democracy 14 - Air Time 18 the truth 26 in action

CREW Experienced and highly regarded DoPs, camera operators and sound recordists specialising in broadcast and commercial production.

Documentaries TV Series The wilder A doco Behind Corporate Commercials 28 attitude 31 and a dslr 36 the scenes rocketrentals.com

Give us a call for quotes or enquiries 4 | CREWED Auckland 09 373 4330 Wellington 04 499 9225 here, which they have got though the films they know and the Kiwi crews they have met.

You’ve done a fair amount of work overseas during your career. What have you seen that say what? you’ve brought back here? Adaptability - the way crews everywhere work to GARY MACKAY their strengths and create their own construction techniques depending on the local supplies.

(foreground, from left) Location Manager In Malaysia they’re very competent with steel, Peta Sinclair, Gary Mackay so many sets end up braced and supported in steel first. In Hungary, for the same set they’d use lightweight local 6”x1” pine boards for framing What are the biggest changes you’ve seen up huge tall flattage units - no steel at all. Both to the Production Designer’s role in the time work well. Being so remote we’ve always had to you’ve been doing it? adapt and invent here in NZ. It’s a great strength Digital. As a format it is reveals so much detail. and it’s reassuring to find that same adaptability We need to work detail into every single area, in other places on the planet. especially into all those dark areas in the frame that used to drop away with film. But conversely, How did you find the Pinewood Iskandar set- it is essential to find ways with your DOP to create up for Marco Polo? the right atmosphere and get the look of film. We had a full-time crew of nearly 750 people from 40 nations. There were 60 Kiwi crew, spread The growth in digital and more particularly VFX across near every department. After the NZ work has only enhanced the whole process in my industry annus horribilus of 2013, it really was experience. The closer the relationship between a great relief to be able to make calls to crew Art Department and the VFX team means you get offering a 9-10 month project. Tim Coddington more bang for your buck, more efficiently. was one of the producers. He really pulled some stunning Kiwi crew into the job. The most successful digital work still needs to attach itself to the best physical design and build The facility in Malaysia is something we only work, to make sure the final images feel seamless. dream of having here in NZ. Five shiny new BIG Standby Props Craig Wilson (left) and Standby Art Director Mike Becroft purpose-built stages. Each one has a water tank What’s the job you didn’t do (for whatever recessed into the stage floor, and real overhead reason) that you wish you had? Production Designer Gary Mackay has recently in love with what we do, and where the motivation full grids for rigging, LX and SPFX access. I genuinely can’t think of one. I have been very finished work as Supervising Art Director on the to keep going under strain comes from. fortunate that the planets have generally aligned second season of Netflix’s Marco Polo, which will Outside there’s a huge outdoor shallow tank & at the last minute. air from 1 July. He also worked on the show’s What still surprises or excites you when you go greenscreen for boat work, a deep dive tank for first season and, in between those seasons, was on to a new job? underwater work… backlots, workshops, huge What are you working on at the moment? Production Designer for the first season of ANZ People, always the people. Every job in NZ and office areas. It’s a small town really. I have just come back from a four-week contract co-production 800 Words. overseas has allowed me to make new friends in in Hong Kong, and managed to visit the FilmArt the industry, to listen and learn from their years This kind of facility would help Auckland to film market while I was there. You did Lord of the Rings fairly early in your of experience and generosity. Every single job get projects of real scale coming in regularly. career. What did you take away from it? there is a new technique to learn, or to share. In countries we compete with, like Malaysia, Now it’s the same old story… waiting, waiting, Once you end up working on that scale, it can Hungary & Canada, these facilities have been waiting. There are a couple of prospects for the become all about managing people, money and The international crew on Marco Polo were always supported and partly-funded by local or central second half of the year, but nothing solid. It’s schedules. But it is important to remain constantly asking and interested in both visiting and or government. They acknowledge both the screen what we do! engaged in the script and storytelling, however working New Zealand. Many of them have already industry up-skilling and tourism growth they small or large your part is. That is where we all fell been here. There is a very romantic view of our life receive from this infrastructure. www.garymackay.com

6 | CREWED CREWED | 7 Later in May in Auckland Getty Images will host entering the competition as well as provide Engage, a weekend with still and video content prizes to winners. creators to expand the NZ material Getty carries. This year’s Tropfest winner, Hannah Taylor’s Back Ahead of the event, Getty Images’ Vice President o’ the Bus, took full advantage of that opportunity. Editorial, Asia, Stuart Hannagan, spoke to Crewed about the current growth in the stock content Announcing the initiative back in 2014 Getty’s Arran business. Birchenough noted the Sarah Cordery’s doco notes to eternity (then recently-premiered at the NZIFF) Before joining Getty in 1999, Australian Hannagan had also used stock footage. Like fellow NZIFF 2014 was first a photographer and later picture editor, title Orphans & Kingdoms, notes to eternity is now working for companies including News Ltd and returning to cinemas, opening on 12 May. Melbourne’s Age. Hannagan’s speciality was sports photography – including at five Olympic Games A couple of years on from announcing the Tropfest among other events. With a World Press Photo of deal, Getty has seen substantial growth in stock the Year gong and five AFL Photographer of the video consumption, particularly in New Zealand. Year wins among his haul over the years, Hannagan has a very clear understanding of what makes a Worldwide, Getty has approximately 4 million video good image and what makes images and clips sell. clips, with another 45,000 being added every month. Last year the company’s video revenue in NZ grew Getty was one of the first stock image suppliers by 60% – and that after more than 100% growth the to exploit the internet, the first company to previous year. The number of NZ customers buying license imagery online. In 2014 it made a major video grew almost 40% in 2015. So far this year, it’s shift in its licensing arrangements for online up 35% year on year in the first quarter. use via its Embed service , which offers a substantial share of its 20 million images at no All of this is good news for Getty, but also for cost in return for a bit of branding. Here’s an local content creators and rights holders. There’s example from The Dark Horse’s US premiere. opportunity to generate additional returns from existing material as well as from work specifically to create stock content.

The increase in use of stock material is partly driven by improvements in tech, especially online, over the last decade. Metadata is a big deal, and makes for better searches (or, if you’re a provider, better discoverability).

Searching for exactly the right thing anywhere online doesn’t get any easier with the exponential growth in the amounts of everything on the internet. User expectations have also grown: if people don’t find what they’re looking for quickly they move on, either by searching in a different way or – even worse as far as suppliers Also in 2014 Getty Images entered into a deal to are concerned – by searching somewhere else. stocking up support Tropfest NZ as the official photography, video and production music partner. The deal Getty’s collection extends to over 20 million stills GETTY IMAGES’ STUART HANNAGAN saw Getty supply free clips to filmmakers and four million video clips, so putting appropriate ON IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS 9 | CREWED metadata, or tags, on that content is as important rights established, as it was never expected to be as the content itself. Without it, it’ll sit on a digital used other than by TVNZ. shelf, unseen and gathering dust. Not surprisingly, metadata has become big business - one of the Such a parochial attitude to content is no longer many jobs online that large-scale content creators viable, or desirable. outsource to Asian suppliers. In 2010 Government introduced the TVNZ Another way in which tech is growing Getty’s video Amendment Bill, part of which was to enable business is the development of easier-to-use and use of around 500,000 hours of TVNZ material of cheaper digital cameras, for still and video work. which ownership of various rights was deemed too difficult to resolve without a Gordion Knot Solo operators can now afford to produce material approach. The result was a solution which made the of broadcast standard, something that’s been a material available for free for non-commercial use great leveller. Getty no longer needs to rely on (eg on NZ On Screen) and able to be licensed for broadcasters and major production companies to commercial use by others. create stock clips. Hannagan notes that rights clearance is something As Hannagan notes, new technology and new Getty Images puts a lot of effort into. The internet, users push the boundaries. Tony Forster notes in VOD services and multi-territory SVOD services A Doco and a DSLR (p. 31), smaller cameras can do such as Netflix are all demanding content. Those things and go places others can’t. And that’s even new opportunities to exploit stock material are before using kit like UAVs and wearable cameras like good, but require rights to be cleared for far more GoPros shooting 4K. territories than was traditionally the case.

All of those advances mean more content can be Regardless of the tech, the effects it has on the ways Let’s created more easily, to a high standard. While Getty material is captured, catalogued, discovered and sets high technical standards for its collection to distributed, the content remains king, whether it’s a make its content as usable as possible, the company still, clip or completed piece of work. If it engages, it make isn’t searching to fill specific content niches, works and sells. If it doesn’t, something else will. certainly in NZ. Getty simply doesn’t have enough NZ content across the board, which is good news Whether it’s unused material from another project for content owners and creators. or material shot specifically for stock usage, clips something with strong conceptual appeal and an emotional “We’re trying to be all things to all people,” connection have the greatest chance of making With our collections of inspiring stock video and editorial footage, you can Hannagan explained. “We want to make the world multiple sales, which is the best outcome for Getty punch above your weight, unconstrained by budget, time or size of your turn a little easier when it comes to finding imagery and the clip creators. team. Find quality clips from leading production houses, film studios and local and clips.” videographers; from the BBC Motion Gallery to crowdsourced Viral Video. Here, Getty supplies a number of local productions.

As with anything, material with broad appeal will Not all want to shout about using stock footage, With over 2.4 million pieces of creative and editorial footage, we cover just usually sell better than material with niche appeal although it’s hardly a dirty little secret. The ongoing so, as well as seeking new material, Getty also Power Rangers series use stock clips. As does Mark about every subject, theme and emotion. And every format – from low res welcomes editorial and archival footage. McNeill’s Razor Films (I Am The River, Nigel Latta’s for web projects to beautifully true to life HD and 4K for cinema, all at a Politically Incorrect Guides), which picked up an competitive price. Meaning you can deliver that perfect project, small or big. Although the NZ government is currently very award at the World’s Best TV & Film Awards for hot on encouraging creation and ownership of IP Predict My Future the same day Hannagan talked to gettyimages.co.nz/video and copyright material, it wasn’t always the case Crewed. for screen content. For decades, most of TVNZ’s Contact our team in Auckland and find out how we can help. programming was made with very limited or no Getty’s Engage runs 21 – 22 May in Auckland. 0800 462 431

10 | CREWED 537252007, Klaus Vedfelt hobbits and apes,” said Smith, “so furry creatures a linear-elastic finite-element system to build are pretty easy.” muscles, skin, and fat for creatures, of which there‘s a brief demo here. this little piggy When Wilderpeople came in Weta was already working on a couple of other features mixing Weta also developed Barbershop, which does WETA DIGITAL ON A WILD BOAR AND OTHER HAIRY CREATURES live action with CG creatures: Alvin and the pretty much what it says on the box – anything to Chipmunks: Road Chip and the King Louis do with hair. FXGuide has a good explanation of sequence for the just-released live action it here. Naturally, for Wilderpeople‘s bush pig, that adaptation of The Jungle Book. wasn‘t anything pretty, but several years‘ worth of grit and grime and matted fur. The company‘s also been busy on Batman Vs Superman, Deadpool as well as several upcoming Both Tissue and Barbershop were awarded studio titles: Steven Spielberg‘s BFG, Rawson Scientific and Engineering Plaques by the Marshall Thurber‘s Central Intelligence, Nic Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Mathieu‘s Spectral, as well as a couple of 2017 titles, Luc Besson‘s Valerian and Matt Reeves‘ War “Once Weta came on board Wilderpeople they for the Planet of the Apes. were a juggernaut,” Neal said. “It was very impressive to watch.” “People know what a pig’s supposed to look like,” Smith said, so the job didn’t involve much in the “It’s nice to be able to contribute,” Smith said, who way of conceptual design. “We built a model, a also noted that, unlike with many of the larger puppet, and then it was down to the animators projects Weta services, he’d been able to go to and lighters, hair groomers.” the cinema and enjoy Hunt for the Wilderpeople without having already seen the whole film many As well as the usual CG creation suspects, Maya times over. for example, Weta has a large suite of its own proprietary software. That suite includes Tissue, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is currently on release.

Taika Waititi‘s Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Often those major studios projects on which Weta currently climbing its way up the list of the top works happen at glacial speed, Smith said. The team ten highest-earning local films. would hear rumours of a project, a year or more would pass, and something might or might not arrive From shoot to screen it’s been a quick journey in the studio to be worked on. “With Wilderpeople,” by the standards of Waititi’s previous features. Smith said, “we had a meeting on a Friday, put a team The same was true of Weta Digital’s involvement, together on Monday, and started on Tuesday.” coming on board to create a wild pig which, without giving anything away for those who Wilderpeople producer Carthew Neal had worked haven’t yet seen the film, crosses paths with Ricky with Weta Digital earlier in 2015 on visiting (played by Julian Dennison) and Hec (Sam Neill). Disney feature Pete’s Dragon. “I witnessed the magic they could create, not only from a Weta’s VFX Supervisor Kevin Smith said, “After five technical animation point of view but also in years working on The Hobbit trilogy, and going on using VFX to bring a character to life, with its own to the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which character traits and personality.” will run for nine months to a year, the shortness of making Wilderpeople’s pig was quite a pleasant One thing Weta Digital is really good at is interlude.” building creatures. “We’ve done hundreds of

12 | CREWED 13 | CREWED bike legend Kelly McGarry, who died in Telling this story takes a lot of careful planning Queenstown earlier this year, was remembered and the ability to be extremely creative under through the slopestyle course he helped build pressure. air time and many stories were told. That’s where Boombox Group come in. TJ, Jeff ISAAC SPEDDING TAKES A TRIP There are two worlds at Crankworx. One is and Marilou are the powerhouse behind the the real experience: the dust, the heat, the Crankworx story (they also work on the X-Games, TO ROTORUA FOR CRANKWORX chaos, trekking up and down the trails. The other major Red Bull events around the world, other could be anywhere, is air conditioned the Call of Duty Championships and campaigns and controlled. Both worlds convey the for Under Armour). They know the riders inside passion of mountain biking and the out and carefully execute a cinematic experience exhilaration of being there and both are slowly through sheer passion for the sport. This core starting to converge. team travels to the two other Crankworx events in France and Canada and make sure the brand is The OSB HD4 broadcast truck sits quietly cohesive in its output. behind the big screen at the bottom of the Rotorua Skyline downhill finish line. Inside Local crew are handpicked especially for the is the team producing and directing the live events and are usually brought back each year. broadcast for Crankworx. Their aim is to bring Outside on a scaffolding tower sits the veteran all the stories, the mud and dust, the tears commentary team. Brad J, Tristan Merrick, Pat and laughter to the people all over the world Parnell and Cam McCaul (13 years competing who wish they could be a part of the event. in freestyle and slopestyle disciplines). On the

Hamish Trott (Reel Factory), Luey Chimpa Lau

International mountain biking event Crankworx World title winner Jill Kintner throw down the ran in Rotorua in mid-March, broadcasting fastest Pro Women’s run on the downhill. Dust live to a huge worldwide audience. Assistant and dirt haze the air like light drizzle. Director Isaac Spedding takes a look at some of the challenges of capturing the energy and Spectators cheer and rattle bicycle frames. excitement. Occasionally a silence falls over the crowd as someone’s trick begins to go wrong. You can The massive achievements of the athletes at hear the athlete scream, and hear the impact on Crankworx in Rotorua are amazing to witness in the mud. Thanks to the sponsors, several million person. Nothing beats seeing Freestyle Mountain other people also get a look at the action of a Bike athlete Brandon Semenuk, known for his tour that also travels to France and Canada. parts in Red Bull videos, throw a double backflip over the final jump at the Slopestyle event or This year there was more to it than just breaking witnessing Olympic medallist and three-time records and setting new standards. NZ mountain Jon Drew (camera operator for Pinkbike)

14 | CREWED CREWED | 15 Taylor, Executive Producer of Crankworx. “A Highlight packages add another potential 360+ great combination of Boombox and OBS - the million viewers post event on channels such as best local production services provider we have the UK’s Bike Channel and airlines including Air worked with! We take a lot of learnings over New Zealand. the years of broadcasting Mountain Bike events and also have to be very creative with a small The feeling of being there, that sense of budget (relative to broadcast budgets of other realness that the broadcast industry constantly international live events). It’s an aggressive, lean pursues through technological developments plan that takes incredible teamwork to execute seems closer and closer each time an event like and Crankworx Rotorua 2016 was magical for us. this is produced. The risks of the sport, the joys It has set the bar for us now for the rest of the of victory and the crushing impact of mistakes

Photo: Isaac Spedding Photo: Claude Merkel (Red Bull Media House) 2016 Crankworx World tour.” and defeat are all captured in HD and heard as if you were standing beside the track. The real As this length did not even reach the start of the The show goes out via satellite to content and broadcast worlds are currently converging, track, a LiveU cellular transmission system was distribution partners IMG and Red Bull. The and I hope that through the amazing used to capture the start of the track. The system potential viewership for live broadcast (source: storytelling of the team involved and the connected to six cellular modems across Vodafone IMG) is over 1 billion people and covers progression of our industry the two worlds will and Telecom networks and sent a delayed camera sporting channels such as Sky Sports (New be one and the same someday. This was a great feed to the HD4 truck for use in the live show. “To Zealand), Trans World Sports Network (40 event to work on and I look forward to what is give the show our unique feel we also had a cable channels worldwide) and EDGEsport (China). possible for our industry into the future. camera and a Sony A7S mounted on a Ronin-M with a wireless radio link back to the HD4 truck,” Field Producer Marilou Fauteux explained.

Behind the visuals lies a complex audio production managed by Audio Supervisor and Wellington local Adam Dransfield and assistant Kane Williams. Adam said, “The two big challenges are the speed of the competition and that our commentators are also being fed ground engaging with the athletes are former to the course PA system. This makes it difficult pro snowboarder and four-time X-Games to get good crowd and bike effects while medallist Tina Dixon and Vancouver-based TV minimising the amount of PA noise.” sports presenter Hannah Bernard. The strategy for capturing sound through the Outside Broadcast (OSB) runs the HD4, a 15.5 whole course was to place microphones on as metre semi-trailer capable of running 16 cameras many jumps as possible. When camera circuits and six XT3 EVS replay units. For Crankworx seven were not available, radio links provided a fast Sony HDC1500 cameras were deployed, three alternative and avoided the need to run cables Marshall CV500 Minicams and three EVS machines through crowded areas. In addition to the captured and recut the action live. 20 crew were effects microphones, there were numerous required to smoothly run the equipment. presenter microphones including field reporter kits with IFB and an athlete headset and Technical Manager Neil Thompson said, “Of microphone kit. The shows were mixed on the the four courses captured, the downhill course Lawo mc²66 console in OSB’s HD4 truck. was the most challenging, with 2000 metres of 12 core single mode distribution fibre and 500 “It was the best production work we have ever metres of standard camera cable installed.” done for any Crankworx festival,” said Mark ‘Skip’

16 | CREWED CREWED | 17 drawing out the truth PETER PARNHAM LOOKS AT 25 APRIL

As New Zealanders mark Anzac Day, animated project 25 April. She was well aware that this writers didn’t even know who would win the war a true story. The ethics, techniques, and truth of documentary feature 25 April opens. Around history had been traversed many times but was or when the nightmare would end. documentary making apply. With Pooley, you get 8,000 NZ soldiers were killed or wounded during attracted by producer Matthew Metcalfe’s idea to a sense she would never work any other way. the campaign; the equivalent number today, step outside the typical war documentary built Those writings were bought to life by six actors, given population growth, would be over 35,000. around old men reminiscing and do something using the words of five soldiers and one nurse in “The only time we changed anything in the What’s worse, New Zealanders were only a very different. an animated interview format created from the diaries was sometimes to make it sound less small part of the whole thing. Australians suffered diaries. From those interviews, Pooley edited and formal because they wrote in a very formal over three times as many casualties, the British There’s nothing wrong with those traditional structured a narrative, and intercut them with way. Sometimes we would make it more over nine times as many. docos, but Metcalfe’s idea was to approach 25 accompanying sequences. In this respect, the conversational but we didn’t ever want to put April as an animated film, a choice that meant film does follow a conventional documentary words in somebody’s mouth. That wouldn’t be But for all their shock value, statistics and maps they could throw off the constraints imposed by structure. fair, for example, if they were critical,” says Pooley. cannot give you a sense of what it felt like for the what footage was available. unwitting youngsters who found themselves at A true story “In particular Bowler (one of the soldiers) Anzak Koyu after signing up in a wave of patriotic Instead, 25 April explores the experiences while In Hollywood, the based-on-a-true-story feature articulates that at the beginning he went away enthusiasm a few months earlier. they were fresh, before they became coloured can be as out of touch with reality as the 1915 believing he was serving King and country, but and moulded by all that came later. The film does Lords of the Admiralty in London were with the felt completely betrayed by Britain and really felt Director Leanne Pooley set about bringing those this by interpreting diaries and letters that the campaign as it unfolded in Turkey, but Pooley strongly that New Zealand needed to look to itself personal stories to the screen in the feature men and women left behind, written when the stresses that although the film is animated, this is in the future. The film has that trajectory too.”

18 | CREWED CREWED | 19 Yet the task was to make a compelling film, so has nothing to do with soft porn or gratuitous the selection of material was crucial. For a year, violence. a team led by Kieran McGee scoured hundreds of diaries and letters searching for the right “I wanted it to feel grown-up,” says Pooley. “It’s individuals who would tell the story of what it felt about war; it’s violent and sad. like. “You can make animation look almost photo real “It was pretty gloomy reading,” says Pooley. “We but I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to embrace had certain things we knew we were looking the fact that we were animated. I wanted to for, but one of the problems you have with the see the brushstrokes, I wanted to see the lines, I diaries is that a lot of them were pretty matter- wanted it to feel like a painting, and not be afraid of-fact; ‘it’s hot’, or ‘Joe died’. I needed diaries that of that.” expressed what the experience was, and maybe what the meaning was, not just what the weather Visual freedom was. “There are moments where you can use visual metaphors in a way that you couldn’t in live- “I needed somebody to be there at the beginning action – it would look naff. For example, there’s and I needed somebody to be there at the end, a scene where the British Navy boats turn into and ideally at certain events. There was a famous birds and fly. I can do that because it is animated. battle called the Daisy Patch. That was a big deal In animation you’re expected to do it,” she says. for the New Zealanders so I wanted at least one of my characters to have been there. As it turns The result of all this is a unique perspective on out, three of them were.” Gallipoli that doesn’t distance itself from the gravity of the subject matter. Graphic novel style Pulling the story into an animated feature “I am hoping that five minutes into the film documentary format means starting with a blank people forget that is animated and they start to screen, but from the beginning, the guiding identify with those individuals as people,” says concept was a graphic novel style. If you’re not Pooley. So far this holds true, as she recounts sure what that means, best watch the trailer, or more than a few sniffles around the debut better still, the whole movie. It is certainly not audiences at the Toronto and Santa Barbara film cartoonish or childish, and the word graphic festivals last year.

20 | CREWED No waste constructed and visualised from the actual To produce the movie, animators at Auckland’s historical photographs of the individuals. “The Flux Animation started with storyboards, and actors brought so much to it – it was wonderful,” then created an animatic – a sort of greyscale- says Pooley. “If we’d tried to add that through animated storyboard cut to length. animation, I don’t know if it would have felt as truthful.” The animatic is important because, as animators seem to regularly remind you, even with digital 25 April was the first feature in the world to techniques animation is a laborious process. In use Vicon’s Cara for its facial mocap work. The other words, if you don’t nail it down accurately software was also used for Star Wars: the Force early on the process can eat cash. The last thing Awakens. you want to do is create animated footage only to have it end up in the bin in the same way that a If you watch a mocap demonstration, you will Your Production & Post-Production big proportion of live-action footage does. see on the computer a wire skeleton mimicking the movements of the actor in real time. But it With the editing effectively taking place at is never that simple, and the data produced in Solution Specialist the animatic stage, Pooley shot preliminary the mocap sessions has to have detail such as interviews with the actors and used those to cut eye movement added, and be cleaned up, as the the animatic. computer sometimes misinterprets what it sees. Now at 400B Great North Rd, Grey Lynn Mocap “You always have to massage mocap,” says one After the animatic was cut together and agreed of the animation directors, Ray McGrath of Flux the actors were brought back to the AUT motion Animation. “I have a love hate relationship with capture (mocap) studio to capture performances it. If I was going to animate a soldier in a real- of just the sections of the interviews that had world situation like this as if I was animating made the cut. Mocap is a technique that uses Mickey Mouse, the soldier would look ridiculous. multiple cameras to capture coloured dot The same thing happens the other way with markers strategically stuck to the actor, visually realistic mocap movement in the wrong capturing naturalistic movement that is then context.” imposed by computer onto digital characters. 2D 3D mix In this case, thanks to the work of designer Aside from mocap, there is a mixture of hand- Colin Wilson, the digital characters were drawn 2D backgrounds and 3D animation in the

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22 | CREWED film. It was a practical and economic solution, but “It is quite a complicated process to marry documentary projects, Roger Donaldson’s “Such is the nature of the New Zealand industry also a challenge. Flux did much of the 2D work the 2D and 3D and have them feel like they McLaren and Toa Fraser’s Welcome to the Thrill we do a lot of preschool shows. This lifts us up into in Toon Boom Harmony, which the company work,” says McGrath. “It became a hybrid of – as well as continuing to provide post services a new category,” he says. And at a time when he has been using for several years on its TV techniques learned from traditional animation, to SPP TV dramas which this year include the believes worldwide animation is picking up thanks shows, including Wiki the Kiwi and the animated which we tried to bring into a more modern continuing 800 Words, Brokenwood Mysteries to video on demand, that’s not a bad place to be. elements of Tiki Tour. Maya was used for the 3D context. One example is a flyover that I had to and Westside. work, with the compositing done in Adobe After create with a raven motif. 25 April held advance screenings around Anzac Effects. Economics Day, and opened 28 April. “One of the things about animation that you The founder and creative director of Flux can’t do with live-action, is that it is a lot Animation, Brent Chambers, says the easier metaphorically, or in a visual sense, to underlying economics was behind many get inside someone’s head. You can actually choices but that it also opened opportunities. break away into these kind of artistic surreal moments. Because the world is already “I think when 2D and 3D is combined it gives animated, it is not such a big transition to the you a bigger palette of creative choices to way people are thinking. That way you can make,” he says. “There are some traditional start to marry creative visual metaphors.” scenes which are just hand-drawn animation. There’s a dog, which has been done in good old- The time-consuming nature of the mo-cap and fashioned, hand-drawn animation. animation processes meant it was a while after production began before Images and Sound “I guess that’s my little folly,” he laughs. “I believe had to roll up their sleeves and get to work in the craft of animation, so as much as we could grading and finishing the work coming out I wanted to keep that in there. That’s also why all Flux. the backgrounds are hand drawn, I wanted it to look like it was a crafted film.” Images and Sound also handled sound design and editing for 25 April, which was completed Still, he admits they did a lot less in traditional shortly before its Toronto International Film animation than they had hoped. “It was Festival debut last September. because of the time constraints. It just takes longer.” On board as an investor since the film closed, Images and Sound is also working with 25 Chambers describes the production as a huge April producer Matthew Metcalfe on two other opportunity for Flux Animation.

24 | CREWED CREWED | 25 For one set-up a member of the art department team had to hide behind a car with a smoke machine. Logged into CrewView, he could check crew view how much space he had to move around in before turning up in shot and ruining a take. DEMOCRACY IN ACTION Others who work on the edge of shot, boom operators for example, also benefit from it.

The image quality is good enough for gaffers to see when lighting isn’t performing as expected; for hair, make-up and wardrobe crew it offers the chance to get continuity shots without needing to grab actors between takes.

Sapna Samant’s short film Debts We Pay, which shot in Wellington in mid-April, also used the system. Art director Anuwela Howarth found it very helpful for multi-tasking. She was able to prep material for upcoming shots and keep track of what was happening on set, whether people were still setting up, rehearsing, doing a take.

“I had to be in lots of places, but was able to keep an eye on what was going on,” Howarth said, “and I could see when I needed to get back on to set.”

Technically-speaking, the image quality is possible because of the arrival of the 802.11ac wireless network protocol, which is capable Mills Brett Photo: On location with Matt Murphy’s Pork Pie of delivering data at 7Gb/second. Outside of a testing lab it’s more likely to deliver c2Gb/second,

Photo: Sapna Samant Photo: On location with Debts We Pay but even that speed makes it over three times Queenstown Camera is the South Island’s largest faster than the more common 802.11n protocol, supplier of hire equipment to the industry, which has been kicking around in various forms recently servicing Disney’s Pete’s Dragon and Queenstown Camera’s Brett Mills is introducing The feed runs 1.5 frames behind the live action since 1997 - when Netscape Navigator was the Jackie van Beek’s Inland Road as well as the an app-based system to help productions work and probably isn’t of sufficient quality to replace browser of choice and hardly anything on a regular flow of commercials that are local crew’s more efficiently on location. the on-set monitors directors work from. That’s location shoot worked wirelessly other than the bread and butter. not really where Mills sees the business aiming, location manager’s brick phone. The system was developed in Canada under the but it’s plenty good enough to stop lots of Given that almost everything that shoots in and name Canacast. Mills is promoting it here under other people crowding round the monitor and CrewView’s wifi network is effective for c100 around Queenstown is there for the scenery, the more descriptive name, CrewView. help everyone to work more efficiently and – metres before repeaters need to be added to the anything that makes life on location more hopefully – more effectively. system. efficient is good news. In essence the system comprises a secure wifi network, which broadcasts the camera feed to Art department can use the app to dress to shot, Mills shared an early prototype of the system Mills currently has four CrewView kits, and is those using the app. The system can broadcast rather than spending time on the constant shifting with potential clients in Auckland and Wellington still refining the tech. Currently it works for iOS two separate camera fees simultaneously, and around of gear that goes on on some location recently, getting good responses. Blogging devices only, although Mills plans to add Android the app also offers the ability for users to grab shoots. On the in-production Pork Pie, where about their experience with the prototype, Film support. He’ll be bringing the kit to Auckland stills from the feed. Presently it’s only available for CrewView is currently in use, it’s the little things that Construction declared themselves “very excited soon, so get in touch if you’d like to see it in iOS devices. help keep the production moving along smoothly. about this new technology”. action or give it a try.

26 | CREWED CREWED | 27 Taika may be smooth and hilarious most of Before the shoot I had sailmaker Dave Giddens the time in the public eye but he’s serious too. make me a camouflaged waterproof cover and, Preferring to start the day on set with a prayer in no matter how extreme the weather, it did its job the wilder Maori, especially under the watchful presence of and kept my gear dry. Mt Ruapeha, where we shot the chase scenes, it wasn’t hard to feel what he was about. It was great One standout scene was when we, the sound to work with someone who leads by example - department, had to chase a Russian tank across attitude with enthusiasm, good humour, endless stamina The Fan - which is a vast area reserved for the NZ and never allowing his impatience to shoot to get Army’s bomb testing range on the flats beneath ANDE SCHURR GOES BUSH the better of him when the technical departments Mount Ruapehu. (For trivia fans, it was also the needed more time. location for the Gates of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.) Rachel House and Oscar Kightley’s My job was to record the sound on location characters were on a tank, coaxing Sam Neil and and that was made a whole lot easier when the Julian Dennison’s characters to give up. production signed up boom op Nikora Edwards. Nikora works at speed, can level with any Nikora used a hand-held shotgun mic out the member of the crew or cast, communicates just window of our 4WD for FX while I mixed the radio what needs to be said - and is super chilled. mics in the front passenger seat, the antennas punching through all that interfering metal to Then there’s the gear. For any sound professional keep the sound signal clear. in the industry, the gear I used would come as no surprise - it’s the good stuff that just works from the We shot the stunt car crash on a reduced crew day, Americans - Lectrosonics (8 channel Octopack with with key crew taking a well deserved day off after SMQV transmitters and two shark fin antennas) and a week of shooting. Getting the shot right was Sound Devices (the 12-channel 664). critical. We only had one stunt car to wreck. The car was radio-controlled by the specials department. A wireless boom was essential given the amount Very smart big-kid technology! After three false of bush, mud, snow, and moving vehicles we starts due to the changing light and impending were filming in. We used the Japanese made rain, one of the producers’ patience wore thin, only Sanken CS3e shotgun wireless coupled with a to give way entirely when one of the crew rushed Lectrosonics HM transmitter. in to fiddle with an un-monitored camera planted right under the area the hero car would fly over. Hunt for the Wilderpeople: Director Taika Waititi and Julian Dennison Of all my gear, however, it was my low-tech We all heard a furious “Clear the set!” as the light sound trolley that I remember most fondly. popped again. So we went a fourth time and that

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika There’s a winning feel about the projects Taika Waititi, has come to the big screen a mere nine Waititi gets involved with and he showed his months after it finished principal photography, in value again when the movie’s opening weekend late June 2015. topped the list of all time opening weekends for NZ movies – and the second weekend did even It was incredibly satisfying seeing the film better. at the Sylvia Park premiere after walking the green carpet. Green? Yes - green like the bush The film is good because it lives up to its hype. It of course! It was a moment when everything is smart, funny and each character is charming clicked in my mind. All the scenes, which we no matter how weird they seem. Even outlandish shot out of order and seemed so isolated, came characters like Psycho Sam (played by Rhys together and, complete with the magic fairy Darby) didn’t feel out of place in the setting of dust of post production, shone as one hell of a “a million hectares of bush” where anything can good story. happen.

28 | CREWED CREWED | 29 ended up being the take we used. At those critical deliver. Everyone did, although no one worked moments, a good yell can release the pressure harder than the art director Jon Lithgow everyone is feeling and bring about our A game! and production designer Neville Stevenson - who even played the crucial role of bringing A Doco I’m filming in the lovely not-so-little town of terminator pig to life on wide shots. Whakatane as I write this and I’ve already passed a giant cutout poster of the movie with Hec and This movie seems to have found the niche that and a DSLR Ricky at the WhakaMax Cinema. The marketing is is New Zealand’s own genre. There’s no morbid everywhere. It’s on the back of buses in Auckland, tragedy here, just pure adventure and drama on TradeMe with the auctioning of Taika’s script, infused with the wittiest humour. It’s upbeat, TONY FORSTER ON SHOOTING IN BERLIN Hec’s Swanndri and Ricky’s hoodie. It’s on the radio. positive and still makes it’s serious point about the objectification of troubled kids in a system The characters called the wilderpeople are brave, that only thinks about outcomes. Thankfully, real, generous, yet take no shit either. If I might Taika steers clear of the heaviness of such a take anything away from my time on the film it theme. It just doesn’t belong in the tone of this was that kind of attitude that we need on set, no film, which uplifts and finds humour in sadness matter our role. rather than dwelling on the bleak.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople moved at a blistering Hunt for the Wilderpeople was a special movie to pace and with a smaller crew than most feature work on. Taika’s mix of creativity and direction films. It’s the style Taika likes for these sorts of was infectious to be around and although it films - a crew that is able to respond quickly was a grinding shoot, the best reward as a crew to changes in performances and changes in member is to see the film succeed, and that’s conditions. We needed to just suck it in and indeed what is happening.

Photo: Peet Dowrick Peet Photo: Davorin Fahn shooting in Berlin’s Reichstag

In 2009 some young German doco-making friends enabled me to pull together funds for a couple of of mine, working in Auckland as interns for the days shooting the anniversary commemorations DOC NZ Trust, suggested I should make a film out in Berlin. This was to be the first ever celebration of my experience of being caught up in the crowds of the Mauerfall since the Wall had fallen. at Checkpoint Charlie on the night the Berlin Wall fell, 9 November 1989. The 20th anniversary of that I approached a mate, a cinematographer with extraordinary event was rapidly approaching. whom I’d worked many times for He Taonga Films and other Maori film companies, including By early October the idea had taken root and on the first feature film shot totally in te reo Hunt for the Wilderpeople: Kirsten Green (1st AC), Lachlan Milne (DOP), would not let go. My work as a first assistant Maori – Don Selwyn’s Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Darryl Ward (camera operator), Director Taika Waititi, Seumas Cooney (1st AD) director, plus a little generosity from a parent, Weniti (The Maori Merchant of Venice).

30 | CREWED CREWED | 31 Not only had Davorin Fahn and I formed a baggage allowance with Singapore Airlines – 30kg the doco: 30 days of shooting plus two good friendship, for this project he had an extra in the hold rather than then common 20kg. months of archive research and so forth. qualification – he was born, raised, and had learned Davorin was available and keen, and for his craft in Croatia, part of the former communist We knew that hiring a car in Berlin would be mate’s rates, for all of which I will always Yugoslavia. Thus it was no surprise to me that he hopeless, especially around the anniversary be eternally grateful to him. was keenly interested in my project. celebrations. Huge crowds were anticipated, and a vehicle would be of no use where we needed to go. In preparing a budget under Christina’s My idea was to shoot for just the two days – the Happily my German ex-girlfriend Gabi decided to guidance, I had planned for hiring a day before the anniversary, and the day of the come with us to Berlin for the celebrations, and was local to help with gear, translate when anniversary itself, which was to culminate in a happy to help carry equipment. She also proved necessary and suchlike. But Davorin had a ceremonial knocking down of a “wall” made up of extremely handy as a translator for some of the money-saving solution to that issue! 2 km of polystyrene blocks, called “dominoes”. We on-the-street interviews we did, when my (pretty would then return to New Zealand to put together woeful) German proved inadequate. He introduced me to his latest acquisition a promo and seek further funding for a feature- – a Panasonic Lumix GH2. He was as length documentary. Over the next year or so while trying to raise funds ecstatic about the camera’s capabilities as to shoot the major part of the film, interviews he had been about his previous camera Davorin’s wife Vesna commented that it was silly with people I’d known in Germany at the time three years earlier. Initially I was quite to go all that way just for two days of filming! She the wall had fallen, I was also seeking a producer. sceptical. Another plus of the GH2 was that people in suggested we stay for the whole week. Thanks to a Writers Guild “Meet a Producer” speed the streets mostly thought, even when we dating evening, I found myself in touch again with Not too long before, I’d firsted a NZFC-funded used a tripod, that we were shooting stills. Davorin had quite a lot of his own camera Christina Milligan, whom I’d first met at Downstage short. When we turned up on location the first Our camera looked like an average stills beast. equipment but was particularly enamoured at in Wellington. I persuaded her to let me show her morning, the crew pulled a DSLR out of the van Consequently there was never any mugging that time of one camera, suited to hand-held work the promo. Her first comment was, “My God, your and set it up on a mini-tripod for a car passing for our camera or any other such interruptive but also able to deliver “absolutely cinema quality cameraman is good!” shot. I looked around for the real camera. nonsense from the general public. We were images”. A big plus for me was that Davorin also had quietly anonymous most of the time. his own sound recording gear. The next day, she phoned me and offered to come Unlike that first scene, the majority of the shoot on board. was at night, of teenagers playing basketball. During our 2009 shoot we were shooting with Other advantages of working with Davorin quickly Fast movement in very low light, a camera with the professional-looking cine camera at Berlin’s emerged. Vesna is an award-winning travel agent, I took almost three years to garner enough funds a miniscule monitor screen, and no budget for a extraordinary Holocaust Memorial, when a and was able to negotiate a higher than usual to return to Germany to shoot the major part of separate monitor, of course. It became clear early policewoman approached us and asked if we on that focus was a major challenge. had permission to film there. We explained that we were not shooting for any professional However Davorin assured me that the GH2 was organisation, just a personal project. She then a vast move forward in DSLR technology – and made a phone call while we waited anxiously. that I need have no worries, even shooting at Fortunately she came back with a smile and we night. The kit Davorin put together included were able to continue with no further bother. the GH2, lenses, batteries, filters, tripod, two small lights, an editing laptop, sound gear and Davorin is a fitness fanatic and his special love is his “poor man’s steadicam”, a Blackbird camera hiking. In Berlin he would regularly prefer that we stabilizer - all within two backpacks and two walked from one location to another, often using tripod shoulder bags. Moving from mini-DV the GPS app on his phone, rather than taking tapes to SD cards also saved some space and trams or trains. With such a light and portable kit, weight. Thus I was able to cut out the cost of walking between locations was a pleasure. hiring of a local dogsbody from the budget. As I write, Davorin is walking the second half A huge plus of the GH2 over heavier cameras of the Te Araroa Trail, the South Island leg from is the ability to use that stabiliser for smooth, Picton to Bluff. He did the North Island leg

Photo: Tony Forster Tony Photo: November 2014: 25th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall flowing hand-held work. from Cape Reinga to Wellington immediately

32 | CREWED CREWED | 33 upon returning from our 2012 shoot, to celebrate both his 50th birthday and 20 years living in New Zealand. And along with his tent, clothing, safety gear and food, he is also carrying one of his Lumix DSLR cameras to document the journey.

When I needed to shoot some pick-up footage for An Accidental Berliner I went to buy a GH2 for myself. But that was not possible – a new model, the GH3, had superseded it. The GH3 seemed aimed at high- end amateurs, offering slightly reduced capabilities compared with the GH2. The latest model, the GH4, released in 2014 and drew impressive reviews including, from Digital Photography Review

“This is one of the most capable stills/video cameras we’ve ever seen. Panasonic’s message about listening to professional videographers Achieve Your Vision is also familiar but the extent to which they’re catered for is unprecedented on a camera with such a mass-market price tag…”

Davorin Fahn shooting harpist Camilla An Accidental Berliner had its world premiere at

Photo: Tony Forster Tony Photo: Schneider for An Accidental Berliner the 2015 Doc Edge Festival.

• Same sensor as Varicam35 • EF Mount* and optional user changeable PL Mount • 14+ Stops of Latitude • FullHD 240fps • Dual Native iso800 & iso5000

• Single Super 35mm MOS Sensor • PL Mount • 14+ Stops of Latitude • 4K @ 120fps • Dual Native iso800 & iso5000 November 1989: Japanese language student

Photo: Tony Forster Tony Photo: Mitsui celebrates the fall of the fall of the Berlin Wall

[email protected] ph: 021-976-993 www.facebook.com/Varicam 34 | CREWED *Panasonic does not guarantee the compatibility or performance of all EF lenses. For more details, to be updated on the Panasonic website. BTS See these and more in the online edition. We’d love to share more of your work evey month, so send us some pics of what you’re up to.

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