Echo of Shadows
Director: Gareth Blackstock, Female Lead: Vanessa de Largie, Male Lead: Giovanni Bartuccio, Narration: Eleanor Ruth, Music: Daniel Rodrigues, Writer: Helen Davies
Film Technical Details:
Super8 K40 Colour. No dialogue, soundtrack added. Two edited versions, 5 minutes and 10 minutes. A condensed version can be viewed below. The film was shot using a Sankyo CM300 camera with a Canon C-8 Wide Converter lens, and a Canon 814 Electronic set on 150 degree shutter. Shooting occurred over six weeks, one day per week, in the Dandenong Ranges, Frankston, Mornington, St Kilda, Rowville, Maroondah Dam, Brighton, and St Andrew’s market in Melbourne, Victoria. ‘Parks Victoria’ were kind enough to let us use their properties in the film. The film was processed and transferred to MiniDV by ‘Film Plus’ of Melbourne city.
Story Outline:
The film was adapted from a short story about a woman who learns she has a terminal disease, just as she has finally finds the love and sole mate she has been waiting for. The film portrays this story by merging memories with recollection, until the line between them is blurred. As the script is poetic in structure, the shots were taken in line with ‘montage’, without following the strict methodology, they were instead used to produce a ‘dreamlike’ feel to the lead characters reality and memory. In so doing, this enables her to make a promise to her lover that death will not separate them forever.
Storm
Director: Gareth Blackstock, Female Lead: Yvette Kane, Male Lead: Ben Evans, Camera: Steve Bathurst, Music: Daniel Rodrigues, Writer: Helen Davies
Film Technical Details:
Super8 Tri-x Black & White, and K40 Colour. No dialogue, soundtrack added. Two edited versions, 5 minutes and 10 minutes. A condensed version can be viewed below. The film was shot using two Sankyo CM300 cameras. Shooting occurred over four days in the Dandenong Range east of Melbourne, Victoria. ‘Puffing Billy’ of Belgrave were kind enough to let us use their train in the film, as were ‘Parks Victoria’. The film was processed and transferred to MiniDV by ‘Film Plus’ of Melbourne city.
Story Outline:
The film was adapted from a short story of the lead character losing her child to cot death while a storm rages around her remote house. The film script follows this and expands the role of the husband, who is returning from work that takes him away for weeks at a time. The lead, Yvette Kane, distinctly feels more remote and alone as the Storm bears down on the house. When the electricity is disconnected by the Storm, she lights candles to allay her building unease. Then, with a candle she goes to check on her child who may be frightened by the lightning, only to discover the babies death. As she carries the baby to the lounge, sitting on the couch singing lullaby’s, we see her husband boarding the earliest train home. As his train starts it’s journey, we return to the lead to share memories of her once happy family. Interspersed with shots of the husband and train, we see her brought nearer to the harsh reality that her life, their relationship, will never be the same again.
Eve’s Song
Director: Gareth Blackstock, Female Lead: Lana Schwarcz, Male Lead: Tom McCathie, Sound: Karen Craven, Music: Daniel Rodrigues, Writer: Helen Davies
Film Technical Details:
The film was shot on 100D Super8 film and privately funded. A condensed version of the film can be viewed below. The film was shot using a Canon 1218 and a Canon 814 Electronic set on 150 degree shutter. Shooting took place near the town of Kyneton, Northern Victoria, Australia on private properties. The film was shot in six days over a month. The film was processed and transferred to MiniDV by Spectra of California, U.S.A and Nanolab of Melbourne, Australia.
Many thanks to Lana and Tom for great performances, and contributing also to the style and method in which the film was shot by offering much constructive input. Many thanks to Karen for tirelessly setting up, dressing the sets, taking MiniDV footage, and helping solve problems. Many thanks also to the owners of the cottage for repairing and letting us use the property, not forgetting the owners of adjacent properties for allowing our entry.
Story Outline:
The film “Eve’s Song” is about a woman, Eve, in country Victoria who lives alone on a small sheep farm, set in the picturesque landscape of Victoria’s north during the 1920’s. A wandering farm worker, adept at travelling for food and shelter, arrives at Eve’s property seeking work and perhaps the chance to stay longer, as the days of walking are getting harder and longer. While both characters are capable of surviving alone, it is an uneasy arrangement they arrive at to work the farm together, whilst maintaining their fierce independence. A main aspect of the film is to portray the bleached nature of the Australian bush in the height of summer, and the manner in which early Australians survived and cooperated in times of need. There are very few lines of dialogue, there are no love scenes, nor passionate arguments.
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