I’m ready for my close-up

A new initiative at the white agency in 2012 has seen everyone participating in events that focus on specific disciplines across the agency. The idea is to help everyone understand the challenges, processes, techniques, highs and lows involved in disciplines outside their areas of expertise. We kicked off the year with a creative concepting day out of the office which was a great success.

In round 2, our Video department took centre stage with the launch of a film competition. Staff were divided into seven groups, and within each team members were allocated roles from director to production designer, editor to actor. The teams were led by people with no video production experience, with staff from the Video department taking supporting roles.

With only three weeks to produce a cinematic masterpiece, the competition kicked off with a three hour masterclass in ‘Acting & directing for the screen’ and ‘Camera techniques and lighting’. Then it was time to channel our inner auteurs and transform Ultimo into a local version of Hollywood, only with lower pay days, no back-end deals on the box office and fewer outrageous demands from self-important actors.

Red carpet premiere
Like awards season in the movie biz, the paparazzi were circling and the buzz was building in the lead-up to the red carpet premiere at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington on May 3.

On the Night of a Thousand Stars the glamour quotient was high (ok, four people dressed up and wouldn’t have looked out of place on the red carpet at the Oscars – everyone else was working a more Tropfest vibe).

“Riveting…We laughed, we cried.” 5 stars, Margaret and David*
We think the output from a room full of (mostly) amateur filmmakers was pretty damn impressive. The storytelling was diverse, there were loads of laughs on the night and it’s not everyday you get to see yourself on the big screen.

And the winner is…

Two prizes were awarded on the night. And the winners were…

Best Film: Drop Bears

Audience Vote: The Internet Stick

We hope you enjoy watching the films as much as we enjoyed making them. Next stop Cannes…

 

Band for Life

Tony Wall (Actor), Garry Law (Actor), Peter Scobie (Writer/Editor), Mike Barry (Director), Ingrid Prowse (Production Design), Lin Mei (DOP), David Gustafson (Sound Design)

 

Checkpoint

Katie Courtney (Actor), Cara de Ferranti (Actor), Graham Robertson (Actor), Eve Medvedeva & Isabel Matias (Director), Eric Natapradja (Director of Photography), Bec Mangan (Production Designer), Andre Karlsson (Editor), Peter Feltham (Sound Designer)

 

Drop Bear

Cameron Rickersey (Actor), Dirk Hohm (Actor), Matt Bertie (Director of Photography), Ross Dixon (sort of, Director), Sarah Miles (Writer & Props), Monika Natalia (Producer), Jaime Ryan (Editor)

 

Plastique

Hilary Hannigan (Actor/Production Design), Tara Loyd (Actor), Nick Salter (Actor/Producer), Kathryn Scott (Director of Photography), Paul Fiore (Director), Steve Wilcox (Actor), Scott Nolan (Editor)

 

Mirror

Gabrielle Smith (Actor), Heather Charnock (Actor), Luke Sandral (Directory of Photography/Actor), Susan Montgomery (Producer), Mitch Seeto (Director), Bruno Barthas (Editor)

 

Work In Progress

Brook Blakslee (Writer/Actor), Colleen Gibson (Producer/Actor), Dom Watson (Editor/Actor), Casey Glass (Actor), Raymond Van Der Zalm (Director/Actor), Rokshana Atken (Actor), Erinna Lambert (Production Designer/Actor)

 

Internet Stick

David Dwyer (Director/Writer), James Hinton (Producer/Actor), Dell Matejka (Actor), Jeremy Frouin (Editor/Sound), Geoff Goddard (Director of Photography) , Ailsa Mackenzie (Actor)

* Not the Margaret and David from ‘At the Movies’, just two randoms who accidentally wandered into the wrong cinema