Road #1

Tomorrow, T and I will hit the road with everfresh cinematographer Katie Milwright to shoot a music video in Nambucca Heads, along the mid north coast of NSW. It's a beautiful landscape, subtropical and dense with heat, colour and noise. The last time we went there was to do some film workshops on the Nambucca mission with Wire MC who we had filmed as part of the feature doco Words from the City. It'll be great to go back up there and even better to hit the road.

I'm in the midst of finishing two separate drafts of two separate screenplays. As we are in the middle of the doco edit, it has been hard to get an ordered mind to finish the work on these projects. I always find, though, that a long stretch of road does the job of sifting and sorting ideas. If I sit behind the wheel and lose myself to a good album, something about that long straight line of road ahead does all the unconscious work. Ideas begin to sort. This. Then this. This then this. Then this and this. Until I arrive at the destination and know what work needs to be done. So, as always, much of the appeal of this job is in the getting there.

The clip is for Emma Donovan, one of the incredible voices of the Black Arm Band who sings a lot of her songs in her guymbayngirr language from the Nambucca region. So, we'll be filming in and around the community there, making the most of a handful of good lenses and the eye of Ms Milwright. The last time we worked with Katie was on a couple of commissions for the National Portrait Gallery. When we travelled to Canberra for the opening we were blown away to see another commission - a portrait of Cate Blanchett - that Katie had shot for artist David Rosetsky. It has such a great natural lilt to it - Godard rhythms, a cool little walking dance sequence, and one of the better stolen moments of watching someone beautiful put on a leather jacket - that we spent a long time in the darkened gallery space with it.

So; a car, a road, a camera and some nice folks to work with. Should be bliss. Back in a week or so.