On Reflection # 6

End of week 6 and the first days of filming.

We cemented ourselves in Tuggeranong, stalking the same coffeeshops, restaurants and two dollar shops.

We did test shoots on our lenses, newly arrived from Germany. 

We revised scenes, rehearsed, blocked and rewrote, we walked through, danced through and fought through action, dialogue and the many looks and glances that inhabit the film.

We took endless photographs of the actors who, day by day, inhabited their characters more and more until the differences have become indistinguishable.

We tested stunts, played out languid scenes for the camera and tried out subtle variations of lighting in the bedroom where a lot of the action unfolds.

We watched as the first scene we shot was gifted with the most amazing combination of atmospheric elements; incredible sun, gusting wind and dust eddies, and volumes of light. 

We were in awe of our actors. We watched them destroy scenes with subtle, complex performances.

We met our hero great dane and fell in love with him, too. We drove to lookouts at dusk and listened to good tunes and disappeared into the world of the flick. We built things, broke things down, watched things and listened to things. We posted photos and stickers, painted bikes and erected pergolas. We chased kangaroos and chased light and chased the disappearing hours of dusk scenes. And through it all, life was good.

And now, at last, at last, with a breath of relief and bewilderment and anticipation, we disappear entirely into production.