An exhibition

The King is Dead! was a wonderful film to work on, it was a privilege to be invited back into the fold of a tiny Rolf de Heer crew. We filmed largely in Adelaide’s inner western suburbs, and the perfectly cast ensemble of actors brought the quirky script to life with wonderful performances, commitment and Rolf’s consummate direction. I was kept extremely busy shooting not only the stills but also the behind the scenes video, operating the films B camera, shooting the EPK interviews, being a utility stand-in for the actors and generally assisting Ian Jones’s one person camera department. Riding my bike to location each day and working with many old friends on an interesting project made The King is Dead! yet another great film-making experience.

The King is Dead! crew on location in West Croydon, Adelaide.

Financially it would have been perfect to have walked straight onto another film shoot, one with an actual budget, but despite considerable effort no other film jobs were forthcoming. Even with some rather exciting possibilities in the UK in September, it was time to put down my cameras, grab the shovel and stilts and keep the income flowing.

The Blind Mice make their debut outing in Adelaide”s Rundle Mall. I am the tall one.

Keeping me challenged over this next period will be preparing for my first non film stills photo exhibition in almost a decade. Upturned Discarded Televisions will showcase the results of many years of Adelaide street photography with my ever present compact camera. The photo exhibition fits nicely into what has grown into a series of quirky social documentary projects born out of the Adelaide suburbs. The Backyard Crop(1994), Old Men Who Get Around on Old Bikes (1996), Loft Beds of Share-house Adelaide (1998), and The Hydroponic Room (2000) also trod these streets. In what has become a tradition, the exhibition will be on 24 hour public display in the Rundle Street shop window of Miss Gladys Sym Choon, and is a registered part of the annual SALA arts festival.

An excerpt from my Upturned Discarded Televisions panorama.

I am keeping an eye on several of my recent films at the moment. Attack the Block has enjoyed amazing publicity and has been called a cult classic by many reviewers. It enjoyed a good UK box office and was competitive against other massive UK summer film releases, as well as all the football finals. It opens in the US in July and will kill it on the world’s DVD market, no doubt. Oranges and Sunshine also did good UK box office, but has done outstanding in Australia where it was very well publicised and reviewed. The Eye of the Storm is all fired up and ready to be released, a slick new web page uses many of my stills and the poster is a montage of six of my photographs, always a great outcome for the humble stills guy.

The Eye of the Storm