by FilmInk Staff
How did this music video come about?
“I’d been playing in the Virtual Production studio at my job [Senior Lecturer, Film & Television] at Deakin University and already had made a proof-of-concept teaser to my next feature film DAWN out at Dreamscreen Australia, and was keen to keep going with the new technology. I’d made two other music videos for Dave Graney and Clare Moore (‘Ultrakeef’ and ‘Everything was Legendary with Robert’), so when they announced that they were embarking on a Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes 30th Anniversary tour of Night of the Wolverine and releasing the album on vinyl, I thought that perhaps both of these things would come together.”
How did you come up with the concept?
“Dave and Clare suggested Bladerunner and One from the Heart as references – two of my favourites, and I thought we could throw a bit of Streets of Fire in there as well. I read an interview where Dave had said the song was ‘a fantasy of being immersed in a world of a performing travelling life’, and I responded to the languid feel of the song, so thought that Dave could play the ‘musician’ depicted in the lyrics, always on the move, never settling, and being immersed in the city – a flaneur observing modern life but always on the edge of it. I also wanted the clip to feel like a never-ending loop, cutting through time. We see a band in the lush restaurant, but then we see them later on the streets, like they have never stopped playing. The dancers, once vibrant, have never stopped either, so they are living out a dance marathon, which touches on They shoot horses, don’t they. Virtual Production allowed me to achieve this world in the studio.”
Tell us more about Virtual Production and how you got involved with it.
“Virtual Production is a very exciting moment. It took me a while to believe though, because I work in the horror and ghost genres, so I wondered whether I could get the screen dark enough. I received a small grant from the Deakin Motion Lab to go to our partner Dreamscreen Australia to learn about it, so I decided to make the proof-of-concept teaser for my next horror project DAWN. It was wonderful working with the team there, and they showed me just how my ideas could work within the environments and volume screen to get the results I wanted. I was so thrilled by the outcome. So, coming back onto the Burwood campus, we have a smaller volume screen that is very new, so I took the chance to further my skills and make another project. I’m very keen to keep working with the screen, as it offers a taste of big budget world building on a smaller level. It’s a different workflow but can produce amazing results.”
Tell us about your crew.
“The crew that I used for Night of the Wolverine were mainly students from Deakin FTVA, who had just finished or were completing their graduate year or Honours. The Director of Photography was Ben Bellette [pictured, above], an ex Deakin grad, who recently graduated from an AFTRS Masters; he shot Mumlife that was in competition in Cannes last year. He is an exciting emerging talent and did such a terrific job of understanding the new technology and shooting these beautiful images. Dave Graney quipped on the socials that ‘most of the crew weren’t even born when the album was released’.”
What’s next for you?
“I have a short documentary Our Ghostly Crew that is on the festival circuit currently – I shot it in lockdown on my old iphone. It is about artist Michael Vale making his painting Our Ghostly Crew that went on to win the Moran Prize. I’m now preparing to make DAWN. Hopefully we will be shooting at the end of the year.”
