lu's viewfinder

2009-10-07T04:55:00.007+13:00

The Prairies and its new bandit...

"More than 70 years after vanishing from the Canadian Prairies, the black-footed ferret is once again scampering in the wild at Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park."
Anne Kyle, Leader-Post

I am currently living and working in Canada, and it is BIG. After four months of researching the Species At Risk Black-Tailed Prairie Dog at Grasslands National Park, the time has finally come for the reintroduction of the Black-Footed Ferret, making this the third popular of the species since its near extinction barely 29 years ago.

Despite them being the 'bad guys' who will be the new bandits of the prairies, feeding on our dear prairie dogs who our team has grown very attached to, we have our fingers crossed tightly and our breathes held in hope they make it through this winter and settle well into their new home.

Dear Val Marie,
I love you and miss you.
-Lu...

2009-07-17T12:08:00.011+12:00

WELCOME TO SECMOL
– The Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh –

Video can be found on Youtube.com: "Welcome to SECMOL"
or type in/copy-paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JRnYVkSAU

Huge thank-yous go out to all those who supported this project and donated equipment or funds; Bryan, Fraser, Helen, Chris, Katrina and, of course, The Folks.
And a massive cheers for the support and encouragement; Natural History New Zealand Ltd., Henrik, Stan, my family, and most of all, Gaya and Jazza.

In less than 10 days, 1 1/2hrs a day, 5 students learnt how to use cameras and make a short film. One of the most popular responses from people when I mentioned my plans to teach filmmaking in India was, ‘but India has the largest film industry, I’m pretty sure they know how to make films’.

These students may be privileged enough to live on a campus such a SECMOL (Ladakh, India) to help them study and pass their national exams, but none of them have ever heard of youtube, played with filming or even seen a short film. The students made this short film in the final 3 days of the course, hoping to give the outside world a tour of this dusty, spellbinding part of their world.

Gaya, Jared and I had put aside one month of our Indian travels for Ladakh, and two weeks of that was all that SECMOL could afford us. My goal was to teach some students how to express themselves through film and share the way they see the world.
Right from day one I knew there were going to be more hurdles than I could anticipate. I had done everything I could to prepare, but it was near impossible to know what was waiting for us in the Himalayas. Email responses were rare, info on the students and available equipment was vague and no one had a solid idea of when would best suit this new course. The campus was much of mystery to us right up until we arrived at its doorstep, still not sure if we were in the right place after a flight from Delhi to Leh, a bus to Phey in the middle of nowhere and a 7km walk along an unmarked dirt road in the middle of a dry moonscape.

Here are a few shots to give you an idea of what it was like to teach at SECMOL, some of these were taken by the students as my camera was on a free-for-all basis.

WELCOME TO SECMOL
The self-sustainable SECMOL campus from afar.

Two of my students, Deachen and Tashi Lamo.

Tenzin and Tashi Lamo with two of the doanted cameras.

Dorjay filming the winter greenhouses.

Tashi Lamo trying her hand at editing.

Jigmat rehersing the oven spiel.

The rubbish sorting system.

Some local graffiti.

A lovely blurry shot of the film's first audience.

Dinner time.

Jared and Gaya in the dining hall.

Myself, Jared and Gaya catching rays in front of the solar cooker.

Our one night away, we hiked 9 hours up the valley to a remote village called' Diskit'. The altitude was outrageous - we could only walk about 10 minutes at a time before collapsing, but there is no stopping the mini-harmonica action.

The grandfather and grandson of the family we stayed with were more than photogenic.

A quick pan of what the landscape is like.

SECMOL is made up of a handful of volunteers and at least 50 Ladakhi students who want to better their English, pass their exams and live as sustainably as possible. They all live on campus, and travel into Leh for school. English is their second language in a land where they are raised to speak in Ladakhi, schooled in Urdu and used to sit exams in Hindi. I tried to learn as much Ladakhi as I could but this proved pointless as everyone wanted to speak in English with us.

It only took a day before we were good friends with many of the students. In class, they have an incomparable respect for their teachers and a hunger to learn anything anyone is willing to teach, which made my task far too easy and fun.

My lesson plan had to kept basic, as most of the time was spent double-checking that everyone knew what I was saying and what the point of all this was. It took them a while to believe that these cameras now belonged to them and the campus, that they could take them everywhere with them and that they could film whatever they wanted.
I handed over 3 small digital cameras that had a movie filming option and took AA batteries, 12 rechargeable AA batteries and two wall chargers (and two more that broke one by one), 6 memory cards, a card reader, computer cables, a directional radio-microphone that can also plug straight into the computer and a basic movie-editing programmed.

Day One: camera care, how to charge batteries and what all the buttons mean.
It turns out Ladakhis have a thing for taking photos of each other, hundreds and hundreds, however one of my students was strongly against this trend and only took photos of surrounding landscapes, plants and wildlife. They guarded those cameras day and night, not even removing it from their wrists when trying to shovel food onto their dinner plates.

Day Two: taking still shots and all the different styles you could use.
This seemed to get the students away from the snap-happy shots and experiment a bit more.

Day Three: making your still shots tell a story and how to make a stop animation.
This was difficult – breaking down a 3D moving world with no beginning or end and finding a short sequence to portray with a beginning middle and end. The best analogy I could find was to imagine you are writing an essay – what do you want to say exactly? Too many vacant expressions moved us onto stop animation; fun, simple and has an instant result.

Day Four: Computer class – adding music to your still shots.
I made the mistake for showing them a slide show from my diploma film, so from then on they spent all their free time on the computers lining up the hundreds of photos of them and their friends with local pop tunes.

Day Five: Using that movie option on your camera and all the different styles of shots.
Batteries found a whole new challenge and they learnt pretty quick that it was up to them to keep one set charging overnight and to be sparing with camera usage.

Day Six: Story telling with shots, making a sequence and putting on a timeline.
Storyboarding took a while to get the hang of but they got the gist eventually. However, with homework of filming their basic storyboards the message was lost, they simply went out and took more still shots or made more slide shows.

Day Seven: Filming our short film about SECMOL using an audio recorder, two movie cameras and one stills.
With time running out, it was time to dive in and learn from mistakes. It took only an hour before it all made sense to them and they learnt what worked and what didn’t. They were their own bosses; I simply followed them around to make sure everything worked smoothly. They nominated who would talk in front of the camera, who would take stills, who would do the locked-off filming and who would do all the cut-aways. We always used an audio sound recorder to avoid problems with the changing sound from the digital cameras. To practice, they sometimes spoke in English, and other times in Ladakhi so we could write out subtitles.

Day Eight: Filming and editing the short film
They came alive and worked well into their tea and meal breaks, turning up to class early and taking turns at fetching each other snacks and chai. This was the passion I saw in the New Zealand students I helped out a couple of years before. It gave them a new self-confidence, with each of them having a certain specialty. Tenzin was a natural Director of Photography, Dorjay was the mic-master and kept everyone laughing, Deachan was an efficient organizer and loved editing, Jigmat was a natural in front of the camera and Tashi Lamo helped to keep everyone motivated and the filming/photographing ticking over.

Day Nine: A whole day of editing and final bits’n’bobs for the short film.
They coined the term ‘short but sweet’ as a reminder every time they went out to re-film things or do pick-up shots, practically running all over campus.
Day Ten: The Premiere of ‘Welcome to SECMOL’ in front of all the students and volunteers.
Jigmat stood up for the traditional pre-screening speech, first in Ladakhi then in English, apologizing for the amateur nature of their first film and how they hoped everyone would like it. It was such a hit they screened it twice. Rebecca, the volunteer coordinator, had been away for our whole two weeks at SECMOL and returned just in time for our leaving and the film's first screening. Apart from a few misinterpretations in the subtitles, she seemed impressed which was a huge relief.

My fingers are crossed the students’ film can be used on their website to help explain the mystery of SECMOL to the outside world.
I learnt a lot about sustainable living and options that I will give a go back home.

I can’t wait to try this project again with another group of students, maybe elsewhere in the world *FINGERS CROSSED*

2009-02-07T21:34:00.012+13:00

The reason we headed to Bristol

The reason I stayed

But only until Christmas

A friend brought me back the Sahara Desert - my ultimate dream to film after the rains. We finally made a picture from it on my last night, and hung it in the backpackers. Cheers Sam!

England has outdone itself with the political-correctness

The Bristolian remnants of the famous Banksy

An attic I was allowed to play in and attempt to turn into a den - shame about the mess I made of the room below. Cheers Phil!

Bulletholes in the wall of my accommodation - Bristol feels like home/The Hutt

"In Soviet Russia, internet beat you"

Seeking refuge in the London Underground after being caught in the snow in OCTOBER!

'The Kings Library' - spans several floors

Paddington

Never seen something like this...

One of the most emotional places in the United Kingdom - The Natural History Museum

The Man

A display on hundreds of tiny birds - beautiful yet vulgar

My childhood favourite - the Spider Crab

Every single stone of this building is breathtaking

The cycle of life in the Ecology section

Inside a plant cell! YUSS!

2008-10-26T06:44:00.002+13:00

Korea ay?

1. Kimchi may taste good the first few hundred times you eat it, but soon the 24hr sounds of a scuba-diver in your guts will be enough to give it a haunting taste. Same thing with whole chillis - they may seem like a good idea at the time, but...

2. Jay-walking is a no-no. Robotic, uniformed, mono-expression walking is a yes-yes and a great way to fit in with the 44million other people, until you look in a mirror.

3. Why are our public transport not as good? A 3 minute wait for a subway train is something we should all be taking for granted.

4. Who needs street names? Just tell the taxi driver a department stores name and you will get home. Or to somewhere out in the whops. Yet no street names doesn't stop every car having a GPS road-guide thingy.

5. James is not the person to stay with if you want to recover from 40hrs of traveling. We managed to live on NZ time - sleep at sunrise for 4hrs then repeat the previous evenings antics. It takes stamina and mild insanity to keep up with that boy. But there is no better way to be completely immersed in Korea. It is amazing that after only 9 months, a boy from a small town at the bottom of the world has a massive loyal following of Korean alcoholics.

6. Soju, $1

7. The toilets empty before they fill, so be careful not to overflow before you flush.

8. WiFi kicks arse and leaves to rest of the work to shame.

9. When catching a train from Daegu to Seoul, and the helpful attendant at the ticketing touchscreen computer repeats cautiously 'Dongdaegu, Seoul', don't be surprised when you find yourself sitting at an empty train station in the middle of whops and playing the role of 'lonely-honkie'. And to answer your question, Roper, yes, yes they do check your ticket. They will check your ticket if they notice you are in a seat that should be empty, since you were meant to get off at Dongdaegu to transfer to Seoul, and not simply sit and wait to magically appear in Seoul. But fear not, simply use distressed expressions and flailing sign-language and the ticket-master will scribble all over your ticket in Korean and you will not have to pay for any tickets to get you back on track for the next KTX. A 2hr journey can easily turn into a 7hr journey which cuts very close to the 12am train station closing time, but you get to learn some great Korean on the way.

10. Printing your own business cards in Korea is possible without knowing how to speak fluently. You just need a couple of hours and some patient and lonely helpers in a 24hr print shop deep in the heart of the city.

11. Tuesday night can be chaos and carnage if you just try. Bar staff are always willing to join in the fun if the bar is empty. But be warned, it is near impossible to find a bar in Daegu that can play Concord Dawn, Scribe or Shapeshifter even if you scribble the words all over your arm.

12. Karaoke. There is so much you must experience ONLY in Korea. It is incomprehensible. Finding a closet with a kangaroo suit in it made Roper a living legend in seconds. Anyone can pretend they are famous when in one of the front glass-walled rooms in the massive five-storey Karaoke doll's house in the centre of Seoul. A great place to watch the sun rise.

13. Need a lighter, power drill, lingerie, pokemon alarm clock, gum or some anonymous pills? 1,000WAN in a street crane-game, highly addictive. Yes... I won a lighter, and yes I nearly set Roper's flat on fire. I'm guessing proper lighters aren't filled with cotton wool?

14. Every girl has the same size feet. Size 8.5 max. Never 9.

15. Strangers WILL come up to you on the train or street to practice their English. I now know the ages and hobbies of nearly 30 random Koreans.

16. I forgot to call Carrot when with James - sorry!

17. I felt like a poor excuse for a female. Korean girls have mastered the art of looking gorgeous all the time, with ridiculous heels, mini skirts and meticulous hair and make-up. Not all of them, but enough to send the guys into blinding dizzy-spells of disbelief. Funky indie fashion makes them the cool cats of Asia for sure.

18. There is a pie-guy. Koreans are confused by the concept of a 'pie', but that didn't stop Brian, who lived in Timaru for one year, from returning to Seoul to open his own pie-cart. Kiwis are regulars here.

19. So hot and so cold! 25 degree days (even with the thick warm cozy haze of smog) but 5 degree nights.

20. Korean Air/Asiana Airlines rocks with its touch screen TVs on every chair, over 40 movies to watch whenever you want, games and credit card phones! Its not jet-lag when you choose not too sleep because of movies.

2008-10-17T14:12:00.015+13:00

11/10/08 - 18/10/08
One week in Korea - these photos hurt me more than they'll hurt you

And in no particular order, the winners are:

Lil' bits of James

So much paper it hurts - streets and streets just like this in downtown Seoul Nondaemun Market

Site of a where a pyro caused chaos and burnt down Korea's pride and joy.

the local honkie bar

4am on a Wednesday

Win a weener

Or a pig-gu

'I Love This Much'

7/11 at 4am. This is what you get when you laugh at the honkies.

A beautiful pest

Not a urinal

Ancient palace

James' homely room

James' crossing

Koreans leave there rubbish and unwanted possessions on the street for the council trucks and James

Wednesday night at the local honkie haunt

The old men district

An old man and woman have a punch up and blood is split. A sign reads 'Men Only'

Busted. James is not the best paparazzi. This is the only beard we had seen.

Food is so cheap! $2 a meal!

Red eye

Happy paua fisher in a subway

Subway transfers - piece of cake

We had no idea what this ralley was about, but Roper got amongst it (spot the cheeky whitey?)

Technology

Ewha Woman's University

Glasses rock

Edae (Ewha Woman's Uni) is surrounded by shops - surprise surprise...

Class

Forever a student

Spectacular architecture meets plastic pots

Street art

1,000WAN crane game - be warned, all prizes have a weight attached.

Bull-duck = spicey chicken = wicked

Bull-duck and James' fan

Rare street art

My first Korean meal - every 2nd shop is a restaurant.

Coolio

Beautiful. So much incredible art, design and architechture, it is almost too much.

2007-08-22T11:12:00.000+12:00

*COUGH* *MUMBLE* yes, well, um.. ok I finally learnt how to change the settings so now anyone can leave comments, so no more angry emails please... and no more porn ads!
*HUG TO ALL*

2007-08-21T17:19:00.000+12:00

softshoe!
the night before the big premierio
PHOTOS BY LUCI
www.myspace.com/squishycreatures

"I like to talk in a robot voice" OW!!!

and more!
Photos care of Piptastic
Hot

HOT

and more HOT

Paint the ceiling

Check out the band setting up amidst the dance-tastic chaos!

On the prowl REOW

O Natural Piptastic (and filmmaker extraordinare)

Anyone notice the crowd?

My amazing flatmate

2007-08-09T13:16:00.000+12:00

so now it is time for a story-book style post. the only type any of you would actually be interested in reading, simple because there is not reading (the comments are merely a compromise for those with no imagination).

after travelling to and fro so often, we formed some habits

but roadtrip ALWAYS = fun

even when sober and driving

we never got lost

and we always acted like tourists...

dignified tourists

Lawrence, even though you popped our tyre one rainy night at 3am with 2 tonnes of gear in the boot, we still love your playground. But you will never be no Milton...

so now for a recap:
Some of us felt it necessary to be prepared for a 1080 film-shoot. I think I was just an excuse to look like we were serious... and hide that I-haven't-brushed-in-3-days breath.

but we did look like pros. even with faulty cameras (NB the photos quality?)

to make a film about a tree, we first had to get inside the trees mind... found inisde a tree

we got up close and intimate with every part of its world.

some things were harder to film than others

but we had the skills, baby

and ALOT of gear (cheers Ed)

yes. there were sandflies

but we had ways of escaping their tourment

after working long hard days, well into dusk...

we would retire...

to our luxury accommodation

but we were missing a key character. a caterpillar
i headed to Te Anau when the season was right

i got a bit distracted by things weird

wonderful

and damn delicious

i found a short-tailed bat roost (1140 bats!!)

then i found him. the one we have been searching the valleys for months for. along with about 10,000 others just like him.
it was love at first sight.

then came the holiday. my first time in the Marlborough sounds. accosted by an octopus, meters from flipping dolphins...

romantic dinners in the dark on a building site

with the most amazing view to wake up to from the boot of a station wagon.

in picton i visited my dad's old boat from his navy days

then headed to welly to help out the folks at home, and dad's 'new' boat

even though i worked everyday there, it was a beautiful change of scene

but there's no place like dunas, and sarah and i are in the midst of some hard-arse knuckling-down. and i am seriously loving it.

2007-07-11T15:34:00.000+12:00

more photos as they always go down a treat
you're all smart enough to work out which ones are from the premiere (who looks the most tired??),
the Softshoe gig (with special dance troupe) at Backstage the night before the premiere and my wee nephew Monty (don't worry - I ain't turning clucky - just wana help the boy on his way to fame - and only have a few photos in my email inbox to choose from)

2007-06-29T12:32:00.000+12:00

yeup. a picture speaks a 1000 words... 1000 words more than I could on day 3/6 of no sleep. that drawing tablet was like a comfort blanket that never left my clutches *SIGH* i miss it SO much

but nothing can be hard when you have film partner like this. we never let the other one get blue. just down another hot cuppa or can-o-energy and have another i-love-this-film rant. there is no way in hell this film could have been as much fun as it was to make with this wee chica - that's what a film partnership is all about... aaaw *GROUP HUG*

2007-06-29T09:48:00.000+12:00

So yes... it's finished - but it isn't over... there's the festivals, the DVDs, the thank-you-very-muchlies... and of course the job hunt - the IDEAL JOB hunt

I have so much I could ramble on about to recap the past month or two... but I am at work and the boss is looking over my shoulder (yes that's right: work + boss = life after the film - at least until September).

The strangest thing is to go from 6 sleepless days+nights to intense celebrations (a dance presformance, a gig and a premiere all within 24hrs of the hand-in) to home-time in Welly, then into a 9-5 job helping put together a book.

My folks came for the premiere and kidnapped me back to Welly for a few days. Saw my newest niece, Isabel, for the first time and got me the obligatory bad photo of Aunty Lu - to be saved for a tacky 21st T-shirt print or cake-image ha! And I hope the act of putting a bad photo on the net of myself says something good about me (despite the fact I have yet to find a good one)

Its only when you have time to stop do you realise that your entire NHFC family is breaking up and going back to where they came from... and only then do you truely understand that they are the only 10 people who shared the most intense 12 months and know how it feels... I would love to compare notes with those who went before us and those who are about to start - even though the days of '12months' are over and now to be '2years'

Cheers for checking out this blog - sorry for the lack of exciting posts - but I'm sure the silence speaks for itself (hmmm too deep to make sense?)

And now that I have discovered the internet again, there will be more posts to come.

We got accepted to our 1st festival, up in good ol' Palmy N. Fingers-crossed for a few drive-by shootings at the time just to add that extra spice factor to the Aotearoa Environmental Film Festival

Sarah loves this internet thing so no doubt our film's webpages will be undated to the max yo!
Our film "A Moment of Clarity..." has a blogger site and a BEBO site.
But I'm still a techno-phobe... Ha... go figure...

BOOYAH! taught mahsel' how ta do dem words links to pages thang! Look out Bill Gates!

2007-02-27T16:14:00.000+13:00

Point to ponder: It has been a LONG time...

Lots tend to happen in between postings if almost 4 months goes by without a word. So here's the plan Stan, of the millions of stories to tell between then and now, here is a few you may be interested in. The catch is you have to leave me a comment as to what ones you want to hear about, the more votes, the faster I'll get round to blogging. Hmmm, hope this doesn't sound too pretentious, lazy, presumptuous and several others words I can't spell.
Here goes:

* The marathon film shoot involving tree climbing, nest raiding, cameras in bread bags, a 2hr bug lecture after 24hrs of no sleep and a flat tyre in Lawrence at 2am

* Bats - of the long-tailed variety. Hunting, trapping, shaving and transmittering. More hunting, more tracking, losing the trail and sleeping all day. Possibly the last surviving roost in Hanging Rock. Keep and eye out for the short film.

* Music man of the moment. Stalking The Nomad for need of his juicy beats. Meeting up in Wellywood and having the best night out in lil' ol' Eastbourne village at his gig.

* The second and *FINGERS CROSSED* final shooting trip. 5 days of beauty shots, jib arms, heavy packs, hunting bugs and a waaay too over-the-top car commercial. Not to mention letting the Glenorchy motor camp believe we are a mad lesbian couple.

* Internship - make 2X 30s commercials for the EARTH FROM ABOVE exhibition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - piece of cake right? I still can't work out how those brick walls pop-up so quickly. A simple 1-week job and its now almost 2 months.

* Escape from the dirty South to knuckle down into some rough-cut whatnot. Once again, those damn brick walls! But its ok, I have now discovered the secret order for narration, music and shot sequence *TAPS NOSE*

* Discovering the animator within - and the lack of professionalism and time without

* Our first NHFC design class. *SIGH* it feels like home. Even the new lecturer Ralf had me swooning over his ironic and synical outlook on technological fads... such as blogging

2006-10-29T18:11:00.001+13:00

Ok, so Sarah and I are sitting in the computer lab, late on Sunday night, writing our film proposal and shooting script.
Here's a rough diagram we are using for our brainstorming. We are open for story lines - just stare (at this fabulous drawing) and share (your idea with us). We head to Mt Aspiring National Park tomorrow so your time starts now.

Please note: ideas and plots will be considered up until May for our June screening).

2006-10-11T10:22:00.000+13:00

P.S. I forgot to mention I have hidden a couple of new posts amongst my old ones... I think.

2006-10-11T09:45:00.000+13:00

Trees trees trees - All this talk but where's the walk?

Let the hunt... begin *DRAMATIC MUSIC*

Even in the middle of a city we hunt out the only we-ain't-botanists-but-we-can-tell-what-this-is beech tree in Dunedin (a.k.a. the only labelled one)

So this is where all those long hours of research pay off - we know what the scientific name is (lets not get into pronounciation)

But you can never be too sure about those labels. Best to check the tag around the trunk...

...then play 'expert' and give your partner confidence that you actually know what you're looking for by pretending to inspect the tree (it is very important to include the 'hmmm', 'not divaricating, i see...' and various other sounds of contemplation - basically all the skills you learn from an ecology degree).

Lastly inform the masses, who are waiting on the edge of their seats, that yes... this is in fact... a beech tree.

Now stand back and let the unification take place.

But NO TOUCHY!

2006-10-10T11:38:00.001+13:00

It's all about letting the pictures breathe...

...a few thousand feet up in the air.

Big-Ups to Bojunizzle for getting these pics to me - via film camera & scanner!
I don't see the point in rambling on about the aerial photography trip (even though it was faaaantastic), as everyone else has already blogged about it *HINT: check out the other blogs yo*

2006-10-09T22:15:00.000+13:00

*PLEASE ADOPT AN OTT INFOMERCIAL VOICE WHEN READING THIS NEXT POST ALOUD*
Are you sick of searching for a reason to check up on my sporadically updated blog? WELL SEARCH NO MORE

Stayed tuned such misadventures as "When Lu and 3 other unwilling design students tried to design the students association", "What's that lumpy thing at the bottom of my bubble tea?", "How NOT to take a real estate agency to the tenancy tribunal" and "How the hell did our MOTHRA get best original score??". You can be sure all these and more will somehow be associated with the NHFC course, whether you like it or not.

So folks, keep that cursor on that refresh button!

2006-10-09T20:39:00.000+13:00

And now something for those who are up-to-date with my posts.

This weekend I sucked in my gut and squeezed into the front cab of a 12-seater van with 12 other people. 5 hours and one 5-minute toilet stop later, we were in the Christchurch University Students Association building. With only 10 minutes stuff four faces with pizza and dress in black, it was about halfway through our first song that the indigestion hit and the legs started to seize up again. We hammered away for a good hour and a half while Joko played with shadow puppets. Believe it or not but this was the performance we had been practicing for all year and was the first time we had actually gone the whole way through and seen the puppet show. I guess you would believe it if you were there as we easily got distracted by the puppet show and lost track of when to start each song. We thought we were safe from judging eyes as we were behind the puppet screen, until suddenly the entire auditorium got out of there seats and started poking around the stage, watching our every move, our every mistake. Despite my sweaty palms, it was really cool to see their curiosity and fascination, just like a real show in Indonesia. Unlike a real puppet show, this one did not go on for 8hrs non-stop (as Joko used to do 6 nights a week for 4 months back in his younger days). Afterwards, everyone got to have a wee tinkle and we got to stuff ourselves with more pizza.

One the Saturday, there was a gamelan workshop where anyone could come along and have a go at Balinese or Javanese gamelan. Anyone, that is, who could work out how the hell to get into the locked theatre (it took us about half an hour and we were meant to be hosting it). So yea, it could have been the hidden access or the complete lack of advertising but no one came. I think we were all pretty stoked as we got more or less one-on-one lessons from Wayang from Wellington who is an absolute percussion genius (not as good as Joko mind you) but this guy was insane when in came to complicated rhythms from just two notes. It’s a shame most of us lost our hearing thanks to the smash-the-keys-as-hard-as-possible technique that the Balinese insist on.

So yea, the rivalry between the two gamelan was pretty obvious that night, as we had to alternate between our Javanese group and the Christchurch Balinese group, us in our two day old smelly black gear and them in their blazer jackets, sarongs and bandanas. Joko was pretty obvious with his watch-checking and the Christchurch Wayang was obvious with his disgusted facial expressions. But we loved it!

After a show you celebrate right? So when in Rome... you head to DuxDelux. Only all those who aren't students actually went, and then there was me. No horror stories mind you, just a sob story. Yup. Never let a struggling teacher head down the money track when you're trying to celebrate. The semi-jokish 'can you find me a job in Melbourne?' question from Joko to a friend who had come over from Oz to play with us (an incredible 'gender' player) quickly turned into a 'let me tell you a secret'. Well this so-called 'secret' was enough to make everyone stare at the floor with glazed eyes.

Joko is one of Indonesia's most prestigious puppet masters. Not many people can work puppets, tell stories and conduct gamelan for a whole night with the level of skill he has. Last time he went home, with his Kiwi wife and two kids, the head of Police begged him to play at his party. "Name your price" were the only words that made Joko reconsider accepting such a challenge after years of not practicing. 50 million Rupiah. There was not even a blink of an eye from the head of Police. After all, he was the most popular puppeteer. Now, he teaches gamelan part-time at Otago Uni. Incredibly patient, bubbling with smiles and always willing to help out in his free time. But a part-time lecturers wage, even though he puts in more time than most fulltime lecturers, is not exactly enough to support a family. And so he began his part-time job at night. We were all dumbfounded as to how to cheer up the mood from there. I'm pretty sure that was the only time I've been in a group that hasn't slandered the barmaid who had to kick us out at closing time. Good thing most of us couldn't afford more than one beer. I don't think Joko even finished his.

INSERT VIDEO CLIP HERE

So what now? Our next practice will be for a CD, New Zealand’s second professional gamelan recording, and if I can get my A. into G. there should be a bit of a puppet show video to go along with it.

2006-10-09T14:00:00.000+13:00

Can you say G A M E L A N?

Basically it is an Indonesian orchestra. They vary throughout Indonesia - Balinese gamelan is very different from Javenese. Each gamelan can vary in size and instruments. I used to play it in Singapore when I was younger and only just found out Otago, let alone New Zealand, had its very own. From the moment I got in touch with Joko, the otago teacher, I've been hammering and dampening. Enough ranting - here's the goods.

Joko Susilo - 8th generation puppet master from Indonesia. Gamelan teacher at Otago University. Super hero and all-round nice guy. I am in his music performance paper this year.

Ooo and the ornamentation! It's everywhere. This is the top of the gong stand. Helps it to look as beautiful as it sounds!

Shadow puppet shows are an art in themselves, but are always played with gamelan accompaniment. As Joko is also a puppet master, he has made all his puppets.

They are made from buffalo hide and carved using hundreds of different size chisels to cast incredible shadows on the screen. Plated with gold leaf and many colours, they take a whole heap of patience to make. This one is of a forest controlled by an evil god.

This is a brother of the main character, Wayang Kulit, who ventures off to find his family a new kingdom after his brother gambles away their one.

I wish I could name all the different instruments. There's 'gender', 'ponang', 'sarong'... (my memory puts out about here)

So how does this all relate to NHFC? Well, my slightly over-ambitious goal after this course is over is to head to Indo with my camera and laptop, enrol in an exchange programme and set about sharing the world of gamelan with whoever can be bothered watching my film. It has it all. Sounds, visuals, passion and mystery. I know I'm not exactly the first to want to shed light on gamelan, but who cares. Having something to look forward to is what matters, and those butterflies in my stomach when I think about it are a nice distraction from those knots of stress.

2006-10-09T13:28:00.000+13:00

Christchurch - it can bring a tear to your eye, but it just ain't no Gore

It must seem like only yesterday I was ranting on this blog about Shapeshifter and all their goodness. Well it doesn’t stop there. 5 hours driving and a long list of reminders written on the back of my hand of what I should be doing for school is all it takes to make 36 hours away from Dunedin a worthwhile holiday. Shapeshifter were to play with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. This was something not to be missed, although the back of my hand was screaming otherwise. We had about 2 hours to shake off those car-journey legs, find food and actually come to grasps that something we had to prepare for a month ago was finally here. Tickets sold out 2 weeks before, and I was lucky enough to get the 3rd to last one.

One mystery was solved that night – what do all those old ladies that supervise the exams do for the rest of the year? They collect your ticket at the door and separate you from your friends stating that your ticket is for upstairs and theirs are for downstairs, and under no circumstances are you allowed to go join them. But no time to waste. It wasn’t long before I found a group of drunk 1st year engineering students and hippies dancing to their own internal tunes. Looking straight down onto the stage was surreal. It was when the orchestral struck its 1st note, the bows all moving in unison, that I realised I had stopped breathing and tears were rolling down my cheeks. U n b e l i e v a b l e was the only way to describe it. The background video of New Zealand landscapes, from cities, to coastlines, to forest and sky, were tainted by the NHFC course, as all I could think about was "how the hell did there get that movement so smooth?! That's waaay too low for aerial photography!" Yup, school is our everything. The caffine-injected all-nighters to catch up on school which followed this weekend get-away were nothing out of the ordinary. But they were the first ones that I don't regret having to do.

2006-10-09T13:11:00.000+13:00

I love the tip… the smell… so sweet.

The end of the school term means a crack-down on those I’ll-just-do-it-next-week assignments. The hole I had dug myself was looking more like a grave. Before getting accepted to this course I wanted to make a short film looking at comparisons between NZ’s native bush and its urban counterpart – through time and through levels of impact. I got as far as a short messy clip before I got accessed to the course and decided to choose an easier project.

A new public rubbish bin design, made completely from rubbish – old bikes to be specific. I thought I could be clever and finish the prototype in 1st semester, leaving me less to do when the NHFC course started. My tutor was all for it too, until he saw my prototype and shuddered, claiming to be oblivious to our secret ploy to hide it and it miraculously appear the day it was due. I entered Nikau Bicyclia into a recycled art competition with 2 other design students and all of us received prizes (as there were only 3 entries in our category but we won’t mention that out loud).

So roll round September and there I am rummaging through the rust-splattered tip-shop. As I drove away with 2 broken bike frames, and the tip-shop lady waved having just ripped me off $8, I felt a strong shudder run through me. CHANGE GEARS! Been driving for 7 years but never touched a manual. This will no doubt be a reoccurring point throughout all my posts. But really its just a cry for helpful tips – teaching yourself has its limitations.

Think new life-cycle (how punny) of materials, think irony and metaphors, think city council proposal (or just slap me in the face and shout what-the-hell-were-you-thinking!)

A week later and like magic *POOF* a new prototype is born. Yet the fact that I’m the only person in the whole department to have no marks or feedback for a years worth of work is not exactly confidence building for my final mark. Words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated as that little voice in my head is simply whistling and trying to avoid the subject. I have just finished a 18 page report (mainly pictures) going over the whole years process, but even I don’t want to read it – funny to think that was me inviting you to ask to read it if you want to find out more…

So that was about 30mins ago, and now its time to focus on posting about the times that have stolen all that so-called free time and left my blog full of tumble-weed.

2006-10-08T23:04:00.000+13:00

Ok... let the countdown begin. Within the next 18 hours, this blog site will come under attack from the recapping-guru. That's right folks, yet another 3 weeks of excitement will be compressed and relived for your I-have-nothing-better-to-do reading pleasure. So what is there to look forward to you may ask? Partnerships and final film flurries, nosey-skateys, redesigning the university, music worth crying for and poverty stiken PhD Indonesian puppeteer and gamelan masters. Who knows, you may be in for a few video clips and stolen iamges! Are you ready? Right, start holding your breath... NOW!

2006-09-27T21:55:00.000+12:00

The Pitch:

It's a story about a tree, a beech tree, and everything that surrounds it.

You sold? Neither were our markers. But we ain't giving up yet. I think we got so bogged down in explaining our two story lines and how they interlaced that we completely neglected the fact we needed to win the audience over and make them want to hear more. Apparently we had a Hughie and Doughy act going on, but we were in too much of passionate spiel about our break-through style that we missed the mocking-potential.

But honestly, think of the new light we can shed on a mundane tree. Aerials, abseiling, fibre-optics, pole-cams, microscopes, cells, time-lapse, graphics and animation, music and a complicated story for something so simple! I'm completely prepared to become a raving tree-hugger, even though both of us are more animal-inclined. Look out Bot.Soc., you're about to be hit with a whole heap of fresh enthusiasm!

2006-09-25T18:52:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: These notes to self are damn annoying.

So it's been yeat another 3 weeks of blogging-neglect - surprise surprise. I am going to attempt to give the ultimate summarised recap yet.

Choosing a film partner - emotions went a bit like this:
> no worries mate
> am I the only one not coffee-dating anyone?
> hmm only one day left to find someone - the most intense panic attack (especially not being in the know about whose hooked up with who)
> had a chat with Sarah the night before the deadline for choosing - shocked at how identical our goals are
> had a chat with Dwayno the next day but was nervous to be blunt about having chosen Sarah for a partner.
> read Sarah blog the next morning and stoked that she's just as happy

two weeks later and we are hear in the zoology dept. preparing our final film pitch.

What we both want:
> to make something mundane become captivating
> its all about the post-production
> think stylised, think graphics, think unique communication
> charasmatic creatures is just the easy way out - we want a challenge
> it's all in the way the story is told - think festival audiences, not Joe-Six-Pack

*FINGERS CROSSED WE DON'T GET SHOT DOWN*

Other key points to the past 3 weeks
> learning to drive a manual! Chris left his car here while he heads out to sea for 8 weeks and I need to master it before working with DOC in November on long-tailed bats.
> Design design design - its been a waterfall of assignment handins and they just keep coming. Finished a council rubbish bin made from old bikes (and since I'm a girl I had to 'leave the workshop for a few mintues as this cutting tool can be very noisey' and 'get a boy to help drill those holes in the frame' - I found this funny as I have more power tools at home than most I know my age)
> Christchurch is the place to be, even if you don't ahve time!

2006-09-10T14:07:00.000+12:00

Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand. Where all your natural history filmmaking and communication dreams begin.

WARNING: the following post is intended to answer comments posted recently enquiring about what this course looks for in its applicants. My apologises for its highly formal approach

Before applying for this course, I was studying for a BSc majoring in Ecology. I also studied for a BA majoring in Design Studies and found out, along with both of the Heads of Department, that they aren't exactly compatable in terms of cross-crediting or lecture timetables. But both departments helped me out alot by making 'special acceptances'. My favourite part was seeing how similar tehy both actually were, in terms of communicating idea. Ecology had the complex theories and Design helped to voice those ideas. Design and Environment was extremely applicable and I found the readings to be something I wish Ecology would look into to help push some of their points.

Anyway, I don't wan to get too distracted from the point of this post. I found out about the course in my 1st year of studying in 2003 and got in touch with Lloyd Davis via email to see if I was on the right track for applying in the future. He recommended I do a couple of Film and Media Studies papers. So now Film and Media Studies is my minor for my BA simply because I fell in love with it. Its nothing to do with practical work at all, it is simply the concepts that underpin everything to do with film and media (e.g. the political economic approach to mass media). It was a huge eye opener in terms of understanding the issues I would face if I got into filmmaking.

Mark McGuire from the Design Department used to be a huge part of this course and was very encouraging when I spoke to him about applying, saying that my design background would give me an extra something to offer for the course. Photography, painting, dancing, etc. are all just as creative and prove that your mind can think outside the square of science. Yet the pre-requisit of a science degree guarenteed that all applicants had at least some understanding of how to be objective when necessary.

If you are hoping to apply for this course all I can say is that your passion and determination will be the most valuabe things to tap into. Don't forget work experience is a massive bonus (from scientific field research to media related jobs). Check out the courses website and maybe send an email to one of the coordinators to see if you are on the right track in terms of what they are looking for, especially since they are just as human as the rest of us and are still learning what works best.

All the best and good luck! I feel everyone can have something to offer to the world of natural history filmmaking.

2006-09-09T15:05:00.000+12:00

WARNING: the following posts are an attempt to recap the last 3 weeks. Be aware postings are a rough ride due to lack of sleep before this backdating fiesta. But you can rest assure that lengths vary to suit a variety of attention spans.

2006-09-09T15:03:00.001+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: There comes a time when sub-standard living conditions are no longer a novelty.

15th August - when the tenant calls for a flat inspection

*Leaves in the hot water first thing in the morning - actually metal flakes from deteriorating pipes.

*A weather-vain hot-water cupboard door that dramatically opens to give the lounge fresh air from the slightest breeze - acts as ideal indoor-outdoor access for local wildlife.

*A power bill that leaves you wondering how long you can cut back on food for until malnutrition kicks in - also directly related to how much winter wind is blowing past the hot water cylinder.

*Black mould on the roof of the bathroom due to unventilated showers and a dryer - a favourite of any asthmatic.

*Sinking foundations that are the perfect way to make everyone seem drunk at all hours of the day by simply walking around and having to adjust to the slant - furniture has to be arranged according to the slope to avoid falling off the couch, lack of blood to the head whilst asleep or not wanting those precious 21st wine glasses to topple of your shelves.

NOTE: This is the only photo of my flat that hopefully won't inflict nightmares - the open draws are thanks to the novel slope.

*Household appliances that can no longer fight the slant such as a contorted oven that cooks the wallpaper on one side and a freezer door that can help you choose what to have to dinner without even opening it (but that’s not a problem as the fridge and freezer is the warmest part of the entire flat).

*Sun - we know its out there, we just never see it from 9am onwards in the months of March through to November which ties in perfectly with time we are actually in Dunedin

*Rent - it doesn't matter how long you are planning on living in your flat, you pay for the whole year. 01/01 to 31/12.
BUT we were clever chickens! We came down in February to find a flat, saving two months of pointless rent. For some reason that evaded us, this flat had been empty since August the year before. They even said no rent until 21st of March! Bonus! It made the fact that the rent they were wanting was still above the norm not so bad if you did the math. No so bad for the end of summer that is. It wasn't until our first flat warming party that we starting to see and hear warning bells. The stumbling began from the moment people hit the slant but the psychodelic carpet was able to disguise all spills. Yet the peeling paint in one of the bedrooms still haunts its occupant after a story from our neighbour about the previous tenants drug dealings.

Anyway, the point of this was that I finally took things into my own hands and tried to let our woes be heard by the real estate agency we have to communicate to our landlord through. It’s been three weeks. At least the warmer spring breeze is a welcome one in our lounge. If you plan on coming to Dunedin for this course, just be aware that there is pretty clear line between expensive places with good heating, and not-so-budget places who believe in 'character building' conditions.

2006-09-09T15:03:00.000+12:00

17th - 21st August - the folks come to town

Its time to lose that graduation virginity. Never again can I be an undergraduate. I don't know anyone who does the graduation ceremony because they want to. Its all for the parents. Three years away from home and one day to prove it wasn't just because you were sick of the whole you-are-living-under-MY-roof ordeal. My parents were incredible. They went all out, its-your-first-birthday style. Mum baked! Dad smiled! We all had dinner together and even went to Thursday night jazz at the Robbie Burns!

But school doesn’t stop just because your loan has reached its limit and you have to cash in your papers so far for a graduation certificate with a photocopied signature of approval – oooh no sirry! Friday was the day we were all waiting for! The day of wind-swept hair and an entourage of camera’s capturing every embarrassing expression you throw their way. We were going to Victory Beach. Kat and Jint have the most comprehensive run down of the day’s antics in the form of a short film they secretly made. 8am until 9pm and it still felt like it wasn’t enough. I had an inner-battle when it was time for us to jump into action when we came across a Leopard Seal slowly dying on the beach. It was us and our camera-manic enthusiasm versus a seal to weak to scare us away. It was interesting to see where people’s boundaries were.

On graduation day I introduced Mum to my refined disorganisation and went shopping for a dress and everything that’s goes with it one hour before the gathering of the polished nerds (NOTE: apparently sneakers and what I wore the day before don't make the cut). Tensions were high, shop assistants in a frenzy and promises of a cup of tea at the end. It was perfect.

One key factor that saved the day was Pip's prep-shopping the day before in our lunch break. It was one of those scenarios where you fear for you life for the first ten minutes as the whirlwind that is "Speed shopper Pip" hits every dress store in a 1km radius. She sniffed of a collected of options and the strange was I liked them all. After that I was stunned, numb and rendered me a vegetable for the afternoon camera class. If you need something to wear in a hurry, Pip is your gal. I still get a kick from seeing the shop assistants duck down behind the counter when she walks by their window.

Had a bit of a problem identifying what photo-of-me-shaking-the-chancellors-hand was mine thanks to the make-Mum-proud makeover but I had my mind on the cherry on top finale. The all you can eat dinner. Sushi, nachos, salads, samousas, chicken, soups, apple crumble, mouse, and an ice-cream machine that could make you weep at the sight of it. Blah blah blah big party at our flat afterwards but ALL YOU CAN EAT! Best weekend ever! Thanks Mum and Dad.

Ecology Graduates 2006 - NOTE: we are just part of the botany department. If you're not a real subject then you don't have a real department.

2006-09-09T15:02:00.000+12:00

21st August - choosing a topic to lose myself in.

©DOC Te Papa Atawhai/R Cole

Sue Murray is a godsend. She is a flowing fountain of knowledge and connections, especially when I went to see her about my native wood pigeon (Kereru) research. She feels closely affiliated with the course, as she has had a lot to do with helping the previous years. It sounds like she got to know them fairly well, so fingers crossed we can hold her interest too. For a whole hour we talked about every angle imaginable for the Kereru and I left with a new obsession. The best bit is finding that so many other people have something to say for them and are just as captivated. Go you goo thing GO!

Later that day, I had an inspiring interview with Visual Intelligence, Dunedin tattoo and graffiti artist. His enthusiasm was contagious. I felt as though I was cheating the course a bit by going for something arguably non-wildlife related. But this is a project I feel I want to do even outside of the course down the track. The Dunedin street-art scene. Its something we are all a part of down here as you can't escape it. It’s unique. It’s inspiring. It’s a free and heartfelt gift from its artists - and they don't let one or two complaints dampen their determination to share that gift. Encouragement and appreciation and inspiration come from far and wide. We are small town but we have something big in our midst.

Alas, a brief catch-up with Richard made me face the music and choose one track to follow for our research assignment. Kereru won. It was a fairly justified choice as Kereru connections would find me a range of wildlife experts and, like I said before, I plan to pursue the street-art story even without course encouragement.

2006-09-09T15:01:00.002+12:00

21st – 25th - I love... pillow

After all the tension, excitement and having to share my room with a friend in town for a week finally got the better of me. Activities included bed, hot lemon drinks and constantly smacking the back of the TV remote to get that last bit of juice from those 8yr old batteries. But even the worst of flus couldn't stop me from going to Paul's camera class, if not purely to see people edging the chairs away from me throughout the day.

2006-09-09T15:01:00.001+12:00

25th – 31st August - I don't care if I can't equalise, I'm going to the snow.

Think three determined poor students, think campervan in a motor camp, think snotty tissues appearing in the most unlikely of places. Can't imagine it? You don't need to. I'll be making a music video of it. Yup, the idea came to me in a flash whilst sitting in the Treble Cone car park on day four after popping my kneecap and clicking my tailbone once again. Well, the idea to make a video about the trip was always on the agenda - the blazer and cravat added to my role as a filmmaker with a camcorder on the slopes despite their impracticality. The music video plan was more of a way to slow my racing-heart beat when I texted Jint to ask when our music video assignment was due: 3 weeks... But how to get around the fact that its in home-movie style? (i.e. constant shaking, poor framing and no plot) Just you wait and see! (…And so will I)

2006-09-09T15:01:00.000+12:00

1st September – Ranfurly

$3 toasties – 3 fillings and a pile of chips just because ‘we ain’t money hungry here in Raaanfurrrly’. I love you guys. Apparently they were taking pity of us having just come from Queenstown where the locals ‘have been ripped off their whole lives’. This is the type of town I want to call Kiwi. Shame it all burst into flames the following few days with the dry hot heat. Hope they are all ok.

2006-09-09T15:00:00.000+12:00

2nd September – all hell breaks loose.

The day I realised our story pitch to the class were to happen on Tuesday. Sleep is no longer an option, as my mind feels compelled to think the same pitch points over and over. But what to pitch? Kereru? Bats? Rod Morris?
Over the next few days I do all three. Most of my effort goes into organising all my Kereru points and story angle. A couple of back-up sentences attempt to cover the other two topics.

2006-09-09T14:59:00.000+12:00

5th September – to stutter and stumble and completely forget where the story is...

7 people gave their converting pitches to the class and 5 critiquers (Lloyd, Richard, Paul and Craig Meade) before me. I forget to take my glasses off so I can’t see the judging eyes and it’s all down hill from there. I lose the plot and find myself ranting for two minutes about how cool the pigeons are.

Even my “Illegal Tegal” story pitch slide fails to trigger the right response from my autopilot spiel. I cut my loses and move onto the long-tailed bat. The fact it’s a bat and (along with the short-tailed bats) is the only endemic terrestrial mammal we have seemed to have the foreigners sold but that didn’t stop my feedback from stating the obvious – where the hell are you going with all this? I didn’t want to embarrass myself further by giving a 3rd pitch (NOTE: everyone else was wise enough to focus their 3 minutes on one story). But I feel so passionately about it I want to share with you now.

The 3rd pitch: -disclosed for scrutiny for the first time
Seeling Wildlife - A look at the world of today’s natural history filmmakers - shattering that Attenborough Illusion.
I hope that doesn’t come across too pessimistic. We have so many incredible filmmakers right here in New Zealand. Not just the ones who go out into the field but those who sit at home and write, edit, do sound and colour balancing. The point I want to get across is that wildlife docos are moving away from what we grew up with – blue chip and Attenborough. It’s becoming fast paced, action packed and low budget. I want to share what it has been like to see this intriguing career from the inside, from eyes that were completely clueless prior to this course. Everyone who loves their job as a natural history filmmaker have reasons to love it – a reason I’m sure others would love to hear.

2006-09-09T14:58:00.000+12:00

8th September – Shapeshifter makes it all worthwhile.

The week from hell is rounding to a close. Pitches, 1500 word magazine article, a 30+ page report on my research on Kereru and scrounging around for old bike bits to make a public rubbish bin from. Keep your eyes on the prize is what that little voice inside my head keeps saying (I’ll have to thank that wee voice on of these days, as I’m sure I would have had a meltdown by now - not from this course mind you, just the extra papers I dabble with on the side just for kicks). No need for a nap before this Friday nights shenanigans. It’s my all time favourite bands night to shine. I’ve watched they morph and grow since the first time I snuck in to one of their first gigs in 2002. Waiting until 1am in a seething mob of sweaty first-year students was one way to come to the realization that Jint and myself were quite possibly the only two people there running on natural adrenaline alone. 2½ hours and two encores later, all I want to do is go home and sit in a silent room and live inside my memory if their music. Thanks guys for giving me something to hang in there for.

Plans are underway to sneak up to Christchurch to hear them play with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Yet another light at the end of a tunnel!

2006-08-14T12:55:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: These blogs could influence who wants to have anything to do with you and who wants to steer well clear. So get your foot out of your mouth.

Talking to my sister the other night for the first time in what feels like ages left me milling over something she said about blogs. Prospective employers have been known to search the blog posts of possible employees to see what they are REALLY like. "So be sure not to make too much of an arse of yourself", she warned. I passed on this piece of cautious info to a like-minded classmate, who informed me that there are only 3 of us in the course who seem to be having a bit more 'fun' with their blogs than our more professional counterparts. Before I knew what was happening she was shaking my hand and making me swear not to cross to the other side. Quite a dilemma. Not the 'staying true to the lucid posts promise' part but the 'how can I be taken seriously by those I wish to be taken seriously by' part. Here's hoping I don't bore the hell out of you while I deal with this dose of multiple-personalities...

LATEST RESEARCH UPDATES:
*Spoke with Richard about my attempt at researching Operation Ark for our lastest assignment. Then informed him of my no-car situation and the fact we need to sit a test to be able to use the uni trucks so travelling two hours out of town for a half/one hour interview could be more of an issue than first implied.

*He has suggested finding a new interviewee who is an expert on the native wood pigeon. "Do you have an interest in wood pigeons?" "Well, they haven't exactly won me over just yet, but who knows!" After talking to an enthusiastic expert with passion that could rub off on me, this could be a very promising path.

*Richard also askd what I would be interested in making a film on, not specifically for the final film, but something that has stuck my interest while walking around Dunas. Graffiti art. After photographing the Hutt and Wellington graf art through high school I realised how unique Dunedin's take on it really is. Minimal hiphop influence, fewer criminal associations and far more variety in media than most other cities. I'm already excited! But it looks like I only have two days to find sources with convincing enough stories to win Ricahrd over and leave the wood pigeons for another day. Still, I feel like I need to give those big plump birds a chance to win my heart.

2006-08-12T13:24:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: Have a bit more faith in voodoo...

It’s been over a month since I could last head up to the snow for a wee bit of tail-bone crushing and edge-catching. Too long I say faaar too long. But it’s not like there has been a free weekend in quite a while. I spent most weeks doing my voodoo jigs in the privacy of our course screening room to encourage sunny ski field weather and now fresh dumps with the plan of saving my fresh-snow jig for this weekend. I found a car load of people keen to make their lives worth while and head up for a couple of days. Forecasts look great - 2-3 days of snow!!

I trusted too much in my belief that forecasts often changed at the last minute (i.e. the snow fall would hit during Thursday and Friday leaving the fields as my playground for the weekend). But no, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the snow is falling so hard this weekend that it looks like they're closed! I should have seen it coming - saving up all that snow over the past weeks has bit me in the arse. The fact my tail-bone still hasn't recovered from the last icy experience is of no consequence.

So this is about as much action as my board will be seeing for who knows how long...

There was only one thing to do... a flat crawl. Moving from flat to scummy flat drinking what was on offer, ending up at my flat with a crowd of interpretive dancers/walkers, sitting outside on the balcony at 1am to avoid the fowl smell of the old fish my flatmate insisted on cooking and fumigating the house with. A little more consideration to my 1.30pm kick-boxing class the following morning could have been a good idea.

But I'm not going to give up hope or voodoo jigs just yet. There's still hope! I'm not sure how smart it would be to 'pull a sicky' especially as I don't want to miss anything in this filmmaking course, but mental stability is in the balance! Next weekend is graduation so snow is a no-go. But the following weekend is beginning of a week-long break/assignment-era. Will need to experiment with more superstitious suggestions to conquer that task of weather control.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

2006-08-11T15:31:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: get to the point!
So guess who just realised the there is a right and a wrong place to compose a blog! Yup, this place has font size and colour options - definitely something these posts need to break that mundane look I've been going for.

The point: Searching for inspiration. Been trying to get in touch with a DOC source from Owaka about Operation Ark and was lucky enough to find someone else at the Dunedin office. It even links to short-tailed bats! But hey, what about 'em long-tailed ones eh? Or that oh so important link with global climate change, asynchronous hatching of insects with plant cycles and the loss of the bats' food source? And with the loss of bats comes the loss of pollination for certain rare plant species... Talk about total collapse!

Reflection: I have realised that most other people are shocked to hear how far from the truth the whole idealistic view of the doco world is getting each year (see my first blog - if you can be bothered). It makes me want to delve into Rod Morris' story of a blue chip doco maker and conservationist living in a short, high impact, American market doco world. He's what I would regard, in a sense, as New Zealand's Attenborough.

Keeping in short...

2006-08-08T11:47:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: Be sure to carry a flat-head screw driver with me at all times, especially when using the Pool House toilets.

Ok, so it was the first time this year that my play-station addicted old flatmates decided to break free from the cushions and make an effort to move more than just their fingers. It was great. We all caught up and reminisced and hit the local pool bar to a few rounds. Still recovering from a highly eventful Wednesday night (notice how the previous Note To Self went ignored) I opted for a night of sober control. One glass of soda water with a dash of lime. Yup, one lime and soda. Yup $3.50. Yup, a drunken barman who kept on trying to slip vodka into my drink somehow managed to charge $3.50 for bubbly water. Yup... So still pissed off that I would have to resort to only one $3 lunch the next week to help make my $10 budget stretch, I felt nature call. I play pool better when I'm blind so I head straight for the loos without my glasses. It wasn't until I searched for the toilet paper that I started to piece together that something wasnt quite right. No paper, no paper holder, nothing. Tried to flush, no flush. Frantically tried to flush, still no flush. Reached for cubicle door handle, no handle. Clawed around the doorframe until I caught an edge and got the door open. The sinks were on the floor, the soap container a mere skeleton and a pile of debris in the corner. I suddenly had a flashback to some skit when someone used a toilet at a bathroom decor shop - a display toilet. Best to just forget about this whole incident really. But it’s a bit hard to sneak out of a toilet under construction when there's no door handle on the fire stop doors. Its cold, I have no cell phone and it's quite likely no one will be using this place anytime soon. While admiring the perfectly flush joinery job on the doorframe - leaving no place to grip your fingernails - I noticed an old drill-bit in the pile of debris. It took about 5 minutes to catch a groove in the door and lever it open. Casually and stealthily I slip past the "DO NOT ENTER" sign, past the "TOILETS DETOUR" post and back to my $3.50 glass of bubbling water. The only advice I was given was to go back and remove the old drill-bit for then next dumb ass.

I had that one all prepared for the next time Richard Thomas sprung the whole 'tell us a story about what happened to you in the past week'. But I think he's since caught on to the fact that 12 short stories at the beginning of class cuts a lot of time out of his pre-planned activities. He organised Mike Rubbo to come and chat to us for a couple of days (maker of "All About Olive" and "The Little Box That Sings" - another personal to ad to my 'how-the-hell-do-they-have-time-and-energy-for-us-geeky-students' list. He had a great tactic of getting us alone to a one-on-one chat to explore ideas and ideals. It felt a bit like a shrink appointment, where you learn more about what’s going on in your head than you realised. I felt a bit scared for him, having my babble bombard him so unprompted. He blew me away with his ability to listen, interpret then rearrange to help see things from a new angle. He helped me to even consider doing a film about a person, something I thought I would always feel a bit dispassionate about, but this particular person is someone who I have come to admire for his astounding work with natural history filmmaking...

Ok, Pip sitting next to me has confirmed my fears that my blogs are waaay too intimidating so I'll cut it off now...

2006-07-31T16:02:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: It is an absolutely stupid idea to go out on a Wednesday night with no regard for the following day of 9-3 camera class. And no, the 1hr lunch break is not sufficient enough for a 'cure-all-ills' nap. (But damn it Coco Solid was worth it)

It still amazes me how unaccustomed I still am to such a daunting workload. It is not anything new that’s for sure but sometimes you just want to switch off for a day or two.

OUR NEXT LOT OF TASKS: (not including assignments from the 3 extra secret papers outside of this course - shhh...)
*critique a short film on 'Being Santa" - I was blown away by its simplicity. Such a decent impact for such a modest film
*critique two Wild Asia documentaries (At The Edge & In The Realm of The Red Ape) - at least two pages
*write an outline for a story inspired by something you saw in the Monday ODT
*panning and tilting shots - following objects or a scene.
*film a sequence of your flatmate going to collect the mail - make each shot long enough to be edited after
*find a scientific article on a prospectful topic and note how you could use it for a film
*critique a short 2 page story by Annie Dillard *watch X-treme doco's before meeting the makers
*PREPARE A THEMED MEET-&-GREET DO AT THE ZOOLOGY DEPATRMENT FOR FRIDAY - budget of $40

It doesn't look like much I know but there isn't much time to switch off in between classes, assignments, eating, sleeping and the occasional catch up with mates to regain sanity. At least everyone in the course has that undeniable strive for perfection. Ok, enough of that - I'm sensing a bit of angst at having just spent the last 3hrs working on a couple of the tasks above and dreaming of dreaming in bed.

We got our first boost of publicity last Tuesday (apparently) - three of us got into the ODT while filming the DunedinMusic.com gig at Backstage - yet there was no mention of why we were there (although most of us jumped at the opportunity to be absorbed in the impressive range of local music). We also were lucky enough to get a tour of the Zoology department where we have most of our classes. We were taken into every nook and cranny, every lab, up to the roof where the bees lives and intimidated hard working lab techs with our mob-like presence. These guys will have to be one of our most important allies in making a successful and passionate film. Jay working on fresh-water bugs only opened his mouth for a few sentences and already some of his obsession rubbed off on us. Fingers-crossed they won't think were snobby simply because we hide away in classes all day and barely come talk to them - I feel its more the guilt from eating, I mean 'drinking', all their Milo from the staffroom is to blame for the occasional avoidance of eye-contact. Looking forward to breaking the ice this Friday at our 'party' - hopefully it'll bring all their favourite animals out of their costume cupboards, from native bees and penguins to Giant Kokopu and frog embryos.

My brain is neglecting to provide me with a decent seg-way into topics I'm thinking of for my final film. Initially the dedication was inspired by a jaw-dropped-reaction when hearing how much trouble they are getting in and how so few people know anything about our only extant indigenous mammals (despite my strong objections to choosing something 'easy', charasmatic or already overdone). I get the feeling its no secret that I've had a heavy eye on the short-tailed bats (distinct from our long-tailed bats) for a long time now, but this has only meant people keep coming up to me with angles I should think about. I know another student last year was thinking of doing them, but found the footage too awkward to get, which I always thought would be the best excuse to break out of the norm and experiment with different perspectives. Get inside their head. See the world the way they do. Forget narrative. Visual communication is more powerful than most believe. As well as researching different story-approaches, I hope to research different communication methods - talk to several designers, graphic artists, animators, artists, photographers, etc. We have a whole city of talent to delve into, from polytech to uni to community art galleries and workshops. Even this blog site could draw on people's input - CALLING ALL BRAINWAVES!!

However, I'm not committed wholeheartedly to just one idea at the moment. Everyday at least two more ideas pop into my head, a few being a bit too obvious that I've noticed other classmates mentioning the same topic yet with a completely unique approach. I still believe in keeping things broad for now, especially as we will have to pair up and 'be prepared to kill our darlings' (*said in a Swedish accent*).

Hmmm - I apologise for the lack of energy in these posts. They feel more like a stream of consciousness - a way of organising my thoughts so I can fall asleep as fast as possible without lying there until 2am with the same points going over and over with no hope of reconciling (so far its not working...). If you've made it this far through my posts, you should definatley check out the other blogs from people on the course this year - its strange how they already feel like family.

2006-07-25T12:58:00.000+12:00

NOTE TO SELF: Make a conscious effort to not resort to um's and ah's, well's and ...'s. Also try to avoid the typical 'describe where I am at the moment because I can't think of anything else to say'

SECOND NOTE TO SELF: Don't be too disappointed in failing to stick to first 'note to self'...

Write a blog they said. Update it every week they said. Sure... as though we don't have enough to do already. Its only been a week or so and already the workload is enough to render us an anti-social group of camera geeks. But I'm not complaining! Like everyone else in the course I still have to pinch myself to believe I actually got in.

Tasks so far:
*write a 125 word summary on you as a person for 'Wildtimes' magazine.
*write a paragraph on yourself for a lecturer to know you by.
*stand up and say where you're from, list you first childhood media exposure, you first movie, your fav TV show, your fav movie etc.
*make up a story from what happened to you in the past week in five minutes (every Monday)
*make up a story from the ODT
*write a one page story set in the central library
*write a short story on anything at all (approx. 1000 words)
*write 4 captivating sentences on Killer Kangaroos
*film 15 simple shots of a person, an object and a building
*film a number of panning and tilting shots
(NOTE: these are mostly homework exercises)