April 2016

Getting it Done!

So Tarry and Josh have headed down to Gisborne on another reccie mission. They are going to check out Waipiro Marae which is right up the coast, as a back up marae to film at in case for some reason or another we aren’t able to use Hinetamatea at Anaura Bay.

It is Ariana’s family marae and her Dad worked on a television programme there so we were able to and attend the hui where the leadership at Hinetamatea marae at Anaura bay will make a decision as to whether we can use the marae for the movie.

The boys also sorted a coffin for us to use at the tangi, met with Liz from Wow Surf School who gave us some great contacts for surf doubles and met with Ryan who has volunteered to be our behind the scenes cameraman.

Welcome to the team Ryan! Tarry even got some of our Gisborne cast members together for some rehearsals. Great job boys!

Baking and Food Donated

Arrived today to find a fridge and freezer full of baking and meals for the crew made by a wonderful group of volunteer ladies (who are absolute angels!) We will take these all down with us, along with the two car boot loads full of treats from both the Campbell and Wackrow family. Feeling so overwhelmed by the love and support we have received.

We are preparing for our last shoot here in Auckland and then undergoing all the preparation to head down to Gisborne.

Capturing Footage from our First Shoot

So we have captured the first few shoots worth of footage… and it is looking pretty awesome. Well done everyone!

Filming in Cars

Tonight we are filming our “picking up Jess driving scene”. Had a pre shoot meeting and catch up with cast and crew … and featuring many delicious toasted sandwiches!

We then headed out to a quiet street in Orewa Auckland to film. We had a few neighbours come out to say hi which was great. It was also amazing to seeing how real our fake moonlight looks cast onto our characters. A huge shout out to Aaron Cleland, thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience with us tonight.

Aaron showing the girls how it is done.

That’s some epic moonlight shining there…

Jay clapper loading

Was quite a challenge capturing the driving scenes as we needed Josh, Tarry and Priscilla to all fit into in the car with the actors. Made for cosy times. Great fun!

We are really starting to realise just how monumental this project is. It has taken us three long nights to essentially create only 2 minutes of movie time… A late night wrap celebration of cheeseburgers was just what we needed. Great job team

Our Youth Scene

Today was an absolutely massive day. We had the whole City Impact production team out and set up for the scene in record time. Love our guys!

They worked tirelessly, so thankful to have their support here in Auckland… what are we going to do without them down in Gisborne?! Our youth started arriving and there was such an  buzz…  the excitement and atmosphere was electric.

We had makeup and costume stations. Tables full of food / baking that had been donated. It was really quite overwhelming.

We then kicked the night off with a bit of a party and then moved into shooting. The youth were so patient with us as we made them do things over and over again to capture what we needed.

Taylor- Rose did an amazing job singing an original song written by the talented Kane Adams tonight.

What a night! A huge thank you for all the volunteers who made this night so memorable… and especially to those who arrived early and packed down late! You all know who you are… Big love!

Our First Shoot Day

Today was so exciting as is was the first of our two Auckland shoots. We took a wee team photo (which doesn’t include the incredible Ariana and Michele). The people you see here above  (plus Ariana and Michele) made up the entire core crew of the movie.

To ease into things on this project we decided to film the exterior of our youth scene first, which was really straight forward with no dialogue. We had a number of youth come join us for the shoot which we were so thankful for.

Had the first of many intense moments like when poor Corinth missed her flight up from Gisborne. Luckily the Air New Zealand lady felt sorry for her and put her on the next flight for free. Phew!

So grateful and such a relief. Thankfully Ben was able to race out and get her while we were setting up for the shoot. Corinth was straight off the plane and onto set…

The team talk about shots…

The scene went really well, we are making sure that we get all the standard shots we need before moving onto more creative ones… this feels like it could be a good plan going forward.

Costume Prep and Planning

Costume preparation and planning with Ariana … as we are still unsure of who we will actually have as extras at this point we have gone and grabbed all sorts of pieces in a dull pallet, we can then add these to the scene… should work right?

Special Effects Makeup

Thank you Andrea for all the hard work you did today putting together all the special effects makeup for the shoot and practise and research into tattoos.

The tests you have done look incredible … very grateful to have you coming down with us!

The Fabulous Ariana

A shout out to this amazing girl who has not only been such an incredible help sourcing and planning, but has agreed to take time off work and university to volunteer to come down with us to Gisborne to help. Ariana, you are the best, can’t even begin to express how grateful we are for you!

Shoot Planning

Spent the morning planning shot lists for our first few shoots with Ant and Jay, as Josh and Tarry are away.

Props and Meetings

Today we went on a reccie around Auckland to look for a hall to film our youth scenes in and ended up shopping for some cool outfits and guns for the gang scenes. Here’s Tarry showing off some of our finds… we are only looking at the essentials …  When you have little to no budget, every dollar you can save helps!

This afternoon we had a fantastic meeting with the team who are helping us put together our youth scene as we need lighting, sound and plenty of extras. Going to be great fun!