Reflections on Film Production

Kia Ora all,

And the very best of the silly season to you and yours. I’m writing this with the laptop perched on the steering wheel of the film company’s rental ute. It’s the second-to-last day of what has been – for me – a seven-week job. But for some of the people around me, this is just another day in a process that has taken them years and which is still months away from completion.

When this project is finished it will be released, probably to some great critical acclaim and hopefully to some respectable audience numbers. Given the quality and the kaupapa of the people I see working around me, I figure it’ll be a fine film. The script feels right to me, and based on some recognisable human truths. I do know for a fact that we’ve only pulled a green screen out once on this job, and then only to conceal a safety mat for a fall onto what would otherwise have been a pretty gritty and uncompromising Wellington footpath. It’s just that sort of film.

There’s been a general agreement around the crew that it’s a breath of fresh air to be working on a film without dragons, elves, spaceships or even anything that could be mistaken for a digital effect. Our one big action scene happens out the back of a bakery in Lower Hutt for Pete’s sake! And I reckon our one built set would fit into the toilets at Stone Street’s K Stage. It’s fun, it’s paying a few bills, and it feels like a yarn worth sharing.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to watch a big CGI blockbuster as much as the next punter. I’m happily in awe of what Weta Digital and their counterparts can make seem real. And we all like it when some big circus rolls into town and we get to upgrade the gear and knock a chunk off the mortgage (or at least keep the landlord at bay for a few months).

But I’m also still grinning at the conversation I had with a – palagi – local outside our Wellington Council flat location last week:

“What are yuz doing on our footpath?”

“We’re shooting scenes for a movie.”

“What is it, some American shit?”

“No, it’s a Kiwi Samoan story, set around here.”

“Oh. OK. Cool.”

I figure Geoff Murphy – whose autobiography is reviewed by Waka Attewell in this issue – would have liked that. So would Albol, who writes with all his usual elegance and humility about becoming a Guild life member on page 5.

And so, I guess, would pretty much all of you. I’ve yet to meet anyone on a film set – from the producers down to the freshest-faced runner – who didn’t want to take pride in the film they were making.

For crew that means a fair wage and a safe set. Because without them we know that our skill and work are not valued by the production. And, just once in a while, a chance to be help tell a story unique and true to this incredible country.

Love your work,

Graeme Tuckett, editor

editor@nztecho.com