Southern Film Industry's Winter Highlights

As the first of winter's icy blasts struck Queenstown I was reminded how quickly the year is whizzing by, it seemed like we just had Christmas. Now only days to the winter solstice and the limited daylight this season brings in the south.

TVC work seems to have dwindled in the last few months, however the southern lakes district has been kept busy with two Chinese TV series jobs and prep on MI6.

I worked on one of the Chinese jobs and had several weeks building a prop Venetian-style gondola and a 6m falling beech tree. It was nice to have the luxury of making props again in my workshop after usually having to hand over to others in the no-time world of Art Directing TVCs. A 21-day shoot followed with a full Chinese crew and their Kiwi doppelgangers providing support and gear.

It seems speed is priority on these jobs including lunch and it was surprising to see track, lights, jimmy jibs and cameras moved around in quite a cavalier fashion. If it can’t be set up quickly and knocked off in a couple of takes simply change the angle, shot or script to fit. The attached photo shows gripping and camera operation Chinese style on Lake Wakatipu, using one of their 1-metre platforms that pop up quickly and are used for a multitude of tasks from Art Department workbench to Wire Team launch/landing platform to a handy leaning post for Safety Officers like Wayne Allen our Queenstown branch Chair resplendent in red.

Standing on the top of Duffers Saddle as the sun comes up, driving back from the Matukituki valley, or just being outside all day seeing the light change reminds us of why people come to film here, and probably why a lot of us are still here too. As an industry we contribute handsomely to the local economy not just financially but also in the care of these locations through providing our own loos, rubbish removal, location fees and I look forward to the day that all users equally contribute to maintaining the loveliness that our country has to offer.

John Allan, Queenstown branch and executive committee member