Can’t believe it’s come to an end, but it’s really just the beginning for our little baby. So many beautiful contributors, so little time to thank, although I’ll be doin my darn best to thank everyone at our 3 separate wrap parties! We now say goodbye to Mildura and head back to back Melbourne for one last shoot day. Then we’re off to Nevada after a short Christmas break. 

The weather has tested us, but the crew’s commitment and awesome performances have never wavered. The final week was scorching here again! It was 44 degrees at the sand hills just outside of Wentworth on one of the days. My shoes melted again. Somehow my pale Irish skin has managed to stay un-burnt throughout entire shoot. Long sleeve shirts and ridiculous hats have proven crucial. Hurts me in the respect stakes (the wide brimmed hats), but I was never gonna be able to maintain that for 6 weeks anyway (respect that is).

As the shoot in Mildura winds down my thoughts begin to move to post production. Can not wait to get into that edit suite. My man Gary has been cutting up a storm already, but there’s just nothing like air conditioning and toasted sandwiches when you’ve been sweating your ass off in the sweltering sun for two months. Not to say that Gaz has a cushy job – FAR FROM IT — I’m just saying the working conditions down at Tide in Port Melbourne are a little more relaxed. 

We basically have 4 months to cut, sound mix and finish the picture to film. Can not wait. Could not be prouder of what we’ve achieved. I’ve said it before, but working with this fab crew and brilliant cast is a dream come true.

Limitations = Creativity

Costuming Summer Coda presented us with 100+ costume changes, 10 script days and over 30 characters.  With a big cast and a modest budget, we just couldn’t say no to the challenge!

From the beginning Sarah Parr (Costume Supervisor) and I put our heads together to figure out how we could build these characters’ costumes. We spent 5 weeks of pre-production juggling a balance between creating a look and finding what we needed to get it together. While I scrapbooked looks, colour palettes and designs, Sarah went on a nationwide hunt for generous sponsors that fit out brief, finding invaluable local designers to contribute unique pieces that we couldn’t live without. Amongst endless emails and hours of research, we spent days and days searching through private costume collections, the lofts and  dens of secret vintage wholesalers, department stores, city and suburban op shops, ebay stores, and even had far-off colleagues purchasing one off pieces from the UK.

As with any film, you need to pull together about 5 times what is required then narrow it down when the characters’ looks are developed, refining the look according to the direction of the director and the actor.

So began a stream of buying, returning, swapping, altering, dyeing, dipping, breaking down, mending and re-dyeing, in an attempt to make it real, as well as aesthetically pleasing. Shifting tones up and down to compliment locations and skin tones.

Sometimes the simplest t-shirt or the right coloured socks can be impossible to find. And with a limited budget there is little room for error.

As we begin our second last week of shoot, most of the looks have been established. There are only four more characters to sign off and we are almost there! Yes, it feels good! The sleepless nights emailing and discoloured hands from dye pots have paid off ! The oranges up here ain’t bad either.

My Holiday…… I mean filming Summer Coda in Mildura.

It Begins: Fly to Mildura with Angus Sampson, Dan Freidrekson and Pacharo Mzembe and get dropped straight to The Grand our home for 2 weeks. Very happy to see it had a pool, gym and sauna, although I knew I would not be frequenting the gym. Nathan Phillips stayed in a caravan on the river, despite the fact it was incredibly beautiful and rich with wildlife, he was very happy it had wireless internet. A big BBQ was put on to meet the cast and crew. I had a wardrobe fitting that lasted about 25 minutes and that was the extent of my ‘work’ for that day. Had a lovely night meeting new crew and catching up with familiar faces.

For the next few days the ‘pickers’ were required to train in the art of orange picking. Which we did at orange world, a charming orange farm owned and run by Maria and Mario, the nicest people in the world. Nathan brought his portable ipod stereo and I don’t think I stopped laughing all day. It’s hard to explain how funny Angus Sampson is. If you try and imitate his commentary to others it never quite works because it needs to be said by him, in his voice. It was absolutely beautiful to pick oranges with old friends, with music playing and the sun shining. If only I’d put on SUNSCREEN!!!! Burnt my face. In particular my forehead. We had a read through that night with Alex and Richard Gray and looking in the mirror before hand I told myself ‘I’ts not that bad’, It’s just me being picky’. Well I was wrong. Everyone noticed straight away and it wasnt long before the make up department sent me some sunscreen with the instruction to wear it everyday. They must have thought ‘GOD actors can’t do anything on their own, they’re like little babies’ I vowed to not let my red face get me down as there were still a few days before I started filming.

Those first few days of orange picking practice for a couple of hours a day and read thrus at night were beautiful. Heaps of time to swim in the pool and shop in town. Rachael (Taylor) and Alex (Dimitriades) were flat out all the time, while the pickers roamed the streets in search of good coffee and enjoyed being out of the rat race of Melbourne. When we were filming, we were always outside in an orange farm, or a river bank with time between set ups to play guitar (I listened) or read the paper or get ‘flown’ by Nathan ( A yoga type stretch he had recently learned how to do to someone, think the ’superman’ you used to do as a kid but more sophisticated) or take photos. We often did line runs and had lengthy discussions about our characters and their relationships with each other but it never ever felt like work. As a supporting cast member you get the best of both worlds. You are in the movie and you get to enjoy time doing what you want. Main cast and crew don’t enjoy this luxury but ’someone’s got to do it eh?’ But all good things must come to an end. Sadly there is no more waking up in a fancy hotel, opening my door to see who is poolside, having people feed me, drive me and tell me how the day is going to go, no it’s back to reality, to bills, traffic and me working out my own schedule. Bit dull really… when you compare.

I really had a beautiful time that I will cherish. LOVE LOVE LOVED meeting Rachael, Alex and Pacharo and spending time with my beautiful Friends Angus, Dan and Nathan. Angus and I sat next to each other on the plane home and talked at length about how grateful we were to have had such a beautiful experience together that had also allowed us to spend time catching up as well. I know everyone else felt the same. Good work if you can get it!

What a week. It always takes some time for a crew to find their groove and we’ve certainly hit fifth gear. Our team is the perfect mix of talented young blood coming through and the more experienced older guard. Everyone’s gelling and it’s fantastic to know the production is in great hands. The cast are all ace.  Rachael and Alex are amazing talents and true professionals who deliver take after take. They’re bringing so much life and depth to Richie’s characters and their passion to tell this story is infectious. Chemistry is a strange thing and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we first viewed our two leads spar on screen. The pickers arrived this week and they all brought so much energy to their characters. It’s electric and awesome that the pickers also have their own wonderful and unique chemistry. We know for certain that the films humour is going to resonate with audiences just from watching the rushes. Our director is the real deal, a genuine talent and everyone is amazed that this is his first feature.  You simply wouldn’t know it from watching him in action. He’s so decisive and sure in what he wants and needs and this confidence has a knock on effect with everyone else working on the production. It’s a privilege and an honour to collaborate with Richie to realise his dream, this picture, and tell this beautiful story in some small way.

The major hurdle for the week was the weather. Ironically enough after one hell of a heat wave, which we soldiered through, this week was overcast and rained on and off. Not great considering we were shooting exteriors in our stunning citrus block, one of our major locations. But after some ingenious re-working of the schedule we were able to make it work and push some of the more important romantic summer scenes to later in the week. All of which were beautifully realised and photographed. A big part to producing is problem solving and having a brilliant production team makes what first appears to be difficult problems solvable.

Last week was week 2 of the Summer Coda production, and as EPK producer I had a very busy week interviewing some great cast names including Susie Porter who was in town for only two days. Susie’s interview was very interesting and I managed to get some great footage of her working with our director Richard Gray and lead actress Rachael Taylor, which will cut together nicely when it comes to editing the featurette. The editing has begun and the opening sequence for the behind the scenes has been completed. I have been working on an early rough cut so that I am able to identify areas in which I may need more footage and interviews. There is still plenty of work to be getting on with and as week 3 begins I will be looking to get some eagerly anticipated interviews with Rachael Taylor, Alex Dimitriades and the other supporting actors against the backdrop of a lovely Mildura orange grove.