There should be a superhero called ‘Emo-Boy’. He could bore criminals to death with his stories of adolescent depression, and how the world just doesn’t “get” him. Then he could take the criminals back to his bedroom and listen to My Chemical Romance at full volume, while pencil sketching images of his parents impaled on spikes. Or something like that.

News flash, emo kids. The world doesn’t get anyone. You’re not special… I like The Black Parade too. But I don’t carve my initials into my arm with a Gillette Blue 2.

So. How are you? All is well in camp Shepherd. The youCan2 ads are more or less locked off, just waiting a grade and a couple of VFX. We’re moving onto a competition which will be launched in conjunction with SBS and Film Australia in September. You have to complete tasks over a four week period, and the more tasks you complete the more chances you have to win prizes. Like iPods, and Macs, and TVs, and cars. So, yeah…

No one wants to see Spiderman 3 with me. Sad. Mind, that ‘Zodiac’ is out this weekend so that’ll be worth a view.

I have the very latest draft of the feature I’ve wanted to make for a couple of years. It’s great. I have a few timing issues, but we’ll be making it in the next 12 months. That’s a guarantee. And as we say here in Texas, you can put my word in the bank. A George Bush reference there.

Speaking of Bush – George, not the band, or the euphemism for a ladies rude part – have you been watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? It’s Aaron Sorkin’s follow up to The West Wing, and it really is good. That man can write. Stella cast too. Not sure what that has to do with George Bush.

Website update will happen once I have the final ads to upload. In the mean time, why not search “Leonard Nimoy Bilbo” on YouTube. Classic stuff.

Michael Buble seems like a nice guy. But, in my experience, most Canadians are. Although Celine Dion does look like someone stuck a vacuum cleaner up her arse and sucked out most of her insides. Hope that’s not libelous.

Doh!

For some reason, traffic for my site is going through the roof.

Well, “going through the roof” is a bit of an exaggeration. I’m conservatively guesstimating that it’s about 20 – 30 unique people per day. But still, this time last year that number was about 3.

I have a sneaky suspicion that many people are looking for another Richard Shepherd. And whoever that Richard Shepherd is, I’m glad he’s sending people in my direction! So welcome to all of you! Pull up a chair and sit yourself down. Grab a hot chocolate, tea or coffee. Perhaps a biscuit. It’s getting cold out there (I’m in the southern hemisphere, so our seasons are the wrong way around), and my winter wardrobe has made it’s way into the public. Lots of jumpers and long sleeve shirts. I digress…

The edit for the youCan2 commercials is over. Or thereabouts. We’ve handed over the footage to the sound designer and the composer. Sound is one of the most exciting parts of the production process for me. It’s where the ads really come alive. Have you ever noticed that you can snooze on the couch while still listening to a TV show and still get an idea of what is happening? The music tells you the emotion, the sound design tells you the action. Try watching a show with the TV on mute and it’s much more difficult to tell what is happening. Writing music which complements the style of each ad is so much fun, so I can’t wait to hear what the composer comes up with.

We have also added two visual effects shots to the ads. But I’ll keep those to myself, and see if anyone spots them in the final product.

Speak of music, I’m slowly assembling a basic home studio. I have a small mixer, a guitar interface, instrument microphone and stand, and a growing collection of great sequencing software and software instruments. My first composition, called ‘Upwards’, is a feel-good Craig Armstrong type track. Basic, because I’m still only piecing things together, but hopefully melodic and easy on the ear. At just under two minutes, all it needs it some final polishing over the next few days.

Finally, I watched a great film the other day called Crude Impact. There seems to be a proliferation of films like this at the moment, kick started by Michael Moore a few years ago. Like The Corporation and An Inconvenient Truth, Crude Impacts examines our dependence on oil and it’s effects on the environment. Sobering viewing indeed, but forewarned is forearmed – with so much happening in the world and to the world at the moment, I think we’re best off knowing as much as possible. I’m not preaching a point of view, but I am preaching that we educate ourselves. There’s no point being pro or anti anything unless you know some or all of the facts.

Intelligent debate is something we sorely miss in the world at the moment. I hope it makes a speedy return…

Here are some very rough and raw images from the shoot. Handle with care!

I haven’t yet seen the film ‘Happy Feet’, but I defer to a good friend of mine for his review…

“Utter shit.”

Other comments included…

“Robin Williams was not funny. Not once.”

and

“Hugo Weaving puts on a Scottish accent for no reason whatsoever.”

Two thumbs down, then.

Comedy Gold.

One of the more worrying stories to feature this week…

This month’s edition of Encore is out, and I’m breaking all kinds of copyright laws by putting a scan of it here. Nic Cage was on the cover, so I’ve now been in a magazine with the star of The Rock. Except they spelt my name wrong. Doh!

Today we found our location for the youCan2 ads, in a love place called Riverview. Photos to follow.

Every day I think to myself that there I need to update my blog. At the moment, I could run about five blogs on difference topics and keep them all full. My problem isn’t content, it’s routine.

I’m out of the routine of keeping this blog up to date.

I’m out of the routine of a bunch of things. I looked at my ‘to-do’ list today, and I think that “book into the dentist” has been on there for six months.

Is it just me, or did we never have to-do lists as kids. Why was that? We still had things to do. We just did them when we wanted to. When we felt like it. This wasn’t always a good thing, because homework was often left to the last minute, chores were rarely completed on time, and I once forgot my mother’s birthday. But we all made it through. We all grew up. Here we are, living proof that we didn’t need a to-do list to get through those difficult years.

Today, however, I have a list. Each item has a neat square box drawn next to it, awaiting the tick of completion. The tick of success. The tick of approval. Well done. You did it. Next.

I wish there were more interesting things on my to-do list. At the moment it’s a list of people to call, emails to send, problems that need solutions.

Wouldn’t a more exciting to-do list read:

[ ] Have fun today
[ ] Listen to some kick-ass music
[ ] Watch a great movie
[ ] Hang out with your friends
[ ] Spread the love

Would I be more compelled to tick those boxes. I think so. The first two are easy enough. The third as well, as I have taken to putting films on my iPod and watching them on the bus in the morning (today I’m watching Garden State). We should all make time for number four. Five. I’m not sure about five. I’ll keep you posted.

So, I need routine. I need the routine of doing the things that matter, the things that are important, and not the things that exist simply to fill the gap between today and tomorrow.

I’m going to write a new to-do list. A list with things actually worth doing. Or maybe I’ll through my to-do list today and live on instinct. It worked for me as a kid. Perhaps it’ll work for me now.

So…

Anyone for a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos?

This article features online at encoremagazine.com.au and will be in the next issue of the magazine…

Film Australia plans to save the world
by Anthony James

Film Australia is breaking from its ‘tradition’ of standard format documentaries designed to screen on conventional platforms with its ‘Change the World in Five Minutes’ cross-media initiative.

Comprising nine different productions, the chosen submissions cover doco, drama, and animation and none of them are longer than five minutes – the shortest being an 8 X 20 second set of ‘commercials.’ The project’s filmmakers are facing the challenge of producing work that can ‘play’ successfully on wide-screen TVs, mobile phones and the web.

Executive producer Rod Freedman told Encore that Film Australia was determined to do more work in the cross media area. “But we wanted to also find a way to encourage emerging filmmakers.”

The initiative is a collaboration between Film Australia and the New South Wales Film and TV Office – the major investors in the project. Other key players in the joint initiative are SBS Digital Media are hosting the site for the projects on-line platform and the Australian Film, TV and Radio School AFTRS who are contributing their expertise in the online application area with a workshop in early March.

The project takes its thematic cue from the bestselling book Change The World For Ten Bucks which offers 50 suggestions average punters can take on to make the world a happier, healthier and more sustainable place. “I think sometimes people feel really helpless to effect a change in the world and what’s great about this project is that it encourages people to regain some sense of empowerment to do something useful and local,” Freedman said.

In tone and style the projects offer a wide range from black comedy to the poignant in mini-narratives that cover coming of age to re-cycling and the importance of putting a smile on a stranger’s face.

The nine projects were chosen after an open call for submissions; Freedman said they received 96. The successful applicants are budgeted at $20,000. “We are holding back a bit of money,” said Freedman, “so we can pass it on to teams so they can develop a website.”

Many of the projects parody conventions in a way to convey the ‘Change the World’ mandate like youCan2 which cunningly uses the ‘family unit’ stereotypes of routine ad land. “I thought I could appeal to mums and dads and the small changes they can make that can make a big difference,” said the director Richard Shepherd. “I wanted to make fairly mainstream commercials but in a funny and quirky way that delivers the message.” youCan2 features a nuclear family with a pair of anarchistic kids whose naughtiness is really a vehicle to change their parents complacent attitude to environmental issues. “The point is that it is about kids and their future – so why shouldn’t kids take over by taking control?”

Shepherd said his series will be shot on the Sony Z1P HD with a style specifically designed to accommodate the limitations of the web and mobile phone viewing: “Because of the compression in those platforms you can’t do quick-pans and quick moves because you lose so much detail. Your only option is to keep the camera locked off – but you end up with a pretty boring shot. So we’ve decided to go hand-held and with a bit of a voyeuristic feel to give more energy.”

Freedman expects that project will go ‘live’ on line in Spring, 2007.

Great publicity for us. There is also the Film Australia press release here.

We are starting to look at casting options for the children, and the production designer is on a location scout today. All very exciting. More news soon.

Good news everyone! Myself, and a bunch of my good creative-type friends, have received funding from Film Australia and SBS (amongst others) to put together a series of six commercials promoting, well, promoting being a really good person.

That sounds odd. I know. It was inspired by a fantastic little book called “Change the World for Ten Bucks” which originally appeared in the UK as “Change the World for a Fiver“.

So, our plan is as follows: to make six commercials about a young boy and girl who set about to change their parents attitudes. Except they do it in a slightly anarchistic-type way. The little girl is the brains of the outfit, and she coaxes her little brother into doing things which, whilst might be a little naughty, help bully their parents into making positive lifestyle changes. Although not confirmed, I expect these changes to be regarding climate change. Things like installing energy saving bulbs, driving energy efficient cars, and recycling.

These commercials will then form part of a cross-media campaign, which includes an online competition to see which suburb (in New South Wales, Australia) can do the most.

This fits perfectly in the schedule for the year, as our film The Yowie has been nudged back to a post-July shoot. Funny how these things work out.

There will be lots more about our ad campaign, called youCan2, over coming posts. Hopefully we can have some fun and make some positive change into the bargain.

Hurray!