World Premiere of Wishbone Trailer Rough Cut Music sponsorship A Note From the Director Southern Lifestyle Article, Monday 16 July View the article

Rough Cut Music supplies music for Wishbone

A Note From the Director

I guess today is a fairly typical Winter’s day here in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia.

It’s Wednesday, July 11th, 20 to 5pm. The last of the sun is glinting through the gum trees outside the window, the sky is still, miraculously, blue and the fire is well and truly lit. It’s maybe 12 degrees Celcius.

Hints of Spring are around. Emerging from between the clumps of winter Helibores, are the daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells, ranunculas. Many of the snowflakes are already in bloom and the odd, determined camellia still throws out a flower or two.

We’ve had masses of rain, storms, flooding. gale force winds and skies that refuse to comply with ‘continuity blue’, preferring deep grey-green pestilential. Everything that can kill continuity in a film, mother nature has helped out. “Happy to oblige’ I have heard her say as I tear out the remaining stalks of my hair.

Spring. This is where we started. With the coming of Spring, 2006, the germ of WISHBONE was born. And here we are, nearly Spring again; but with a good dose of winter left!, Only three scenes to go and the film is well and truly shot.

It’s been a remarkable ride. Cancellations, gear that we couldn’t get, weather screaming at us to dare and shoot a single frame. Interior locations that at the last minute fell through, coughs, colds, bruises, hair colour changes (arghhh!), suddenly tanned faces (double arghhhh!). Actors that couldn’t show up at the last minute or had to go after a couple of hours. You name it we’ve had it. Tape stock left behind. Camera left behind (triple the arghhhh! on that one),

We’ve laughed fit to wet ourselves, hugged, screamed, moaned, cried – fell about with hilarity at totally unfunny events – our Art Director who decided to be a rider in the horse chase and the horse wanted to go left not straight ahead. I only wish I hadn’t screamed ‘cut’ as Bruce flew skywards in a perfect arc. He landed on a nice soft bush…maybe that’s why we curled up. We knew our insurances wouldn’t have to be called upon.

Have I mentioned insurances? Just about all the dollars we had or have, have been feeding the Public Liability monster – but at least I don’t mind telling someone to jump off a barn roof then…into a bed of mattresses, disguised by straw. Oh yes, did I mention the monster rash of allergic reaction our leading lady Cleome (Kendall Feaver) broke out in after leaping with hero Johnny (David Angel) from said barn roof into said straw? No? Or that the reflector board was so bright that she just couldn’t open her eyes and squinted through an entire scene based on ‘eye’ contact!? No?

What about St Matilda’s teacher, Doris (Fiona Churchill) who has had to stick with bright green nail varnish for 6 months and endured the indignity of floating in a pond for hours and emerging as if from a nice relaxed float, jibbering with cold? Of course we had to do take two. She did it so well the first time.

One memorable great bonus, was the Sir Donald Bradman Oval. An incredible honour to shoot at this location, cradled in the valley of beautiful Bowral. Johnny the hero has a dream to play there…whether he does or not, you’ll have to see the movie, but on the day we shot the crowd scenes a tour party of cricket worshippers from Indian turned up. ROPED IN! Of course. So here we were, at one of the most famous cricket ovals in the world with 15 screaming, mad, delighted Indian cricket fanatics. So we expect a few sales there – maybe even the Bollywood version of WISHBONE? Why not?

Shooting over 6 months, mostly on weekends has been a monumental effort of organization and sheer invention. Necessity has been our mother throughout. Not the least in terms of sheer organizational terror as our production co-ordinators have juggled everything from ‘grannies birthday’ to ‘parent teacher working bees’ to try and align up to 120 people on a single day. What is it they say about schedules being theories in small print? I think we’ve single-handedly re-defined the HOW TO manual.

So, in a very short while, I hit the edit suite and post production – I reckon a few months there. So we’re aiming for a Spring release. I would like to think late September early October – but you never know. This is all about the world of the possible, pulling in favours, begging, cajoling, dancing any dance required to “get that prop, location, costume, sound, picture, performance, glint, tweak, tear, smile!”

And so we come back to Spring. Where we all began. I reckon it’s incredible. To go from thought to finish in a year. Astonishing. Amazing. Splendid. It’s been horrific. It’s been great. I know that several would now say that the stress diet is the best way to lose weight ever. Don’t think we’d have it any other way though.

Here’s to endeavour and daring to dream the dream. Here’s to raising monumental amounts of bucks for the Children’s Ward of the Bowral & District Hospital. Here’s to the hundreds who have helped along the way and continue to do so. Here’s to our story, friendship, and, just quietly, endurance.

Climbing Everest? Hah!