PJ's SheepBlog

Good project news! Wife on TV!

2009-09-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

Have found out the MotorCycle Safety Project has been greenlighted! Off to Phillip Island next month to start shooting :-))

My wife was on TV this morning!

Young, rich bachelors Watch video

PHOBOS Shots

2009-09-10T04:26:00.001-07:00

You have received new photos from PJ Collins.

-- Email sent with the "Multi-Photo Email" iPhone application --

New computer new projects

2009-09-06T02:26:00.000-07:00

Hello hello,

Well I've done it - I've bought a Mac! Not that I'm dumping the PC
just yet but it's being supplemented by a new editing machine. I've
basically spent $5k+ for one program - Final Cut Pro. Looking forward
to the learning curve!

Watched Inglourious Basterds the other day. Pants. Tarantino is having
fun and making money, but it was just too indulgent and 2D for me.
Wish I'd seen District 9...

Foolproof continues to be developed and I have 2 more shorts in the
works for the second half of this year, plus the Motorcycle Safety
Video series have been approved - now to get a press pass for the
MotoGP in Phillip Island this year.

The Food in Focus Pilot has been lodged with TVS so we'll see how that
goes.

Lovely Bits was accepted into the Sexy International Film Festival!
They also want a subtitled version to go into consideration for
screening in Paris.

My wife and daughter are beautiful and happy as ever. Photos to follow
this!

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It's not a dress rehearsal

Last Weekend

2009-08-18T23:30:00.001-07:00

Got out on the bike!

More updates and the like...

2009-07-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello!

OK, we had our first readthrough of FoolProof yesterday which went very well. Clive Hopkins, our writer, also came along and a lot of good ideas generated. I think it's going to be a great film! We're shooting in February and there's a LOT to sort out, but we're all good!

As mentioned previously I've finished another short, though it still needs a bit more work before it's submitted to the post office competition. Still, I wanted to get it out there - hope you enjoy it, even if maybe you don't 'get' it!

I've bought some great lights and more camera gear - is there and end? Of course not.. though they did replace my brief flirtation with a MacBook Pro (purely so I could have FCP). I've been using a program called Vegas for quite a few years now and frankly it does everything I need for the moment. Inevitably the movie will be edited on FCP, and at that point I'll dive in and get one. But 'til then, it's all about the ideas and the prep..

On that subject, I sat in on a radio show on saturday called FoodInFocus on Eastside FM 89.7FM, broadcasting in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I was introduced to the show host, Natascha Moy, a couple of weeks ago and we're looking at making a pilot for TVS, Sydney's community station, that tries to capture the magic of her radio show. And it does have magic! As well as great food and wine.. there were 6 superb wines from the Canberra District being taste tested on the show..

My wife is also pregnant again, so looks like next year is heralding a new kiddie and a first feature - phew! In a show of support (and to shift a few kilos) I agreed to go teetotal for two months... and haven't had a drink in 6 weeks. A couple more weeks to go... The radio show was the hardest point so far... A glutton for punishment, as my father would say!

Am aiming to update my blog a bit faster, perhaps my new 3GS will help..

2009-06-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Reports have been exaggerated...

2009-06-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

My, my, this blog is in need of posting! Not that I haven't been busy!!

OK, principal photography has completed on PHOBOS, which shot through the whole of May, and on which I was the 'B' Camera operator. It was a great experience and I'm much the wiser for it.

Nuns With Guns is on indefinite hold as a new film script, 'Foolproof', has now replaced it, to film February 2010. Nuns is basically far too complicated for the sub-100K budget I have right now - better I wait and make it properly with a couple of million. Oh well.. However 'Foolproof' is an excellent script and clearly achievable in the timeframe and budget, so I'm all excited about that instead now!!

My wife and daughter have returned from a month away! Whoohoo!

I have completed another corporate project for GDI, it's available now on the site.

Still waiting to hear news about the MCC Motorbike safety video project I've been working on for the last 12 months.. do I have the funding.....

Just shot another short for the Post Office 200 years competition... editing now, will post in the next month...

Ermm that's it for the moment, reading lots of books, toying seriously with a MacBook Pro...

And a video I guess! How about...

How to ride a bike

2009-05-02T20:53:00.001-07:00

Gobsmacking

IPhone Kaput

2009-04-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

The iPhone love affair is over.. It simply didn't survive the daughter test :-(( 1 and a half months then kaput. The ever-reliable HTC comes to the rescue and probably for some time, because nobody seem excited at the thought of having to fix my phone.

Finished another Short Film based on the play from January, Here it is:

The Boomtime Productions website is also coming along nicely, check it out http://www.boomtime.com.au

The Nuns first draft script is about to be released. Bloody hell! OK that'll do for now.

A video!

2009-03-16T21:15:00.001-07:00

And of course I just forgot to post a video! This one cracked me up :-)

Update & The Cult of DONE

2009-03-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so a quick update.

The Nuns With Guns script is looking good! :-) What an insane concept!! I'm sick of watching Australian movies playing it safe. Of listening to supposedly 'upcoming' directors paranoid about their first movie and how it must be 'perfect' or they'll never get another chance. Of films that had to be made' but didn't have to be watched. What happened to entertaining the audience instead of pandering to the bloody funding body?

I watched 'Blue Murder' last weekend and thought 'wow'. It's a great story, scary, involving, intense, a committed cast and crew, done on a tiny budget, on the run, and is basically 20 times the first Underbelly, more like 100 times the second. I've been watching Aussie movies consistently over the last few weeks and the sad thing is none of them have inspired me enough to actually write anything about them. (OK Suburban Mayhem was pretty good). Blue Murder is better than any of them and it's not even a movie!

OK glad that's off my chest.

Now for a new mantra I've tracked down... The Cult of Done Manifesto. Great stuff. I realise this is the manifesto I've been working to my whole life! There's a link on the right to more information an doptional posters, but this is the basic manifesto itself.

Enjoy :-)

The Cult of Done Manifesto

There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
There is no editing stage.
Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
Once you're done you can throw it away.
Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
Destruction is a variant of done.
If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
Done is the engine of more.

iPhone Tragic - Official

2009-02-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

A few changes to mention.

The blog name has changed. NWG is on course but it's not the only reason for this blog. So the name has changed.

I am officially an iPhone tragic. I will never have to see that annoying 'Low memory' message on a Windows Mobile phone again. Thank God! I may also start posting things from the bloody thing.

Now enough of the technicals. Film!

Chocolate is finished. It can be watched right here.

Chocolate from LostSheep Productions on Vimeo.

Overall I'm very happy with it. Punchlines are tough but the journey is very pleasant.

I've also filmed the play, Lovely Bits. Editing it at the moment. Hired another EX1 to do a 2 camera shoot, unluckily couldn't find anyone experienced to help me so had to deal with both cameras myself. But it looks like it's worked, hopefully I'll have a cut ready in the next week or so!

The Stinkwater International Film Festival is on this weekend, I'll be at the Ritz on sunday in Randwick. The Spot Food Festival runs all day.

The food festival is free, the film festival is $10, but if you find me I can probably get you in free. As Stella Artois are sponsoring the event there will also be a few free beers involved!

Peter Garrett's coming along for the movies and to hang out.

Michael Caton (Packed to the Rafters), Bud Tingwell (The Castle) and Roy Billing (Underbelly 2) will also be there as they are being inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame - You know plaques in the pavement and all that.

If anyone reads this comes along, finds me and says 'Razmattaz' in my ear, I will get you into the film festival for nothing and give you free beer all night. More info below::

PJ

THE SPOT FOOD & FILM FESTIVAL

SUNDAY 1st MARCH 2009 - from 1pm outside the RITZ

The closing day of the Arts festival is a wonderful community celebration as Randwick City Council, the Crowne Plaza Coogee Arts Festival & the Ritz Cinema join together in the streets of the Spot with a feast of food, entertainment, children’s activities and film.

The celebrations begin at 1.00 pm when the streets surrounding the Spot are closed to traffic and opened to fun with food and music, jumping castles, petting zoos, helicopter simulators and much more in a film themed street festival.

The Ritz Lounge Bar and Balcony will be open for anyone who wants a relaxing birds eye view of all the celebrations and festivities on the day. Come and enjoy a drink whilst the kids enjoy the street fair and all the activities available in the Spot.

THE AUSTRALIAN FILM WALK OF FAME

SUNDAY 1st MARCH 2009 - 7.00pm outside the RITZ

On Sunday, March 1st, 7pm - we commemorate the legends of Australian film by placing plaques in their honour in the footpath outside the Ritz Cinema as part of the Australian Film Walk of Fame.

The Arts Festival concludes with the 6th

STINKWATER! INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

SUNDAY 1st MARCH 2009 - 7.30pm - Cinema 1

The 2008 screening of STINKWATER! was totally booked out over a week beforehand, so make sure you book early.

New Year, New Projects

2009-01-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well the run of Lovely Bits at the Newtown Theatre is over, but everyone who visited enjoyed it. We were beaten to a place in the final by a 'dramatic' piece called Mandragora, but the audience loved us. :-) It was a comedy piece after all!

Ayways back to Guns, though it's possible we may do a quick film of the play - everyone's very keen!

Am also doing a session tomorrow on Natural Beauty Queen with the editor, Alison. Got to remember what plans I had!

FInally Kate sent me a very funny link today, you can customise it yourself by changing the name, here you go!

http://www.worldsgreatestbusinessmind.com/20090118-PJ-Collins-create.html&WT.mc_id=WGBM|Create

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

Hello hello.. So much has gone on... Best start on what I'm doing now.

My play (or rather the first play I've ever directed) is on at the Newtown Theatre, Sydney 13-18 January as part of Short & Sweet! OK so it's been on a night already but better I mention it late than never! It's gone down very well so far, in fact I heard that last night one of the judges was 'deeply insulted' by it - LOL! Find out more here . Anyways we keep working on it each night - quite a few of my friends are coming for the friday performance - I want it to be at it's best by then!

Now I've also finished Chocolate, the short film I mentioned before. It's a sweet little number and I'm glad it's done, slightly unsure what to do with it now. I've stuck it into Tropfest, not that I'm wildly hopeful, but I guess you never know. In the meantime I'm back onto the NWG project.

Yes yes Nuns With Guns.. This is THE YEAR!

I've decided to delay principal filming significantly, think now October 2009. There will be plenty of filming before then but for the main shoot, there's so much to work on first that there's no point rushing in. I want this to be as good as it possibly can be - the only deadline I've set myself is that all filming will be completed by the end of this year. At the moment I'm going back into the story to make sure it's superb and achievable and that I start off with a GREAT SCRIPT, the first and foremost requirement for a film project. The contacts at least keep coming in - those listings in IF and Encore have been useful.

Now, a video. This is something bizarre I came across the other week, very well made, well shot and well twisted. I give you Teddy Saw.

Teddy Saw from Ben Schwartz on Vimeo.

Plays & Nuns & Scripts & Shorts

2008-11-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

Strangely enough, a bunch of stuff has happened at exactly the same time. Odd how that happens..

Not content with my family/dad duties and getting NWG off the ground, and filming the Chocolate short I mentioned in my last post, I've also now been accepted as a director for Short & Sweet, which means I need to choose a play, cast & rehearse it ready for a week run at the Newtown Theatre 13-18th January 2008! I'd forgotten about that one....

OK I'm actually a little along the way already.

I've shot Chocolate - I cannot believe that after all my time filming here I could go out into the middle of a field for two days under the Australian sun and forget:

1. Sunscreen
2. A hat
3. A pen!

What a plonker... Though I did have all the above for the second day, I put sunscreen on everywhere except the back of my neck and it's taken the best part of a week to recover! That was one burnt bit of skin....

On the plus the short is pretty amusing, it's come together nicely. Rob Queree did an excellent job as Farmer Jim.

I've also already chosen the play I'm directing from the first 50 accepted scripts of Short & Sweet. It's called 'Lovely Bits' by Mark Andrew, and I've cast the key leads with the very talented Lisa Fineberg and the equally talented Matthew Thomson. First rehearsal this sunday!

The NWG first draft is also getting there slowly - I've set a target of the end of the year and I hope it will be done by then, but I did always factor in a few weeks delay from the Chocolate Short and didn't factor anything in for S&S!

I have put together 500 and 1000 word synopses over the last week which gives a good insight into the project and even better, my good friend Simon Ralph has some up with an excellent new logo for the project during these pre-production times. I've already used it to redesign the holding page while a proper website is built. Go check it out.

So things are looking good - hold on, I need to touch some wood now....

And there's more! (I have been a while between posts) - The first rough cut of Rock Chikz NBQ was shown to me last weekend! Of course there's a thousand things to change but it's great that Alison the editor has moved it forwards. Looking forward to a constructive session on sunday morning.

Laters. Oh yeah, I like to post a video each time, here's something amusing I found the other day!

That Explains It from Derek Doublin on Vimeo.

2008-11-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

More news! Obama elected!!

Work is progressing well on the 'Nuns With Guns' First Draft Script. More news on that when we finish it. I've also been scouting locations for a Tropfest entry this year, a bit of a last-minute decision but the script was hanging around and really it's not that complicated a project, once I track down the ute, a herd of cows and a large bull! Planning to shoot at the end of the month, gotta be ready for the beginning of Jan.

Finally, I have at last sorted a trailer for the Rock Chikz episode. It's taking forever for the editor to get round to editing it so in the meantime I put this together over a couple of evenings last week. The cast and crew like it A LOT!

http://www.vimeo.com/2169903

Rock Chikz Episode 3 Teaser from LostSheep Productions on Vimeo.

Nuns, Farmers & The US Election

2008-10-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here's some funny clips:

And on the subject of a flip of the coin -A complete loss of team cohesion!

Latest News - Production Listings Now Up

2008-10-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

Nuns With Guns has now been listed on IF Magazine and Encore as 'In Planning/In PreProduction'! :-)

So much to do but the plan is good and I'm sticking to it! However I may change the priority for the nuns movie website - it looks a bit daggy and it would appear a few people are already looking at it.

Anyway! Onwards!!

Other notes, I've been working on a few composited clips for Rock Chikz that I will supply to Alison, the editor, once she's ready to start on the episode. She may or may not use them but it's good to be using After Effects again after a bit of a break. Surprising how much you forget though, in just a few months..

Oh and the PMW EX1 has just been given a firmware upgrade and power board replacement - it's in top fiddle state now, great stuff. I'm fighting the urge to film something in the latter part of this year as the priority is NWG above all else, but that said, I may not be able to resist another little weekend production. More when I've made a decision... :-)

Laters.. PJ

Hello Hello

2008-10-16T04:08:00.000-07:00

Been a while between posts, anyway here I am with a couple of random entries.

Firstly, a cool little film made with a Canon 5D SLR, called Reverie by Vincent Laforet. The way these Digital 'still' cameras are going into the world of 'movement' is very interesting! I think there could be some great new tools for storytellers very soon. Anyway enjoy, this is very pretty:

Secondly, I fixed my Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard to work with Windows Mobile 6 (wm6). The driver development from igo ended with wm5. There's a problem with a bluetooth stack called Dakar.

This sounds very geeky and it is, but I use this keyboard to write when I'm travelling and it's the best travel keyboard I've ever used - I will be doing plenty more script writing with it in the next few months :-)

Anyway to make it work, you just have to use the standard bluetooth system in WM6. Once it finds the Stowaway keyboard, to connect enter the passcode 1234, then while it's searching, type 1234 and enter on the keyboard. Voila, they're paired.

The special shortcuts will not work, but it will function as a full keyboard if you're just typing...

OK, my next post will be about film projects, I promise!

PJ

Rock Chikz Filming Aftermath

2008-09-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

Well well well! What a week. 6 days, 14 hours a day, an average of 20 people on set each day, many many locations, a ridiculous 4-6 scenes a day turnaround, 690 takes, 90.5Gb of footage and it's done. At least the production bit.

I used the PMW EX1 shot it at 720P 25 - all went well, and only a few moments where I thought I'd lost half a day's footage. But they turned out to just be white-hair-forming moments without any real need for immediate international departure. The Sony software/firmware is still a bit flaky though hopefully the firmware upgrade I've scheduled for next week will go some way to solving the issues.

It was also a chance to see how I coped with the experience of full-on production and try to imagine this for 6 weeks next year doing NWG. Well first off, the intensity of this production was ridiculous and could not have been continued beyond 6 days. Based on the scene turnover we just did, it would have meant a 90 film could have been filmed in 18 days! I agree with the wise words of Rolf De Heer - 'Shoot twice as long with half the crew'.

The footage looks great. The camera is tops. There's probably a few over-exposed moments but that doesn't surprise me at all. This was simply too intense. We didn't even manage to set up the monitor once all week! (Admitedly we could have but it was a crappy SD monitor and I can frame perfectly well in the viewfinder of this fine camera). Sometimes you just have to get the thing in the can and move on - not a preferred option but time and money were on my back all week long.

Overall, would I do this again?? HELL YEAH!!

Rock Chikz - Sexy Band Photo Shoot

2008-09-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Spent a very pleasant saturday photographing the actresses playing the Cindy Low Band in the upcoming episode of Rock Chikz I'm directing in a couple of weeks. Here's a few favourites.

More can be found here.

I get all the tough gigs!

The Original Weekend Trailer

2008-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well this is the weekend project that's started the whole process. I made it for a meeting of Kino Sydney, as a bit of fun. Which it was and still is. So expect pretty basic production values, dodgy acting, editing, etc, but it still has something about it... What I'm working on now is radically better but still rooted in this ozploitation/nunsploitation genre headspace. And yes, Sister Sandy will be in the upcoming project. Think Batman crossed with Mother Theresa :-)

Get ready!! Nuns With Guns - The Original Trailer

And So It Begins..

2008-08-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

My new blog, that is. It also coincides with the formation of BoomTime Productions and what is clearly the next step in my film and storytelling development.

For the sake of continuity, all the previous posts on the PJ Collins Film Blog can be found here:

http://www.sheepdiaries.com/diaries/view_diary.asp?DiaryID=257&UserID=32

So technically it's more of a 'continues' than a 'begins'... Anyway I'm being pedantic.

'Nuns With Guns' (NWG) is well and truly in the development stage now. The treament's pretty much nailed and the script is taking shape, with a shoot timetable planned for March/April/May 2009. I'll be using this blog for a few purposes:

To track all the significant NWG events
To track my planned RTA Motorcycle Safety Video Series (if the funding comes through!)
To track the filming of the 30 minute 'Natural Beauty Queen' episode of Rock Chikz, to be directed and DOP'ed by me from 15-20th September in Sydney, and finally,
To post any amusing web videos I come across or make for a laugh.

There. 4 core purposes. Let the games begin!
And to kick it all off (in this Olympic Month) let's go back to the basics.... back to Sesame Street. :-)