So Sorry... I've been posting little updates on many other sites,
mainly facebook and vimeo.com/TarampaStudios

but now I'm also launching a youtube channel... with links etc coming soon.

Movie Blog..? What movie blog?

I can't believe it's been 5 months since I posted an update here... But I have the *best* excuse!

Last time was back in May, for auditions... and here it is, last day of October, and we're leaping into post-production a whole week early!

Yes, we've wrapped on all our locations, from the Sunshine Coast to Snowy Mountains, and with all the limited internet along the way, I had to make do all this time with photo updates on facebook, twitter and barely half-a bar reception from my mobile phone most days.

But I'm back in the office more often now, managing and supervising all the editing, colour grading, sound fixers, animation and other vastly under-appreciated aspects of film production. So I'm making a renewed effort to keep the blog updated at least once a month too... mainly for all the big stories that need more room, like the next one... stay tuned!

And in the meantime, here's a few pics from our production album:

 

That's Adam Fawns, lead male actor in the role of Marty... learning to ride (and deliberately fall) off a horse + Meet also Rocket, real name Matador, a supreme champion dressage horse, owned and trained by Leesa Collishaw, who both travelled all the way down from Gympie to Brookfield for 2 days, filming with our smallest team of Adam Fawns (actor), Tim Carr (camera), Krishna (sound + assistant director for our Brisbane locations) and me on location in the pony club grounds.

And here's Adam, learning to ski, before he can act a scene where *he* is the teacher.... 

My suggestion; "I think the skis go under your feet Adam!"

Meanwhile, Tim (camera guru) is showing Kyle (Archie), where he needs to stand to get the best camera angle... hmmm, perhaps a little too shy to come out from behind his camera and hand-held reflectors (nicknamed "fleckies):
 

 Then there was the day the local Channel 7 News came on set to report on us:

And everyone packed to come home: (standing): Dominic Burjak, Skevos Mavros, Lachlan Dalby, Karen Hollywood, me, Jaimie Ringering, Adam Fawns. Front row: Tim Car, Kristen Irwin, Leah Pellinkhof and Kyle McCallion:

Next is Adam, Krishna and Leo (actor; in role of Detective Mozer) on location at one of the nicest little Gold Coast police stations. Sincerest thanks to the real girls and boys in blue who let us play on their footpath for the afternoon! (p.s. sorry about image quality on this one; I forgot to increase the screen rez from 1/8th to full before taking a screenshot.]

Hospital Scenes, with Kristin Irwin (Emily), Abb Vegvary (Dr Death),  Kyle McCallion (Archie) and Asabe Goodman (best nurse anywhere):

And between scenes, in the hospital set that I made in a spare room at my sister's house; Leah Pellinkhof, our director, caught explaining how much she new about directing a feature film, before I chose her to help launch the vision of my little story to the screen... luckily all her years with theatre have made up for it admirably:

Doh! I forgot to mention this Snowy Mountain lodge scene, with the 3 main characters (LtoR) Adam, Kristen and Kyle as Marty, Emily and Archie... plus our lovely waitress for the scene was actually the owner of the decadently gorgeous - and internationally award winning - Beaufort Hotel - where we stayed and filmed in Adelong, NSW... how torturous it was to have a whole snifter of port in everybody's rooms every night as part of the bed-breakfast deal... and be too busy to drink any! 

The main "stunt vehicle" ... nicknamed "the black dog" because it has a history of being a bit of a mongrel. I had to repair it first, then cut out all the rust and repaint it in under a day. Wish I'd had time to get the air-conditioning fixed too, coz the next 3 days filming, the weather blazed as hot as 36 degrees C, and all 3 actors had to be rugged up, with windows up, as if freezing, on their way home from the Snowy Mountains. But at least the black dog behaved admirably, and didn't scream like a demon or konk out, leaving them stranded! Yay!

 

One of the sound tech's, Zach Powson, checking that Tim's precious Red Scarlet is securely mounted on the Black Dog before the actors head out to record their first scene, directed remotely through walkie talkies... (along a route I'd scouted for them the previous week. Believe it or not, this beautiful place is only 20 minutes from the dead centre of Brisbane; and all private roads + private property = no truckload of city council permit-to-film applications!)

Scene seen through the windscreen... try saying that 10 times fast... + 3 cheers for the actors who still manage to act so cool, despite the heat!

Cemetery scene... with a very realistic headstone made by Jason Muller (the actor who plays "young Emily's father")... slight problem: the styrofoam "stone" was carved to make the letters, so light shone through a bit too much. Solution: I pinned up my red shirt behind it to block the light, and as a bonus, we scored a nice little red glow that added something extra special to it. 

Working hard, obviously, during one of our production meetings on Day 13:

L to R (above): Adam Fawns (Marty), Lachlan Dalby (Paramedic 1),  Skevos Mavros (Sound guru) and Krishna (qualified as a director, but worked in many roles, depending on who we needed for the day, from sound tech and assistant director to production assistant, gaffer, and more... + standing behind is Lucas Keim, who helped us out as assistant director for most days on the Sunshine Coast location.

And finally, for the production stage; 

Adam, Krishna, Jason and me, at the end of a very bad hair day... "Makeup!" 
:)
Anita
Exec Producer.

Latest News: Call for Auditions

   CALL FOR AUDITIONS: KILLER SMILE

     FEATURE FILM:  “… hilarious romantic mystery” 

based on the novella Killer Smile, by Anita Bell

Director & Producer: Anita Bell & Nick Pendragon

Rating: PG, with allusions to female nudity of the main character in 2 scenes via scant clothing. 

 AUDITION  DATE: June 10th, 2013

Queens Birthday Public Holiday
Location: Gold Coast, Qld

Cost: Not Applicable

Bring:  nothing, all props provided. 
Time & Venue By Appointment:  Email Tarampa Studios  tarampa1@hotmail.com  for details.

Include your headshot, resume, links to any youtube vids, IMDB profile, if any, & tell us which character for which you’d like to audition (up to 3 attempts per actor as follows):

MAIN Roles:

EMILY: late 20’s to early 30’s, a quirky, accident-prone cartoonist who is filthy rich and famous, but prefers life as a hermit in her luxury beachside apartment, where all the elderly residents treat her as their favourite grand-daughter, and she cares for them as if they’re family too. 

MARTY: late 20’s to late 30’s, is Emily’s new mysterious neighbour; a young surgeon whose life and career has been destroyed by 3 evil ex-girlfriends. He’s a tortured soul, now working as a mortician, when he finds joy in life again through Emily. [Advantage if actor can ride a horse.]

DR DEATH: late 30’s to 60’s. Senior medical officer & Marty’s mentor and friend. Must be able to morph from friendly to sinister and back again. 

2 Detectives: MOZER is big, brauny and may look dumb occasionally, but makes up for it by being extremely efficient with clues and paperwork & “Slimy” Symes, who is smaller, skinnier, and looks as if he’s been undercover in the underbelly too long. Both dedicated and extremely good, but SYMES has the brains and instincts.

MINOR Roles:

3 Evil Ex-Girlfriends	All classy red-heads, seemingly identical aside from their hair-length, yet they’re also 3 completely different species of psycho who went to school together. As a trio, they’re not only friends, they’re a pack of wicked vixens who feed on the hearts and wallets of nice men until they’re totally ruined. It’s a game for them, and they’re specialists; * Donna Prophet is a social maggot and “investor” in men. [short hair] * Goldie Chaney is a jewelry sales assistant [shoulder length hair] * Faith Hope Harmony... is anything BUT. She's a pro cheerleader with a taste for doctors who tend to her injured players. [long hair]
Old Mrs Mona Manners (speaking) Victor Gardna, the Gardener (minor speaking)	: Has a stuffed dog on wheels & stuffed parrot who used to be pets. Is in a wheelchair whenever we see her, but only so she can keep up to them on her walks. Should be in a retirement home, but she’s far too determined to have her own way and stay independent. : Grumpy old man who tends garden around their Emily's luxury beachside apartment. He hates palm trees [loudly] and loves flowers [secretly]. So yes, he's also a secret romantic.
Old Knitting Lady Bookie (minor speaking)	: Keeps a ball of wool down her cleavage, inside of which is her betting book.
Dirty Old Man (minor speaking)	:  Is a huge fan of Emily’s cartoon strips, and pleads for her signature (on his body) every time he sees her - or at least tries to.  And never washes them off, so he’s literally dirty, in addition to his silent pleas to sign his butt at least once.
At Hospital
Nurse (non-speaking,  but expressions can kill)	: Female (because there’s already 3 men in the room with Emily). She’s a diligent shadow lurker, who loves patients and hates doctors. No speaking lines, but has the potential to steal scenes if the actress can say a lot through subtle expressions and nail a few glares that threaten Dr Death with her own version of death at just the right moment.
Other Locations
2 Male Skiers (non-speaking)	: a pair of friends of similar age between 20 and 40. Must look fit and ready to defend themselves.
Ski hire guy (1 line)	: needs to react comically when he offers to help Emily get up from her embarrassing accident, and gets “NO” shouted at him by both Emily & Marty before he can see her naked.
Note: We'll also be taking expressions of interest in various non-speaking roles:
Various aged skiers, aged 6 to 66			THIS STUDIO SUPPORTS
12 Elderly "doddering" residents/tenants   Busload of tourists with cameras			SE QLD ACTORS

 Auditions will be fun, relaxed and casual... 

or else! LOL
[Script Samples: Click Play, Enlarge & Wait a few secs to load] 
All applicants will be emailed script samples for their own parts.   

   

 - BY APPOINTMENT ONLY -

[see instructions above]