Hobbiton

Believe the hype. Beautiful location and well worth the visit for anyone checking out NZ. Matamata was great. Lots of fun to do a little bit of work on design renovations at Hobbiton over the summer.

What I'm up to in 2017

Working on a film in Wellington New Zealand. Extremely pleased to be back in my home town for a project :). Talented team and ambitious project.

Finished a great 2016 in the Gold Coast working with the brilliant team behind Thor Ragnarok. Will be a hugely anticipated film and I think well loved. I was invigorated by the design process. Many surprises.

Between jobs I started a collaboration with YA Author Andrew Smith.  Some exciting work already produced and the bigger ideas around a graphic novel are gestating. Can't wait to share a large drawing I produced that will coincide with a future publication. :) This work will happen over a long arc around the film jobs but I'm very excited and dedicated to have this art happening.

I'm contributing a little bit of art and design to an Australian Indy film too. Finding the time is nearly impossible but I do my best to say yes to anything I can help with.

I've put my children's book Shadowlands project on the back burner. Still not too sure what the audience for it was and my approach to the work wasn't sustainable.  May return to it over time. Some short film ideas bubble up to the surface once in a while, Minos especially remains an unrequited artistic expression.  My main criteria for work at the moment though  is that it has a clear collaboration and audience. Any other creativity lacking clarity I take my time with as way of exploration. To be honest my exploration is spent more in the Kitchen at the moment. Where my audience is my lovely Family Jade, 5 yo Finn and any friends brave enough to taste my concoctions. :) time is precious but there is a lot to enjoy :).

Fingers crossed Wellington weather improves then we'll be getting some beach time in too :) Lots of time hanging with Finn in Eastbourne. Rock n Roll!!

First consideration of spatial design for Film.

At it's most fundamental production design is about creating space that directly fulfils the necessary character movement/travel relating to narrative. A character is always driven toward achieving something. How that journey is experienced and paced is the first consideration of spatial design. From there the design is elaborated upon with visual language to express time, place, metaphor and poetics of space.  Finally these elements are broken down into being manageable for budget, studio space and scheduling. Throughout the limitations of production the look can be embellished or compromised, adapted and skewed but that fundamental element of spatial pacing cannot be. When budget and time gets tight fulfilling that fundamental task becomes the cornerstone of the design decisions.