Courage

Courage is not a fixed entity that belongs to a single moment; rather, it accumulates and is tested over time. It takes courage to face a challenge. That process, in turn, generates further courage. Our life experiences enhance our ability to understand our roles in society and strengthen our will to take further actions. A society can have courage only when its members can have faith in justice and fairness and know that their constitutional rights are protected. Civil courage is born of openness to education, access to information and recognition of a society’s strengths.


Exert from a speech by Artist Ai Weiwei.
http://worldvoices.pen.org

May 01, 2013

Overcoming Fear to Build a Courageous Society in China

• By: Ai Weiwei Source: Washington Post

Be humble

It's easy to reconcile being humble with doing the quiet job. It takes the same humility though to take on louder more public roles. It takes humility to follow well as it takes humility to lead well.  Roles, as seen through the lens of humility, are connected through similarity rather than difference. Hierarchy fades away. Superiority or inferiority become the same thing and therefore loose any significance we might attribute them. What is left is contribution to common goals. Humility brings equality, contribution, community and quality to our craft.

Anzac Day

Two concept paintings I produced last year of NZders at the 'Battle of Crete' Second World War. The first the German paratroop invasion. The second the evacuation from Sfakia village. I took inspiration from the Romantic Mythical paintings of Eugene Delacroix and to some extent Goya. Today is a day to remember.

Repetition as a design tool.

Repetition of a line of dialogue in a script is a wonderful tool for revealing character. Through the characters relationship to the line the storyteller reveals how that character or their situation has changed.  Think of Johnny Deep as Donnie Brasco. His first delivery of 'Forget about it' reveals his naivety and the potential risk he has taken in entering a foreign environment. As this line is revisited in the film it reveals the character's confidence in his deception and then at how lost and distant from his family he has become. The reveal comes through the actors delivery of the line and his relationship to it not through the line itself.

This technique of repetition and relationship to reveal change is of interest to the designer. Often we place colour, form and object in a design for practical reasons of creating believable space.  These are used to create a world of depth and reality or to act metaphorically.  It is important to be aware of characters relationship to this space, colour and object. Throughout the film this relationship can be utilised at critical moments to inform the story or the audience of character in an indirect way.

Often it is only in returning home that we see how far we have travelled. By comparing our past to the present we see the change.  The designer can serve this concept throughout the film in subtle ways. Through appreciating the relationship between character and space and the repetition of visual elements a designer can not only create space for staging performance but space that can serve the performance and the telling of the story.

Fear

Fear is the greatest enemy of the artist and the arts. Therefore it is of great concern to me that I develop ways to work that eliminates fear, condemnation and discrimination of creativity amongst artists and our audience. The artist constantly faces insecurity and a critical audience. This goes hand in hand with freethinking and the criticism freethinking encourages is actually a welcome tool toward growth. Of greater concern is the flow down of secrecy and fear resulting from corporate structures that do not encourage creativity and therefore are overpowering our artists.  The first result is underwhelming work. A secondary result is audiences are becoming less accustomed to change, free thought, free speech, debate, criticism and confrontation. Audiences are becoming so accustomed to the status quo that to step outside the norm is often condemned. This is an extremely saddening trend when the artistic form of thinking we are stifling is exactly the approach that will help grow the social richness and commercial wealth we all desire. 

Summer Sketchbook P.5

Eric Lepionka

On the short film 'The last Night' my team and I had the privilege of working with the producers father and director's father in law, Eric Lepionka. Eric joined our construction team from day 1, It could be said the team was built around him.  Eric, born 1936, evacuated Poland with his family, travelled through Kazakhstan to Siberia to evade German occupation. In 1944 along with 732 other polish children Eric came to a refugee camp here in Pahiatua, New Zealand where he lived for 4 1/2 years before becoming a citizen of NZ.  He has lived his life here in NZ and has made what can only be described as a massive and generous contribution to the NZ Polish community and broader community as a whole.

For the film we built the mud hut of an Afghanistan Warlord . Eric was quick to tell us of the small hut where he lived in Kazakhstan in detail right down to door height. His memory of those events was vivid and rich. His was a wonderful presence on the project and a reminder to this designer of Mies van der Rohe's famous words 'God is in the Details'.

I must commend David(director) and Wanda(producer) for the environment they created on this project. Every member, their story and their art was welcome and valued. My gratitude must also be extended to my team. Brett Blenkin, Ross Hoby, Hamish Wain, Lucy Bowden, Raoul Darlington, Michael Simpson, Aaron Huriwaka, Jo Williams, Crystalynne Willis, Antony Goodin, Neil Cromie, Jack Cromie, Duane Williams and Sonia Murray.  This team delivered great art.  They followed the lead of the director and grew an environment that held our stories and community together.  Without their work we would have never heard the story of Eric and been privileged with a stronger connection to our heritage and our New Zealand story.

There will always be new things to learn about this craft of making film. This team though has nothing more to learn about how to hold that craft. Well done everyone!

The last Night - Short Film Prod Design

'The Last Night' Directed by David Strong is in the studio for the next 2 days after a great location shoot since Monday.  I've production designed with a great art department in support. Fantastic job once again from everyone.  I look forward to sharing some pics of construction and the shoot very soon. The set build, texture, paint and dress were amazing.

The past six weeks have been extremely busy so looking forward to slowing down and taking stock of everything that has been achieved and where it leads now.

UFO - Stills from last weeks shoot

How we live our life is our Art.

How we live our life, work with others and create is our art. The tactile work that results is merely the byproduct of life lived artistically.

By bringing quality to our lives in relation to how we create we will bring quality to our Art.

These qualities are numerous. In the past I have discussed the quality of space, patience and kindness. Hard work, diligence and dedication are of equal merit.  I will discuss these and more qualities in future posts.

Artists don't look at problems, they look at intentions.

A film shoot is an environment which demands problem solvers working in unison with artists.  Ideally, but rarely, you find artists that do both.  Problem solvers find new ways to make something work. What makes that problem solver an artist is their ability to serve the original intention rather than simply removing the problem with their solution.

Let me give an example. An artist decides to use a worn out child's shoe with a hole in it to conjure images of poverty and neglect in the imagination of the viewer. What if the artist and his team had no way to put that hole into the shoe? One problem solver might suggest we use an old gumboot from the back of his truck that conveniently has a hole in it.  This of course solves the problem of the hole but does nothing to serve the intention. This object stimulates the imagination toward images of a rugged, old farmer rather than an impoverished child.  

The 'artist' problem solver does not look at the problem, they look at the intention. The artist would not focus on how to make the hole or find another object with a hole rather they hunt for ways to communicate the intention with the resource they already have. Perhaps we remove a shoe lace from one of the tattered old shoes? How does this image read when one shoe has a lace and the other does not? does it serve the intention? 

Toi Film Wrapped

Toi Film is wrapped. Fantastic effort from Cast and crew. Absolutely outstanding effort from the design students in the build of multiple sets. Brilliant!

Back in the directors chair

Directing scenes for Toi film today. Nathaniel Lees and I are directing three separate stories which connect as one film. Yesterday's shoot went great! more to come.

U F O

I am designer for the short film 'U F O' directed by Gregory King.  Pre Production is nearing completion with shoot beginning Monday.

Together with a fantastic Art Department consisting of Brett Blenkin, Michael Simpson, Therese Eberhard, Jo Williams and more to join we are bringing the design to life.

I want to take the chance to share my gratitude to this team for their help in delivering this design. I want to thank them also for their support toward me developing my craft as a designer. We are fortunate to be working with the trust and support of Mhairead Conner, Gregory King and Simon Baumfield.

I look forward to sharing images of the design and film sometime soon.  Watch this space for UFO or check out the Facebook page at the link below.

Facebook - U F O

Context is Everything.

In Art Context is everything . It is not enough for an artist to be skillful with craft.  Beautiful craft attracts the eye but Art 'resonates'. All art exists in the social, economic, political, spiritual and intellectual landscape of its time. Art acts as a window of awareness to the environment and time in which the viewer lives. Art that is in tune with context resonates long after the first viewing because the art is alive in everything we see and experience not just the object or image the artist has crafted.

Two Locations Film Wellington Needs.

Wellington has fantastic resource in Peter Jackson's Stone Street Studios and in the local construction crews that fill them with wonderful sets. Wellington lacks a few shoot locations though that would make us even more attractive to international films.

The first is a section of Motorway that can be closed for shooting. Currently Auckland has options for this but as far as I'm aware Wellington does not. The second is a location that can act as generic New York streets. Ideally we would have a permanent back lot set of New York Streets somewhere that could be rented at a fraction of a build cost and re redressed depending on period or style.  Potentially there is an existing street that could have New York details constructed and added. The changes would come at a cost but it might be in the interest of Film Wellington and the Wellington City Council to explore how they might support such a development jointly with future production companies. The aim would be to retain the NY street so future productions could use it and enjoy all the other benefits of shooting in Wellington, New Zealand.

Just some food for thought.

Teaching relationship is hard.Teaching off a relationship is much easier.

Some things are hard to teach. Teaching relationship is hard. Relationship between director and designer for example is very difficult to communicate. Teaching off a relationship is much easier.  Therefore where possible at Toi I enjoy working with another practitioner in the teaching. This allows the lesson to be overt in how we work together rather than something that is talked about or is staged as an exercise.  Teaching the qualities of relationship does not require a production as the backdrop. It does require though people aware of the purpose of production. A meeting of purpose is where relationship happens.

Stillness and Violence in Cinema

Stillness and violence go hand and hand in cinema.  It is fair to argue one does not exist without the  other. So often in Japanese cinema the designer creates beautiful, centered and still spaces as the place for a violent image or act. Akira Kurosawa and Tekashi Kitano films are classic cases. The 2011 film '13 Assasins' from Tekashi Miike is also an outstanding example. In this film the image of pain, sacrifice and evil are contained by the beauty of the design. Contained but not caged. The serenity brings with it the tension that it will not hold. It is only at the point that the violent image appears that the true nature of the beautiful space is revealed.  Both the violence and the stillness are defined by their relationship to the other.

Character of Space.

A film set is a character in its own right. Human characters are interesting when shown in conflict. That conflict reveals their true nature. A set or place can be developed in the same way. Through conflict and change the character of space is revealed. The production designers role is to control that reveal in relation to the story and the qualities the story holds.

Think back to the apartment in Luc Besson's 'The Professional' or 'Leon'(the French Title). The stark whiteness, clean, minimal lines, anywhereness of this environment does nothing to reveal its nature or that of Leon its quiet inhabitant. As the story develops the apartment becomes not only the setting for the film but a character in it's own right. The building helps bring Leon and Mathilda together. The building is a protector. Later the building is integral to Leon defending himself and getting Mathilda to safety. The building is not only his castle it is also his companion and comrade. In the end Leon sacrifices his life just as the building too is destroyed. It is unimaginable that this space could continue to exist without it's friend.

For a space to hold then reveal such qualities slowly and intimately takes great design.

What is the resource in the room?

What is the resource in the room?

I don’t like this question. People aren’t resource. They are people.  When considering people as a resource you come across a problem.  When looking through a lens of resource you see only a person’s current use or how that person has worked in the past.  You do not see how that person got there or most importantly where that person wants to be.  These two latter factors are far more important when bringing people to work. Looking only at resource that exists stifles innovation and creativity.

Take me for example. When someone looks at my work the resource they see is art that can get a film financed and made. This is true to a point. The problem though is that I became that resource through a hunger to learn and master a skill.  The learner is the true resource not the artist. If I loose that hunger to learn or my drive to improve the energy that makes my art alive will be gone.  To deliver great art and design it is necessary that I cast myself as a learner and explorer.  There needs to be a new challenge in every new work I take on.  I must be careful that I don’t cast myself as a resource that will be the same as I was in the past. 

It might be said that resource is used to 'recreate' a past action or event. An artist must remember their role is not to ‘recreate’ it is to ‘create’.

Designers offer potential then make decisions.

Design is a process of decision making.  Putting yourself in a position to make informed decisions is the designers skill. We do this by making offers that hold potential rather than resolution.  A design concept is not ready to share because it looks good it is ready because it holds the potential you seek.  Once the potential is made clear the decision making is direct. A decision is always measured against the best way to achieve that potential. The result is that the aesthetic or function shifts but the potential we seek does not. The intention remains the same.

Design, like most things, is alive and uncertain. The thing we want to achieve through design on the contrary can be very specific.

Ready...fire!...aim

Design works like this.  Ready...fire...aim.  It is not until we put work on the floor that a director can respond to a design. Firing on the day of shoot or on the deadline is too late. Great work requires rigorous critique before the designer can take aim. We need to take the shot early often before being given clear direction. Drawings, models are all tools to this end. The ideal is to stage the action in a real space and see how it plays.

Get Help

I have been thinking on the nature of help. Probably because I need help to make the work I want to make. When designing or making a film it takes a great deal of energy and enthusiasm from a number of people.  Putting together an exhibition of work takes a great deal of people. Art takes resource and that resource is people.

'Why we help?' is important to ask but often impossible to lock down. Sometimes we help for money, experience or exposure. Often we help because we can...more often though those who help make sacrifice to do so. Why so generous? what is the motivation?

This leads to a truth I have taken from working with wonderful people. Being professional is the by-product of their work it is not the work itself.  Their work is to be artists, good, generous creative artists. This means making work for the sake of the work without buying in to potential benefits that may not manifest. Being professional and fulfilling the needs of others is a result of this culture not the prerequisite. Fortunately another by-product is the work can lead to more and greater reward for all.

Last night Ben Affleck thanked those who helped him when, at the time, he couldn't repay them in any way. It is obvious he has connected with the generosity of others. It must have taken great courage to accept that help. He received it with humility and now all can celebrate in his success. It is great to see art growing this way.

So help more and receive help well whether it can be given or not. Ask for help and most importantly develop art that warrants the generosity.

Space for something else - A Learning Innovation

Toi Whakaari began with students back this week. A piece of work developed throughout last year was introduced by the staff. The staff had devised a day with no scheduled classes across every discipline. Open time and space. Room for independent practice. Space for something else. 

I think this is a wonderful innovation. As a result we will see staff and students bring more of their unique self to the work. Framing this space is the hard and generous work of the staff at Toi whakaari. The framework supports the student and teacher new to this type of learning. The aim is that the individual will generate purpose and as a result better work.

A list of principles for this day  was recorded by the staff in their last meeting together. I have published it here below.

I contributed the drawing... For me this action modelled some of these principles.

Build through difference

I haven't been blogging as frequently. I have been busy creating work with and for other artists. This leads me to an important question. Do I still have a voice when being lead by another? Do I retain my voice when I am the follower?

First it is important to identify that I value 'following' greatly. The person who leads shouldn't always be the strongest, fastest or best but rather the most appropriate to context.  By this I mean to say the leader should be the voice of greatest impact. Let me give an example. When arguing the need for better care for impoverished children in NZ would the message be better held by a politician or by a child?  The child of course would create the strongest impact. Context is everything when deciding who must lead.

In the context of my present work I am a follower. My task is to know what I hold as a follower in relation to the leader. When I meet with my director through a piece of work I am held to a vision. I achieve that vision but I also hold difference.  If I were to deliver only what was asked everyone would be happy. Great work though should make us more than happy. I also deliver what I want.  The director then gains choice, diversity, the unexpected, new ideas, inspiration, potential. He gets great work.

The leader has vision and lays down the challenge. The follower responds and builds off the leaders challenge. Together they build through difference. Either way each voice is important and needs to be heard.

Stop Competing

Being the best at what everyone else does is wonderful but it can only last so long. You can only commit the hours, the intensity, your body and mind for so long before someone can put in more. Basically you cannot remain the worlds fastest man forever. Eventually you get slow and someone else in the right place and time is faster.

Being the best at what 'you do' is different. When your work is unique, particular to you, it is no longer a matter of commitment of energy. Instead it is a commitment of self which is very different. Commitment of self is being self aware and acting on that awareness. Knowing your talents, your passion, your instincts and approach is key to bringing your uniqueness to work.

When this awareness of self is brought forward in relation to the needs of others then what you have is a unique product that cannot be surpassed by a competitor who exerts more energy. So stop Competing. By stepping aside from the wasteful energy consumption that competition brings you can focus on making your  work better and more focused on the clients that want it.

Meeting through the Work

I have started another collaboration. This with NZ director Toa Fraser. Toa is Director of Dean Spanley, No.2 and currently in post production on Gisele, a film of the NZ National Ballet production.

It is wonderful to meet such a talented artist through a piece of work, through ideas, concepts, imagery and a common passion for cinema.  Check out Toa's process and work on his site.

http://toafraser.com/

You Can't Please Everyone

With a huge amount of practise and skill a designer is able to create a client or directors vision.  Reaching this skill level though is only the beginning. The next step is to learn 'you can't please everyone'. Only then can you follow your instincts and create art and design that inspires.

Pleasing everyone has the opposite of the desired effect.  Being acceptable and meeting expectation results in work that is watered down and uninspiring.  The best approach is to exceed expectations, create great work!

This of course leaves room for someone to dislike your art. Some will interpret it as wrong. Designers and artist know there is always a small audience who will make no connection. What keeps us creating is to remember the work is not for them. The work is for the people it does connect with.

An Artist Works With The Clay They Have

This statement holds true for all art. Use what you have. If only pencil and paper, create. Paint, wood, stone,computer, performer, your own body...an artist uses what he/she has. The limitation or opportunity of what is available is the framework for creativity.

This practice does not end with the individual artist.  We are all creative and all artists.  If we consider  other artists working with 'the clay they have' we can see how our generosity is vital to their creation. When creating work consider what other artists need to continue the creativity from where you leave it. The question we can evaluate this work by... 'is my art giving others more or less clay to work with?'

An extract from 'Moon Story'

We watched the wind dislodge the top layers of paper from the precarious temporary sculpture of cans, newsprint, food wrappers and wastes piled to over flow on the rubbish bin right next to the closed-up Kebab Burger Soft Drink & Fries Van…

What will happen? I said.

We watched the papers skid and slide intermittently on the paving slabs, uncertain of their newfound freedom in space.

Not-Ahmed said; Art is a place that speaks vividly, that speaks language back to life, that re-animates ideas, turns them round, turns them over. Art is a place that breaks an old idea, breaks it open, makes a new one in it. Art is a tool for navigation, better than GPS. It’s a weapon also better than a petrol bomb.

Performance? I said.

I believe in that, he said. Performance creates a space in which different kinds of contact are possible, different kinds of conversations. It is a place to step out of, side step from the general tendency to commodified lust wrapped, crushed and hidden in panic and terror.

We sat a while longer.

Then Not-Ahmed made to go.

The moon was full. You could see and hear everything. The city lights, the distant traffic, the litter skidding and the moon on the water.^*

* An extract from Moon Story,

Tim Etchells, Sheffield, 2012

Etchell’s interdisciplinary practice shifts between performance, visual art and fiction. He has worked in a wide variety of contexts, notably as the leader of the world-renowned performance group Forced Entertainment.

                 http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/blog/2012/12/14/a-new-piece-of-critical-writing-from-tim-etchells/

New Work

2013 is bringing with it a whole load of new work. I am excited to be in the early stages of a concept design for Finnish Director Antti Jussi Annila. His films, Jade Warrior and Sauna, are visual feasts so it's a real joy to be involved.

I cannot share this art publicly. I'm sure though with this work feeding my creativity my use of this blog will shift as well. I wonder what work is to come...

Check out AJ Anilla's work here and find a copy of his last film Sauna at Aro Video. very cool stuff.
IMDB AJ Annila

The Art of Slow Information

The information age allows access to all information, all the time. Media is accessible everywhere, anytime. The media we absorb, mostly, is our choice.  Through these images we create an understanding of our world.

We are wonderfully able to absorb information quickly that now more than ever the art and design of the image is of vital significance. In the past the designed image, be it painting or film, carried meaning, metaphor and as I have discussed before held a place for imagination. Look for example at early German expressionist films such as 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' or the films celebrated in Scorsese's recent homage to this era 'Hugo'.  These images were immediately stunning and entertaining but the absorption of the ideas and meaning behind them were slow.  It might take someone days, weeks even years to comprehend their significance and depth.  The images created by our most revered painters have been celebrated for centuries. Celebrated not because the tell us something clearly. On the contrary these images guide us to form understanding and comprehension of our own.

Today our media is literal, factual or information in the form of symbol. This information is easy to digest and understand quickly.  It is necessary to communicate this way to access the technology that has become integral to our society. This form of design is the realm of the communicator not the artist. The role of the artist is to work in 'the art of slow information'. Slow information comes in the form of metaphor and poetry. This form of art is less prevalent in our film and media today and it shouldn't be. Audiences are hungry for films that we return to time after time in our imaginations rather than forget as soon as we leave the multiplex.  

The Gift

Art is not an Argument. Art is a Conversation

The 20th century was one of movements. Impressionism, cubism, dadaist to surrealist, abstraction through to modernism and post modernism.  In our modern context it is far too easy to see these movements as arguments.  Each movement trying to top the other, to win the argument, to be superior. It might appear that each movement aimed to see the world in the 'truest' way.  The concept that art is an argument is a misconception that is totally unsustainable and counter productive to making work.

Art is not an argument. Art is a conversation.  To produce more of the art we need artists must build a better relationship toward 'conversation'.

Conversation means building a discussion without knowing where it might lead. In a conversation one contributes only what is necessary to generate the next response. This is how art works. What we produce is in reference to what has come before and it is expressed to allow what might come next. This approach allows for complexity to grow far beyond the ability of the individual. These great movements were the result of great conversation.

In an argument each person knows exactly where they want it to lead - with them being right. This approach results in artists who are closed, defensive and ultimately creating work which lacks depth and soul.

The irony of the conversation is that by removing the pressure to be right it creates the freedom of expression necessary for great work.

Summer Sketchbook P.4

The Woods.

'Earthquakes' - Costume sketches 2.

Film Industry and Education alignment p.2

There are a large number of film schools in NZ. Their focus is on short intensive ‘real life’ skills working alongside part time tutors who are active film practitioners.  This model allows for wonderful practical experience. There is no better way to learn than alongside artists in their work.

The issue though is the large number of graduates seeking work are finding extremely high competition for very few roles in NZ. The student is trained for existing industry positions. Once ever position is filled what is left for the other graduates? Nothing? Nothing except the opportunity to create new work and new industry.

Greater attention then can be directed to giving students the skills to create the positions that don’t exist. The ability to create work, to create industry is a far more vital skill than being able to work within the existing one.

It might be easy enough to guide students in this direction but to give greatest value the students should model off practitioners. Currently they model of artists who make for an industry. Who is there to model off on how to create industry yet to exist?

This a territory that can be best filled by full time academic staff. Research by academic staff should give focus toward new ways of working. Exploring new territory, which is not dominated already by existing industry. The students do not need to be part of creating this work but rather be exposed to the staff member’s practice of it. It is the practice of exploration that is of value here not just the findings of the research.

Potential areas of research are numerous. Narrative and storytelling models based upon NZ Maori oral history could offer a wealth of innovations for NZ film practice. Exploration of how to devise for film is much safer within an academic institution.  Studios use viral campaigning heavily but very little information exists on effective ways to distribute and market films in the digital market place outside of existing distributors. Where is film knowledge not being applied that it could offer greater benefit? The filmed live performance of the Met Opera is a hugely successful exercise in taking film into once forbidden territory. What live performance in NZ could be better utilized through film?

The wealth and depth of talent in the film industry is driving the technology of storytelling. Who though is driving how we will tell stories in the future? Across what formats? What stories will be relevant to us? This high-risk exploration of film is best undertaken in the safety of an institution. The hope of course is that this work becomes of greater value and can lead to new financial markets.  In any case there is huge benefit to the student working alongside such exploration in that they might themselves make the breakthrough necessary to create new work in NZ. 

Film Industry and Education alignment p.1

Is the NZ film industry, NZ film education and research aligned to create the best work possible? To discuss this I will identify the film and TV landscape in NZ, the education landscape as well as the areas of research and innovation across both.  There will be a bit to write so I will split my thoughts over the next few days. I begin with the Film landscape before moving on to Education, Research and opportunities of future work and innovation.

THE NZ FILM AND TELEVISION LANDSCAPE

The industry is currently strong in a number of areas and of course weak in others. Weekly low budget television drama which run for 5 plus seasons are strong. Think Go Girls, Nothing Trivial or Outrageous Fortune as examples. Any series running for less than 5 seasons in NZ is unlikely to return a profit. The result being little room for NZ made high concept television. High concepts are costly and high risk for audience attention. If they fail to be picked up beyond a second or third season they cannot recoup their costs.   Our market isn't big enough to risk making HBO quality TV. High concept TV does exist though from American producers for the American cable networks in the form of 'Spartacus' or the likes of 'Legends of the Seeker'. A series called 'Noir' looked to be produced here last year.

We continue to generate low budget films through the NZ Film Commission rarely exceeding 10million in budget.  Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston's film 'Shopping' is a recent successful example and has been invited to screen at Sundance in 2013. There has been a noticeable trend in the low budget territory since 'Whale Rider' to make coming of age stories.  It should be noted that NZ's first international successful film, Vincent Ward's 'Vigil', has placed the coming of age story as central to NZ's film making identity. This genre should be continually revisited as a way of national self reflection not though at the expense of all other forms of film.

Medium budget films above 10 million are likely to be American produced, American stories filmed in and around Auckland.

Large Budget films are strong out of Wellington with the likes of Peter Jackson and James Cameron leading the way. The recent films from these two men and those planned in the future follow a growing trend of large budget Hollywood films that follow a Myth, or Hero journey narrative. This form of narrative has a proven success that gives a level of security to the large investment these men and their films attract.  It is in this territory of large budget filmmaking that the greatest contribution to innovation of film technology is happening. Digital film, 3D, digital effects, surround sound and higher frame rates are all being pushed into new territory by Jackson and Cameron to the benefit of filmmakers globally.

Where we in NZ are currently weak is character driven drama and genre films.  A member of the Film Commission recently termed this territory 'Heightened Genre'. This term aims to describe genre films of art house quality.  It is a territory that in the past we have been strong at but in recent times less film makers have been venturing.

In the past we have had success with Sci fi - Vincent Wards 'The Navigator - A Medieval Odyssey', Geoff Murphy's 'A quiet Earth' and Roger Donaldson's 'Seeping Dogs'. Horror was represented with Peter Jackson's 'Braindead'  & 'Frighteners' and Gaylene Preston's 'Mr Wrong'. Character Drama's such as Lee Tamahori's 'Once were Warrior's' or Roger Donaldson's 'Smash Palace' or Jane Campion's Period Dramas 'An Angel at my Table' or 'The Piano'. Suspense Drama such as Peter Jackson's 'Heavenly Creatures' was a pinnacle of NZ film Making.

In the past 10 years though there has been a noticeable absence of films like these. A recent film of note to buck that trend and tackle this wide open territory is Mike Wallis' 'Good For Nothing'. Worth mention is also Toa Fraser's 'Dean Spanley' which stepped outside the norm to bring together wonderful character studies in the exploration of the nature of the soul in Edwardian England. I suspect we will see a bold return to this territory from NZ film makers very soon.

In a following blog I will discuss the film education landscape also. I hope that by discussing industry, education and research of film in relation to each other we can identify how each can better align itself to the other.   Where one territory in this Field of work is lacking potentially the other can strengthen. The hope is greater work across the board.