Aussie girl/film junkie

H

hypnotic

My name is April, I'm 22 years old and I love cinema. :D

I am constantly thinking of stories in my head.
I read as much as I can on film making. (At the moment, the Soviet Russian influences on modern cinema)
I believe it's crucial to go sifting through all movies, from all eras, from all countries.

I drink it up.
Some friends think I'm 'too' obsessed with cinema.
But as Quentin Tarantino once said;
"It's not an obsession. It's an appreciation."

Alright that's enough from me. Good to be here. :cool:
 
Hey Zensteve! Nice to meet you. I was just strolling through the site, scoping out all the different topics. Wow, so much information. Its great to finally branch out.
Sadly, it seems theres not a huge wave of films coming out of Australia. I hope to change that one day!
 
theres not a huge wave of films coming out of Australia. I hope to change that one day!
Click to expand...

Well, maybe quality is better than quantity? I dunno.

There's been several rather nice films by newer Aussie members in the past few months, floating about here. Also, a lot of great discussion with them.

Still, there's only so much you can read about making film. At some point, you gotta start getting those hands dirty actually makin' one!
 
Too true, Zensteve.

Don't get me wrong, it would be both foolish and naive of me to form a generalisation that the Australian film market is dwindling. I can honestly say that there is both movie junkies and movie makers throughout the country but it all sort of boils down to two main factors that inhibit the creation or even the distribution of films.

Government funding has always been a problem with the industry in Australia. Sometimes its a battle between the Sports and the Arts industries who has more entitlements.
The other is Government censorship - particularly if you choose to opt for Government Funding.

There's alot of control over the content and the access to one's work and with the tightening of restrictions and the creation of tougher laws, it's become much more difficult for someone to be presented a rating that justifies their work yet also enables a wider audience to view it.

Its sad because in alot of cases, some films in Australia remain in the darkness gathering dust. While others have been tightened and manipulated so much that it's begun to churn out similar stories, verging on mediocrity.
 
Hi Hypnotic...welcome!

Interesting about government financing. In the U.S. any government financing that I know about is really in the documentary avenue, and pretty much small amounts.

I wouldn't want it, but for the others on this site, is the Aussie financing solely for Aussie filmmakers, or can out of country filmmakers get a piece of the Aussie pie? Not that anyone would want to step on your toes!

Anyway, welcome again to this site!

Chris
 
hey... welcome to the site :)

yeah... as others said... just start making films... start with small stuff... build your knowledge and skills... and work your way up in projects.... :D
 
cibao, thats a very good question but I'm not entirely sure. What i DO know is Government assistance is extremely hard to obtain. You either play by their rules, or don't bother playing at all.

Again, it's one heck of a gamble. As we all know, making films is expensive and any sort of complimentary funding is a god send. But it comes at a price (excuse my appalling pun. :p) and content is sacraficed for quality.

Still, there's been some wonderful, groundbreaking films here in Australia (the latest installment being Samson and Delilah, from first time director Warwick Thornton, that recieved nationwide praise and rave reviews). There's an abundance of talent here, I just wish we had more of a voice.

Anthony Martin, I'm in Sydney! :) How about you?
 
arg, yo-ho and welcome!

I've loved pretty much every Australian film I've seen... last one was Matthew Newton's "Three Blind Mice". Was glad to see that get distribution here- hes a funny guy, would be fun to work with if you can catch the chance!

Well, hopefully you and the others from down under here can help raise aussie cinema to the top... or at least, right under Canadian cinema anyway... or you'd have Cronenberg, Shatner and Colm Feore after you.. what a nightmare!
 
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