Thursday, November 7, 2013

Rider and Writer
I must say it's been a while since I made an entry into the Captains Log. Still, better late than never.
After the success of our film 'Old Mary's Ride', I immediately began thinking of a new project. It wasn't hard because I have plenty I want to film.....but which one.....? In the end I settled on the story of the internationally famous poet and horseman, Adam Lindsay Gordon and got straight to work on a filming plan. Lindsay lived in our region itinerantly for just on 10 years. It was the south east of SA that he represented during his time in Parliament, and it was here that he worked, married, fathered a baby (Annie) broke in horses on the local stations, rode in the steeplechases and won most of them. It was also here that he wrote a lot of his poetry which has now become internationally acclaimed. In fact, so acclaimed that there is a bust of him sitting in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abby in England. The only Australian poet to be so recognised.
Once again we are telling one of our local stories....stories that originate in Mt Gambier and districts.
Our film making style is unique and  represents who we are as a team, Brenton Manser and The Vanguard.
This film is slightly different to the other two in that instead of using photos and interviews with people that know something about him, we are telling the story through the people who were there at the time and knew him. Added to that are the many re-enactments we have been creating utilising the help of volunteer actors.
Once again we can claim that no taxpayers were fleeced during the making of this film i.e. we have not asked for any funding, but rather have funded things ourselves.
I'm proud to say that my son Jakin Manser is a real look alike and is playing the part of Lindsay Gordon.
I have really enjoyed the making of this film.....(maybe it's because I seem to be mellowing in my maturer years or something) but I feel quite relaxed about it. Things are falling into place and sometimes I need to wait patiently. For example, I really wanted a female to play the part of Lindsay's wife 'Maggie' and so I proceeded to ask around. We had a girl consent and we started planning. A few months later, this girl moved away with her work. I proceeded to our stunt double who was happy to come up to the primary role but then she also moved away with her work. Months ticked by until one night we were talking about the problem over dinner and someone said 'what about Sarah Madera'?
It turned out that we knew Sarah through family connections and it also turned out that she knew how to ride a horse. We texted her and she consented. Sarah has been a delight to work with and it turns out that she has the disposition that I believe the real Maggie would have had.
So, we are around two thirds through the filming and expect that we could Premiere in Winter 2014.
Cheers for now.