Captains Log

Good Progress

2011-05-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

G'day again!
We've had a very busy time lately. We've been regrouping the Vanguard with our new line up; the group now consists of Brenton, Sandra, Bo, Jake, Jesh and Mahalia. (Both Paul and Racheal are now pursuing family committments). It's been hard work on everyone's part, especially for Bo and Jake who are, between them, covering Paul's vocal work, and Mahalia our new member, who is learning the songs as well as all of Racheals harmonies. I hadn't realized how much Paul and Racheal had learnt until I had to start teaching their parts all over again. We had our first full band practice last Saturday and the sound is coming along really well.
Rob and I are committing two nights a week to editing the docudrama 'Old Mary's Ride' and we have bitten the bullet and booked the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre in Mt Gambier for the Premiere. The date is Saturday the 11th of February 2012. Tickets go on sale beginning of June this year. The reason for the long delay is that there are car clubs both local and interstate that have expressed their interest in attending the event. They need plenty of time to organise their members.
Winter is coming on and the days are short now. Can't do a lot outside so hopefully I can get into some writing again.
Bo and Mahalia have set their wedding date for 10th of December this year. Exciting!!! Our first son getting married. Wow!!!
I really appreciate that my whole family, including my daughter-in-law to be, are now playing with me in The Vanguard. It is quite a rare thing!!!
Cheers!

Hannah the Nurse

2011-01-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

G’day one and all! A quick update for you today! Last Wednesday night we filmed our nurse (Hannah Thompson) coming out of John Dutton’s hospital room and passing on to the camera the story of John’s accident and his injuries as she heard John tell the Matron (in those days the nurses were not allowed to do such a thing- Hannah, who is studying to be a nurse anyway, says it is still similar today). This only leaves the rescue of John Dutton, plus a couple of hostings to be filmed. The editing process has already begun. I have been wading through 5.5hrs of footage (so far) and capturing the ‘best of’ for the final product. The music for the film is in production with Bo’az, Jesh, Jake and myself all at it. It looks like we’re on the downhill run.
Brenton Manser and The Vanguard (BMTV) have been invited, along with other artists, to perform at the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre on the 19th of Feb for a fundraising night for victims of the QLD floods. If you’ve not got anything happening that night, perhaps consider coming along. It looks like it’s going to be a great night of entertainment with a great line up of artists from the area.
All the best for now
Cheers

Latest filming

2010-12-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

G'day! I may be sunburnt, I may be tired and broke but nothing can take away the excitement of the weekend we just had nor the success it was. I still can’t get over the fact that we had the real ‘Old Mary’ back here for the speed trial re-enactment. The owner, Andrew Lidden, has been enormously generous in sending his mechanic, Mark Worley, with the car down to the south east especially for this event. And for Andrew to agree to run this extremely valuable vehicle on the beach for our filming shows the character of the man and the faith he has in what we are doing. (Mark assures me he will make sure every bit of sand comes off her)

When I first laid eyes on Old Mary as she arrived in town on Thursday night, I could see why John Dutton held such affection for her. Even my wife, who is normally indifferent to the looks of a car, was completely taken with her. There is something quite magical about her.

This re-enactment was an event of almost epic proportions (in my estimation anyway) and required the assistance of many people at many levels. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the co-operation of all those involved. Words just do not seem enough.

The District Council of Grant for the upgrades of infrastructure and for allowing us complete privacy by closing off Brownes Bay for the duration of our filming session. (Special thanks to Richard Ferguson for coming out early Sunday morning to put the road closures in place)

The City Council of Mt Gambier for their ongoing interest and support of our docudrama and in displaying Old Mary at the Blue Lake throughout Saturday.

To Garry and Trish at the Blue Lake pumping station (Aquifer Tours) for their terrific support and enthusiasm. It was a hoot hey!

Mr Henry McCallum, Senior Sergeant of Police for, and on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, for exempting us from the speed limits for the duration of the filming. It was a thrill to hear that engine open up and roar- I think Old Mary was in her element.

Special thanks to Harvey McBain in his Tiger Moth for the most outstanding fly over I’ve ever seen. Just Brilliant!

To the Port MacDonnell CFS for the 1924 Fire Truck (put in place very early by Grant Fensom- Thanks Grant)

The Mount Gambier Vintage and Veteran Car Club- for the crowd of extras! These people have supported this project right from the beginning and the weekend just proved how much. The attention to detail in clothing, games, tea cups, seats, magazines, period racing clothing and head gear, cars, sand castles and even a kite, was just superb. I am the luckiest amateur film maker in the country. There were about 35 to 40 people there including crew, and I didn’t hear one complaint about anything from anyone. Everyone did more than they were asked.

To Morrie Mashado and South West Freight for bringing in the front end loader on the semi. Morrie is an outstanding supporter of this project and he always puts in 150%.

To Norm and Wendy Dowling and Ian (Yogi) and Maria Haines for the use of their vintage cars and for the support they have shown- thank you enormously.

To Allan and Jenny Childs at Dingley Dell cottage for hosting and looking after Mark! Great people and what a great support they are to me.

To Gaynor and Johnny Smith for accommodating Mark (and Old Mary) at their ‘Springs Cottage’ at no cost. How generous is that? Thanks you two! (Mark told me he just loved it there).

And to ‘The Vanguard’ for everything they do for me and for believing in what I am doing. Finally thanks to Providence for the perfect weather and for a safe weekend.

Wow! That sounds like a Logi awards speech doesn’t it. (steady Brenton!)

Rob tells me the footage looks good. Onward we go!

Thanks again everyone!

General Update

2010-09-13T20:26:00.001-07:00

My goodness. The months have just flown. It's not that I haven't been busy; what with the camp, tourism lecturing, the family, the finances, the filming, the performing and generally developing many fronts at the same time, time has just slipped away. But, have we been productive? Yes.
We've filmed more interviews for 'Old Mary's Ride' but not much else. Folks have been away on holidays; others have been busy earning a living and generally some things have simply not fallen into place yet. The City of Mt Gambier have got behind this project and supported us purchasing footage of the Blue Lake from the late 1920's from the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra.
The development of the new 7 piece 'Brenton Manser and The Vanguard' and its new sound has been a major achievement. After the success of Kapunda as a four piece, we were greatly inspired to increase our practices and increase our numbers and our sound. We have introduced new material and I have been learning to use the Sibelius software to compose new arrangements. One of the products of this new push is the song 'Watch on the Kerb'; a poem by Henry Lawson that I have converted to song. It is the most complex piece of work I have ever developed and yet we are only using three chords. Add to those three chords the unusual combination of sounds of marching drum, electric violin, trumpet, double bass, organ, guitar and four part harmonies over counter melodies and lyrics and I think it will be a song that is like a slow release pill. Listeners will discover something new in it each time they listen to it.
It's really exciting to announce that all of my family (my wife and three sons) are now members of the Vanguard.
The remainder of the year will be spent on filming for Old Mary's Ride, increasing our repertoire as a 7 piece, continuing the recording and looking for opportunities to perform live.
We have just purchased an ex-school bus which will double as our band bus and our holiday camper.
That's all for now
Cheers

Upcoming trip to Kapunda

2010-03-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

G'day,
On the 9th, 10th and 11th of April, The Vanguard and I along with our support team, will be heading up to Kapunda in SA's north. This is the town that James Whittaker (perished in the Wreck of the Admella) haled from and is also the town where John Dutton (Old Mary's Ride) had his origins.
On Friday night the 9th we are screening our documentary 'The Wreck of the Admella' in the Lutheran Hall, and then on Saturday night the 10th we will be performing our concert at the Music Society Chappel. In between we will be filming for 'Old Mary's Ride'.
Hope to see you there!
Cheers

The Salvage Scene

2010-02-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Wow! What can I say!
This morning, as my son said, looked like the set of a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ production. These blokes at the Vintage Car Club in Mt Gambier are what I call genuine ‘movers and shakers’.
Not only did they build a replica of the pontoon used in the salvage in 1937 (16x44gall drums lashed together under a large origan crate that held a cast iron winch) in two and a half hours, but here we were about to launch it and re-enact the salvage of John Dutton’s car.
We lined up at the gate to the Valley Lake and waited for the council to open it. We were there before 7am. Morry turned up in the ‘South West Freight’ prime mover with the front end loader sitting on the trailer and lined up. I had Frankie’s clinker built dingy in tow and then Barry Williams lined up with his support boat and 250hp outboard. After the council arrived and opened up, the support team and actors were all in position at the boat loading ramp in no time. We had heard that Murray Langford was bringing the pontoon on his low loader behind the 1979 fully restored Kenworth of which, I am told, there are only 5 left in the world. We were all pretty excited to see (and hear) the Kenworth make its starry entry. The blokes waisted no time in getting the pontoon unloaded; ropes spliced and attached by Barry and we loaded into the water. Collin Thompson kept kicking himself that he hadn’t brought a bottle of champagne to break over the rig. A few more laughs as we watched Murray try to get back on land off the pontoon. He ended up coming with us out into position. A few minutes later and we were on the water, in position, just under the limestone cliff face that resembles the actual spot in the Blue Lake where John Dutton lost his car.
Allan got some great shots on his camera as did Margarit from the car club, and Jesh kept the handy cam rolling hoping to catch some behind the scenes comedy.
The only issue we had was with the wind. It was a little bit strong for Frankie to keep the pontoon in position using only oars. Barry manoeuvred the support boat brilliantly; towing here and there and moving in and out so Rob could vary his shots. Rob rang and told me just now that the footage he got looked really good. We acted out the salvage scene up to where the blokes hooked on to the car and started winching it up. From there we will jump to the actual photos of the car coming out of the water. Because the papers of the day didn’t have a lot of detail on how the salvage was carried out, I had to think things though practically and work it out logically. Things like, what was the dingy in the photos used for? Where did the rope from the winch actually go? Under? Over?
We then took Rob back to shore so he could drive to the top of the cliff and film the last bit looking down.
Anyway, we had a very successful filming session and quite a few laughs in the process.
Special thanks to the City Council for their prompt processing of our event application, for looking after us in terms of the fees and for their well wishes. Another special thanks to the Limestone Coast Rowing Club for allowing us to share the lake with them on their special day.
Once again, thanks to everybody! Fantastic job!!
Cheers

More Filming 'Old Mary's Ride'

2010-02-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

First filming for the new year began on Sunday 31/01/10. We set up above the Adam Lindsay Gordon obelisk overlooking the site of John Dutton's crash into the Blue Lake. As usual we had to wait on the sun to be just right. Last documentary we were waiting for the sun to go, this time we wanted full sun but it was stuck behind a hazy cloud. We waited quite a while until we got the best we could. We could see more cloud coming in from the south so we shot the segment before it arrived. The lake was lovely and blue but I know I've seen it slightly brighter when in the full sun. Never mind! At least I got my costume sorted and we are underway again.
The Wreck of the Admella doco goes to air tonight on the Austar PayTV Christian Channel and is repeated tomorrow night. It will be beamed right throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Indonesia.
Cheers!

First Filming for New Doco

2009-11-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

G’day to you all!

We commenced filming for ‘Old Mary’s Ride’ (working title) last Thursday night. Two elderly gentlemen, who knew something of the event and of the man, were interviewed on camera. Eric Arthur, (along with his brother), was at the scene taking photos for the family business ‘Arthur Studios’ when the car was retrieved from the lake in 1937. Eric can be seen holding the dingy in one of the photos. Collin Cameron (92yrs old) is a long time resident of Mt Gambier and was also filmed as he recalled the events of the crash and the recovery.

Of course me mate Allan Childs was there to commence his role as official photographer of the making of the film. He and Jenny raced back from Ballarat to be there just in time for the 5.30pm appointment.

My trip to Kapunda four weeks ago was highly successful and I made some excellent contacts; Joan Shultz being one of them. Joan and her husband worked at Anlaby Station for John Dutton for some 20 years or more and were able to recall some fond memories of John and indeed spoke highly of the whole Dutton family. Joan is assisting me with photos etc.

I managed to have a tour of Anlaby. For those who don’t know, Anlaby Station was the first Stud Sheep station in South Australia and was the home of the Dutton family for several generations. The Duttons also owned other properties, one of which was ‘Burleigh’ at Moorak just out of Mt Gambier. Burleigh was where John and his wife Peggy were living at the time of the crash into the Blue Lake.

I’ve been in touch with the current owner of the Vauxhall 30/98 (Old Mary) and he has agreed to let us film the car as it is today. This will take place in Sydney early next year.

The Mt Gambier Vintage Car club have invited me to their monthly meeting this Friday night to discuss how they may be able to help with the documentary. At the least, they are willing to provide cars for re-enactments. Hopefully, among them is a roadster that will suffice as a stand-in for the Vauxhall.

Jeshua, my youngest son, has created a 3D animation of the Vauxhall and it is hoped that possibly, maybe, he can create an animated re-enactment of the plunge into the Blue Lake. He is a learner at this medium but he is keen to have a go.

Other things are falling into place and photos and information are being sourced and collated. I am really excited about this project (which those who know me will tell you is not a new thing) and I think it will be a wonderful film to make. The title song is well on the way in its recording and the team that provided incidental music in the Admella documentary are standing by to roll again.

We’ll probably recess for the Christmas period now, (although sourcing and planning will continue), and we’ll kick off again in the New Year.

Hope all is well in your camps! I do hope you enjoy the festive season with your families and I hope you can dodge all of the commercial hype!

All the best

New Recordings

2009-08-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

The recording of Ode to William and Sally, The Wordsmith and Flowers in a Basket is coming along very nicely. I'm really impressed with the combined vocal sounds of the Vanguard. It seems that we have just the right singers with just the right natural pitch for the task; giving us a lush and at times, intensity, helping to create the mood. Bo has performed some beautiful piano sounds on these recordings. We've been experimenting with drums on 'The Wordsmith' but haven't hit the spot yet.
Every project has its obstacles and this is no different. The string players I had lined up for recording sessions have completely pulled out. So, I am in need of some quality string players for this job. I need a cellist and two violinists. In the meantime, I will continue to lay down the basis of another three tracks and we'll record all of the parts that we can.
News just to hand is; we are about to launch into our next documentary. More on that later!
Cheers

Back to the Studio

2009-06-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

G'day! The busy season at the camp is over so myself and 'The Vanguard' are resuming our recording plans. I've booked time at the recording studio for the 16th of June! I'm going to lay the foundations for three tracks; The Wordsmith- Flowers in a Basket- Ode to William and Sally. I wrote the arrangements a long time ago and 'The Vanguard' have already rehearsed them so it shouldn't take too long to get the tracks down.
For those who don't know, we lost our Reverend in the Admella documentary. Graham Smith passed away peacefully at home in May after a short battle with a terminal illness. We've added a tribute to him on the 2nd edition of the documentary due for release on the 17th of August.
Cheers for now!

The Film Premiere

2009-04-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well it finally came to pass. After a year of intense work i.e. all of my spare time, the film was finished and we all headed out to a special premiere for cast, crew and support team. It was held at the Wehl St Theatre in Mt Gambier and over a hundred people turned up for drinks and nibbles followed by the very first screening of the documentary and then my wife Sandra hosted the giving out of special recognitions. It was a very jubilant night and the film was received with great acclaim. The bloopers, that were added for this group only, went down a real treat and much laughter was heard throughout the theatre.
The public launch is in two weeks time and the DVD will be on sale through the District Council of Grant from then on. Cheers!

6th Admella Update

2009-03-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

G’day folks, I have taken the step of changing the date for the premiere from Thursday April 9th to Wednesday April 8th, simply because I know some will want to head off for Easter hols on the Thursday night. I hope this fits in with everyone. If you can’t make it to the premiere, there will be two screenings of the documentary on Sunday the 26th of April during the Wehl Street Theatre’s open day (one at 10.30am and the other at 2.00pm).
Tomorrow Rob T and I start the editing process.
If any actors still have in their possession any period clothing from the filming, could you let me know so that I can collect it up please? Thank you! I will be returning all of the clothing to the owners in the next week or so.
All the best

Admella Update No 5

2009-03-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Well my friends, we have finally arrived at the end of the filming and what a day we had! We were on the job by 8am Saturday to film Paul Barry recite Adam Lindsay Gordon’s poem ‘From the Wreck’. Paul is an excellent orator and did the poem every justice. I could hear the wonderful inflections in his voice as they changed according to the mood of the poem. We filmed him sitting at ALG’s desk in Dingley Dell.
After we finished there, we had an appointment at 11am at Carpenters Rocks with Dave Miller who is a fisherman there. Dave took us on his boat ‘Dusty’ out to the actual reef where the wreck occurred 150 years ago. Dave pointed out the exact spot that she lay trapped on the reef. We had a moderate swell (in my estimation) of 1.5- 2 metres but it was enough to make you hang on at all times. We got within 100 metres of the reef. The sea swells to greater heights as it hits the reef. I have to say it was an exhilarating yet sobering experience. I stood on the deck of Dave’s boat imagining what it must have been like for those poor people who were watching waves up to 9 metres high coming at them at around 35kms an hour. How anyone survived is an absolute miracle! We collected some footage of the sea and the reef and returned to shore.
After a quick lunch my group ‘The Vanguard’ arrived at our rendezvous point and Allan Childs loaded us into a 4WD. He got us in to the Admella Flats where we filmed the final part of the music film clip in our period clothing. It was a great moment when we finally announced we had finished. A couple of rounds of drinks at the Rocks Tavern capped off a very successful day. (Thanks Paul, Racheal and Allan for the drinks).
So, we’ve now only got 5 weeks to put all the footage into shape, prepare the DVD cover and get everything printed and produced in time for the premiere. This coming Sunday we begin.
Thanks everyone! I’ll keep you up to date with our progress and please, keep in mind Thursday evening the 9th of April.
Cheers

4th admella update

2009-02-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

G’day to everyone! Well it is getting close now. We reckon we have one more day of filming and we will then start the final editing. Yesterday we filmed over an hour’s worth of interviews with people who discussed varied aspects of the wreck and those involved. The interviewees were excellent. I was completely surprised to hear the quality of conversation and conciseness of everyone who braved the process. Thank you to all those who fronted up (10 in all)! A special thanks to Brendan Jarrett who travelled over from Portland especially.
We also had more really generous offers of help during the interviews yesterday. Dave Miller (aka Captain Pugwash) has offered to take us on his cray boat out to the Carpenters Reef to film from seaward and John Magary (great, great, great nephew of James Magary) has offered to 4WD us into the Admella flats to capture some footage. Very exciting!!
We are starting to plan a private launch of the finished product for all those who have been involved; I’m thinking end of March/early April at this stage. Some people are asking where they can get a copy of the DVD and the answer is they will be available from the District Council of Grant (Admella 150th Committee). Just ring the office there and ask about it. They will retail for $20. I’ll let you know when they are ready for sale. The committee intend to put the proceeds from the sale of the DVD towards the funding of the Admella Trail and other functions during the commemorative period this year.
Once again I am so grateful for everyone’s support. This has been a fantastic collaboration of many people including cross border connections. Just like 1859, the two states are contributing resources to the project.
All the best

3rd admella update

2009-01-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

G’day to one and all!
Well we resumed filming in 2009 with a major push. Last Thursday night we filmed Knapmann and Leach along with Ben Germein at the Cape Nelson Lighthouse. It was blowing a gale which was great for us. Ben scanned the sea and land, and spotted the men coming towards the lighthouse. He runs down the steps and opens the door to the men who fall into the building totally exhausted. It was a wild night and the scenes of the blokes with their shirts blowing around wildly were fantastic. We are really grateful to Stephen Campbell who is one of the tour guides but also is the proprietor of ‘Isabella’s Café’ on site, for his patience and his time, and for staying back to open for us especially. If you’ve never been to a lighthouse, I highly recommend visiting this one. It is one of only a few left that you can access and look through.
Yesterday, Australia Day, we filmed over the lunch time period on the beach at Nelson. I couldn’t believe how many people were on this beach where I am usually the only one. Later I found out that the dead whale that had washed up had floated down past the area we were using for filming which caused a lane of traffic totally unexpected. There were so many people, (some carrying eskies); I thought the next thing I would find would be a hot dog and ice-cream stand. Nevertheless, the actors focused and were oblivious to the crowd of onlookers that gathered from time to time.
Here we filmed the hardest hitting part of the vignette so far. We called on the talents of Belinda Taylor and Michelle Sylvester who became dead children washed up on the beach. Both did an outstanding job. At the same scene we filmed the grave diggers (Don McBain and Stuart Oakley) burying people in the sand hills. Again, both of them were terrific.
We stopped briefly for lunch before driving to the Warrnambool Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.
At the Village we were hosted by Peter Abbott (former CEO of the Limestone Coast Tourism Board), and after closing to the public, allowed us free run of the facility. We filmed Chelsea running through the dock looking for her fiancé to persuade him not to go on the Admella- to no avail. Extras supplied by the Village were Peter and his two children, as well as Ron and Carlyn, who provided just the right atmosphere for the setting. Stephen (Chelsea’s partner in real life) made his acting debut and came out a natural. Well done; everyone was impressed!
After the dockside scene we moved over to the ‘Reginald M’ which floats in the water adjacent to the village. Here we recreated a scene where survivors were clinging to the wreck of the Admella. The scene was extremely difficult to shoot because of the tightness of the shot to remove trees etc. in the background, and waiting to get the light right. The Warrnambool CFA came in with their fire truck and blasted the ship with water for us to create the illusion of waves hitting the remains of the ship. Hannah Thompson, whom we all admire greatly for her acting skills, as well as Jeshua Manser and Nathan Waters (from Nelson) were fantastic as they genuinely shivered and shook, as three of the survivors, during the filming of this scene.
We gratefully acknowledge the prep work done by Peter Abbott and his team and I do highly recommend a visit to the village to everyone. It is outstanding! A wonderful experience!
We finished off the day by having an evening meal out of the boot of the car, sitting in the car park, before journeying home.
It was a huge day of activity and I congratulate all who were involved for their patience and willingness to get really uncomfortable.
A huge thankyou to the support team who have quite naturally formed for this project.
All the best

2nd Admella Update

2008-12-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well it was bigger than Ben Hur (in my mind anyway) but it all went really well. The only set back was the sunlight. It was too bright! Still , we waited until it dipped down below the horizon and then got stuck into the filming. We had a cast of 18 and a crew of 4. Getting the 16ft wooden dingy over the 300m of sand hills to the beach was energetic but we had lots of laughter doing it. Actually, getting it back was even funnier as some of the blokes had hopped into an esky of coldies.

Dale's horses were magnificent! So gentle and calm!

I've been asked to do a presentation of what we've got so far to the Glenelg Shire Admella committee. I'm hoping that they will also be interested in our DVD.

Admella Project Update

2008-11-26T16:55:00.000-08:00

Next week we will be filming the first section of the lip sinc part of the clip. This is proving to be a complicated procedure as I need to organise around 15 actors into a sequence of action that happens within 59 seconds (followed by another section of 42 seconds) and right on cue. All the people need period clothing of which I have most of but will need to source some more. The logistics of getting everyone on the set at the same time, in time to catch the right daylight (or sunset in this case) and catch the action, is difficult. I'll let you know how it goes!!