Posts filed under 'Cast'
Just as things were quiet an overwhelming wave of promotional footage, images and competitions are sprung upon us. Read the details below to discover a fantastic series of podcast videos for students and film buffs alike. Unrolled with this series of podcasts came the official Australia website, australiamovie.COM, and a whole bundle of new press shots. Our gallery has been updated to include not only press stills, but almost 100 quality screen caps from the first two Set To Screen Videos!
The current competition for photography is due May 5th, so get cracking!
Learn moviemaking from a master. Great movies are full of adventure, and Australia, the next film from Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann is no exception. But making a movie is an even bigger adventure - an adventure in creativity - and with the Apple Set to Screen Series, you can be a part of it.
Every few weeks through to October, a new podcast episode from Baz and his production team will introduce you to another aspect of moviemaking, starting with on-set still photography, then moving on to costume design, cinematography, scoring, and more. You’ll get insights from the artists at work on Australia, watch them in action, view footage the rest of the world hasn’t seen yet, and follow along as the movie comes together.
Here’s where you come in. Five of the episodes arrive with something extra: a creative challenge for you. Each time one of these episodes is released, you’ll have three weeks to complete the challenge and post it to the Apple Student Gallery. If your project is one of the best (10 from high schoolers and 10 from college students), you’ll win an iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, or a MacBook Pro. And if your work is chosen as the most creative of all, you’ll be going on yet another kind of adventure—a trip for two to Australia. Five challenges mean you’ve got five chances to win.
Oh, and one more thing. Submit the top project for the final challenge, and Baz himself will plan your trip to Oz, meet you there, and take you along on the promotional tour for the film in the U.S. Your project will even be included on the DVD release of Australia.
Start your journey now. Subscribe to the Set to Screen Series, and iTunes will automatically download each new episode that’s posted. Once you’ve watched an episode, come back here to check out the notes about the featured member of the production team, and - if there’s a challenge for that episode - get all the details you’ll need to participate. So start exploring your creativity. You could wind up anywhere, even Down Under.
April 17th, 2008
With the new baby she’s expecting due in a few months’ time, Nicole Kidman spent Easter Sunday dusting off her parenting skills. Juggling the care of her sister Antonia’s two eldest children, Lucia and Hamish Hawley, and her Australia co-star Brandon Walters, the mum-to-be certainly had her hands full, guiding the youngsters to an early morning church service yesterday.
After beating leukaemia at the age of seven, the 11-year-old will make his big-screen debut in Baz Luhrmann’s epic. Hand-picked by the Moulin Rouge director for a pivotal role in the outback drama, he has charmed his celebrity co-stars, especially Kidman.
“She’s really taken Brandon under her wing. She and Hugh (Jackman) have looked out for him and eased him through the whole film-making process,” a set source said.
After church, the West Australian boy was welcomed back to the leading lady’s Darling Point home for lunch. On Saturday, the lucky lad was shown the Harbour sights during a cruise aboard the Oscar-winner’s luxury boat.
source: Article by Sydney Confidential’s Holly Byrnes
March 24th, 2008
Recently celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, famous for portraits gracing various magazine covers including a heavily pregnant Demi Moore and John Lennon wrapped around a naked Yoko Ono, had the chance to create her special form of magic with Nicole Kidman.
Once again Kidman was taken away to a bush location. However this time it was only a small trip to the west of Sydney where a secret photo shoot took place. The session was shot on a paddock near the suburb of Richmond and appears to recreate the Faraway Downs homestead from ‘Australia’.
In footage captured by a National Nine News helicopter, Nicole can be seen standing on a wooden pavilion looking over her shoulder at the camera with her back balanced against a rail. She wears an elegant long blue dress - typical of her character’s pre-WWII English aristocrat - with a long split in the middle that runs down her leg.
Around 50 workers including make-up artists, set builders and a behind-the-scenes film crew can be seen working on the set.
Four screencaps from the helicopter footage can be viewed in the australiamovie.net gallery.
source: ninemsn.com.au
February 23rd, 2008
The February 2008 edition of Vanity Fair magazine features a two page spread on Australia. The issue (on some news stands now) includes a beautiful new photograph by James Fisher and a small summary of the film to wet the appetite of cinemagoers for the new year.
Luhrmann tells us to expect a film with, “big emotion, big comedy, big stars, big stories and big landscapes.”
The Vanity Fair article goes on to say, this journey through Australia’s enchanting topography brings about Lady Sarah Ashley’s gradual renewal, as does the scorching romance between her and her fellow rider. If the image attached is any indication of the heat, we’re in for something special!
If you visit our gallery you can view several new scans and stills, including the aforementioned spread in Vanity Fair.
Many thanks to Narrows101, Olivia and ProjectMugetsu for donating images.
image: James Fisher
January 8th, 2008
It’s in the wind that Elton John may appear on the Australia soundtrack, but the film is also sure to prominently feature many indigenous influences and songs. Moviehole.net recently revealed information about the supporting role of David Gulpilil. He will feature as a character known by the name King George; “a magic man in his tribe, [which] requires the actor to sing a great deal of his role in several pivotal scenes.”
Gulpilil held great pride in showcasing this aspect of his heritage and commented, “Our tometic ancestors created the land in the dreamtime. Everything you see, including animals, tress, rocks and rivers were created in the dreamtime. Our ancestors called the land into life, giving names to places and animals through song. Our songs represent our stories and our connection to this land. Without our songs we would have nothing.”
source: Moviehole.net
image: Cameron Laird
December 29th, 2007
Previously we mentioned that David Wenham was distributing ‘How To Vote’ flyers for the labor party on election day. David stated that in addition to social policy the local labor candidate had, “won his support because ‘the current government’ had done nothing for the arts.”
With the Rudd government now at the helm of Australia, stars such as Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann and Hugh Jackman have become unofficial policy advisers to the new Arts Minister. Peter Garrett, ex-front man of Australian rock band Midnight Oil and newly assigned Arts Minister, recently dropped by the set of Australia to seek advice from some of the biggest players in the business on how to bring blockbuster films back to the country.
“I was able to spend some time talking to Baz and the crew and to Hugh as well on set,” Mr Garrett said. “We talked about the project and I said that I really did want to have a fresh view and really energetic approach to seeing the film industry reach its full potential. …I’ve been speaking before and after the election with directors, writers and film-makers and I see a real possibility of a resurgence in film coming.”
Mr Garret recognises that Australia has some of the finest talents in terms of directors, actors and writers, however their skills are all too often being exported to make big budget projects overseas, instead of at home in Australia. It is the new Art Minister’s aim to provide the right framework to make it possible for more home-grown projects in the future.
Visit the production gallery to view the full sized image of Mr Garret on set with Baz and Hugh.
sources: The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph
December 23rd, 2007
With the final shots of Australia in the can, Bazmark Films II have now released several new still shots from the feature film. To view them (as seen left) in full simply visit our ever-growing gallery.
The stench of cow manure lingering in the air, their faces smeared with dirt and bodies drenched in sweat, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman finally dimmed the lights on outback Australia yesterday, after a gruelling nine-month shoot; wrote The Courrier Mail.
For the better part of ten years Kidman and Luhrmann have brainstormed and dreamed of making such an epic. For this reason it’s understandable that seeing a large phase of it come to completion would create mixed feelings. Nicole Kidman said while she was looking forward to a break over Christmas, the anxiety of the curtain finally falling on the film hit her during a dream on the eve of her final scene. “Last night I was crying in a dream and I think it was a bit of anxiety about finishing,” she admitted. “I am very ingratiated having done this film. I have wanted to do it since I was 14 and I didn’t know what it was, but I knew there was something.”
Meanwhile, on set, looking buff for his Wolverine role beginning in three weeks, leading man Hugh Jackman will film his final scene today. “If you could tick any box off a job, this has got every box ticked,” he said, adding it felt “surreal” to finish. “Part of me doesn’t want to let this go. It’s probably the best movie I’ve ever worked on. It’s hard to let go of.”
When asked about the length of the shoot Baz Luhrmann denied breaking the blockbuster budget, but joked; “It’s a secret - I don’t want you to tell anyone - but I’m not on schedule.” “[However] someone said the other day, as far as epics go, not anything particularly out of the ordinary. Not fast. Not slow.”
And what of the pressure to deliver a hit movie? “The expectations are enormous, the pressure of that (is) not comfortable,” he said. “Will this film be a success? I do not know. Could it be that almighty mistake that one is bound to do at some time? Possibly but … we’ll do everything we can to make it as good as we possibly can.”
sources: Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, Courier Mail
images: Bazmark Films II - James Fisher
December 20th, 2007
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