Location, Location, Location

These two short podcasts have opened my eyes to the extents a truly passionate director will take to create the perfect picture. From watching the two podcasts, I immediately came to the conclusion that director Baz Luhrmann was a man with a vision. In this vision he saw his epic "Australia" as a sweeping, hollywood romance, but with a breath of life through authenticity. This authenticity came from shooting on location, in the vast outback of .. Australia!

Shooting on location is truly a seperate breed from studio filming. Especially with a film with such magnitude, there are many different elements that have to be taken into consideration with the shooting.

One of these elements would be transportation. When using a studio, it would be quite easy to get the cast, crew, gear, props, trucks etc. all in one spot and at the studio, as studios are usually easily accessable and in populated areas. When filming on location, the sets are almost always in remote or exotic places, much more difficult to get to. In "Australia", the studio shots were filmed in Sydney, but all of the location shooting was done far from civilization, proper roads and infratructure, and even paved roads. Another element in shooting on location would be the location itself. In a studio you can control everything from the lighting to the weather, the climate, sound and the precise way in which props and backdrops look. When you are out on location you are exposed to the elements of nature, and nature isnt always in the mood to provide a perfect shot. The sun moves all throughout the day casting different shadows and changing the temperature. Winds affect the audio and the look of the set. An airplane flying overhead could cause whole shots to be ruined, or stopped. Above you can see a shot of the set that had to be created on a marsh. A house like this wouldnt normally be built on a marsh, but because of the location set designers had to make do. There are many other factors that have to be taken into consideration whilist filming on location, such as getting permission to film on these very different pieces of land, and organizing elements related to the location (for example all of the cattle, horses etc.)

In my opinion, the fact that Baz Luhrmann decided to venture out into the depths of Australia instead of just creating a mini-outback in a studio shows that he was willing to go above and beyond to make this film truly epic. He could have done everything in a studio, where it would have been much more comfortable, cost-efficient and convienient, but in the podcasts he talks about how he wanted to experience the location so as to better depict to the audience. I think that shooting on location is so cool. Even though the sets are far away and subject to the elements, it just doesnt get any more real. And i think that the audience can feel that. The cast can slip into character in an authentic place, and beautiful shots can be captured without special effects, paintings or greenscreens.

Its just so much better than a backdrop

I really enjoyed these podcasts. I always like seeing the super-wide shots of majestic parts of the world, but I never really put much thought into just how much more of a step it is to film on location. I havnt seen "Australia" yet, but I think after witnessing the process nessisairy to create such a film, I just might dish out ten bucks and watch it on the big screen.